Our first big house job - John stripped and reroofed the shed, we gutted it, fixed it, cleaned it, and reorganised it. Blood hard work in the heat, but felt like a real job well done. And we now have a highly organised shed!

It's been an AGE since I've updated this, because I have been so hyperfocused on crafting. So writing a few of these retrospectively, starting with this biggy - Slamdunk Festival! Hottest weekend of the year, and a friend of ours suffered from it and ended up in hospital - but other than that it was a bloody good day, with some good music (Sublime and Good Charlotte were my faves this year!) and the company of some really lovely friends of John's. Was great to get out in the real world for a time, as crafting has been my life for the last few months!

This has been a semi regular treat of mine for a while now. I pretty much wrecked my eyebrows by shaving them mostly off in the 90s, and then a few years ago started losing them in clumps when I was anaemic. They always look a bit mental and clownish for the first couple of days, but will have settled down a bit by the time I go for my interview next week.

Back into the miniature hyperfocus... This is Alvin. He lives in my gross house. He may or may not have killed some people.  I really enjoyed painting him but his face was a nightmare, very little detail and tiiiiiiiny. But I think he's turned out OK in the end.

Welcome to the wonderful - and obsessive - world of miniatures! Whilst this wasn't quite what I had in mind when I wrote the list item, I really do think I have found my niche. It's going to be a gross house, obviously, because quaint would be far too nice for me. Started with the bathroom, and it was the first room I completed. I am now planning my next 5 houses. Gonna need a new house house to store all the houses in!

Bonus unexpected win! We went out for a lovely Turkish meal at a place called Dunya and ate Knafeh for the first time - an absolutely delicious cheesy, honey-y, pistachio-y pudding that, had I not already stuffed myself silly, I could have eaten a ton of. Half eaten pic because we ate before thinking to photograph it! This is becoming a habit!

Visited The Box in Plymouth today to see a Beryl Cook exhibition. I love her work, it's so charming - almost comic book/cartoon like. Could have spent ages paying minute attention to every detail, but it was actually really busy so didn't spend as long there as I perhaps could have. I particularly loved these dancing ones - though I am under strict instructions not to make any comparisons to my in laws! A really lovely exhibition I'm glad I got to see in her home town.

I wasn't expecting to hit a UNESCO visit on this trip, but on the way there, realised that the town we had booked our Afternoon Tea in was actually part of the "Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape" UNESCO site. Seeing as I have been to Morwellham Quay - the other major part of this UNESCO site - within recent memory, I thought I'd cross it off. It's a lovely town, with lots of big, stone, Victorian buildings; bridges and waterways, and a fantastic indoor market in an old City Hall. We then took MIL for Afternoon Tea at Taylors, a Victorian looking tea house and it was YUMMY. Didn't eat again for the rest of the day, despite MIL's protestations. 

A marvellous triple whammy here, with a pit stop on the way to Plymouth - spending a few hours in Exeter.  We went straight to the Cathedral, an absolutely beautiful feat of Gothic architecture. Loved the video displays showing the damage the cathedral suffered during WWII and the subsequent rebuild - really poignant watching that in the rebuilt chapel. Was also awed by the dark wooden gothic chancel, right up my street. We then took a walk to Exeter Quay, sat and ate an ice cream (so very British!), and then got rained on. Was very happy to start our mini-holiday with three whole items off the list.

Was so keen to eat this that I almost completely forgot to take a pic! Lovely chicken and fries at an impromptu trip to Blue Collar after some shopping. Lush!

Yet another leftover from the ill-fated murder mystery party; I had brought all the ingredients for a very 80s cocktail - Pina Coladas! I can't recall ever having had one, and have certainly never made one, so served them up at a games night with John and the boys. Very yummy, would make again!

If I was to ever go on Mastermind, Jack the Ripper would, for my sins, be my specialist subject. So, I dragged the only other person I know who shares such weird interests - my work wife - to Whitechapel, to the Jack the Ripper Museum, where we had booked onto a walking tour. We had an incredible guide, Elegant Sam, who really knew his stuff. I did go on a tour about ten years ago and it was strange to see how many of the sites have changed or gone since then. Sam had different ideas and research to many other historians and Ripperologists and it was really refreshing to hear another viewpoint, one that loosely aligns with mine. We also saw some pretty awesome graffiti on the way round. Great walk, shattered by the end of it (17000 steps by the time I got home), what fab day out!