Back to life, back to reality...

September. Back to school, work and, yes, in the immortal words of Soul II Soul, reality. How not to be too down about it…

Plus, a Menopaws walk to High Force Waterfall, vegan recipe of the week, and the next chapter of The Tortoise. Don’t forget to register your interest for my first IRL retreat at lizjonesassistant@hotmail.co.uk Deets coming soon!

September has always filled me with doom. As a child, it meant it was my birthday (September 5^th), when I was never, ever given a party. Just a packed lunch (a banana sandwich) on the first day of school. As I grew older, I came to dread adding a year to my age. Weird, how words stick in your brain. My dad, on my 25^th, ‘You’re a quarter of a century old!’ I think I dreaded ageing as I had never seemed to achieve very much. My first boyfriend didn’t turned up until I was 32. I landed my first column in a national paper aged 40. Became an editor aged 42. Married far too late to have children or even warrant fidelity.

         But! Here is a list of lovely things to cheer you up this month…

Pick your own flowers The Flower Belt near Helmsley is just magical. You can fill a jam jar or a bucket, and dogs are welcome. A huge vase of wild flowers is £15. You can also pick your own pumpkins, from £3

Location: Just off the A170 Thirsk to Helmsley Road, only a two minute drive from Helmsley. York, YO62 5EE. Open 10am to 5pm

Learn more about our late Queen Craig Brown is one of our funniest writers (his book One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time is my favourite book on my favourite band) and on September 5^th he is talking about his new biography of Queen Elizabeth II at the V&A in London.

From 7pm at the V&A, Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL.Tickets are £15 to £18, or you can pre-order the book by visiting

 https://www.vam.ac.uk/event/RkJp4vJVZy/a-voyage-around-the-queen

Potty time

Go completely potty I only have a patio at the Vicarage, and so I am signing up for Sarah Raven’s course on all things potty on October 16^th, 10.30am, at my favourite venue: Thyme in Gloucestershire GL7 3PW. It costs £195, meal included.

Learn to cook in season A great new seasonal veg cook book is out on October 24^th. By Sally Clarke, whose eponymous restaurant in Notting Hill is still going strong. Called In Season for 40 Years, it’s out on October 24^th. To pre-order, visit Sallyclarke.com