Woman with pink hair, wearing a long-sleeve top with cats in Christmas hats, holding a microphone

I thought I’d expand on my previous post on how I got into stand-up comedy, as I made it sound along the lines of Jane saying, ‘you’d be good at standup, you should do my stand-up course, here’s where you sign up, give me your money.’ What actually happened was that, during the workshop,Continue Reading

Blonde haired woman in a black tshirt holding a microphone

Even as I type the words ‘how I got into stand-up comedy’, I’m wondering how I, a 53-year-old introverted loner who looks constantly worried/scared/bewildered/confused/as if I’m going to cry, ended up on stage at Comedy Virgins at The Cavendish Arms telling jokes about cats and serial killers.Continue Reading

A kitchen countertop with a red pepper, pineapple, melon, bag of spinach, carton of mushrooms, a courgette and three baby cucumbers on top of it

I’m a few weeks into an Oddbox veg box delivery but I’ve had an on-off relationship with vegetable box subscriptions for years. When I still lived in London, I had a weekly Riverford delivery for about a year or so. I loved it. Despite living in a rough part ofContinue Reading

A photo of a black cast iron bed with a mattress and a mattress topper on top

A mattress topper is something I’ve considered investing in for a while because, although my mattress is still within the ‘buy a new mattress after 8 years’ thing, I wanted an upgrade. I actually needed an upgrade because I’m a skinflint who bought the second cheapest mattress in Argos and toContinue Reading

A red and white gingham cloth with a plate on it containing sprouts (from seed), tofu and sundried tomato

I love sprouts. Not those overcooked slimy green things you were forced to eat at Christmas as a child, but the sprouts you can grow yourself from seeds, grains and pulses, such as alfalfa and chickpea. Not only are they deliciously crispy and crunchy and a great way to livenContinue Reading

A red and white checked tablecloth, on top is a tumbler with a strawberry mocktail in it with a red and white striped straw. A whole fresh strawberry and a sliced strawberry is next to it

I never knew fresh apricots were extinct. I wanted to make the apricot appetiser mocktail from The Virgin Cocktail Garden as it looked simple, with just a few ingredients easily found in the shops. Or so I thought. Could I find fresh apricots? Could I bollocks. I looked online at Sainsbury’s,Continue Reading

black running shoe with neon pink sole

Over on my fitness blog (which is even more neglected than this one, if that was possible), I recounted how, when I first began running as a hobby and as a way to use up the energy I had after stopping smoking, I foolishly didn’t buy a sports bra.Continue Reading