Two films, an English river cottage, and why I am waiting for the light
Good morning, friends. It is time for Weekend Meanderings with Kim and Juliet. Join us as we share all the things that caught our eye and piqued our interest this week.
Is it just me, or does anyone else get something in their head and refuse to let it go? This summer I started going for early morning walks, somewhere between five and quarter to six, rolling out of bed after checking the news and heading out. Sometimes with Bill. Sometimes alone. Sometimes with Patches. Not exactly the 5 am club but close.
As summer inches toward fall it has been getting darker and darker when I leave. Yesterday I was impatient for the light. At 5:40, Patches and I were up and out the door, walking in the dark, all alone, except for the things living in the woods. The deer staring from behind the bushes. The bats flitting around overhead. I would have been fine, except that halfway through the walk Patches started growling and snarling at something I could not see. I stopped dead still in the street, trying to decide whether to go backwards or forwards. Should I call Bill? I knew that was a lost cause. He did not have his phone in the bedroom. So I forged ahead in the dark. I cannot say I wasn’t a little afraid.
I never saw a soul. There were no lights on in any of the houses, and did I mention we do not have street lights in the neighborhood?
About ten minutes later I was rewarded with twilight over the lake.. And then a little while after that, a family of deer having breakfast on the golf course, and Paris and Pisa waiting for me on the front porch. Some mornings hand out their gifts slowly.
As much as I love being the only one awake in the neighborhood, I think a change is in order. A bigger flashlight, perhaps. (I am kidding. I am going to wait until it is lighter.) This morning we are off to the Farmers Market for a few more tomatoes before the season is over, and then to a family barbeque before my nephew heads off to college on Monday. A happy and sad occasion all at once. I am sure there will be tears, and a great deal of advice given. When the little chicks fly the nest, everyone becomes a mother.
Ok, let’s meander. Kim, Juliet and I have lots to share.
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
At the Movies
Drummer Boy is a Christmas musical set during the American Revolutionary War, and that combination alone was enough to get my attention. The film follows the Clem family as the growing conflict between the colonies and the British Crown reaches their home. Two brothers, Jeremiah and Benjamin, shaped by loss, loyalty, and duty, are eventually drawn to opposite sides of the war.
At its heart, this is a film about more than war. It is about the meaning of freedom, the burden of forgiveness, and the courage it takes to choose what is right when the world around you is breaking apart. It is on my list.
I am not sure how I missed this one, but it is now on my must-watch list. Jessica Lange, Joan Allen, and Kathy Bates hit the road in Bonneville, a story about three friends who come of age for a second time on a trip across the American West. Arvilla (Lange) loads up her 1966 Bonneville convertible and, with her two friends in tow, sets out from Pocatello, Idaho, for Santa Barbara. They detour through Bryce Canyon and Las Vegas, and what begins as a simple trip becomes something none of them expected. Three remarkable actresses, a convertible, and the open road. Yes, please.
Home Tours
Karine Vanasse’s Eastern Townships Retreat
Quebec actor Karine Vanasse opens the doors of her Eastern Townships retreat, designed with Maxime Vandal and Richard Ouellette of Les Ensembliers. Featured on her series Karine et la maison jaune, the property includes a charming farmhouse with cedar raised terraces and walkways connecting to a converted barn overlooking a tranquil pond. The converted barn is what Karine calls her outdoor living room, where a fireplace and oversized doors blur the line between indoors and out. In the main house, a striped yellow foyer, a kitchen banquette upholstered in Beata Heuman fabric, and a coffee bar tucked behind an antique window. The cover house for the September 2026 issue of House and Home, and I can see why.
I know I say this about every English home, but Riverbend might be my new favorite. Step inside Alan’s rebuilt cottage on the River Glaven in Hunworth, North Norfolk, a house taken back to a single standing wall and rebuilt over five years. It had not been touched since the 1950s, and by the time demolition stopped, only the front wall and a gable were left.
The new build needed 24 steel piles driven ten metres down to the chalk bed, and a missed bat survey delayed the whole thing by a year and a half. From the front it still reads as a traditional North Norfolk cottage. Round the back, where nobody can see, it is a wall of minimalist frameless glass looking out over the river and the woods. Inside, reclaimed doors, an upcycled grandfather clock, lime plasters, and a continuous polished concrete floor. If you love cottage renovations this one is for you.
A Little Something to Think About
I want to close with this, something I came across this week, somthing to think about. Perhaps one of the nicer things about getting older is realizing that things do not need to be perfect. People get things wrong and plans change. Over time, many of the things that once felt so important begin to matter less, leaving more room for what really does. Love becomes less about expecting everything to be easy and more about accepting one another as we are. People do not need to be faultless to be deeply loved. Maybe a good life is one where we become a little softer with each other. Where we say what matters while we still can. Life may be messy and unfinished, but that does not make it any less beautiful. Perhaps that is part of what makes it ours.
If you missed it, this week I joined five blog friends and we shared a few summer recipes before the season slips away for good. .
I hope you have a wonderful Saturday, friends. Tell me what do you have planned this weekend?
Be sure to visit Kim at Northern California Style and Juliet at Make Mine a Spritzer for everything they are sharing this weekend.
You can find me on Pinterest. and Instagram for more of what I am loving this week.
I hope you have a wonderful Saturday, friends. Tell me: are you a walk-in-the-dark sort of person, or do you wait for the light?Â
You Might Also Enjoy:
Friday Favorites No. 672 | Back to School, Three Good Books, and a Few Late-Summer Things
Fall Nail Colors 2026: What’s Trending and the Three Shades I’m Actually Wearing
Monday Musings No. 231 | Morning Walks, a Michelin-Star Chef, and a Manor in Ireland
On My Radar~Hotel Lobby Candles 20% Off
