Hey there, hope you’re all doing alright, and welcome to my latest roundup. I’ve continued to be happily occupied since my redundancy, so there’s plenty to mention for the last month.
First of all, my big outing was a lovely weekend in Oxford, where I visited the Ashmolean Museum, went on a walking tour of the university and the city, enjoyed a concert by Jools Holland with his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, and had a good laugh seeing Jimmy Carr. So for all the details and lots of photos, check out my extensive blog post about the trip.
I’ve also been getting out and about to see a lot of the festive displays in London. I’ll share the highlights in my Christmas Favourites post in the New Year of course, but I’ve been posting lots of photos on my Instagram page on a daily basis, so be sure to follow me there, and also my Youtube channel where I’ll post some video clips nearer to Christmas.
Apart from all that however, I also spent a day volunteering and meeting friends at a disability exhibition, had a front row seat for another Queen-related concert, bought a special Queen box set, and enjoyed various other things on DVD and TV as well. So let’s crack on with it. None of this stuff is sponsored or gifted as usual, and I hope you enjoy this month’s post and video!
I seem to have gone from one extreme to another lately. After a relatively relaxed October, November has been really busy, and in a good way. I appeared on TV and radio to raise awareness of digital accessibility, promoted audio description at a trade exhibition, learnt a great deal about Ancient Greece, explored London’s illuminated bridges, highlighted more scam emails, bought some new Blu-rays and music, and enjoyed various things on TV.
So there’s plenty to cover this month, and I hope you enjoy this post and video summary of it all. As always, I haven’t received any gifts or payments by anyone mentioned in this post, and all opinions are my own.
Last week I had a great time at the Sight Village South East event in Kensington Town Hall. It’s an annual exhibition showcasing the latest technology, products and services for blind and visually impaired people, and is one of a few Sight Village events held around the UK by Queen Alexandra College every year.
I’ve attended previously in 2016 & 2017, so having missed last year’s event it felt like a good idea to go back this time. But this occasion was slightly different, because although I did have a little look around, I actually spent most of the day working on one of the stands. So it was very interesting to be on the other side of the desk, as it were, talking to curious visitors rather than being one of them myself. So I just thought I’d give you a quick rundown of the day and who the exhibitors were.
Happy New Year everybody! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, and that 2018 is a joyful and prosperous year for you. 🙂
This Christmas marked my first anniversary of moving to London. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long already. And 2017 has been an amazing year! Although I was already used to getting around the city from my previous visits, it was still a leap into the unknown in many respects to actually live here. I had no idea how well it would work out, how safe or comfortable I would feel, how accessible events and attractions would be, and how easy it would be to make friends.
But it’s been more than worth the effort, and I’m extremely happy with how well it’s gone, given all the friends I’ve made, places I’ve explored, new things I’ve tried, and the opportunities I’ve taken up. A year ago I never imagined that I would be doing many of the things that have transpired in the months since.
I’m also pleased that my blog, Youtube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages have had a steady increase in followers over the year. Sure, I don’t have big numbers compared to the bigger bloggers out there, but relative to where I was a year ago it’s been a substantial leap. And my goals for this haven’t been about the numbers anyway. Making connections, sharing my experiences and spreading a bit of awareness was always my aim, and I’ve been achieving that. It’s resulted in numerous opportunities and new experiences, including guest posts, a public speech (with another planned for next year), participating in a research study (which is continuing next year), being interviewed by a journalist, and more. My efforts have been paying off more than I could ever have imagined, and I’m loving it.
But above all, thank you so much to everyone I’ve met and interacted with during the year, whether it be in person or online. By reading, liking and sharing my content, leaving comments, asking questions, sending me private messages and emails, giving me opportunities for guest posts and public talks, and even meeting up in person, you’ve helped to make this year a very special one for me. Especially Aniridia Network UK, Nystagmus Network, London Vision, Thinking Bob, VocalEyes, RNIB, Scope, Fashioneyesta, Life Of A Blind Girl, My Blurred World, Luke Sam Sowden & All The Stations, but also everyone else that I’ve had any kind of contact with during the year.
Everyone has been very positive and supportive, and your involvement has enabled me to start this new chapter in my life with confidence and comfort, and fun and friendship. And for that I’ll always be very grateful. 2017 will forever be one of the most significant and happy of my life, nothing will take that away.
And I’ve had a lovely Christmas to finish it off in style, so I wanted to bring you up to date with how it went and the various things I enjoyed. This is quite an epic post as a result, and I’ve also filmed a video that mentions some of the stuff here along with my general reflections on 2017 as a whole. So I hope you enjoy!
Hello again, welcome to my latest Favourites roundup. Once again it’s a varied package, with some disability blog posts and events, a museum tour, no less than three musicals, another outing with Fashioneyesta, my first trip to a Lush store, the delights of the Lord Mayor’s Show, and more. So I hope you enjoy looking through it al!
Last week I had to go up to London for a couple of days, so I took the opportunity to spend a long afternoon exploring Sight Village, an exhibition showcasing products, services and organisations for visually impaired people. Their main show each year is in Birmingham, but they also have roadshows in Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow and, in this case, London. So I thought I’d do a write-up bout my visit. Which, fair warning, is quite long! But I’ve added headings throughout to split it up, in case you want to jump to any part in particular. So I hope you find it interesting. 🙂
Welcome back to my latest journal posts. There wasn’t anything worth writing about in September, but recent weeks have been pretty eventful.
Down in Devon I’ve been to a stand-up comedy show with some work colleagues, and there are updates on our house sale too. I’ve also paid another visit to our new place in London, where my Aunt gave me a little tour of the local area, I went to the Sight Village exhibition and an aniridia meetup, I oversaw the installation of a broadband line for homeworking, and I made contact with a fellow blogger I’ve been following for a while. So I hope you enjoy it all!
Here’s a bumper batch of journal entries. In March I had a lot of fun with a few of my friends while taking an extended break in Exeter, plus I enjoyed Comic Relief on TV, and there were various things I bought and watched as usual. But I’ve also included my first entry from April as well, because next time I’ll be doing a special post about my holiday to Spain. So there’s a lot to get through here, I hope you enjoy it!
This has been a very busy month. At the end of May I was invited to spend a week with a couple of friends of mine in Exeter, while I was taking a bit of well-earned holiday from work. So that’s where we start off here, and there’s lots to mention about the various ways we enjoyed ourselves. Then there’s the usual mix of job updates, entertainment and other bits and bobs as well. So I hope you enjoy looking through it all!
This diary was written when I was 14 years old, by the teachers who took us on a field trip to Snowdonia in North Wales. We had a fabulous time, and it would be lovely to go back one day. I’ve been able to scan it into my computer and convert it to text using OCR, and have also included a few photos I took as well. So I hope you enjoy!
Well Eye Never 