I have previously written about re-committing to the habit of reading. I wanted to share a couple more changes that I have made in the last year which have assisted in this endeavour. The first is that I bought a Kobo e-reader. In my previous post, I said that I was “more inspired by the … More Reading with Ease
I have long been interested in photography. Always as an amateur, mind – I don’t profess to have any great skill! I just enjoy taking what I believe to be good photos. When I was 16, I got an SLR, and for a few years took the photography hobby quite seriously. It was a Canon … More A Picture Perfect Birthday
I recently entered a competition to win a couple of tickets for GWR’s Night Riviera: a sleeper train. Unsurprisingly I didn’t win. But I was proud of my entry, so I thought I’d post it here! The task was to complete the sentence “My ideal romantic journey would be…”. I took certain liberties with the … More A Poem
My husband and I love the BBC programme The Repair Shop. He’s particularly interested in it because he does a lot of woodwork and other crafting in his workshop – but I’ve picked up some tips and ideas too, which I ended up applying to a Christmas present this year. In early October, we went … More A Little Restoration
Two Christmases ago, I was given a crocheting commission by my mother, a fact which had completely vacated my brain by the following Christmas. This year I remembered. It was a very small project, taking me all of half an hour. Let me present you with a couple of photos. I wonder if you can … More A Festive Make
This week I’ve been snowed under with work – mainly writing a document to allow me to transfer officially from the MPhil track to the PhD track. This involves writing the first chapter of my thesis – which is exciting to get started on, but hard work! I haven’t had much free time on my … More Film review: Ghostbusters
Warning: contains spoilers, I suppose. I knew the absolute bare minimum about Gucci before I went to see this film. I knew it was an Italian fashion house. I didn’t know anything about the family, the history, the style: nothing. This was both a blessing and a curse. The blessing was this: the end was … More Film review: House of Gucci
I love going to the cinema. It’s something of a spiritual experience for me (and I don’t say that lightly, as a churchgoer!). There is a certain ceremony and mindfulness in waiting in line for popcorn, finding your seat in the dark room, following the set pattern of adverts and trailers, and finally settling in … More A Cinematic Return
Recently I won a National Book Tokens competition and received an advance proof copy of a book. The book was No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy by Mark Hodkinson. I had no idea what to expect. This was exacerbated by the fact that I literally hadn’t been expecting the book in the post – I … More Book review: No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy
It is a truth universally acknowledged that programmers are consumed by their side projects. This is certainly true of my husband, who can often be found tapping away into the early hours, working on his automated household reports, his home monitoring system, or his train-spotting app. It is one of several things that has made … More A Side Project!
Cryptic Meg 