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@katsblogofstuff
Comics Galore
Graphic novels are great. Unfortunately they can also be really expensive, so online comics are super useful, when you don’t want to break the bank. Here are three online comics that I’m loving reading at the moment. Lore Olympus I’m a sucker for retellings of the Hades and Persephone myth. I’m not sure what it is, but something about that pairing gets me every time. Which is where Lore Olympus…
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The Loneliest Girl in the Universe Launches
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe Launches
Last Thursday, I was off on a special mission. A mission that took me all the way to Kenilworth, faster than a shooting star, headed for Kenilworth Books to make it on time for the launch of The Loneliest Girl in the Universe. Last time I was at a launch for a Lauren James book, I’d already read the book. This time, I had to wait until the launch to get my own copy, so anticiaption levels were…
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Good Times at Greenbelt
Good Times at Greenbelt
I spent my bank holiday weekend at Greenbelt Festival, in the grounds of Boughton Estate in Northhampton. The weather was glorious, the company was great and I have a list of acts and things I took part in that were so good and you should check out. 1. La Chiva Gantiva La Chiva Gantiva were really really fun. Formed in Brussels by 3 Colombian immigrants, the band is super high energy with music…
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Pizza for Days: All You Can Eat Pizza at Rub Smokehouse
Pizza for Days: All You Can Eat Pizza at Rub Smokehouse
This week has been one of unending rain courtsey of the British summer and pathetic-ness on my behalf because a cold smacked me round the head on Monday and showed no sign of lifting. But there was a bright spot admist the torrential downpour – along with Bite Your Brum, Caramel Latte Kiss and Miss Pond, on Wednesday I headed to Rub Smokehouse on Broad Street for All You Can Eat Pizza. I was…
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Sworn Virgin by Elvira Dones
Sworn Virgin by Elvira Dones
I picked up Sworn Virgin at least three years ago, at Daunt Books in London, because it looked interesting and I didn’t want to leave such a nice bookshop without a book. Fast forward a while, and I finally got round to reading it. Turns out that once I actually started it, I couldn’t put it down. I’m milking my sweet peas for pretty pictures until they are no more Sworn Virgin by Elvira Dones is…
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Time for Tea: Melbourne Breakfast
Time for Tea: Melbourne Breakfast
Tea is a big deal in my house. If you can remember my post about my new house, I talked about how much tea we had. That hasn’t changed. Well…actually, the numbers gone up. So. Much. Tea So, I was going to do a whole blog post about my favourite teas. And while it would have meant being able to make, like, 8 cups of tea in one go for some very pretty photos, it’s way too warm for that. And so this…
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I’d heard about Pieminister. My friends had sung its praises, my girlfriend has often sighed at pie we’ve bought, saying it’s just not Pieminister, and then we also own their cookbook ‘A Pie for All Seasons’, from which delicious pies have been made. But I’d never actually been to a Pieminister.
Hipster looking shop with views of the Town Hall
This all changed today, when Beth took me out to celebrate my new job. (I work in tech now guys – any women or LGBTQ+ people in tech advice, hit me up.) And so, with a Pieminister recently opened in Brum, we went. And man, it was not oversold. At all.
View of the Town Hall was A++
With all kinds of pie, from beef to chicken to vegetarian and even gluten free, you’re not short of options. Unless you’re vegan. With only one main option that isn’t even a pie, it might not be everything you want from a pie joint if you’re vegan. All names are puns and everything sounds delicious – which is my kind of restaurant. And all pies come with gravy. Our waitress was very clear on that, which I fully appreciate.
When you’ve picked your pie, then you can pick your meal type. Classic, Mothership, Feast or Stick ‘Em Up – all of which come with varying amounts of sides or sticks (kebabs skewers with either pigs in blankets, onion rings or halloumi).
Gotta love a flat lay esque photo
I went for the Free Ranger (chicken, ham, leek and thyme), with mash, garden peas with chilli and a stick of pigs in blankets. Beth had the Chicken of Aragon, with mash, minted mushy peas and a stick of pigs in bankets.
Food for the eyes as well as the stomach
It was gorgeous. Not only was the presentation lovely, but it tasted delicious. The pie was everything pie should be. If I had to describe the epitome of a pie, it would be the pie I had at Pieminister. Both kinds of pea were great, and the pigs in blankets were exactly right.
I was trying to be arty with gravy
All of the staff were super lovely, and the service was good. Oh, and on Sundays, cocktails are two for one. I thoroughly enjoyed Pieminister, totally see what all the hype was about. I’ll be going back as soon as I can. Next time you’re dreaming of pie, this is the place to go.
Pieminister Gets My Vote I'd heard about Pieminister. My friends had sung its praises, my girlfriend has often sighed at pie we've bought, saying it's just not Pieminister, and then we also own their cookbook 'A Pie for All Seasons', from which delicious pies have been made.
Queer and Now
On Saturday, Tate Britain held an event called Queer and Now, launching Pride in London for 2017. They’ve also currently got an exhibition called Queer British Art 1861-1967, which is on until 1st October. All in all, it promised to be a fantastic day, and me and Beth headed down to London. Right queer, right now A note on the use of Queer: Tate Britain outlined in the Queer and Now programme…
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This weekend I was at the Good Food Show and Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC in Birmingham. Last November I was at the Autumn Good Food Show, so I had some idea of what to expect. Or so I thought.
It was so much bigger than I expected. Not only had it taken over several halls, but outside was teeming with people and stalls and flowers too, and it all looked a lot like the Malvern Show. In short, it was going to be a great day.
Do love a good floral marquee
And it was pretty incredible. Food samples, interesting plants and lots of lovely people happy to talk to us about the best way to keep our herbs alive. There was a lot of great stuff at the show, so I’m going to list my favourite bits, otherwise I’ll ramble on about everything. And I do love a list.
Tracklements
The packagaing for Tracklements is what drew me over – there’s something about it that caught my eye. I think it’s the modern take on a traditional looking label. When I realised it was mostly chutneys, my heart sank a little, because I’d bounded over quite excited but I don’t really like chutney.
Proper eye-catching packaging
Reader, I bought some. I tried their beetroot and horseradish relish and it was incredible. I walked away still thinking about it and had to come back later because I was still thinking about it. Would highly reccommend.
2. The MS Society ‘A Journey to Hope’ Garden
Gardener’s World Live even had show gardens. The MS Society’s Garden was gorgeous and accessible, something that a lot of beautiful gardens don’t seem to consider.
Being such a popular garden, it was difficult to get a photo without people in it
Aiming to raise awareness for the 100,000 people who live with MS in the UK and the work of their support groups, the garden was a big hit. And in the leaflets telling you about the garden, there were gardening tips for people with MS, to help those with MS work out a way they can still enjoy their garden.
3. Ecotalk
Powered by green energy, Ecotalk is a mobile phone company, who use their profits to buy up land in order to give it back to nature. I got talking to them because they had houses for solitary bees on their stall, and bees are their main focus right now. And saving the bees is a big deal.
4. The APL Avenue Artemis Landscapes ‘Living in Sync’ garden
This was my favourite part of Gardeners’ World Live. Designed to be wildlife friendly in conjunction with Wonderful Wildlife, this garden was a front garden with as many wildlife friendly elements as possible. Bug towers, bird and bat boxes and plenty of bee friendly flowers.
It was gorgeous and is my new garden goal.
5. Bat Conservation Trust
Our garden’s pretty bee and butterfly friendly now, which is a big mission accomplished. Pretty much at all time there’s at least 2 bees buzzing around. So next step is to encourage more wildlife. And who better than bats?
The most common bats in the UK are the pipistrelle and aren’t very big, which means you can easily make a bat box for them to roost in. The Bat Conservation trust had some very lovely people on their stand, who were more than happy to talk to us and ply us with information about how to help bats. I think our next job is finding somewhere to put a bat box.
I went to the Good Food Show and Gardener’s World Live as a member of the press with a press pass (which, ngl, was very exciting). All opinions are my own.
Bats, Bees and Chutney This weekend I was at the Good Food Show and Gardeners' World Live at the NEC in Birmingham.
Last weekend, me and Beth spent the day in glorious sunshine in Malvern. And this was no ordinary day out – this was the RHS Malvern Spring Festival. A paradise for all those with plant growning inclinations.
We bought quite a lot of plants. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll have seen work in progress on our garden. There’s a post planned eventually when it’s all finished, but in the mean time, let me show you things other people grew.
1. Community Farms
The first place we checked out were the community farms. Growing huge amounts of crops flowers in small raised beds to show off what you can do with a bit of faith and work, this was really interesting.
We’re trying our hand at gorwing all kinds of veg and bee friendly plants this year, so it was really hopeful to see so many different kinds of vegetables and wildflowers thriving together.
2. The National Sweet Pea Society
I love sweet peas. They’re my grandma’s favourite flower and they remind me of summer. So I was thrilled to discover that a) there’s a national society of sweet pea and b) that they had a fantastic stand in the Floral Marquee.
I’m hoping mine end up looking like this
I ended up buying one of the displays and they’ve looked glorious in the house. Here’s hoping the one’s in our front garden grow to be half as lovely as these.
3. School Show Gardens
Malvern has show gardens that attract various famous names to try their hand at creating. But they also run a school show garden competition, and as the theme was space, I was so more intriuged by these.
All of the entries were great, each of them with a different take on the space theme. I was kind of hoping one of them would just be rows and rows of potatoes a la The Martian, but thankfully, kids are more inventive than I am
4. My Visible Object
I discovered My Visible Object at the Malvern Autumn Show last year, where I bought a leaf that read ‘Tis now the very witching hour of night’. I’ve been planning to hang it up outside ever since. I’ve finally picked a place for it (in the honeysuckle) and am just waiting for the rain to stop so I can go hang it up.
I’m a big be-leaf-er in garden art
This year, I was determined. I was going to buy some art for the garden. It didn’t have to be from My Visible Object, but I was going to get something. I ended up walking away with another leaf as well as a blossoming cow parsley.
Cow parsley in the rain
I love My Visible Object. While Beth loves putting plants in the garden, I’m more into the design aspect, putting art in the garden that complements and enhances. And My Visible Object creates art that helps me do just that – and at very reasonable prices too
The Malvern Show was a fantastic day out. Plants, sun and ice cream. What could be better?
A Gardener’s Paradise Last weekend, me and Beth spent the day in glorious sunshine in Malvern. And this was no ordinary day out - this was the RHS Malvern Spring Festival.
Readers, it was my birthday last week. And we turned the house into a speakeasy for the night. Prepare yourself for a large amount of photos.
First things first, we made the front room in Lupin’s, an innocuous looking cafe that was a perfectly respectable establishment. No alcohol whatsoever, not even of any kind. Unless it was in tea cups.
Then we set up a bar past the staff only door, complete with martini glasses, glace cherries and a jazz playing all night long.
Next you need to add people who committed to aesthetic and even made up back stories for their 1920s selves.
Final step? Have a lot of fun.
Party like It’s 1921 Readers, it was my birthday last week. And we turned the house into a speakeasy for the night.
Visiting Emerald Island
It is now tradition that, when Caro Emerald comes on tour to the UK, me and my Dad go to see her. Because she’s fantastic and electro swing is clearly where our musical tastes intersect. Concert photos blurry as ever. Caro Emerald fabulous as ever. Irjit Dekel, a singer from Tel Aviv, kicked off the night with some great singing and an accordionist. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an accordionist on…
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Springing Forward
It’s finally spring! The sun is still in the sky when I leave work, the daffodils I planted have flowered and there’s a promise in the air that warmth is right around the corner. So I thought I’d share 3 good things spring has brought so far apart from increased vitamin D and the ability to be in the garden past 4.30pm. 1) Doing Things I don’t know about you but spring makes me want to do stuff.…
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new genre concept: soft apocalypse
the world as we know it has ended and mother nature starts taking back what’s hers. there are no zombies or cannibals or murderous bandits. the most valued members of the community are those who know how to garden and farm, sew and weave, treat wounds, work wood or build with bricks, cook from scratch.
people bond together to begin rebuilding instead of killing each other. everyone teaches each other whatever they do know and works together to figure out the stuff none of them know. books become incredibly valued resources because they’re often the only way to learn critical information. if someone is elderly, disabled, or otherwise unable to work at the same level as most of the community, they’re taken care of by the others, not told any sort of “survival of the fittest” bs.
as the generations ware on, communities begin expanding into small cities. some of the settlements even find ways to repurpose solar or wind power on a small scale and have electricity in some of their buildings. storytellers wander the countryside telling tales of the old world in return for some hot stew or a place to rest for the night, and the mythos of the new world start to incorporate elements of the past. the only thing that remains constant is that humans survive, and they do it by working together.
What she says: I'm fine
What she means: In Legally Blonde, Elle only gets accepted because she's hot and sent a video, but she had a 4.0 and got a 179 (out of 180) on her LSATS. Sure, her major was in Fashion Merchandising but that's a business major, and the fake school she was at was supposed to be UCLA so she had a business degree from a major college, probably went to a great high school, had a 4.0, and a 179 on the LSATS and at that point she would have been automatically accepted so why did they make it sound like she was such a bad risk? She even had leadership experience as president of a major chapter of what is apparently a huge sorority, since Delta Nus are shown as everything from cheerleaders to senators. Harvard should have been desperate to take her. She should have been able to get in if she turned in a cocktail napkin with her name written on it. So why make up the bullshit excuse of "multiculturalism" to justify letting in an extremely qualified and highly driven candidate just for laughs? Elle Woods deserved to go to Harvard and she earned that place with academic excellence and not by being hot.
I’ll be a guest at Copenhagen Comics next weekend (25 to 26 February) so my friends in England sent me a lot of loot to sell, and I love the pins!
I’ve never seen most of them in real life because the guys in England produce and ship them. They’re so tiny and adorable!
I have a special love for the King Europe one, so if any of them are left after the convention I will definitely be wearing him all the time, just because it’ll make me look like a European dickhead.
girlfriends girlfriends girlfriends
