October
Dad and I went to the Natural History Museum for the first time in over a year, enjoyed the Fantastic Beasts exhibition and went to Pierino for the first time in years. I really recommend going there if you want good Italian food at a decent price in South Kensington. Afterwards, we went to a new gelato place I'd found nearby (instead of going all the way to Victoria to Olivogelo), which is called Oddono's (see their FB here). I knew we'd hit the jackpot when we walked in and everybody in the place was speaking Italian. Oddono's is set in Bute Street, which has been closed off to traffic due to the pandemic, meaning that kids were running around and playing on their scooters and the locals were standing in the middle of the road talking. The street also has a French deli, a fishmonger, a butcher, and a dry cleaner's that's open on a Saturday afternoon. It was like a real life Eastenders, Dad couldn't believe it and said he didn't think places like this existed any more. A real pleasure to be there and experience the community.

November
Mum and Dad stayed over for the first time as we were booked on the GWSR Fish and Chip special (GWSR = Gloucestershire and Worcestershire Steam Railway). The train wasn't leaving until 13:00 so I was able to take Dad to the farm shop in Portway in the morning so he could buy some sausages and a joint for his and Mum's Sunday roast. They've expanded the shop this year so they have more room to sell local vegetables and salad and bread, as well as their own meat. They also have local honey, Cotswold rapeseed oil and locally roasted coffee. (Mum told me afterwards that the sausages were the best they'd had since their old butcher closed in 2018.) We then left for the train at midday and had such a smooth journey that we were able to have a hot drink when we arrived before boarding.

Met up with Grace and Joe for Sunday lunch. Pid unfortunately had to cancel due to a cold (not Covid but might have been that 'supercold' that's been going around). We had to go in the bar area because of the dog. I told Grace that there were no other tables but she insisted on asking if there was anywhere else we could sit and got told the exact same thing I'd told her. Fortunately the Plough is dog friendly and the roast is still delicious. I always have the venison and I always have to tell Grace to NOT have the beef because it's too fatty for her. :')

December
Claire and I had our annual Christmas meal. We tried the Oak at Kingshill and were pleasantly surprised at how good the food was. Claire is interested in trying out the Plough for our next Xmas meal. Celebrated Christmas with the parents. We had our Christmas meal on Christmas Eve as we were spending Christmas Day with sister, brother-in-law and niblings. The parents had ordered a rack of venison from their neighbour's butcher that they always use. The rack turned up and was barely enough for two people, let alone three, so Mum roasted two guinea fowl to go with it. We spent Christmas Day in Stroud, had a massive Christmas lunch cooked by brother-in-law (roast beef, roast potatoes, sprouts panfried with pancetta and chestnuts, steamed broccoli and carrots, gravy, cauliflower cheese AND Yorkshire puddings - the puddings were pre-baked). We didn't even touch the Christmas pudding that Mum brought up. Helen and I took M down to the skate park so she could try out her new roller-skates and Helen could walk the dog. I ended up throwing the ball for the dog while Helen showed M how to get around on the skates. Boxing Day was nice and peaceful with cold guinea fowl for the main meal.

I had the whole of the week between Christmas and New Year off so Dad and I went up to London on the 30th to see the Hokusai exhibition at the British Museum. Neither of us had been to the British Museum in years so it was good to be back. They had put the exhibition right up at the top next to the East Asian rooms, which was logical but made it harder to find. Afterwards we went to the Cyprus room so Dad could have a look at all the artefacts. He said he had no idea that the British Museum had so many things from Cyprus. I reminded him that we'd nicked stuff from everywhere so it shouldn't be that surprising. We had a peaceful New Year watching Jools Holland's Hootenanny.

Yola singing Sunshine of Your Love on the Hootenanny

Sorry for going quiet. Thank you all for your kind words about my niece. She is growing all the time and becoming interested in the world around her and the people in it. Unfortunately, it turns out she is a little bit like me and doesn't sleep very much. When I was a baby, someone told my mum that this meant I was going to be very smart. My mother, suffering from undiagnosed post-natal depression and sleep deprivation, was not amused and said she would rather I be a little stupid and sleep more!

I went to see Elton John with my dad in June and we had a great time. Elton clearly loves putting on a show, which means you enjoy it even more. He lost his temper with a steward for telling people to stop waving their hands and ranted about it, but then changed his mind and apologised after the next song, saying that she wasn't in charge and he shouldn't have insulted her. He invited her up on stage so he could apologise personally. She arrived on stage and he hugged her and apologised. It's always nice to see someone admit they're wrong, doesn't happen very often.

I have recently discovered a new cinema in Gloucester, the Sherborne (which only opened this year so I didn't feel like I'd been missing out). It is independent, decorated in Art Deco style, with its own small free car park. Afternoon showings are £3.50, late afternoon showings are £4.50, evening showings are £5.50. Tea and coffee are £1. To give you a comparison, going to see a film at the chain cinema here costs just under £10 unless it's the cheap day, and that's with an online discount. This place is so cheap that I am determined to patronise it as much as possible so that it doesn't close down by next year. I have also told all my friends about it, especially those with children.

I have just signed up for the new Gym at the Quays, which is open 24 hours and costs only £12.99 a month. A whole group of girls from my office go there so I think I will be motivated to go because they'll expect to see me there, haha! I used to attend a Legs, Bums & Tums class on Wednesday evenings but that was cancelled as the owner of the venue was messing our instructor around with times and would put up the price for hiring it without even telling her. Unfortunately, the only options left were Monday evening, with the time often too early for me to make it, and Thursday evening, which is in a totally different location. I might try going to the Thursday evening one, anyway.

My Windows laptop has been fixed and I am going to try writing on it.

Much love to all of you who read this. <33

Had one of the best Bank Holiday weekends in recent memory a couple of weeks ago. Had the Thursday and the Friday off because I went to see Michael McIntyre on the Thursday evening with my sister in Cardiff. I've never been to Cardiff before (never been to WALES before) so I was very excited to finally see the Severn Bridge and the Severn Estuary (which was beautiful even under the glowering clouds). The sat-nav managed to take us into Cardiff but didn't direct us to the entrance of the NCP car park, so we had to drive around in a huge circle. We really only found the entrance thanks to my sister's driving skills and experience, because it was TUCKED AWAY behind some houses. I wonder how anyone parks there considering it's such a major car park. Due to traffic, we only had time to eat a Burger King meal before running off to the arena (and it started raining) but the show made it all worth it. McIntyre is just as funny live as on screen (possibly funnier). There were points during the show where I couldn't breathe because I was laughing so hard. Stayed at my sister's for the night, then went down to see my parents for the weekend and did basically nothing, which was very nice. :)

Have seen The Dark Knight Rises (oh my God, I want to see it again); The Avengers (saw it four times, I regret nothing); The Bourne Legacy (mainly for Jeremy Renner, let's be honest); and The Amazing Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield IS Peter Parker, Emma Stone was adorable, can't wait for more).


Currently planning my birthday weekend in Paris with vifetoile and my sister. Definitely going to see the Musée d'Orsay this time, and the Eiffel Tower, and lots of other things! There will be photos because my sister is bringing her boyfriend's camera, and they will be GOOD ones this time!