Category: Monthly Roundups

June 2025 Favourites

Hello again, I hope you’re all doing well. Those of you who saw last month’s roundup will know that I’m going through a difficult patch at the moment because of my mother’s health. We have started to get a bit of help, in terms of medical assistance and reaching out to support services, all of which takes time, and I will explain more in due course. Suffice to say for now that going totally blind has naturally had a big impact on her mental health and sleep, and by extension has affected my wellbeing as her carer. We are ok, but certain aspects are quite difficult to deal with

As a result, I’m not making videos to go with these posts for the time being, as it’s just not practical right now and I want to make things easier for myself. It also means I’m not doing as much out and about as usual, as my caring role is dominating my time much more than it used to – and I am therefore starting to explore the support that’s available for carers.

However, I did manage to go to the theatre a couple of times with friends early in the month, which I was really grateful for, as I needed to confide in them about what’s been going on, and the shows were great escapism, especially because of the touch tours and audio description.

So I’ve got those shows to tell you about, as well as some bits and pieces I’ve been watching at home, and none of it’s sponsored or gifted as usual. So let’s get on with it, and I hope you enjoy!

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May 2025 Favourites

Hello again, I hope you’re all doing well. For me this has been a very difficult month to be honest, as my mother’s had a decline in her mental health due to issues relating to her blindness and sleep, and naturally that’s had a big impact on me too as her son and carer. We’re in the process of having appointments to try and get her some help though, and I’ll keep you posted.

Suffice to say, I haven’t been able to go out and do as much as I’d planned this month. I did meet a close friend for a good catchup, and I did manage to have a few walks, but there’s nothing for me to write about on that front. So this post is purely going to be about the entertainment I’ve been enjoying at home, which has been a good distraction for me.

My situation also means that I’m going to stop making videos to go with these Favourites posts for the time being, as I don’t have the time, privacy or mindset to film and edit them at the moment. Writing’s much easier, so I’m going to focus my efforts on that for now. I’m sorry to those who enjoy watching or listening to me ramble on, but I will get back to making videos when I feel ready. That might be in one or two months, or it could well be longer, I just don’t know yet. I’ll try and make little vlogs here and there though, just to quickly share how I’m doing.

So with all that said, let’s get on to nicer things with the TV shows and DVDs I want to talk about, none of which is sponsored as usual, and I hope you enjoy!

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April 2025 Favourites

Hey there, hope you had a wonderful Easter and a lovely April in general. This has been my busiest month for a while, as there’s lots to mention in terms of outings, including social events, a musical and a concert, along with TV shows and films I’ve been watching at home.

The concert I went to was a PR invite for me to review, but otherwise nothing is sponsored to appear here, and in any case all opinions are my own as usual. So let’s jump straight into April’s post and video roundup, and I hope you enjoy!

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March 2025 Favourites

Hey there, hope you’re doing alright, and welcome to my latest roundup. March has been a bit of a mixed month for me, what with losing our Virgin Media service for almost a week (thankfully now fixed), and hearing about the government’s plans to cut disability benefits (which I’ve talked at length about in a separate post).

But there have been good things too, as I saw a couple of my favourite entertainers live for the first time, and enjoyed a variety of bits and pieces at home. So I’m going to focus on all of that in this post and video, which is relatively short I know, but I hope you find it interesting as usual!

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February 2025 Favourites

Hello again. After a nice quiet January, this has been a slightly busier month for me, as I paid a visit to Kew Gardens to see their Orchid Festival, and I went to the cinema with a couple of friends. The latter in turn led to me watching a few more animated films at home, which has been a bit of a theme recently given my previous reviews of Wallace & Gromit and other Aardman productions, although this time they’re Disney films. So there are a few bits and pieces to mention in this month’s post and video, none of which is sponsored or gifted as usual, and I hope you enjoy!

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January 2025 Favourites

Well, hello there, and welcome to my first roundup of the year – which has got off to a very cold, wet and windy start here in the UK. We’ve been better off staying cosy and warm indoors, so I haven’t done anything really notable out and about this month. I did buy myself a lovely new winter coat in M&S though, plus I got a much-needed haircut and had a few little walks, but that was it really. I have plans for the months ahead though, so I’m not concerned about that.

Besides, a quiet start to the year is quite welcome, especially after a busy and somewhat stressful Christmas thanks to our old cooker breaking down. But thankfully the new Beko cooker we had installed this month is working wonderfully. It took a little bit of getting used to at first, as the numbers on the dials go in the opposite direction than we’re used to, and the method of ignition using a button while pushing in the dials is slightly different to our old cooker. But we soon got the hang of it, and it cooks everything really well, better than our old appliance did. We’ve done meat joints, steaks, pizzas, fish, etc in the oven, which have all come out perfectly when following the packaging instructions, I’ve become a dab hand at doing delicious cheese on toast under the grill, and the hob heats things like vegetables and gravy very efficiently. So we’re happy with it, and let’s hope that remains the case for a while!

So with all that said, there are just a few bits of entertainment to mention in this month’s post and video. I did consider holding back my next update until February, but after an epic Christmas roundup, followed by a couple of lengthy reviews that I’m going to highlight here, it’s nice to do something a bit shorter. So I’m sorry it’s relatively brief, but nevertheless I hope you enjoy!

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Aardman Animations Reviews

Back in December I rewatched all of the old Wallace & Gromit films, and then thoroughly enjoyed their latest special that came out at Christmas, called Vengeance Most Fowl. You can see my thoughts about all of those in my comprehensive review post that I published shortly after Christmas.

Consequently, I thought I would further celebrate the amazing talents of Nick Park and the team at Aardman by checking out all of their other animated films as well, plus a classic TV series. I’m not interested in seeing absolutely everything they’ve done, as I don’t have the time or desire to do so, nor do I feel a strong urge to buy any of these titles I’m about to mention either. And this post isn’t sponsored of course. It’s just been fun to look at a selection of things that I either haven’t watched for ages or have never seen before, and I hope you enjoy reading about them!

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Christmas 2024 Favourites – Part 2

Happy New Year! I hope you had a lovely time over Christmas!

Following on from Part 1 of my festive Favourites that I posted on Christmas Day, I’m now going to talk about a free exhibition I was given a tour of, give an update on events at home, and trawl through the many things I’ve been watching and listening to. And while the tour was courtesy of a PR invite, there have been no other incentives for anything to appear here, and all opinions are my own regardless.

So let’s dive into this bumper post, with an accompanying video that also features everything I mentioned in Part 1. I hope you enjoy!

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Christmas 2024 Favourites – Part 1

Merry Christmas! I hope you’re having a lovely time, or at least a comfortable one depending on your circumstances.

We’ve had a bit of drama at home that’s left us without a cooker for a while, as I’ll explain during this post. But otherwise this month has been going well so far. And as there’s a fair amount to mention already, I thought I’d do a post now to get some of it out of the way.

In particular, I’ve got out and about quite a bit already, as I’ve attended an office party, had a nice dinner with a friend, and taken a trip down to Devon. Plus there are a couple of pieces of technology I got in the Black Friday sales that I’ve enjoyed using.

So that’s what I’ll cover in this post, none of which is sponsored or gifted to appear here as usual. And then in Part 2 during January I’ll go through the myriad of things I’ve been watching and listening to, one of which will be getting a special post of its own anyway before the year’s out. There should be more to mention from London as well, as I’m hoping to explore a bit during the rest of my time off.

So let’s get on with it, and I hope you enjoy this first part of my Christmas roundup!

January 2025 Update: I’ve now shared my Christmas Favourites video alongside Part 2 of this festive roundup, which includes everything I’ve mentioned in this post. So I hope you enjoy all of that too!

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November 2024 Favourites

Hello there, welcome to my latest roundup for November. As with October, we’ve continued having work done on the house, but I’m happy to say that it’s now all over for the time being. And it has been worth it, despite the inevitable stress, disruption and cost involved over the past couple of months. The kitchen had been badly in need of refurbishment, so it’s now much safer, brighter and looks more modern, while the lighting in the living room has been improved and the outside of the house has been repainted. So it’s been lovely to get back to normal in time for Christmas. We may have more work done next year, as there are other things we want to do, but we’re not rushing into anything. This has been quite enough for the moment!

Despite all of that, however, I have been able to meet up with some of my friends for meals and entertainment, which has been a welcome distraction, and there are a few things I’ve been watching on TV and DVD. The meal and theatre show I went to with Emily were free PR visits for her to review, but nothing is sponsored to appear here and all opinions are my own regardless. So I’ve still got a fair amount to talk about in this month’s post and video, and I hope you enjoy!

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