Roaring Successes – The Lion King & The Wizard Of Oz

August was a very busy birthday month for me, as you’ll soon discover in my upcoming Favourites post. But in amongst it all I went to another couple of audio described musicals – one gifted to me by a friend, the other I paid for myself – both of which involved lions in a big way, as well as touch tours. And they were fantastic experiences. So I hope you enjoy this little journey across the Pride Lands and along the Yellow Brick Road with me as I tell you about them.

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June 2023 Favourites

Half the year already gone, and what a year it’s proven to be already. My support worker job is continuing to go well, so I have a nice little update to share on that. Then there’s the usual mixture of theatre, museums, walks, TV, music, etc that I’ve been enjoying, some of which you’ll already be aware of from my posts over the last few weeks. And apart from a press trip, nothing here is gifted or sponsored. So let’s crack on with my latest roundup post and video, and I hope you enjoy it!

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May 2023 Favourites

Hello again. As you May have noticed, so to speak, from a few of my recent posts, this has been another very eventful and enjoyable month. Which means there’s plenty to mention in this latest roundup post and video, including a big royal event, a musical, explorations of nature and animals, and a few things I’ve been watching and listening to. None of it’s sponsored or gifted as usual. So I hope you enjoy!

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Chelsea & Belgravia In Bloom

Last week I spent a gorgeously sunny day with my friend and work colleague Emily from Fashioneyesta, as we explored the Chelsea In Bloom and Belgravia In Bloom installations. These artistic floral masterpieces were being exhibited outside businesses on various streets to coincide with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, as is traditional every year.

A lot of the displays were impressive and beautiful, and so inevitably we took lots of photos. It was easier to do that than I thought it was going to be really, because it wasn’t too busy, people didn’t spend too long taking their own pictures in front of us, and passers-by were happy to pause briefly as we quickly got our own snaps.

So I thought I’d compile some of my photos into this post, which you can click on to see in a larger size, as well as talking about the issues we had with finding everything. I hope you enjoy!

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April 2023 Favourites

Well, what a busy month that was! During April I attended a couple of theatre shows, went out and about with a couple of good friends, had some lovely walks to take advantage of the nice weather, and watched a variety of things at home too.

All of which means there’s plenty to get through in this latest post and video recap. And none of it is sponsored or gifted, apart from a little press event that I’ll mention, and all opinions are my own regardless. So let’s crack on with it, and I hope you enjoy!

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January & February 2023 Favourites

Hey there, hope your year’s got off to a good start so far. Apologies that it’s taken a while for me to do another Favourites update, but I’ve had other things keeping me busy over the past couple of months, as I’ll mention during this roundup. However, I have also been out and about as well, and I’ve enjoyed watching various things as usual.

So, as you’ll see from the contents list, there’s plenty to mention in this latest post and video. And none of it’s sponsored or gifted, except for the panto interview post I briefly refer to. I hope you enjoy looking through it all!

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Blind Leading The Blind – My New Job

Well, hello again. It’s been a while since I last posted about what I’ve been getting up to, and that’s because I took a step back at the start of the year to focus on other things for a couple of months.

But now I’m getting back into a normal routine again, I wanted to tell you about the big development – my new job!

As regular readers will recall, back in 2022 I was made redundant from Torbay Council, after nearly 18 years working in their Printing department, as the authority elected to outsource their print operations. So I left at the start of September, and took a well-earned career break for a few months.

During that time, however, I still did some research to lay the foundations for job-hunting in the new year. And as well as signing up to job alerts and bookmarking useful information online, I also tapped into some of the connections I had made since moving to London at the end of 2016. I knew that building a good social network would be essential, and I’m glad I managed to do so, because several friends and acquaintances did give me useful tips and leads that I could explore further, for which I’m very grateful.

But then, quite unexpectedly, one person in particular was able to offer something even more substantial than that…

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Roaming In Rochester

Earlier this month I had a lovely time exploring Rochester, a historic town much loved by Charles Dickens, with friend and fellow blogger Emily from Fashioneyesta. It was great to see each other again, having not had the chance to meet up for quite a while, and it was wonderful to meet her new guide dog Rosie too. So we had fun looking around together.

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Lockdown Favourites – Weeks 17-19

Hello again. I hope you’re all keeping safe and well. Many of the restrictions are being eased at the moment, which is good, but a few are also being reimposed as and where necessary. So please keep taking all the necessary precautions that we’ve all come to know so well, including the new requirements for wearing face coverings (which are perfectly safe and there are valid exemptions, including for some disabled people). And do be aware that the self-isolation period has been extended to 10 days in England if you have symptoms or test positive for the virus. We mustn’t let our guard down now.

I have started going out a bit more regularly again, in this lovely hot weather we’ve been having, particularly for some nice walks around my local area. I’ve also been to my local supermarket to get a few things for the first time in 12 weeks, and had no problems there. I was in and out very quickly, with a mask on of course, and it felt very safe. And that was just during normal shopping hours on a Saturday, not the priority slot for disabled and elderly customers (which I’m very glad they’re still doing). So things have really settled down there, and all the hard working retail staff deserve a lot of credit, among the myriad of amazing people who have kept vital services operating in recent months.

But perhaps most importantly, I’ve finally got my hair cut! Even if it doesn’t look much from the photos, I can tell you it feels so much better, it’s much more manageable now. And everything was done safely – we now have to book appointments with our hairdresser instead of just walking in (and it doesn’t have to be far in advance, we got a slot within a few days), plus they’ve got hand sanitiser for customers, the staff are wearing visors and there’s a stringent cleaning routine.

I do intend to venture back into the city as well, now that we’re allowed to use the Tube again. The last time I travelled on the network was March 14, nearly 5 months ago. But I have been keeping an eye on the situation. And because TFL have a very strict cleaning regime with no reported problems, there’s lots of travel advice on their website, the passenger numbers are still relatively low, others I follow on social media have recently been getting back on the trains and feel safe doing so, and I’ve acquired face masks and bottles of hand sanitiser, I do feel it would be safe to travel at quiet times to see what it’s like. So if things continue to be alright, that’s what I intend to do during August. Hopefully that’ll enable me to start meeting up with friends again too. And, incidentally, talking of meeting special people, congratulations to Captain Sir Tom Moore on receiving his knighthood recently!

But of course, I’m still keeping myself happily occupied at home as well, so I’ve got various bits and pieces I can mention from the past few weeks in this latest post and video, none of which are sponsored or gifted to appear here as usual. So I hope you enjoy!

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Lockdown Favourites – Weeks 9-12

Hello again, I hope you’re continuing to keep safe and well. It’s been a strange few weeks for me. It started with the loss of my uncle over the Bank Holiday weekend, although fortunately he didn’t have the virus, and my mother and I are hoping to go to the funeral to support my aunt if the rules allow. And then of course we’ve had the Dominic Cummings scandal, which I’m not going to rant about, suffice to say there’s been a major misjudgement of the public mood by him and the government, they’ve lost a lot of trust and goodwill.

On the plus side, however, our lockdown has been eased in various ways, including the re-opening of non-essential shops, the compulsory use of face coverings on public transport, and the partial re-opening of schools. But many scientists feel too much is being done too soon – and if the experts are wary then so am I, because I trust their judgement the most. So I’m happy to continue staying locked down, because I have no compelling reason to go out anyway, and my priority is still protecting Mum by not bringing the virus home.

Best wishes to my friends and followers in the USA as well, all our thoughts are with you right now. Black Lives Matter, and those taking advantage of peaceful protests to cause destruction and misery have no respect for peace and equality. I sincerely hope that stability and civility is restored very soon. We should all be pulling together at all times, but it’s more important than ever during this pandemic.

Anyway, apart from all that, I’m doing fine and have been quite productive, and I’ve continued to find lots of pleasant distractions. So let’s get into my latest post about what I’ve been enjoying, and there are accompanying videos for week 9, week 10 and weeks 11-12. Apart from the Def Leppard box set noted in the music section, nothing else is sponsored or gifted here, and all opinions are my own. So I hope you find it interesting!

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