Baseball! Another tournament this weekend. My son’s 13U team is playing up in a 14U tournament again. We won the first game and are readying to start the second. Warm day at the park, so I’ve got my linen on (and my Eazy Shade should count as part of my outfit!).

A quick walk to drop my youngest to school and call into the local cafe (Moker Bean Cafe) for my daily Java. I grabbed a different flat cap today, and not the usual blue cap. I think it works very well with the tie, plus there is still some blue accents to work in with the suit. Anyway have a terrific day everyone. Todays outfit consists of; M.J. Bale Ballard Suit in True Blue made from a Super 110’s Merino wool cloth Charles Tyrwhitt Semi-Cutaway Collar Egyptian Cotton Prince Of Wales Check Shirt in Lilac Purple Trent Nathan Balanced Striped Tie in Light Brown. This is one of five thrifted items I own. OTAA Silver Shining Tie Clip OTAA White Pocket Square with rolled Blue edges Anson Cognac Strap on a Classic Buckle with a Curve in Gunmetal Brixton Brood Snap Cap in Oatmeal and Charcoal houndstooth White Howlite is a stone commonly known for promoting calm, tranquility, and patience. Whiskey Glasses Socks, another prize from The Watch Bros Ecco CityTray Slip-On in Cognac SOTD - Mancera Red Tobacco, it is bold, sweet-spicy tobacco fragrance built around cinnamon, saffron, and smoky tobacco, with a big, syrupy vanilla/amber dry-down and a touch of woods. Loud and very long-lasting WOTD - Erebus Ascent 41 Blue MoP, such a stunning watch.

The town where I live, Stockport UK , was once the global epicentre of the felt hat industry. It produced millions of hats annually throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, my wife and I took a guided tour of the Hat Works museum, a once-functional factory full of the old machinery, steeped in historical millinery. We learnt a lot. For example, the links to the slave trade and Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln’s letter to the workers here. The industry-fuelled mass extinction of beavers in the UK, which saw them being shipped over from Canada (before a more sustainable solution saw 150,000 dead rabbits every week instead). The punishing poisonous process of hat-making itself, that led to countless deaths. And the money made, that was manipulated in an underhand fashion to prevent the GDP of Stockport eclipsing that of London and likely rewriting geographical history. Then there was the Gallery of Hats, with over 400 historical examples of hat styles from around the world, from the functional to the fashionable to the fantastical and everything in between. After lunch at the charity-ran cafe and art installation, we exited through the gift shop… where we both bought a hat! My wife went for a purple Winter Cloche Wool hat, which frames her face wonderfully and shows off her excellent hair. After much deliberation, I went for a black Pork Pie Wool hat, partly because I like the semi-formal nature of it but mostly because it gives off Heisenberg vibes. Both hats are Dentons, a company that is still local to me and very well regarded. If you’re in the neighbourhood and at a loose end, I can highly recommend the museum and the guided tour. And the hats? They’re pretty decent too.

I’m grateful for evenings like this—sharing time with my two grown children, hearing about their lives, and simply enjoying being together. As parents, we spend years raising them, and it is a special blessing when those relationships mature into genuine friendship and companionship. Tonight, overlooking downtown Durham, NC from a rooftop restaurant, I’m reminded that some of life’s greatest gifts are not found in places or possessions, but in the moments we share with family.