We are swiftly approaching the end of season 5 of Buffy. I am once again confused as to why the Knights of Byzantium are all horse riding and chainmail wearing. Would you not have upgraded over the years? They're damn conspicuous.

2025 was a really shitty year and it can leave now. Honestly up there with my worst years of all time.

Ran my first ever Christmas parkrun today. Normally I volunteer but this year the roster was looking healthy so I took my chance. Rediscovering my love of running, and the ability to run, has been a highlight of 2025. Perfect start to a Christmas Day.

Wondering if the receptionist at the vets is still thinking about the fact she wished me a Merry Christmas after telling me I could pick up my cat's ashes on Christmas Eve.

Happiest Season has a stupid stupid ending. Boooooo.

On Season 5 of Buffy and have had to pause the episode again so the teenager can rant more about how awful Riley is.

Our lovely Millicent, she will be much missed. The prodigal cat who left for 10 years and returned to drain our bank balance and fill our hearts.

It's that time of the year where we watch The Muppet Christmas Carol and marvel again at what a perfect film it is. And that Michael Caine is just acting his little socks off through the whole thing. God I love this film.

Once again my Spotify Unwrapped is meaningless because I cannot compete with a teenager's obsession. Even though they have their own Spotify account, it doesn't work on the smart speaker so they steal mine and RUIN EVERYTHING. I have not listened to any of my top 5 artists.

This is performance art, right?

I'm pretty sure this year I put the refillable advent calendars in this cupboard. Or maybe this cupboard. Oh, right, has to be this cupboard then. Oh fuck, they're in the loft aren't they?

I am watching Scott Pilgrim Vs The World with my offspring and I have no idea what is going on and everyone is so very irritating. I don't even have snacks.

Rewatching Buffy with the teenager and I forgot that Tara & Willow announce their gayness by getting a kitten. Rather than actually, y'know, snogging or using the word girlfriends or something.

I love a missing cat story but our Millie beats this with her 10 year absence.

I would also accept a named member of staff with actual time and passion to run it who was not a librarian. But someone. I'm not sure the "librarian" at my kids' primary school was an actual librarian, they did a lot of emotional literacy stuff too. But you have to have someone in charge.

More people on this train need to be using headphones.

Taking the teenager to their first gig. The Beths. Thankfully I also like their music.

Did you have a paper round? Did you? Really? Or did you spend your mornings in bed watching the Big Breakfast?

Driving through Bromley and I thought someone had died because all the lamp posts had a flag half way up. If you must fly a flag, hoist it all the way up people.

Skibidi Toilet, Tudor stylin'.

Managed to be exactly a minute slower at parkrun today, I like it when results have a nice symmetry to them. I also like it when the rain stops just in time for 9am. Excellent morning.

My teenager is wondering if Educating Yorkshire is just going to be "neurodivergent kids being failed by the system" every week.

The interesting thing about when one of your parkrun scanners fails is how many people don't immediately email you saying "hey where are my results?" Also there's no easy way to let people know, I wish you could put a message on a results page to flag it.

Today I am required to take youngest child to a woods we have not yet visited. We have visited a lot of local woods. A lot. Especially ones with toilet/cafe facilities. I really need the summer holidays to be over as I am running out of ideas.

Feeling old as people keep stopping at the Bank of England notes display and saying the oldest ones they can remember are 6.

Every single online forum I've ever been a part of has had women discussing bra fittings. Funnily enough they also usually include advising people that M&S can't fit a bra to save their life and you should go somewhere else.

Bought new running shoes, thought they felt great in the shop and on my trial run up and down the pavement. Immediately hate them as soon as I get home.

Week one of the school holidays, off to our second museum. "And we'll see more next week!" I'm gleefully told. Actually think at this point I've run out of London museums that are not too busy in the holidays and aren't full of stuff lying around that you're not actually allowed to touch.

At the time this was taken I was remote studying for my MSc and the fox cubs kept a lot of isolated students entertained in my Zoom backgrounds.

London Trans Pride march, huge number of people, good atmosphere, this is as corporate as it got. Hasty pride flag in the window, adorable.

Did parkrun in the rain so I can now spend the day drinking tea and reading without any guilt. I've exercised, it's fine. Pass the biscuits.

Top tier birthday cake. The traditional sorts were not inspiring me.

“I don’t see what could possibly go wrong,” said Sarah Harrow, 41, a mother of two autistic children. “We can just tell them not to be autistic and they’ll be fine. I wish I’d thought of that.”

The parakeets were out in force at junior parkrun today. Not sure they're registered.

As a very small child I ate a nectarine and discovered that the area around the stone was swarming with ants. I have a terrible memory and can remember little of my childhood. But I remember that.

This popped up in my photo memories last week so I get to add it to #TidesOutTuesday.

A National Year of Reading is a good idea, but a government commitment to ensuring every school has its own library and a state-funded local school library service, to keep that library's stock fresh and engaging in the longterm, would be an even better idea. #KidLitUK #ReadingForPleasure

Saw the promo of K Pop Demon Hunters and thought it looked lame. Was wrong. It rocked.

@preachypreach.bsky.social bought what are allegedly sweets but look like, and have the same texture as, foam earplugs. 0/10. Never darken my door again.

All the bees appear to be in the lavender in my front garden. I love it. Hello bees! Buzzing around busily. The lavender is a bit overgrown and insane but all the better for bees.

I would sooner parkrun removed all gender categories than give in to these tossers. Why do they care so much about parkrun? It's not competitive. Most people are just looking to see if they were faster than last week or faster than that person who is always just ahead of them. Just leave us alone.

I have opened every window because there is actually a cool breeze. What a delightful damp morning.

It is very hot so the cat is stretching out in the hot cat pose. Unfortunately he is stretching out on me because of course I want an extra long hot water bottle on me in this infernal heat.

The Green Party has its first ever councillor in Greenwich after Tamasin Rhymes won the Shooters Hill by-election. The result is the biggest upset in Greenwich politics for a generation and follows a row over the Labour council's land sales in the ward.

Dugadoo, dugadoo! Dugadoo is here! They are brilliant @jamiebgall.co.uk

Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. The sound of London this summer.

Today my little junior parkrun, where we usually have 30-40 kids taking part, had a visit from a primary school and we ended up with 79 kids. Super fun. Slightly chaotic. Excellent start to a Sunday.

Description of sand is 100% what 3/4 of the people in my house think of sand. Eldest child doesn't understand why pebble beaches aren't more popular as (1) not sand and (2) oooh rocks.

Glad to see this. Not unexpected, she was very helpful when she was my MP and we were having a nightmare with the EHCP process. It's an area she clearly cared about. Hope it has some impact on the proposals.