Friday, I'm in love - Issue 9

From incredible indie films to giant gourds, there's a whole lot to love this week

It seems that perpetual summer fan, Jay has finally embraced autumn

---

1 - Turns out there’s nothing quite like a trip to the pumpkin patch to bring out the inner child. We were advised to borrow a wheelbarrow and it’s just as well, because it turns out that a 21kg slippery squash isn’t the easiest to carry. Scenes of splattered pumpkin guts fortunately stayed in my mind. The record weigh in (so far) at Charleton Farm this season is a whopping 32kg. That’s going to be a lot of pumpkin soup.

Meanwhile, these are tiddlers in comparison to the world’s heaviest pumpkin. ‘Michael Jordan’ weighed in at 1,247kg (2,749lb) at the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in California last October. Grower and horticulture teacher, Travis Gienger said all the time and effort spent caring for the ginormous squash was worth it to make people smile.

---

2 - After the Northern Lights spectacle, this week it’s the geese that have been bringing the awe and wonder. We spent a few days at my folks’ farm, which sits on the flight path between breakfast and lunch for these over-wintering visitors. Watching their shifting formations coat the sky, while lying in bed reading in the morning, brought all the joy.

Every autumn, tens of thousands of pink-footed geese arrive at the tidal mudflats of Montrose Basin Wildlife Reserve, having travelled up to 1,200 miles from Greenland and Iceland. While the collective noun for geese in flight is a skein, the sound they make tends to be a cacophony, or a ruckus. I love it.

---

3 - An indie film set in Orkney. While I had hoped to see a couple of films on the big screen this year, for one reason or another life got in the way. Having read Amy Liptrot’s incredible memoir, The Outrun during lockdown, I was determined not to miss the chance to see its adaptation at the cinema. Fortunately, the universe aligned via the availability of a babysitter (thanks Mum!) and the conversion of the swimming pool I used to frequent as a child into an independent playhouse.

With powerful themes including addiction, mental illness and recovery, this was always going to be an emotional watch, but few films have left me feeling so exhilarated. Intimately filmed and with the islands themselves playing a leading role, it’s as poetic as it is poignant. This behind-the-scenes piece by author and co-screenwriter, Amy Liptrot shines a light on the process of turning the book into a film, along with the way the local community embraced the experience. Led by a powerhouse of creative women, I hope it wins all the awards.

---

The last novel I read - Hex by Jenni Fagan, a fierce and fresh look at the 16th century North Berwick Witch Trials, which highlights how the historical mistreatment of women, and those considered “other”, reverberates through to today’s systemic gender-based violence. The novella is told from the perspective of Geillis Duncan - a 15 year-old girl held in a stinking cell in the depths of Edinburgh’s Old Town after being tortured and sentenced to death for witchcraft - and her visitor from the ether, Iris, a young woman from the 21st century who tries to offer an escape. It left me reeling. And fucking furious.

The book I’m currently reading - Private Rites by Julia Armfield. I’m a third of the way in and feeling all of the intrigue over what’s about to come.

What I’m watching - I’m still on the lookout for a series to get stuck into (holler if you can help), but in the meantime enjoyed spending an evening with Will & Harper.

Something I’m excited about - The theme for the next session of the writing group I attend locally is ‘Gothic’. Cannae wait!

---

What’s been bringing warmth and wonder to your week?

---

And taking us into the weekend this time is Choir of Young Believers with Hollow Talk. I fell in love with this song when I watched The Bridge (an absolute dream of a dark Scandi TV series, if you’re yet to experience it). Listening to it while flying in to Copenhagen for the first time, and getting an amazing overhead view of The Øresund Bridge, linking Denmark and Sweden, was a total thrill.

---

Because the world could do with a little more wonder, don’t you think?