Our year of concerts

This year truly was a year of concerts. Many of our favourite groups and singers were touring this year, and we were lucky enough to secure tickets to some great shows.

It all kicked off with Jason Donovan at Worthing Assembly Hall just down the road. This was such a fun concert, we were only a few rows back so we had a great view, and I had a fantastic time singing along and waving my arms. It was such a good atmosphere!

We followed that with a trip to see his contemporary Kylie Minogue at the O2 in London. Quite a contrast! The audience for Kylie was fantastic, really well-mannered and there was lots of effort put in to outfits. Kylie has a great back catalogue from over the years so there were plenty of songs to sing and dance along to, with some fantastic backup singers and dancers.

Then it was back to the O2 for my favourite group of all - Pulp and the You Deserve More tour. I've seen them several times over the years and they always put on a great show. We had really good seats and I loved the structure of the show - two neat halves with an interval in the middle. Pulp showcased songs from their brilliant new album More, and I'm sure that Jarvis Cocker looked directly at me and asked me to meet him by the fountain down the road.

Over the summer we found ourselves at Wembley several times. Getting tickets for most of our concerts was not in any way easy, and tickets for Oasis were the most difficult. We spent a whole morning queueing and the whole experience was stressful, but worth it. We were seated right up at the back and the audience was a little rowdy but it was an amazing night. An intimate venue can be nice to feel a connection with the group, but nothing beats being part of an enormous crowd all singing along together to a classic song like Wonderwall. 

You may be unfamiliar with Blackpink as a group but I'm sure that you will have heard of the very popular song Apt. performed by Rosé, one of their members. My daughter is a huge fan of Blackpink, and so when the tickets went on sale we rushed to buy decent tickets for her, me and my husband. Then they announced another date for the following evening, and just before the concerts we discovered that we could buy tickets for all four of us for the same price as just one of our original tickets! So we went along for a second night running, this time with my son in tow.

I made a big effort before these concerts. I downloaded the setlist and made sure that I knew at least the chorus to all the songs. One of their songs, Shutdown, was my second most played song of the year on Spotify because I had it on repeat while learning the rap. We made bracelets and took along Blackpink light sticks. 

The first night we had great seats down the front to one side and had a fantastic view. The second night we were in the cheaper seats at the top, but we had a great view of the stadium as a whole and could really appreciate the way that it lit up with all the pink light sticks. I had a great time dancing and singing along, and I hope that my daughter enjoyed the concerts too much to be embarrassed!

Our final trip to Wembley this year saw Chris Martin thanking us all for coming out on a Wednesday night to see Coldplay - as if we'd had any choice on the day in another mad rush for tickets! When we booked the tickets early in the year this was intended to be our first concert with both teenagers, as having seen them live a few times we knew that it would be a fun, colourful show. We weren't wrong, they loved the light up wristbands and confetti, bouncy balls and special glasses.

Our amazing year of concerts came to an end right where it began, at Worthing Assembly Hall, with The Lightning Seeds. We were standing for this one, but because it's a small venue we were still close to the front. Maybe a bit of a comedown from the last time I saw them back at Glastonbury as a teenager, but I do love their music. It's so boppy, and some of their lyrics really resonate with me. And so nice to be safely back home just twenty minutes after the concert finished!

Finally there's the one that got away. We would have loved to have seen Radiohead this autumn as we've never seen them live, but despite our best efforts we weren't able to secure tickets. 

Never mind, even though next year doesn't look to be quite as busy we did manage to get tickets to see Take That (or I think three of them at least) in Southampton next spring! I missed out on their last tour because I'd just had a baby, so I'm really looking forward to this one.

Did you get to any concerts this year?

My garden as winter kicks in

This year was the year that I finally began to take our garden seriously. We were lucky enough to have it redesigned in May, and so we spent the summer visiting garden centres and nurturing our new plants with the aim of filling the garden with colour. Here's what it looked like in the summer:

The bed at the front with the canna lilies was one of my favourite parts of the garden. They grew and grew, and more and more flower heads just kept coming. They were so beautiful! But they began to fade, and after the first couple of frosts they were looking very sad.

I took advice from various sources and decided that I would risk leaving them out over the winter. I cut them right down, and then tucked them up in some horticultural fleece. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they survive for another display next year!

Elsewhere I do still have some colour - my lovely purple salvias are still flowering! I'm really hoping that they last the winter as they did incredibly well, they grew from one stem to nearly filling the large borders. I'm definitely going to buy some more next year for the empty patches along our back fence. 

Our garden designer gave us some tips for planting, and one was to include evergreen plants and shrubs in a range of different shades so that the garden will still look colourful in the winter. These purple Heuchera are a gorgeous colour, and at the moment they contrast really well with the fallen leaves. The lighter green shrub is Choisya Sundance and it has grown up really fast. I love the different colours on this section of the border.

I'm still spending quite a lot of time in the garden picking up the fallen leaves, or at least whenever I can get out between the rain showers. We no longer have a front hedge which means that they get caught up among the plants and I don't like having them on the paths or lying on the lawn.

Over the winter I'm going to be popping out from time to time to keep things tidy, and also reading up on pruning techniques for when all these plants get bigger. I'm also going to be buying seeds ready to plant indoors in early spring. 

I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens to the garden next spring, I'm hoping that it will all start to fill out a bit and look less sparse!

My Advent calendars this year

Advent calendars seem to be a bigger deal every year. I always tell the children that I'll buy them a simple chocolate one and if they want something fancier they have to buy it themselves!

But I'm a grown up, and this year I've indulged myself with two Advent calendars! My main one is a  jigsaw Advent calendar, something that I've wanted for years. I asked for it as a birthday gift, and after some pondering I selected this one - Puzzle Advent Calendar (affiliate link). I like that each day is a smaller image which builds up into a festive collage. The daily boxes contain about 40 pieces which is the perfect size - it's still a challenge but not too difficult! 

The box is really sturdy, and so it will definitely be coming out again next year, and the pieces are numbered on the back for easy re-packing. The only difficulty is finding space to lay it out as my large jigsaw board is always in use! I will probably be completing it in parts and then putting it all together on Christmas Eve.

To go with my daily jigsaw I am enjoying a cup of tea from my tea Advent calendar. I bought this in  Søstrene Grene which is a lovely shop, at the moment it's filled with all sorts of Christmas goodies. I love the look of all the teas, some are festive, some are fruit or herbal teas. It could also be refillable if you buy some individually packaged tea bags, so again I'll be holding on to it for next year!

Finally we have an Advent candle which I like to burn in the evening while we are eating dinner. The candle and holder were also from Søstrene Grene and I decorated them both with some candle transfers that I bought at the same time, I think it worked really well.

Do you have an Advent calendar this year?

Simple Hama bead snowflakes for Christmas

I know it's been ages since I shared a new Hama bead craft on my blog, so this week I've been working on some Hama bead snowflakes! They are a great way to add a bit of homemade craftiness to your Christmas decor.

The designs for these snowflakes are mainly based on the snowflake pattern that I came up with for my Hama bead snowflake bunting many years ago. I used designs which are created on the hexagon shaped pegboard. I also experimented with some smaller designs. The hexagon pegboard works really well as it easily divides into six sections, so you can just start by placing beads in the centre, head out towards the corners, and see what you end up with! 

When it comes to ironing the Hama beads, for this particular craft it is especially important to make sure that you iron the beads until they are well fused, and to iron them on both sides. Even though some areas are only one bead wide, as long as they have been well ironed then they will be sturdy enough to stand up to being used in your Christmas decor.

If you are new to crafting with Hama beads then you might find this post helpful - Ironing tips for Hama beads. 

This craft was a bit of a de-stashing exercise for me - I've been lucky enough to hoover up lots of Hama bead collections from friends and family which has left me with small numbers of beads across a huge range of colours. So I mixed in some of the pale blue, transparent and glitter blue beads to add some interest to my Hama bead snowflake collection!

I don't have a final home for these snowflakes yet, but it would be easy to add some festive cord or ribbon so that they can be used as ornaments on the Christmas tree.

I can also imagine them hanging from lengths of cotton in a window or over an unused fireplace. They could be attached to gifts, or enclosed with Christmas cards.

These Hama bead snowflakes were so fun and simple to make, and I loved coming up with different ways to place the beads in order to create new designs.

If you are looking for more snowflake crafts then you might also enjoy these:

Mini Hama bead snowflake embellishments

Free simple cross stitch snowflake designs

Snowflake cross stitch embroidery frame design

Cross stitch felt snowflake bunting

Lollipop stick and button snowflakes

You can also see some of my favourite Hama bead Christmas crafts.

All my free Christmas themed cross stitch designs

Over the last few years I've shared a few simple cross stitch Christmas themed designs, which can also be used for other pixel crafts like Hama beads or diamond painting. I thought I'd gather them all together in one post, along with links to some of the crafts that I've made using these designs!

Mini Christmas cross stitch motifs

These tiny Christmas cross stitch patterns are very simple and use just a few colours, meaning that they are very quick to stitch up. There are 24 designs which makes them perfect to use for an Advent calendar craft - maybe to decorate the front of small gift bags or as part of a larger cross stitch design. You can see the image below, and this pattern is also available as a .pdf to download - Free Mini Christmas Cross Stitch Designs.

My favourite craft using these designs is my cross stitch gift tags. They are a very sweet way to add a personal touch to your gifts.

I also came up with a red and white Scandi inspired version of these motifs, perfect for any Scandi themed Christmas crafts that you might be working on.

Mini cross stitch snowflake designs

I love these tiny snowflakes which are so quick and easy to sew. They work best for cross stitch as they aren't sturdy enough for Hama beads (if you want to use Hama beads then you can use transparent beads for the gaps as seen here Hama bead snowflake designs). They are perfect for cards, or you could use for gift tags or other Christmas embroidery projects. I used them to make some simple cross stitch snowflake bunting.

I combined some of these snowflakes to make a cross stitch snowflake embroidery hoop design which I really love. I've included the pattern below, or you can also download it as a printable .pdf file here Free Snowflake Embroidery Hoop Pattern.

Simple cross stitch bauble designs

Finally I have some little cross stitch Christmas bauble designs, which also work really well for Hama beads as seen in my Hama bead Christmas baubles. There are two shapes of bauble - a round one and an elongated one, and you can come up with lots of different ways to personalise them.

I hope that these come in handy for some festive crafting!

The most common household pests, and how to handle them safely

This is a collaborative post

We all love having guests over — but some creepy-crawly visitors definitely don’t make the list. From uninvited scuttlers to tiny nuisances that pop up when you least expect them, household pests can quickly turn your cosy home into a bit of a headache. The good news? With the right know-how, you can deal with them safely and send them packing in no time. Here’s how to spot the usual suspects and show them the door.

Rodents That Go ‘Bump’ In The Night 

Rodents account for a big chunk of the trouble we encounter with pests. Rats and mice, especially, can cause substantial damage to our homes. If you get this kind of infestation, the bad news is that they’re likely to keep coming back. Ideally, call in a professional to safely get rid of rodents and to find out what was attracting them, how they were getting in, and where they were nesting. This kind of comprehensive approach is much more likely to keep your home rodent-free for longer.

The Unwelcome Cockroach

Cockroaches are more common in warmer areas, like the Southern USA, but they’re not unheard of in the UK. If you see a cockroach in your home, it’s highly likely that there are a lot, lot more lurking in the crevices of your property. Cockroaches pose significant health risks through contamination and allergens, so if you find a roach, it’s imperative to do a deep clean of your home. Again, you might need professional pest control services for more severe infestations.

Wasp Nests: Small but Dangerous 

Wasps are known for being a nuisance at picnics, but if they take up residence around your home, they could put you at risk of painful stings. If you discover a nest, it's important to stay calm. Do not disturb the nest, as this will provoke a defensive swarm to zoom out and attack you. For safe removal, call in professional help. 

Photo credit Tom Sid via Unsplash

Relentless Ants

Ants can be a very determined nuisance, especially during the warmer months. They can invade your home in search of food and shelter, and once they’ve made themselves at home, it’s hard to persuade them to leave. The first course of action includes good hygiene practices like cleaning crumbs swiftly, washing carpets if they get something sugary spilt on them, and securely storing food items. Ant baits, available in most local stores, are an effective secondary measure. However, if the problem persists, consider pest control services. 

Bed Bugs: The Nocturnal Nightmare 

The incidences of bed bug infestations have been rising steeply across the world. They are notorious for their bite, which can cause allergic reactions, skin rashes, and sleep deprivation. Washing infested fabrics at high temperatures, vacuuming regularly, and utilising commercially available treatments can help control minor infestations. However, professional pest control services are often needed to eradicate these hard-to-kill pests fully. 

Conclusion

Keeping household pests at bay is all about prevention — little habits go a long way. But even the best routines can’t stop every unwanted visitor, and sometimes you’ll need more than DIY tricks. If you’re dealing with a stubborn or growing infestation, don’t hesitate to call in a professional pest control service; they’ve got the tools and expertise to sort the problem safely. While pests are an unwelcome part of family life, a calm approach and the right strategies will help you keep your home exactly as it should be: cosy, comfortable, and pest-free.

Review - A jigsaw puzzle from Stay Weird Puzzle Company using AI generated artwork

I received this puzzle in exchange for a review

I was recently contacted by Stay Weird Puzzle Company and asked if I would like to review one of their jigsaw puzzles. They are a new puzzle company, founded by a couple who use AI generative art to bring their ideas to life. It's aimed at people looking for jigsaw puzzles that are perhaps a little bit strange and a little bit different.

Using AI in jigsaw puzzles is a very controversial topic among puzzlers, especially now some of the most well known puzzle brands covertly use AI in their puzzle designs. Stay Weird Puzzle Company are completely upfront about it, so there is no ambiguity. 

I'm personally not quite sure how I feel about it, but I am very interested in the idea of using AI for artistic purposes and thinking about how this might affect creative pursuits in the future. I definitely feel that there is creativity involved in producing the images. Firstly coming up with an initial idea, then refining the prompts to make it fit what you are after. AI is a great way to bring random ideas to life without any artistic skills.

After spending some time browsing I chose to try Canal at Dusk, Dutch Dreams, which is one of many puzzles in the collection that feature a stained glass effect. The puzzles are available in a range of different piece counts, and I went with 1014 pieces as this is the size of puzzle that I usually work on. I must admit that I did play it safe - it's definitely not as weird as some of the other puzzles on the site! 

The jigsaw artwork depicts twilight descending on an Amsterdam-like canal, featuring tall canal side houses warmly lit from inside, traditional boats, and is framed by trees and tulips. It has a really peaceful feel, and I liked it because it reminds me of my travels.

The puzzle is supplied in a light box with a picture of the design on the front. The picture wasn't huge, but I found that it worked well enough for completing the puzzle. 

I enjoyed working on this puzzle very much. The sturdy pieces fitted together really well, and I liked the stained glass aspect of the design. It was a challenging puzzle because the different lines that add interest to the picture could be quite tricky to work with at the level of individual pieces, and there were some quite dark or textured areas where I needed to shape sort the pieces.

Using AI to generate an image for a jigsaw puzzle does require some care. When you piece together a jigsaw you become very familiar with the image in extreme close up, so there can't be anything that doesn't look quite right, even down to the very small details. As well as needing to stand up to scrutiny, there also needs to be some thought given to make sure that the puzzle is challenging enough to hold interest without being impossible to complete. 

Large areas of one colour, or areas with similar textures, can be difficult to put together, and this is where the piece cut of a jigsaw is really important. I was very pleased to find that the grid piece cut for this puzzle had a range of different piece shapes which really helped on some of the more complicated areas. 

Is it possible to tell that the image is AI generated? 

Yes I think it is, especially if you are familiar with AI images. The reflections in the water aren't right, the texture of the foliage isn't quite what you would expect, and there is a shadowed area in the middle that is a bit too dark. But I think it's possible to overlook this, because it's not intended to be a photorealistic depiction. The art style reminds me very much of urban sketching, and I really like the way it becomes an interpretation of the scene rather than an accurate copy.

I found it interesting to speak with the founder of the company about his process for creating these images. The couple use their life experiences as a basis for their art - for example, Santa in July comes from pondering what Santa might be up to out of the Christmas season, and being stuck in gridlocked traffic led to My GPS Said 10 Minutes, Three Hours Ago. Most of the pictures have a story associated with them, and creating them has allowed them to unleash a creative side that they didn't know they had. 

In terms of the actual process, they start with a broad prompt, then use language descriptors to help narrow down the vision. There's no final image in mind from the beginning, instead they wait and see where they end up.

Stay Weird Puzzle Company designs

I had a lot of enjoyment putting this puzzle together, and I thoroughly enjoyed browsing through all the unusual and varied puzzle designs that Stay Weird Puzzle Company have produced. Although many of them are quite different from the sort of puzzle that I usually work on, I do think that if you hunt around there is something to suit most types of puzzler. 

I've enjoyed thinking about how I feel about using AI in jigsaw puzzles and it has led to some interesting discussions with others. One thing that I do feel certain of is that it's vital for companies to declare the use of AI art in puzzles, even if it's only used for part of the puzzle.

So thank you to Stay Weird Puzzles for both the opportunity to review the puzzle and also the chance to start a debate on how AI could be used for creative purposes.

What do you think of these puzzles? Would you work on a puzzle using completely artwork completely generated by AI?