Day 2 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

Day 1 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

I've had a few months now that are more passive, reading challenges, so it's time to turn the creative flow back on and do something productive. I’m going for something a bit more traditional this month - it’s June, it’s potentially summer, the sun should be out more than it isn’t, and there should be an opportunity for some good photos. That’s right, it’s a 30 days of photos challenge, …

At the start of May's 30-day challenge, I thought it was going to be a bit of a slog to get through a poem a day. By midway through, I was coming round to the idea, and by the end of the month, I think I'm okay with a bit of poetry now and then. I don't think it's something I want to keep up reading every day, despite having …

In coming up with plans for my various 30 day challenges this year, I stumbled across the 30 Days Wild initiative - an annual challenge from the Wildlife Trusts that encourages people, particularly kids, to get outside in nature and do wild things every day. It can be a fundraising thing, or just a participatory thing and it’s such a great idea. From 1-30 June, take part in the UK’s …

I’ve gone down a bit of a subscription rabbit hole recently. In working through various replacements for household goods as I go through this zero-waste obsession, I’ve found a lot of things that offer subscriptions, so that if it’s something you get along with, you can have it turn up to your door without thinking too much about it. Given the current pricing pressures in the UK, subscriptions can be …

I’ve mentioned before that I’m completely into the Top of the Pops replays on BBC Four at the moment, as they have reached the early nineties and I’m loving this era of music... we’re heading rapidly towards Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls and so much more goodness. They recently rounded out the year 1992 with the Christmas special, and at this moment in time, Whitney Houston had her vice-like grip …

Often, if I have a spare minute to fill and I’m near an Apple TV, I’ll pop up YouTube and have a riffle through what the US chat shows have been up to. I’ve often posted here about Jimmy Fallon and James Cordon and the silly antics they get up to, but I’ve got a new go-to that I tend to check first - Kelly Clarkson. If you’d have asked …

The zero-waste challenge is still ongoing in my household, or maybe I should call it the reduce-waste-as-much-as-possible-because-zero-is-unrealistic challenge. When I use things and throw things away, I try to take a minute to think about if there’s a better alternative, and quite often find that there is, even if it’s not a perfect swap. That’s good news and it’s always a nice feeling when you embed something more virtuous into …

I've not set any hard and fast rules about how much to update my blog during a particular 30 day challenge because they're all so different, and have different outputs. I only wrote an intro and an outtro to the Core challenge because what else is there to say? I didn't gain a six pack so let's move on. Meanwhile, I wrote three times about the Marvel Comic book challenge …

I’ve been meaning to write about Slow Horses for a week or so now, having wrapped up watching the six-episode first season - it’s brilliant! The first episode had me concerned, the opening sequence of a terrorist hunt in an airport going wrong was fab but then followed up by a grumpy boss being awful to his employees. However, the intrigue overrides that and once you hit the second episode, …

Another month has ticked into action which means it's time for another 30 day challenge to begin. This time: 30 Days of Poetry. This has come from a combination of lingering thoughts about Emily Dickinson following the exceptional Apple TV+ show, and the after effects of dipping into comics last month. Not two things that appear to have much in common at first, but the thing about the comics is, …