After a rather long week, Mr C and I decided to retire from our desks early last night and take to our respective books for reading. It was fun. Mr C is currently enjoying Joe Saward's latest book - The Man Who Caught Crippen. At the moment, it is only available in paperback, and it's the first physical book we've ordered from Amazon in a long time (and it may …

This definitely was a crazy idea. But still, sponsor me, won't you? Lots of very kind and lovely people have sponsored me already, and I am very grateful. Although that does mean the pressure is on. The numbers are moving in the right direction, but it is still quite rubbish. T minus 30 days Total distance - 5.02km Total moving time - 45:49 Average moving speed - 6.57km/h Really terrible …

For Giggles and Joe and anyone else who is having a bad day. Credit: { just jennifer } / Flickr

The last few attempts at running have been a little difficult, and I must admit to have been getting a bit dispirited by this whole 5k thing. That race that seemed so very far away is now looming closer and closer, and I am still being overtaken by people taking their dogs for a walk. Last night, I had a dream about the race and it was a bit of …

I was browsing around the interwebs, as you do, and came across the company Cavallini & Co, who make some good-looking stationery, with a vintage twist. I found two particular favourites: These rather good Sticky Notes come in a fancy tin and cover every eventuality. From a simple to-do list, to a reminder, and even a day by day note. They look quite small, but I love the variety. Sadly, …

All I can say is this is my favourite header that I've ever done, I think. Made with: Pixelmator Font: Rockwell Filters: Just a bit of motion blur on the text

The minute this episode started, we got to see more fearless attitude from Rose. As the Doctor was busy trying to impress her, and take her futher and further forward into time, she was happy to say: "Fine by me, let's go further," without actually seeing any of the things they were passing. She trusted that he was doing what he said, and she was happy to wait for the …

LEG! Credit: San Diego Shooter/Flickr So fluffy.

Last month, I blogged about a new show starting on Revision3 - Dan 3.0. It seemed like a great idea, Dan was already an established video blogger with a good fanbase, and he was intending to turn his life over to the viewers. You'd get to suggest and vote on things for Dan to do with his life - and the project was set to last a whole year. It …

So, this is how the BBC brought back Doctor Who - to a skeptical viewing public. At the time, it was ever-so-slightly ruined by a certain Graham Norton, but now, watching it back having purchased the series on iTunes, it's as it should be. It's fun watching things with the benefit of hindsight, but I tried to go into this with an open mind. The first thing I noticed was …

I have a question. I've been thinking I should really graduate from running about in tatty t-shirts, as it worked wonders on my feet when I treated them to some proper equipment. So... when did sports wear become quite so complicated? I haven't been in an actual shop yet (that's a whole other bridge to try and cross), but browsing about online, I found this very pretty vest. I don't …

LibriVox is an organisation with a simple goal - to make all public domain works accessible in audiobook form. I've been involved for a long while now, part of an enormous group of volunteers who record chapters, poems and entire books to attempt to reach this goal. To take a break from the Grace Harlowe world, I picked a travel book called - British Highways and Byways from a Motor …

I've been going through a bit of an obsession with the stripe effect, and this is another one that began with that. A couple of brushes, and for the first time I played around with the edges to make it not quite as rectangular and full of straight lines. Made with: Pixelmator Brushes: Floral Decor Art Brushes Font: Party LET Filter: Stylize / Edge Work

Ignore everything I said in the previous post about Superleague in Italy. Franck is not racing there this weekend. Supposedly the team withdrew because of financial difficulties. Probably a mixture of that and a rather annoyed FKM after the last race they did manage to attend. What a mess.

They have recommissioned Sherlock! Fabulous news, although I don't think anyone expected any different. The intriguing part of the announcement is that it is to be another batch of three episodes, and they will each continue the format of a 90 minute sitting. After the second episode of series 1, I felt that 90 minutes was drawing things out a little, but if it helps them to tell the story, …

This post is specifically for Amy, because she asked for more stationery. Reluctantly, eh-hem, I am obliging. It is such a wrench to scour the web for this stuff, you know? Monopoly Game Board Planner I hate the idea of someone throwing away Monopoly, because... why would you? But if you're going to get rid of your board games, it makes sense for them to be turned into something useful, …

What a great way to start the month - a surprise wedding! (Actually, it wasn't that much of a surprise to me as I read this fabulous post first - oops!) Not such a great surprise for Jennifer, though. I have honestly never heard anyone quite so snobby. Of course, she inhabits a world where a barbecue takes two very stressful weeks to organise and involves marquees and hiding the …

It was a warm, sunny afternoon in August, and Mr C and I found ourselves sitting in a large back garden with a cup of tea. This is unusually civilised of us. We surveyed the extra-long grass, and discussed what size plot you would need to fit an underground bunker. Quite big, is the answer. We discussed the pros and cons of more than one storey, and the concept of …

Franck has seemingly disappeared off the face of the planet, and so it is left to other drivers to preview the upcoming Superleague Race. I'm assuming FKM is still driving in the series, although last we heard he was a little bit peeved at the entire thing - his team included. This weekend the gang head to Italy, the Adria International Raceway for Round 8 of the 2010 Superleague Formula …

A while back, I pondered the state of things in Dorset, where they drink beer from the Piddle Brewery. Fast forward a few months, and my Dad presents me with three bottles as a house-warming present. Here we have: Piddle in a bottle Jimmy Riddle in a bottle Little Willie Naturally, the next step was a taste test. Piddle in a Bottle - At first I thought it just tasted …

Ahh, that makes a nice and classy change from that last header, doesn't it? I was mostly inspired by the image used to promote the brushes for this one. Something nice, bold simple and blue. It pretty much fits the bill. Although it has just occurred to me that the bit in the middle looks like a moustache. Made with: Pixelmator Brushes: Baroque Ornaments Font: Copperplate Gothic Bold

I figured I had gone on about running a bit too much for a little while, so I saved two weeks of the programme to go up at once. Here goes nothing: Week 7 Day 1 I don't want to say anything that is going to jinx the next few weeks of running, but this was relatively easy. I wonder if having a goal - a race to actually train …

I know, I know, it's not called 'Baby Panda and Man Thursday' but I love how the panda is just oblivious, happily chewing on what I assume is bamboo but looks suspiciously like a cigar. Credit: Shinya ICHINOHE/Flickr

The Ironbridge Gorge Museums are actually a collection of ten separate attractions spread out over a small area in Telford. There are all kinds of things there, including tile and china museums, pipeworks and a tar tunnel. I didn't really fancy visiting all ten of these. In fact, there were only two bits that I was really interested in - the Ironbridge itself, and Blists Hill Victorian Town. The bridge …

I completed the next letter of the A-Z Adventure yesterday, and it was great fun! I will blog it soon. Before I left in the morning, though, I had a bit of a panic. I have lots of plans and not enough time and why did I ever think this was a good idea in the first place? After a bit of thought and contemplation, I came to some conclusions. …

I started with the brushes and was working purple on white. It was an interesting start, but it wasn't quite what I was after. Then I put the spirals in place and applied one of the blending options (I forget which) and this amazing thing happened. I'm pretty sure it's channelling E4, although entirely unintentional. Made with: Pixelmator Brushes: Circle and Brush Font: Arial Rounded MT Bold

After a long week at work, this is the kind of thing I like to come home to. I have the best husband in the world. Even if he does wrinkle his nose and say: "It's just a box of breakfast." Oh, it is so much more than that, my friend. Just ask the leprechaun.

My mum said: "Try it. It looks like it will be sour but that's just because it is green. It's basically just like a plum." That is exactly what it was. Just a small green plum. Even if it does have a name like... greenhouse? rain gauge? Greengrass?

Maybe you have already heard of Mighty Girl, maybe you haven't. I've been following her blog for a long time, and occasionally glanced at the Mighty Goods shopping site (which she's now sold, but it's still pretty cool). I never bought anything, but it's like the ultimate window shopping for the internet. Anyway, this is not about shopping. A while back, Mighty Girl, otherwise known as Maggie, created a Life …

Mr C and I have often discussed our desire to have less stuff. We move house on a frequent basis and the more stuff you have, the more tired your arms get by the end of each moving day. The Amazon Kindle apps were a big turning point, I think. A big marker in the sky saying that it really is possible to own less junk. You also have to …

Hey, look what I made! You've all been incredibly generous so far - so much so I've had to up my target total. I was not expecting that. I notice everyone has donated the same amount, so I hope no one is put off if that isn't the amount they want to give. I'm happy with 20p, too. I realised that I wasn't that sure how far I was actually …