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

a photo of a packet of Violife smoky cheddar flavour slices, Violife Le Rond Camembert flavour, Violife Epic Mature and Violife original flavour slices

I first reviewed Violife vegan cheese on this blog almost ten years ago. How much has changed since then? Well, Violife have certainly added to their range, that’s for sure! Continue Reading