Landlocked Mermaid

Final Friday Top Five Villains   5. Ursula Naturally, Ursula had to make this list. She is a badass sea witch with an awesome villain song. She's dramatic, body proud, and not afraid to be herself. And like every good villain, she is just charming (and seductive!) enough to lure our unsuspecting heroes in. Villains for the sake of villains fall a little flat, but a good villain is endlessly fascinating. If Disney wanted to do a live action treatment for Ursula like they did Maleficent, I would very much be behind that! 4. Norman/Norma Bates I blame Norman Bates for my fascination with serial killers in movies. Between him and another on this list, I went through a phase of loving serial killer films. Anthony Perkins plays Norman Bates (in the 1960 film, not the TV series) with an endearing awkwardness which is often left to the "geek guy who is really nice and secretly hot" character. He is a complex character with more meat to him that merely someone obsessed with killin...

  Anyone in the local Drayton area would have seen recently that there are plans to build 90 houses on an established patch of woodland, known as Longford Turning. I live just around the corner from the proposed building site and as a user of those woods I am astounded that anyone would even consider building there. Especially considering the campaign to plant a tree for every person in Shropshire. Entirely backwards. Taken from the @saveourwoods Instagram During 30 Days Wild , I used those woods every day for my acts of wildness. The dogs love exploring the wood (as do I!) and it is wonderfully reassuring that within five minutes I can surround myself with trees. Nature is an incredible tonic for the mental health and it is endlessly fascinating watching the tree cycle through the seasons. While I am admittedly a spring/summer girl, the autumn colours are glorious. With growing populations and a pandemic playing havoc with the economy, I can understand why building a new estate w...

As with the rest of this year, we know that Hallowe'en is going to be an odd one. No trick or treating, no parties of more than six, no real excuse to dress up. Well, maybe not that last one. I may spend the day sporting the costume I made last year, it is definitely on the cards. To be honest, I am not even decorating this year. Not beyond the mud we track in from walking the dogs. So what can we do to celebrate this time of year? Well, for starters, you can join in on my Spookfest from the 26th to the 31st!   There will be fun, games, and GIFs. I suppose now would be a good moment to reflect on why I love Hallowe'en. If 2020 has been good for anything, it is perfecting our introspection skills. Amiright? Hallowe'en falls in the really good bit of autumn. It's cooler, but not uncomfortably so. There are leaves on the ground, still orange and yet to rot. The nights are longer, but have yet to dominate the day. It has a nice balance before winter well and truly sets in. ...

As Famous Fish has drawn to a natural close, I thought it would be fun to have a quick look at all the famous fishies we've looked at over the past year. Yeah, year! And to finish this theme in style, I thought we could do a vote to see who has been our favourite! Nemo the Clownfish Notable features: Stripey orange and white body. Live in anemone. Live in social hierarchies where ladies dominate. Threatened due to the popularity of Finding Nemo and climate change. Fun Fact:  When the dominant female is removed, the dominant male will change gender to fill her void. Free Willy the Orca Notable Features: Strident black and white patterns. Opportunistic hunters - they will eat anything that moves. The females live longer than the males. They are very intelligent creatures which do not thrive in captivity. Fun Fact: Despite being called "Killer Whales" they are actually dolphins. The moniker is believed to be an inversion of "Whale Killers" because they, you know, ...

We all know that I love to have a go in the kitchen. I don't often shy away from baking projects (gelatine being the obvious moment where I do shy away!) So it surprises me that it has taken me this long to have a go at jam. Especially as the recipe is so simple. What do you need to make jam? Equal parts fruit and sugar. That's it. Well, a thermometre helps too. I recently treated myself to a ThermalPro thermometre as part of a "bulking up a necessary Amazon order to get free P&P" situation. My hope is that having a digital thermometre will revolutionise my hot sugar projects. Accurate readings must mean accurate sweets, right? Eeeeehhhhh. The honeycomb I made the other week did not mix properly and I will get onto what happened with the jam. Thankfully, these happenings seem to be down to human error rather than malfunctioning tools so there is at least that. I decided to make damson jam. Growing up we had a number of damson trees in the garden and one year we ha...