Well, the 1st August heralds the end of year number 42 for yours truly. No more counting down, no more sleeps to go. It has arrived so first up, it’s a Happy Birthday to me!

There’s much else to celebrate in August. The Olympics have begun in earnest and I’ve been cheering on the green and gold. The Opening Ceremony was quirkily British and aside from that inordinately weird section with all the beds, I loved watching it. And what a tribute to future sporting generations that torch lighting ceremony was – absolutely brilliant. I may have even welled up a little.

Back at Gidday HQ, I’m still quarantined and starting to go a little stir crazy – although at least I’m sleeping through the night now and my appetite has returned a little despite the aches, pains and general unattractiveness of my affliction.

And last but certainly not least, this month’s Violent Veg introduces us to Brian, of the Parsnip variety. After Colin Carrot’s heart-thumping exploits in June and July (you can see the Violent Veg Back Catalogue at the end of this post), Brian reminds us to enjoy some gentler pursuits this Summer…