My favourite month of the year. By a mile.
Summer’s up and running and I get to celebrate my birthday – yaaas!
This June, I turned 40. So I milked it for all it was worth: a big family feast followed by a week in the motherland (Italy).

After a lot of running, and a knee injury I picked up in the Pembrokeshire 100 mile ultra marathon, it was great having some time off.
There’s just one problem: I’m crap at relaxing. I find it way easier to be doing stuff. Running, reading, writing, the dishes…anything.
But, spending time in the Italian hills gave me no choice. It’s a tiny village where my family’s from, way out in the sticks. It’s quiet, peaceful and just what the doctor ordered.
What shocked me this year was the wildlife. Bees, butterflies, moths, birds and fireflies everywhere. And that’s before the deer, hares, wild boars and (rumours of) nearby wolves.

Seeing so much wildlife was bittersweet. It reminded me how much we’ve lost in the UK.
I have my views on why, but the world’s drowning in opinions, so I’ll keep schtum.
And with that in mind, I’ll finish with a book recommendation: Factfulness by Hans Rosling. Well worth a read.
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