It was nice to be back in the Strictly party watching sort of live on a Saturday rather than a day delayed, and what better way to celebrate than with Movie Week! Hooray! The best part of this is guessing the movies as the celebrities walk down the stairs, and then by extension what song they’re going to be dancing to. We really will make a quiz out of anything.

Two years ago, I wrote about the emergency hot water bottle cover I knitted and how proud I was of the result. It was a super easy pattern that came together really well and quickly, and I went on to knit a couple more covers for family members so that we could all have that extra bit of warmth and protection. They’re all pretty well used now, those original covers, and some of them have stretched a bit, so it seemed like a good time for a refresh - with a new winter approaching rapidly. I wanted to play around a bit with colours, and put a bit more thought into it, so I bought a selection of chunky yarn and mix and matched to come up with the below.

I always love going to the coast, and what’s better than combining a trip to the seaside with a spot of musical theatre at the same time? Weymouth Pavilion was the setting for this adventure, a glorious theatre that is right on the seafront, overlooking some choppy waters. They were definitely choppy when I was there as the wind had picked right up. As the winter night drew in, the multi-coloured lights on the theatre came on and it was a sight to behold.

You’ll have seen it by now, I’m sure, when Eugene Levy met Prince William as part of his travel show The Reluctant Traveller. This Apple TV show began life by putting Eugene out of his comfort zone, as someone who didn’t really like travelling or care much about broadening his horizons. Three series in and his outlook has changed, so each episode is more just an exploration of a different place, a different culture, with Eugene’s thoughts layered on top.

Worms has that nostalgic feeling for me, even though I wasn’t hugely obsessed with it previously. I’ve played the game and it’s kinda fun making these worms bounce around and try and inflict carnage wherever they go but the main problem is I’m just not very good at it. But this is a new evolution in the game available via Apple Arcade.

I would not have looked twice at this game if it wasn’t free to me on Apple Arcade, because I’m not a massive fan of the Jeopardy! format. I can see why people like it but it infuriates me. Having to make the answers into a question is impossible to remember when you just want to shout out the answer. And the answers they show in no way answer the question you have formatted. It just makes me mad.

Oh this is an excellent album. The Beautiful South in any of their various forms are right up my street and this has some real classic songs on it. You Keep It All In is a proper favourite, but it starts out well with Song for Whoever too. All the songs have that unique story-telling you associate with this band, and they have a variety of voices to choose from in this era, so you always get the best that suits each song. Love it.

The last few Taylor Swift albums have not been to my taste, slow and boring and best avoided. Hearing this one had the involvement of Max Martin again made my hopes rise a bit and… yay! It’s good. We’re not talking the heights of 1989 and Reputation, my two personal favourites, but this is so much better than the last few years. More upbeat, more interesting, there’s a lot going on, a lot to take in, a LOT of words, but it’s overall back in business.

Another cracking read from Liane Moriarty, stacked with interesting characters and thought-provoking events. The big twist in this one is heart-breaking, and I was very surprised the direction things went in towards the end. But as always, you just can’t help but get invested and be desperate to know what happens next and whether they will end up with a happy ending or not. A great read.

I ended up watching this show late, picking it up on Sunday instead of the usual Saturday night party. It was weird, but did mean that I could go straight from the live show into the results show, so that was fun! This was the final time we’d see all fifteen couples competing, with the first vote, the first dance off, and one person facing leaving the competition at the first hurdle.

On the surface, this is your standard rom-com style book, with three women loosely connected dealing with their own difficulties and eventually overcoming them for a happy ending. It’s not massively sophisticated, but for some reason, it really got under my skin, these three women - particularly Gemma who goes through so much and is really strong and resourceful all the way through. A really good read!

This popped up as a 20th anniversary re-release, which does nothing if not make you feel old. But it was a good listen, a handful of the great singles are on there, but the full album works. The band have great vocals that blend together well but stand apart where they need to. The real complaint is the way the whole thing ends, the Racy Lacey song is weird anyway, and it’s such an abrupt stop, it’s jarring. But a small complaint on a classic album.

Listening to this album so quickly after Jade’s means it’s impossible not to compare and contrast the two. They’re both brilliant, excellent pop records with impeccable vocals and production. This one is a lot closer to the Little Mix sound, although there are also songs that sound a bit like other people - Pink, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift etc. But it’s great, and fun, and my favourite is Absofuckinglutely.

I was a bit miffed to start with as the early pages are from the point of view of Uhtred’s son. I didn’t think he was dead from his wounds last book, but I also didn’t particularly want to hear the story told by anyone else. We’ve come this far with Uhtred, he’s the one we want to hear from! It does eventually switch to our guy, and things pick up from there. The search for the sword is interesting and the result surprising, but the best moments are Uhtred dealing with his daughter Stiorra, reconciling the prevailing views of women at the time and his understanding that she’s a strong powerful character in herself. What will happen next?

The Secret Seven are too hot in their current meeting place so they build a new headquarters up a tree (as you do). You wouldn’t think a mystery would come right to their tree-shaped door, but it does in the form of a misused boy and a poor kitten. What I thought was interesting about this book is the gang very clearly go to the parents for help, something the Famous Five barely ever did, but they are shot down. Now they have to investigate themselves and so they do! A good read.

This was a really great book, particularly if you love David Mitchell’s style of humour. He delves into the history of the ruling families, up until the point where the monarchy has no real power any more. I did feel like you sort of have to power through the start a bit, David himself says it’s all a bit of a murky mish-mash of stuff so far back so I’m surprised there is quite so much time spent on it. But the style is so fun, so engaging, and everything is explained really well, you barely notice that you might be learning something along the way.

Strictly’s first live show of the year and we are back in action baby - technical gremlins and all. The show opened with a rather self-indulgent but still lovely dance through the decades, and then we were introduced to our judges (still insisting on doing the dance and shimmy over to the chairs despite the fact they never manage to get their on time, I’m looking at you Shirley). Our couples took to the floor, with the exception of Dani Dyer who has to sit this year out due to injury and is replaced by last minute super-sub Amber Davies.

It’s been a while since I read the first Secret Seven book, and although I always preferred the Famous Five, I thought I’d get back into it as a bit of a palatte cleanser. I do think seven is too many kids to keep track of, particularly as that is plus a dog rather than the dog being one of the gang. But this is an interesting mystery, a robbery takes place and the gang investigate, there’s a circus and stilts play a bit part in it. Just old school fun.

My dad mentioned that I hadn’t listened to any Dr. Hook so I quite quickly added them to the list of albums to work through and here they are! I know a couple of songs, on this album it’s track 7, When You’re in Love With a Beautiful Woman. I’ve read that Dr. Hook are a bit hit and miss, some people think they’re cheesy and I can sort of see why, but I think it’s just the right side of credible, a unique blend of slow and smooth rock. It’s very listenable!

I was really looking forward to this album and it’s definitely a good one. I think I had just built it up a bit too much in my own head, particularly because of how much I love After Laughter by Paramore. But this is its own thing and it does the job really well. It’s good, edgy alternative pop, with Hayley’s great vocals and deep thoughts to share. It didn’t blow me away like I wanted it to but it’s a really quality album overall.

It took me a while to get into this story, the family tree was quite confusing and it’s quite an out there idea. But of course, as with all Liane Moriarty books, you get drawn in by the complex and well-rounded characters, and you just have to know what’s going on, what the big twist is, and what’s going to happen. There was such desperate sadness throughout this, families abandoned or depression discovered or a longing for love, and you can’t help but need to see how it all turns out.

Now I’ve finished powering through Jack Reacher for a while, it’s time to head back to David Baldacci and his excellent thrillers. I enjoyed this one, someone is copying lots of different serial killers and it ends up being up to King & Maxwell to figure it out. There are lots of twists and turns as you might expect, but I wasn’t anticipating the ending where everything hit a lot closer to home than you might imagine. Very interested to read the next one in the series!

Having watched the movies that were based on this book, I was intrigued to find the source material still available to read. It’s completely different to the comedy in the movies but it’s no less interesting. It’s a lot more focused on how the father deals with life in such a big family, and actually the vast array of children don’t have too much impact other than when it fits in with a story about the dad. Interesting though, and well worth a read - it’s almost impossible to imagine such a big family at such an intriguing time in the past.

This time last year, I wrote about how I was heading into the new series of Strictly with mixed feelings. There had been endless bad news coming from the Strictly camp and the selection of celebrities didn’t have me jumping up and down with enthusiasm. I said: Guess how long it was into the launch show before I was giddy and clapping and bouncing around the room? About ten minutes, if I’m being modest, five minutes if I’m being truthful

I had missed the BBC’s dramatisation of the Brinks-Mat gold heist when the first series aired in 2023, but when the second series came around, there was so much talk of it (and my love for Jack Lowden had grown so much) that it was impossible to ignore. What an incredible TV show, based on an even more incredible story. The scale of this crime and the ongoing repercussions are incredible.

One week, the outdoor floor was just brown, brown, brown. Then suddenly, a multi-coloured carpet to crunch over.

Ricky Martin put in a brilliant performance at the MTV VMA’s which reminded me that I haven’t listened to anything by the man. So, kicked it off with Ricky’s breakthrough English language album (he had a few Spanish records before this). Livin’ La Vida Loca is a great way to start an album and the rest of it actually lives up to the opener. There’s even a duet with Madonna - how did that come about? Sometimes with these albums you get lots of repeat songs in Spanish, but La Vida Loca is the only one that falls into this trap, and to be honest, it’s worth listening to twice. A, good, fun, late 90s pop album.

After watching Jade’s set at Glastonbury, I was really excited for this album to come out and it has delivered. In fact, it’s pretty much exactly what we got at Glastonbury, give or take the Little Mix songs and 90s covers. It’s intense, quirky pop music, clearly a lot of trauma to deal with in regards to the music business and how it treats artists, but there are also the heartbreak and love songs in there too. Really good, really listenable, and something Jade can be really proud of.

This was so creepy. The only thing I know about this is that at far too young an age I think my friend and I started watching the movie but I know nothing except the opening credits so either we didn’t get very far or I’ve blocked it out. Of course, Stephen King knows what he’s doing with building the tension and the creep factor, and even though it was all obvious in hindsight, I really didn’t see where it was going! Horrific but such a good read.

All the Liane Moriarty books I’ve read so far have been a real treat - that attention to detail and incredible character work layered on intriguing plots can only end up in a good result. I do think this one is weaker than some of the recent reads, though, and mostly because of the big ‘twist’. It’s so built up and takes so long to be revealed that it ends up being disappointing (given the context, this seems like the wrong word but just in terms of pacing!) and something that surely shouldn’t have caused the ripples that it did. However, the way it all unwinds is interesting, I just think it needed to come earlier in the book to live more in the after than in the before.

The first Cheaper by the Dozen was a pleasant surprised, a good, fun film that wasn’t annoying - considering how many children were in it. I was keen to watch the sequel because it adds the grumpy joy that is Eugene Levy to an already great adult cast. The film was good, maybe even better than the original… which again was a surprise because there are even MORE children in this one! The idea of a chaotic vacation isn’t exactly new, but it’s well done here, and the various subplots for the kids are good - reflecting a growing and changing family. Probably didn’t need quite so much focus on a weirdly smart mouse, but you can’t win them all. Just a fun watch, great for a Sunday night.

It’s hard to know what to make of this film and I think that’s mostly because the film itself doesn’t really know what it wants to be. It’s good and very watchable, but such a mish-mash of genres and tones that it gets a bit distracting. The romance moments are lovely, and probably the best part of the film. The sci-fi part is okay and the CGI is great. The big conspiracy thriller plot is a bit tacked on but does the job. The problem is switching between these moods happens instantly, jarringly, and irritatingly.

I’ve never been a big fan of Peanuts, the kids in the show are annoying and I just never really gave it much time. But the Apple TV screensavers that feature Snoopy and Woodstock are absolutely brilliant. The pair of them spend most of the time snoozing in various locations, but occasionally they also get up to mischief - Woodstock tending to get the better of Snoopy, or the dog frustrating the bird with his nonsense ways.

Until I saw the DriveTribe video, I didn’t realise that Richard Hammond was working on his own gin - but, of course, it makes perfect sense. Hammond has long been a gin drinker, enjoying the tipple in many episodes of Top Gear and The Grand Tour. And when James May created his line of gin, Hammond was first in line to do the taste testing. As I wrote previously, he seemed to be very interested in the details of the gin-making process, so this next step was always going to happen.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this album, I’m not a massive Ozzy Osbourne fan but then I only really know him as the slightly doddery old guy in that early reality show that I didn’t watch. However, the album is called Blizzard of Ozz which is some kind of genius and worth a listen for that alone. And actually, it was a bit of a revelation! It’s good, credible rock, and just the right side of heavy for my metal tastes. It was also a lot more existential than I was expecting, more emotional even. The Mother Earth song really surprised me for its themes. Overall, a really great album. RIP Ozzy!

I do enjoy Rob Thomas’ music and this album was much more of the same. It’s very short, so there’s not much time to get invested in it, and there aren’t really many highs and lows. From the start, it’s just good grown up pop music, and definitely pleasant to listen to. I like all of the songs, but none of them massively stand out. In fact, the only one that did was the last song on the album which is great in itself, but doesn’t really feel like a good finish - presumably it was put there because of the title. But small complaints for an overall good record.

This is an incredible BBC production of the classic dystopian book, and the cast really put their all into it. Peter Cushing does a great job with the quiet, understated character, who has to express doubt to the audience subtly. I find Donald Pleasance endlessly captivating as well, so it’s a shame his role was so short-lived in this. Meanwhile, because the production is so old - black and white and some pretty rubbish camera work, plus some apparent aging of the tapes - it adds to that dystopian feeling and the general tension that just ramps up and up.

I honestly just love these Sweetpea books. They’re dark but they’re funny and oddly relatable, and ultimately, we’re cheering for a vigilante so it’s not all bad. This time our Sweetpea is navigating a long term relationship and a large in-law family who all come with problems of their own. I did like the twists and turns of the relationship, as Rhiannon opened up more and more, and got nothing but support in return. Lovely. And then the awful two twists at the end, which hopefully lead us directly on to the next book.

This really felt like it was setting up a new generation of stars, as Seabrook is pretty much as together and full of kindness as it can be, so now we need a new set of enemies-to-lovers to root for. It’s essentially night versus day and even though everything is pretty predictable, it’s still quite fun to go along for the ride. Lots of bright and breezy songs in this one and that West Side Story vibe that sees you right to the end… in which we are set up for potentially another sequel and another supernatural genre to enjoy.

At this point, you know what you’re getting from these TV movie musicals, and the direction of this one was very much highlighted at the end of the last. We’ve had zombies, we’ve had werewolves, and now we’ve got aliens, all differentiated by their hair colour. This was fun, more of the ‘us against them until we realise we have more in common than we think and all eventually get along’ story, some medium to good songs, and tolerable dance routines. I don’t think it’s as good as the first two movies, but it’s plenty watchable.

I’m always wary of these posthumous Michael Crichton books, but this one seemed to be pretty credible and was helped by the hand of James Patterson, who isn’t always my cup of tea, but definitely knows how to help tease out a story from existing material. I did enjoy the book, the tension is fierce, the action frantic, and it’s always more difficult when you’re enemy is mother nature. There are areas that don’t feel fully fleshed out, and you can tell this isn’t entirely MC’s work, but ultimately it’s a really good thriller that is more than worth a read.

My job involves a lot more meetings and scheduled phone calls than it used to, and although that is all managed through the calendar app, I’ve found jotting down the upcoming schedule on paper can be really helpful for me getting organised and prepared for the day ahead. I’ve tried a few different planners, initially starting with just a simple ruled notebook, and then moving on to the more dedicated planners for this exact purpose. I think I’ve found the pinnacle of these planners, made by Clever Fox.

It’s such a well known story but this must have been one of the first adaptations of it. Obviously, it’s a tragedy, and it’s told very well in this film - although it’s a little drawn out and long, three hours! The actors inhabit their real life characters very well, although Anne is a bit high pitched, she definitely gets the restless quality. The steadiness of Otto and the irritability of everyone else. The tensions ramp up, the stakes get higher, you feel it growing all the time. There were a few liberties taken in the service of the film but ultimately it’s very respectfully done.

This is just amazing - Brian May joined Andrea Bocelli on his tour for this incredible performance of Who Wants to Live Forever… the only good thing to come out of the Highlander movie. I have not given Brian May enough credit for his vocals before!

This is so good. Imagine there being a film focused on a woman’s mental health and her finding herself, albeit with the support of a good man, but ultimately understanding her place in the world and that it isn’t just about romance. And that film is over 80 years old! So good. The mother is wonderfully awful, Bette Davis coming out of her shell is glorious to watch, and lovely Jerry being endlessly lovely. And that ending quote is iconic for a reason - so heartbreaking.