Back home for Christmas. Little traditions.

Lucy got me this pegboard for Christmas and I bloody LOVE it

Some morning game dev with my helper

New sleep position unlocked

Made the longlist for Best Cuddles

Forbidden chocolate bar

Enjoying having a phone camera with a decent zoom lens so I can take pictures like this one

OK human, we need to have a conversation about the quality of treats lately

This was fantastic.

Our sixteen year old cat brought this little guy in today, thankfully unharmed. First time she’s done this since we’ve known her, didn’t think the old girl still had it in her!

A new APWOT day is a good day.

Now that is a post climbing luncheon

My pal Scott been raving about this stuff for literally over half my life and I finally tried it and…yeah it’s pretty great actually

Went to the KattenKabinet (cat art museum) today and was delighted to discover they also had actual cats.

Cycled up to Zaanse Schans to see the windmills! Had to be done really

Amsterdam is real pretty

They say it does rain in Bristol but I’ve never seen any evidence of it.

Dug out the old faithful Nexus 7 and installed a touch input blocker so our cat could have her own little Cat TV to watch the birds on that she’s free to attack if she likes.

Gutted to hear my favourite musician B Dolan has announced the end of touring. I’ve been going to B gigs for over a decade, since before phones had good cameras. I don’t think I’d have got into poetry without his work. Best ever to do it.

Parents are visiting so had a wee wander round Greenwich.

One other photo from the weekend I forgot to upload…

A 22km walk today. We saw hares, red deer, buzzards and about a billion pheasants. Scotland in autumn is just staggeringly pretty.

Gorgeous day walking in Scotland.

Not as pretty as the outside though. I’d missed you Edinburgh.

Missed our train and have an hour to kill but at least Edinburgh Waverley is pretty.

Made it home in time for bowls.

I have eaten extremely well on this trip

Vancouver’s really pretty.

Well Kato refuses to go near the cat flap but it’s serving well as a window for all the neighbourhood cats.

Had a very cute visitor today.

A lovely day at the footy. 7-0!

This was wonderful.

A lovely day wandering at Castle Ward.

Belated birthday treat was this sauna on a beach in Northern Ireland! Running back and forth from the sea to the sauna definitely gets the aul circulation going.

We are so back

I have learned to make banana bread and now I am unstoppable

She definitely wants something, I just can’t tell what.

When I’m trying to work but this face is demanding cuddles there’s really not a choice to be made.

Cornwall’s bloody gorgeous, it turns out. We saw dolphins by the boat and it was like a religious experience.

Went to see the robot ghosts of ABBA and it was really really good actually.

I threw the big axe

“Can’t climb this weekend because foxes ate my shoes” sounds made up. And yet.

Today I saw something I’d never seen before - the contrails from a plane casting a shadow.

Off on an excursion today

Down in Brighton for Develop and what a joy it is to be around wonderful game devs again.

Brittany Howard and Hozier at Finsbury Park

Much to unpack here

She’s just admiring the views.

It’s heatwave week in London, which means cold brew season is here. You absolutely can heat it up, it’s got a lovely round flavour, but it’s a faff so I usually only bother when it’s real hot outside (and, because this is the UK, inside).

There really is nowhere like Northern Ireland in the sunshine.

Home for one of my oldest pals’ 30th. Been friends with these two my entire life.

A wee day in Belfast with some very old pals.

Having a great time getting back into Elden Ring.

Doing my best Jim Holden face

Arrived in Bristol a little early to meet our friends (by three weeks…) but decided to have a lovely day anyway.

First geocache in years!

Went to my cousin’s wedding yesterday - a gorgeous day.

A wander round Mussenden today

A walk along Castlerock beach last night. I love how late it gets dark in NI - I took these after 10pm.

Took our wee nephew to the Belfast Transport Museum, which was a real favourite when we were wee and it’s still great, actually

Zeret Kitchen in Camberwell remains one of my favourite restaurants in London

Went to Wide Awake and saw Fat Dog, Charlotte Adigery, Young Fathers, King Gizz

Dolores Forever and Orla Gartland at Lafayette

Sure it’s the day for it isn’t it

Post-climb park-nic

Flo Fest 2024 begins

Well, it’ll be a while before it’s a home, but we bought a house!

Had a few pals round to sit on the empty floor and drink champagne out of paper cups. Now the real work begins…

She peed in the box right after I took this but it was very sweet while it lasted

Not a huge fan

The harness was not a hit

Northern Lights visible from Nottingham!

We look the same in the mornings

Had a rather lovely weekend seeing friends old and new

New build smell

Our last day yesterday so we went to Asakusa, had wonderful food including some incredible wagyu, and did a bit of shopping.

Japan has been a revelation I’ll want to write about separately but suffice to say I’m deeply sad to be leaving this place.

Yesterday we went to Kamakura to see the Great Buddha, also saw a Great Butterfly, and went to the beach.

Spent Wednesday evening in Kabukicho - def worth a visit, especially if you’ve played the Like A Dragon games as it’s the inspiration for Kamurocho. Had drinks in the Golden Gai, met some lovely people, had far too much shochu.

There’s a Pokémon Center in the mall below it too which made me very happy

Had a very busy day on Wednesday. Went up the Tokyo Sky Tree which is just incredible views. You can book it online in advance. Tokyo: real big.

Some wandering around Tokyo yesterday - Nishiki fish market, Ginza and the crossing at Shibuya!

Last afternoon in Kyoto so we did the Philosopher’s Walk, then got the train up to Tokyo. Saw Mt Fuji out the window! Tokyo is really something else

Did the usual touristy bits in Kyoto yesterday - Nishiki Market, Kiomizu-dera, Fushimi Inari.

We’re staying in a ryokan (traditional inn) in Ohara outside Kyoto. It’s got an onsen (natural hot spring) which I love.

A brief stop-over in Kyoto yesterday on the way to our ryōkan! We saw Higashi Honganji temple and had the best ramen of my life

Yesterday we went to Nara and saw the bowing deer. They were very polite. It’s a gorgeous place. One of my favourite days so far.

Last night we went to Round One, a massive arcade (eight floors?) in Osaka. I was bad at the games I understood and worse at the rest. I regret to inform I did not, in fact, win the cuddly Piplup.

A few rare shots of Osaka that aren’t of food. This city has really grown on me.

We went to the castle today and that was lovely.

And now for my favourite part of the trip so far - retro game store Super Potato in Osaka

Yesterday we went to Ōkunoshima, an island off the Hiroshima coast famous for hundreds of very friendly wild rabbits. Definitely Lucy’s highlight of the trip so far. A stunning place.

We made it to Osaka last night - very excited to explore!

Arrived in Tadanoumi, did some exploring, ate okonomiyaki in a tiny restaurant and had a lovely chat with some locals. Definitely the hardest my Japanese has been worked since we got here, but we got there.

Today: rabbit island.

Left Nagoya today and heading towards Hiroshima - my first time on the Shinkansen!

Managed to get miso katsu on our last night in Nagoya and it did not disappoint

Things I ate in Japan, part one of many

We saw him also

I SAW HIM

Happy to report the Guinness in Japan is better than it is in England

We made it to Japan! First night mostly spent recovering from jetlag but we did have some wonderful monjayaki. Off to the F1 the next few days!

Lamb is traditional at Easter, and even more traditional is making stock the next day

People always say ‘yee haw’ but they never ask ‘haw yee?’

A lovely spicy Sunday

Yesterday’s mammoth cooking project

Hell yeah new Pope

Random silly thing I’m quite proud of is this Pi Zero graph thing I made to show how many Feud players are currently in matches

Upon the High Weald yesterday

Two years with this wonderful human 🥰

I think this might be the most onion I’ve ever seen in one place

Walkies

We have been climbing

Well, they got the name right.

Had some lovely Japanese food. Shout out to the couple next for us who asked for spoons for miso soup

A very cosy kitten

My new profile photo is from a New Years’ Day walk near the farm my mum grew up on, which is still farmed by my uncle. This old house and the area around it are referred to as “Macaleese’s” after the family that used to live there nearly a century ago. It was used to store hay bales until the top floor collapsed. I love it.

We finally harvested our Lion’s mane! It became some rather nice crab cake-like things.

We got the modelling clay out the other weekend so I decided to make this lightly deranged toothbrush holder.

Our girl utterly transfixed by Cat TV today

Oh hey the fire worked

Some chonky carrots yesterday

Beware of cat burglars in the area

Last night I went to the launch of Amy Acre’s new collection, Mothersong. There were readings from Amy, Fran Locke, Cai Draper and Jess Murrain, and it was lovely.

We lost my wonderful Granny today at the age of 92. I’ve never known someone so warm, selfless, and caring. She died peacefully and surrounded by her loved ones, so it’s the best it could have been, but I am devastated. Love you forever Granny.

Rye’s summer with us came to an end last week and now she’s off to see her mum and dad in Australia! I’m going to miss this lil pudding so much. 🥹

Sleepy angel baby compilation

A glorious, if slightly muggy, day walking on the High Weald.

We went for a walk/forage on the Ridgeway today which was very muddy but gorgeous. We found:

• Jelly ears!
• Oysters!
• Gorse!
• Nettles!
• Wild garlic!
• Turkey tails!
• Ground ivy!

We went to a couple of cool exhibitions today - the ASMR one at the Design Museum and the one about Japanese silk braiding (Kumihimo) at Japan House.