Five Cozy Things I Loved This Month: August Edition

August always feels like an in-between month to me. Summer is still very much here, but I’ve already started noticing the first tiny hints of autumn—the changing light, the desire to make tea again, the sudden urge to read something set in a small town bonus if there are nosey neighbors or witches. Preferably both.

So this month’s cozy list is a little bit summer, a little bit early fall, and very much about the small things that made ordinary days feel nicer.

1. A Book I Couldn’t Put Down

This month I fell for In the Company of Witches by Auralee Wallace and Second Hand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell. Yes, I have two. I couldn’t decide which had exactly the kind of atmosphere I’m always looking for. They both win!

What I loved most was the witchiness. Gold stars all around.

I’m increasingly convinced that one of the great pleasures of reading is finding a book that makes you want to move into it for a few days.

2. My Current Comfort Watch

I’ve been watching—or rewatching—The Ghost Whisperer. Jennifer Love Hewitt is so cute and fun fact, Melinda Gordon has my celebrity dream wardrobe. Her style is everything. So cute.

There are certain shows I don’t really watch so much as visit. I already know the characters, the rooms, the jokes, and usually what everyone is going to say next, which somehow makes them even more comforting. Ghost Whisperer is a little unhinged at times, I mean hello, the plane crash in season one was…terrible. I can’t believe they killed off Andrea. I’m still not over it.

But it gets bonus points for Melinda’s cozy shop, agreeable husband, and insanely implausible plot lines. I love it.

3. A Little Thing for the House

My favorite small find this month was a set of strange jars. They are made of some kind of plaster and they could easily be from Dollar Tree, but they look cute in my kitchen.

I love objects that have absolutely no ambition beyond making a corner of the house feel more interesting.

Not everything has to be useful.

Some things are allowed to exist simply because they make you happy when you walk past them.

4. Something Delicious

August’s favorite was a breakfast pie, quiche inspired dish I got from The Pagan Bible. It was supposed to be for Ostara, but honestly its good all year. And it was super easy.

Spring Herb Quiche

Ingredients:

• 1 pie crust

• 6 eggs

• 1 cup of oat milk

• chopped herbs (chives, rosemary, parsley, whatever you like)

• 1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, feta, montery, etc.)

• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk all ingredients in a bowl. Pour into pie crust and bake for 40ish minutes. I like more.

I’m always fascinated by how much memory and atmosphere are tied to food. One bite can suddenly put you back in a childhood kitchen, a favorite restaurant, a vacation, or a season you had almost forgotten.

This one tasted like a cozy winter morning in my grandma’s cottage on Harsen’s Island MI when I was little. Yum.

5. The Tiny Pleasure I Want to Remember

This month it was all the massive thunderstorms here in Richmond VA. I lived in California for over 35 years and we really didn’t have any there. That I can remember. The storms here are thrilling. Electric. Enlivening. Wow.

The smallest pleasures are so easy to overlook because they don’t announce themselves as important. But when I think back on a month, these are often the moments I want to keep.

A good cup of tea.

A book I didn’t want to close.

The right song at the right moment.

A lamp glowing in the corner at dusk.

Nothing particularly remarkable—and somehow, everything.

Those were a few of my cozy things this August. I’d love to know what made your month a little softer, stranger, prettier, or more delightful.