Another month of 2020 has passed! Of the past couple of months, I feel like August was one that passed a bit slower than the others. It felt like a proper month rather than days like July and June. Maybe August felt longer because so many different things were happening? I’m not sure. Either way, another month has gone and it’s almost the best time of the year: September through December.
Ferguson Toulouse
I had previously blogged about Ferguson, my first leopard gecko. I had adopted him on March 30, 2020. Unfortunately, when we had adopted him from Petsmart, he had been ill. Critically ill. Over the next five months, me and my parents tried everything we could to save him and bring him back from the brink. He had Cryptosporidium, or commonly known as stick tail. He couldn’t eat or hold any nutrients. He was frail and thin and lethargic. We had no idea how bad it was when we had first adopted him and he passed away in my arms on August 13, 2020. We all miss him dearly and remember him fondly.
The good news is that we adopted a new (and healthy) Leopard Gecko! His name is Ferguson Toulouse and he is just over three months old. He’s gorgeous and extremely active (he climbs the branches and the leaves in his tank every day, which is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen). Every day, I can appreciate him more because he’s healthy and I know he is. I got him on August 15, 2020 and already love him dearly. With Ferguson the First, my family and I went through a rollercoaster of emotions. With Ferguson Toulouse, it’s like night and day. We are extremely grateful to Rusty from Exotic Life Fish and Reptile, from where we purchased Fergie T. I highly recommend them if you live in the Chatsworth area!
If you are considering purchasing a pet of any kind (but in this specific case a reptile) PLEASE do research on ethical breeders. DO NOT purchase reptiles from chain pet stores as they are not kept in the right conditions. Even if you are purchasing from pet store chains to “rescue” the animal, please refrain from doing this as it will encourage the chainstores to continue stocking the reptiles.
Barnes and Noble
No one is surprised that this once again made the list of favourites for the month! I picked up some more books this month and it was wonderful. B&N has some great sales, like Buy One Get One 50% off or their Book Annex online. There are also exclusive Barnes and Noble editions of some of my favourite books that include bonus content and illustrations! Some of my favourites books are collector’s editions I got from B&N. I love the company and shop there for most of my books (the only exception is BookOutlet.com because of the wonderful prices). There’s nothing like the feeling of meandering through the aisles of a bookstore and finding great books to read! Check out your local bookstores this month!
Youtube
I’ve written about Youtube in my Favourites posts before, and for good reason! There are so many talented creators with videos that are unique and made with effort. I love having videos playing the in background while cooking or working, so Youtube is one of my holy grails. Some channels I’ve been enjoying this month as Angelika Oles, Markie, Morges, and Spill. All of these creators comment on celebrity news or drama scandals. I like hearing it in the background so if something interesting comes up, I can immediately tune in. Check our their channels!
Amazon Prime Video
I reread the entire Twilight series in anticipation for the release of Midnight Sun last month and decided to watch the movies as well. All of the movies are on Amazon Prime, so it’s one of my favourites for this month! There are tons of wonderful shows and movies on the platform as well! It’s such a great add-on bonus for Prime members and such an undervalued streaming service. They have loads of original content that’s really good; I recommend it highly!
The StoryGraph Beta
I’ve been using Goodreads.com for years for keeping track of all of my book needs. I use it to find recommendations, read reviews, and keep tracking of my reading progress. I’m not the biggest fan of the platform, but it’s gotten the job done. I came across StoryGraph Beta and it was described to me as “everything Goodreads should have strived for in the past five years.” With Storygraph, I can easily and quickly organize my books as I like. I can mark books as “to read”, “currently reading”, “read”, or “did not finish.” I like that there are so many options for the book status. You can also mark books as owned, which makes it easier to see what you could read next. The website also uses an algorithm to find books you might like based off of books you’ve read, have on your to-read shelf, and/or own. With Goodreads, I feel like the recommendations were just based off of the bestseller lists. I use both platforms as of right now, but I am glad to have had the opportunity to try Storygraph. I highly recommend it!
Thank you so much for reading! August had a lot of good memories and I am looking forward to the good times I’ll have in September. I hope everyone stays safe, from the pandemic to the natural disasters. I hope we know peace and safety soon.
Love,
Kaitlin
Kaitlin H Powell 