Just pleasantly floundering around.....

Last night chap, friend and I went to a fantastic little music club called 'Club Uniquity' in Suffolk. There were lots of jokes about us being 'exotic' what with us journeying all the way from Norwich and when Andy said one of his songs was from south-east Africa there was some deliberation before they concluded that must be Southwold way. The stage wouldn't have looked out of place at Butlins - with the sparkly lights and smoke machine but the comfy sofa we staked out, the cabaret style seating and mix of artistes made it a corking night! (I was handing out top trump identity cards and when that goes down well - one of my criteria for 'great venue' has been ticked). Anyway. Andy got up to play his set. The compere said, 'tell us a bit about yourself Andy' to which he replied, 'I am the shyest guitarist in the world.' I could tell he wanted to get on and 'let his music speak for itself,' but there were more questions and backed into h...

I went to a local real ale pub this Friday and had a fantastic time. I drank a fine real ale and my outlook became a tad chemically altered. It's taken me years to work out why I like drinking alcohol. It's definitely a social thing for me. Up until recently I would very rarely drink at home (it's still not very common). What I love is the way it makes people more likely to 'connect' with others. In a pub like the one I went to on Friday, everyone becomes friendly and most people are happy to talk with anyone. So to me, the pub becomes one big 'people playground' that I can usually quite freely explore. I suspect there are some places in the world where this would be possible without alcohol. Originally, I met with friends. They like to arrive and leave early. Thing is, they always leave just as I am about to get going (I usually arrive some time after them and my alcoholic stamina is pretty good). So I bump into people - people I know, those I vaguely know ...

I am breezing through..on the way to a meeting...... The start..... There is video footage of the actual race somewhere. It shows me knocking over a small child and the expression on my face shows just how inconvenient I consider that to be - because I only just about stop to check he is alright. I mean...winning is everything. Dr Bob was clearly better at space hopping than me but he let me win - what with it being my birthday and me being so ridiculous by nature. Eventually we let the kids have a go....

For seven years now, we have been lucky enough to have a weekend long camping 'party' in our friend's twenty two acre wood near Bury St Edmunds. The event is simply wonderful - see post 14th Jan! We always started preparing and planning for the party a long while in advance and my favourite of all the preparations each year has always been the treasure hunt. With only a wood to play with (!) we have produced a variety of clues that each lead to a letter - about eight or nine each year. A map guided people to the site of each clue. The letters people collected could then be un-jumbled to make a word. The word then had to be whispered to me before a prize was issued. Simple as that. Only it never was simple, because we usually put in hours of preparation! I cannot remember all the clues, but here are some of my favourites: • The letter you want is in a wallet. We made a road called ‘Wallet Way’ cut into the grass and scattered lots of wallets from charity shops along the ‘r...

Did I have you on tenterhooks? Absolutely brilliant party with host and hostess attending to every detail. Rabbit curry, salmon and goose on the menu, lots of things labelled with 'E' adjectives...a blue punch called exhilarating elixir....etc I won second prize for my outfit although marching in and telling the hostess that not winning a prize would render me devastated (just after she had given out first prize) might have swayed the result a little. I won an egg timer. There was an Einstein, two Egyptians, two 'Eighties' - one looked like Adam Ant the other Madonna, an enchantress, an Essex girl, an estate agent, two Elvises, some elves, an Easter bunny, an e mail, an envelope, Eddy Edwards, Edwina from Absolutely Fabulous, an executioner, the Eastern Daily Press, an explorer, Emma from Jane Austin, a few Emos, an elephant, Elton John, a big E, Edith Piaf, an Everton supporter, an eclipse...and some others I have forgotten. And now I need to rest.

We have some great socialite friends that often throw great parties and gatherings. In recent years they have thrown parties of a 'letter' theme. The very first party I attended was an F party and I was part of the hired help: our band played. I claimed I had come as a frump, which of course needed very little planning. I did also tie huge papier mache flowers to the microphone stands, so I had made a little effort. To their D party the following year, I went as a decoy (or distraction) - simply stuck a sign that said 'they went that way' to my front and my fella spent all day turning himself into a domino to arrive, arms stuck out at right angles from his side, to discover he was one of a set that provided a joke about lining up and toppling them over all evening. This time the invite has declared it is an E party. I am assuming it is not a reference to mind altering pills or I am putting unnecessary effort in. The first port of call is a brainstorm, followed by th...

I'm going to tell you about a significant memory creator in my life...... My mate Chris lives in a 22 acre wood with a meadow in the middle of it near Bury St Edmunds and for seven years since the year 2000 (we had a couple of years off for recuperation) we have thrown a weekend party in it. Over the years it has produced some of the most bizarre and wonderful happenings. Chris, Andy (my chap) and I enjoy putting weeks of preparation into the event. No two years have been the same (however one thing we could always sadly guarantee was rain. In fact in one of the years we had off, a friend of mine rang us up to ask, 'If you had had Christock this year, which weekend would it have been? I need to know because I will avoid a holiday in the UK then.') The weekends have mostly been about a bunch of like-minded people coming together, to camp, play music round a camp fire, eat food we prepare and laugh to the point of pain. To give you a flavour here is a list of some of the thin...

Have peaked and want to return to the build up...but that's how it goes every year...so surely everything is just as it's meant to be. xxxxx

For a few years now, I have crept out after dark on Christmas Eve to decorate my street's sixty or so small front gardens. I know it probably gives me more pleasure than anyone as I love the slight mischievousness of it all (trespassing and not getting caught) and find pleasure in waking up on Christmas morning and looking at my 'impact' in full light. It makes Christmas Eve feel pretty Christmassy -especially after a couple of sherries!!! I also love watching people wander down the street on Christmas day, pointing and smiling - usually with some degree of apparent disbelief! Last year, everybody got a 'Merry Christmas wish tied up in their front garden. This year, I am going for even more impact and have several colourful decorations, glittery Christmas wishes and baubles. I will try and get a photo that does it justice on Christmas morning! I have received a smattering of feedback - all positive. The best response was received via my husband. He was accosted on the ...

I tend not to buy Christmas cards. I make them. But not every year. So some years people don't get a Christmas card from me but it doesn't appear to damage them beyond repair. In fact, I suspect they don't even notice. This card exchanging is pleasant enough but slightly potty behaviour in my book (especially with people you see every week). It's sort of, here have this bit of card with your name and my name on it and some sort of minimal season's wishes that are so much the more validated for being on a piece of card in an envelope, with a pretty picture. Trees lose their life for that. However, having said all that, I am not adverse to potty behaviour so this year IS a card making one. Yipee I hear everyone cry! I'm not overly systematic in my approach to anything, so making things rarely follows a linear staged production procedure. It nearly did this year though. Stage 1. Cut some cards out and pile them up messily. Sooooo the boring bit. Stage 2 Cut a pot...

One book at a time (and every now and then) I think! Outside the Box aims to provide creative thinking and problem solving activities for teachers to use with primary aged children. I used these activities when I was a teacher. These books have done really well and make me very proud (is that Ok to admit?) My favourite activities in Outside the Box 9-11: • Museum of the Moztecks – I give a description of an extinct civilisation and pupils make museum displays about their lifestyles and artefacts • I give a slightly surreal environment and the pupils have to make up a plant, herbivore and carnivore that might exist in it • Disastrous Desmond (who could cut himself on jelly) – the kids make up lots of details about him. • School exchange – pupils choose from four bizarre creatures that have strange behaviours (e.g. muddle 'yes' and 'no', has a extremely loud burp, can turn himself into a sign with an arrow on it etc) and write the diary of the week they spent with him or ...

I have a friend called Chris who could not be a better play buddy for me! We have our own wavelength. He's an unusual chap in many ways and very confident about not being mainstream (He lives in a wood). I suspect he will pop up on my blog several times as we have had so much fun together. A couple of Christmases ago, Chris bought two empty advent calendars well in advance of December. I had one, he had the other and the idea was, we both filled the twenty four (approximately one cube inch) boxes for each other to open - as you would an advent calendar. There was a paper-people chain (that went on and on), trick sweets, a treasure hunt start clue (that lead to a box of chocolates), a squashed up sponge person, a ‘keep off the grass sign’ on a lawn, a decision dice, many things I cannot remember now - even though we scored each day's offering out of ten. However, the single best box in both calendars was one Chris did for me: a box jammed full with twelve, one pound coins with t...

For the last three years now, my husband has been lucky enough to have had an advent calendar made personally for him by me. This year is no exception and this is what it looks like on the outside (my best child-like art style): However on the inside he will find an unusual mixture of things. (And in the unlikeliness of you reading this, Andy, avert your eyes now or risk spoiling the surprises) For example: • Single sock speed-dating • A triffoloop (a strange looking creature) • A ratty donkey • An alien hatching pod • Dragon dribble • A man with an asteroid for a head • A collapsed tepee • A bronze bust of Toyah Willcox • A waxy cotton bud • His name written in urine in the snow • Womble poo • A flurry of punctuation • A teapot graveyard • A lady in red • Etc – I can’t remember any more – so I will have to wait with excited anticipation alongside my husband. He must feel so loved.

For a couple of months now I have been scattering home-made top trump cards, around Norwich, mostly around 'the Lanes'. I am not sure what I am trying to achieve but it certainly appeals to some sense of mischief and who knows - one day they might become as well known as the puppet man! There are more than 160 different cards to collect if anyone is!

I first encountered the idea of having a secret best friend at Green Man Camp in Tuttington, Norfolk. Shortly after arriving, everyone pulled out the name of the person at the camp that they were to anonymously 'spoil' all week. Not being one to do this kind of thing by halves, my secret best friend was treated to: • A poo poem (see next blog) • A set of creative tasks to complete • A story –Sharon and the seven hippies • A green man mask • A ‘wanted poster’ publicly displayed and outlining his crimes • A thought-sorter with instructions (turn the handle and it sorts your thoughts) • A strangely decorated book mark – he was reading when I first found out who he was • A beer My SBF also happened to be a pretty great bloke called Papa Bear and all gifts were received as intended. I extended this idea last year to replace the usual secret Santa at work - that for me - is always an anti-climax. For one week very close to Christmas, our team of seven, anonymously sent hot drinks, t...

For my 40th birthday I had a 1 p.m. to accidentally 3 a.m. barbecue. It started very civilised and ended with us dragging an 18 year old lad off the street and persuading him not to join the army. (A celebration is never complete - I find - unless a stranger has been made to participate). Always being one to feel like I need to provide entertainment, I produced a treasure hunt for the children and a photo scavenger hunt for anyone. A map illustrated the route on which the scavenger hunt was to be completed. I need to clarify - I didn't make anyone do the scavenger hunt, it was optional and a few glass-starts of beer in (I kept losing them), I had forgotten all about it. However, two teams did eventually stumble across the instructions and participated. These are the photos they were asked to scavenge: A photo .. • with all ‘team’ members’ heads and a chimney in the picture • that is a picture for an advert – doesn’t matter what you’re advertising • of a picture of a fish made by th...

I met a young woman at a hippie camp I went to this summer. I bumped into her again a few weeks later. A couple of days after that, she sent me a CD of her quirky music and a letter explaining that she thought I was cool and would like us to be friends. (Yes it happens to me ALL the time). In response to this I sent her a Molly Potter friendship application form via my PA who also happens to be called Molly Potter and lives inside my body. OK so the friendship application form had questions on it like what colour would you have grass be if it wasn't green, give this monster a name, what is your fairy name etc (in fact this has continued and she has since returned the form (wonderfully filled in, with an imaginative CV accompanying it), I have set her a treasure hunt to find the friendship codeword (S-P-E-C-T-A-C-U-L-A-R) using a local shopping centre and including one clue that meant she had to walk into an estate agents and declare she wanted to buy a house for £50, set her some m...