The Shoehorn Review

Never mind reaching for the feather duster to clear away the cobwebs, it’s more likely that I need to bust out some WD40 to crank up the internal gears of the keyboard.

It’s been a while! Over four months, apparently (WordPress helpfully pointed out my lack of writing achievement a few days ago. But at the time, consuming mince pies was more of a priority).

And I can’t say I have much of an excuse for my absence, except an acute case of ‘Couldnotbebothereditis‘. It’s fair to say I’ve experienced one of my most intense terms at school since qualifying, which has left me drained at times. However, I’ve still managed to do other things, just that picking up the lappy hasn’t floated my boat.

So, I thought I would do a quick round-up of what I’ve been up to since August – because I suspect you’re all falling over yourselves to know… 😉 Also commonly known as ‘shoehorning a post in before the end of the year‘!

A SIMple Life

The school summer holidays; Forty plus days of no work and having time to catch up on lost sleep, half-read books and to get out exploring.

But despite being in the midst of a storm as I type, which has brought some much needed rain, for weeks the whole of the country has experienced soaring temperatures which has seen me retreat to a darkened room faster than a vampire evading a crispy death!

I don’t do hot.

So I’ve found myself (among other, cooling, lets-not-use-much-energy activities) returning to video games. I’ve always considered myself a gamer – not a proper one, with a multi-platform set-up, a swivel chair and my own Twitch channel. More that I’m someone who likes to dabble in different games, dip a toe in and move on to something else when I can’t conquer a level.

You know, like every other hobby I’ve ever had. 😉

Marmosets are mean!

Hello and how are we all on this first day of June?

Since posting every day in April (*cough, cough) to accomplish the A-Z challenge, I’ve taken a month off from the blog to catch up on sleep other activities.

‘Where have you been?’ I hear you ask. Well, I’ve been to Africa to feed lions.

Kind of.

Out of the two options, feeding lions probably seems the less likely but that is exactly what I had the marvellous opportunity to do!

Have a FADTASTIC 2018

It’s the start of a new year and we are awash with adverts and articles tempting you to jet off to foreign shores, encouraging you get out and find the new you…but not before you sign over your life savings for a subscription to the local gym which you’ll avoid like the Plague after the first week!

As we’re on day three of January, I’m a little late with jumping on this self-improvement bandwagon, but I’m jumping nonetheless. Now, I’m perfectly aware I have a bit of a reputation – consistency is not my strong point and in the past, the only success I’ve had with my resolutions has been the ability to pronounce the word with my short-tongue!

So I don’t make them. As such…

Do you remember my Bucket List post of 2016? Well, two years on from my ‘oh-my-I-get-old-this-year‘ wish list and I can say I have ticked two items off the list: visiting Iceland  and publishing a book.

Are you brave enough to enter the Alleys? (Part 1)

Riddles and Puzzles. Ciphers and cryptograms. Mysteries and folklore.

I fancy myself as being quite good at working them out but in reality, I’d be kicked out of any lectures by Robert Langdon before even being allowed through the door!

But my lack of expertise doesn’t stop me wanting to conquer a coded challenge so when a local mystery began to unfold a few weeks ago, I was eager to get cracking.

It all started with a small news story, that gained momentum on social media, of some mysterious, ancient looking crates found in abandoned tunnels under The Land of Green Ginger.

Now, despite having a particularly magical (and therefore fictional) sounding name, this place does exist within my home town of Hull. A small street in the city centre, it is often attributed with housing the world’s smallest window, within the George Hotel.

The tunnels, among many beneath the city streets, were once possibly used for smuggling, as much of the now paved centre was originally the docks, and some were reportedly used by monks to move items from their monasteries. So, a discovery of this nature was not completely unusual but was nevertheless exciting.