TILT: End of Summer Edition

So it's coming up to the end of August. I love summer, but I love autumn and winter even more, so I have a tendency to get quite excited at this time of year as the evenings start to get longer and the blackberries begin to ripen. It's also my birthday next month, so I am beginning to quiver in anticipation of new books.

I haven't done a Things I Love Thursday in quite some time, so here are a few of the things making my world go round at the moment:

• my partner and I have been spending time exploring abandoned buildings around the area where we live. There are a lot of disused farms down deserted backroads, a few empty factories and an awful lot of out-of-the-way houses standing empty, so it's prime suburban-Gothic creepsville real estate. Especially good in the evenings for watching sunsets and bats (but not at night, I don't want to be the first five minutes of a Supernatural episode, thanks).
• naps! I just started back at work as a part-timer after eight months off to study and I am suddenly knackered all of the time, so naps have become a big part of my routine. Yeah, I know, I'm such an old lady but I don't care.
• stargazing. My boyfriend and I happened to be walking home very late at night during a meteor shower, and there was the clearest sky I have ever seen. It was absolutely amazing, like looking into eternity. 
• all things cryptozoology. It is very hard not to Google cryptids when I'm supposed to be studying. Also, I'm really excited about trolls. I love trolls.
• truck stops and roadside cafes.
• Subscription boxes! I had the unbelievable luck of scoring a complete secondhand Lootcrate from work (the Vs. box from March). I love the idea of a subscription box and am probably going to ask for one for Christmas but there are so many that appeal to me that I don't know which one to choose.
• having rooftop access on my lunch breaks. Nothing like sitting on the flat roof with a book and a hot coffee, under the blue sky.
• London at night.
• getting 94% on my first psychology test. 
• Seanan McGuire's October Daye series of books. Highly recommended for fellow urban fantasy fans and faerie obsessives.

Listening to: Down by the Water by PJ Harvey