Stuff This Week #95

Fluffy seagull chick nestled in a rooftop gutter against dark corrugated cladding. — We have two of these on our roofs at the moment! ❤️

Last week was focused on trying (and mostly failing) to beat the heat as we struggled with this European heatwave. 🥵

We (finally! 🥳) picked our wardrobe up tonight that we’d bought via eBay. Unfortunately one piece was too big to fit in the car 😱🤔

Undeterred and full of gym energy it was 1 mile from where we live, so I felt The weight and just went “I’ll just hoof it home”

20 minutes and a lot of sweat later… we’ve done it! 🤣

Man with grey beard and round glasses in a red graphic tee beside a large wooden furniture panel on a quiet residential street.

Large flat-pack wooden wardrobe panel leaning against a front door in a cluttered hallway with parquet flooring and stairs.

Stuff This Week #94

Three legged Green-eyed tabby cat with white chest and paws standing alert on cracked paving slabs with weeds, a covered BBQ behind.

Another week another blur of activity as I sit to write this with a pint of fizzy water with a dash of lime whilst my house is currently 24c and due to get to 28c today. Mini heatwave! I haven’t really taken and photos this week, so here’s a Trio in the garden!

Stuff This Week #93

Red metal navigation marker atop a concrete groyne covered in green algae, extending into a grey sea under an overcast sky.

We’re in the middle of June already! Wow! Where did the time go!? A busy tech week with Not-E3 and Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference meaning there’s been a lot of news and videos to catch up on!

Stuff This Week #91

Indoor selfie of two people sitting close together and smiling toward the camera. One person wears glasses and has a long grey beard, while the other wears layered necklaces and has a small tattoo on their upper arm. Soft, warm lighting and a plain wall create a relaxed, candid atmosphere.

He’s back from his adventures! 🛬

After nearly 6 months away, Elliot has returned to the UK with many stories and photos from his adventure to tell. As well as bringing me my konbini socks 🤣

We kept this secret so I didn’t mention it on my blog. His girlfriend and he were travelling home to be there for his girlfriend’s father’s birthday and we didn’t want to spoil the surprise.

Stuff This Week #90

Close-up of bright pink roses and red flowers growing beside a textured stone wall covered in green ivy. A butterfly with orange and black markings rests on the flowers in sunlight. — 🦋

Heatwave! ☀️ We’re enjoying some wonderful weather this week and it’s fantastic to get out into it! Bank holiday weekend as well so Monday off 🥳

Scotland Diaries : Cairngorms Day 6

Travel day 😢 Holiday over already! We’ve got a flight at 12:30 to make! So let’s get ready!

Small rabbit sitting in a grassy garden near a dark wooden fence, with open fields and grazing animals in the background. — Bunnies were a frequent site in the garden

We’d done most of our packing the previous night, so all we had to do was give the property a good clean and tidy, double check we’d packed everything, have some breakfast and say our goodbyes 👋

Stuff This Week #89

Black crow-like bird perched on a weathered wooden bench beside water. A small table and pale rippling water are visible in the background. — A Crow seen whilst we were eating the other day

I skipped a week last week as I just didn’t that much to say. Some weeks you’re just riding the wave of boring adult life and there’s just not that much to share 🤷I’d rather skip a week than just write something without much to it.

Scotland Diaries : Cairngorms Day 5

Our final full day already! 🥲

Winding river cutting through a grassy valley beneath misty hills with soft light and muted green tones.

This has been such a special holiday. We’ve been to more urban Scotland before (Edinburgh), Dundee, Aberdeen (For work) but this Cairngorms trip is the first real time I feel like I’ve experienced rural Scotland on my own terms and it’s been a delight. It’s reminded me just how much I love walking as well.

After some breakfast and packing lunch we set off for another walk. I was excited for the scenery potential on this one!

Scotland Diaries : Cairngorms Day 4

Stone church partially hidden among dense pine trees beside a harvested field under a blue sky with large clouds.

Today was mostly about the Balmoral Cairn walk. Essentially, we’re off to see some posh royal pyramids. In the same area, we planned to try a Scottish delicacy, a buttery. A high-fat bread similar to a croissant. 😋

Scotland Diaries : Cairngorms Day 3

Two people walking away along a gravel forestry track lined with dense evergreen trees beneath streaked clouds and blue sky. — Off we go!

Stuff This Week #88

A glass of iced matcha latte with a red-and-white striped straw on a café table, with drinks and cake blurred in the background.

An orange cat peeks around the corner of an old stone wall beside grass and small blue flowers.

Here! Have two post images this week! Why not?

A delightful Matcha at new local cafe The Pickle Jar and a cute cat I saw on the way home from the gym.

Stuff This Week #87

People seated at outdoor café tables against a yellow wall, with one person using a phone and another sitting turned away. — Just a random shot whilst at the pub Friday night. I really like the composition.

Weeks are going by fast! I can’t believe we’re nearly into May already 😳

Wasn’t it just January and storms?!?!

When you’ve got lots going on, both personal and professional, time appears to be at hyper speed 🚗💨 But! It’s been a decent, productive week all things considered, and the fact that the Sun is making more appearances has been extremely welcome.

Stuff This Week #86

A man leaning close to a tabby cat on a wooden table outdoors, facing each other in a garden setting. — Trio is enhoying the sunshine. A nice picture taken by my dear wife ❤

🇯🇵 My son has reached the Japan phase of his holiday and I am 100% living vicariously through his pictures and videos. Being an extremely good son he has already completed his mission of acquiring the holy trinity of Konbini socks for me 🤣

They are doing Osaka > Kyoto > Tokyo. I think we have things we want them to bring back for us from each location 🤣 🍽🎮🍬

🏚 House renovations continue on! Carpet fitted. Mist paint coat on plaster done. Mattress arrives Tuesday. New posher electric sockets acquired ¹. New Bed arrives next Friday. We’ve found some bedside cabinets we like at IKEA we’ll probably order tomorrow. Paint samples are on the walls (We’re thinking pastel pinks or light greens currently).

A hand holding a pair of white short socks with blue and pink stripes, standing on a paved walkway.

A hand holding a packaged pair of white socks with green and blue stripes, standing on a paved walkway with a bicycle wheel partly visible.

My son is doing great work in Japan and has now acquired me the holy trifecta of konbini socks (7-Eleven socks were already gained in Vietnam).

🧦 🧦 🧦 😊

Stuff This Week #85

An empty room mid-renovation with stripped walls, stains, a window with a radiator below, and a step ladder on the carpet.

The same room with freshly plastered walls, tools and materials scattered on the floor, and a window with a radiator below.

🔨Yet another busy week! Decorations continue. Plastering is done. We had fun¹ installing some new skirting board where the fitted wardrobes used to be and we needed to get this done before our carpet gets delivered next week. Thankfully that’s all sorted now. Plaster is nearly dry now, so we’re going to hopefully start painting the undercoat middle of this week. Colourscheme is TBD. We’re thinking some sort of light sage green? Maybe…? If you have ideas or good sights for interior decorating/colour choices hit me up!

Stuff This Week #84

A crusty round loaf of bread dusted with flour, resting on baking paper with a blue Dutch oven in the background.

🥖 My wife is making sourdough again and I’m here for it 😋

⌛Well it’s been a couple of weeks since my last update! Things have been busy but not in an “Interesting and fun stuff to write about way” just the daily machinations of work and home stuff keeping us busy. So I haven’t really been compelled to write much of anything last week.

First time in 5+ years I’ve had to wear a suit. I am ready for our evening event (kinda wish I was in my PJ’s under a blanket though 😂).

Rugby dinner for my son’s club to celebrate end of season. Jokes aside it should be fun with good food. I’m just old and grumpy 😜

Stuff This Week #83

A brick building with a blue door and two windows under a clear blue sky. A pigeon sits on the roof. The mood is calm and quiet.

A week with some sad news and reflection, busy work and recalibration.

♥ First thing I have to mention is the tragic loss of Michael Borland. We would talk on social.lol about Tech/Mac stuff, Productivity, LEGO, having a blog as well as life in general. I never met him. Never even heard his voice, but it was a pleasure every time I had a conversation over Mastodon with him. I use his icons for Bullet Journaling in my own work journal and he’d just encouraged me to start looking into if Johnny.Decimal after posting about it. I enjoyed and looked forwards to our interactions and thought he was an admirable, wonderful person.

As per his families wishes, I’ve made a donation to St Jude’s in his honour. I’ll finish this little tribute advising you to read one of my favourites. His life rules post. Safe travels Michael.

Bit of excitement tonight. Just after dinner we heard a frantic banging on our back door and through the glass saw a teenage kid begging us to let him in…

He looked terrified so we cautiously opened the door and let him in. Turns out he’d been to the takeaway for food next to the train station around the corner before going to a local football match and about 30 football hooligans had harassed and chased the poor kid as soon as they got off the train, He was extremely polite and grateful that we gave him an escape!

What sort of horrible idiots chase a 16 year old kid?!?!

Small world as it turns out my son knows him from school and was going to the same match. Thankfully No other dramas occurred and they both enjoyed the match. ⚽️

Tagged “Family”