I've just looked at our new bin collection and recycling rules, coming in in June. I have absolutely no idea where, what or how often except we'll have to find room for four bins now. OK...

It may be just an old building but it's important - and close to my heart. "She swept into Ipswich in a black Buick driven by the King’s chauffeur, and the waiting police officers opened the courthouse gates." chicksngiggles.substack.com/p/a-royal-sc...

Note to self. Eating 40-plus grams of fibre in a day probably isn't going to end well.

"Why do you want to have a 1970s music pavilion at the Shakespeare festival?" "It features wine made by the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party!" "But how does that make it anything to do with Shakespeare?" "Mao is the vintner of our disco tent!" [Exit, pursued by a bear]

Operation Epic Fury? Was that named by the same people who name storms things like 'Bert'?

I'm s sick of hearing that orange swamp waffle boasting about how many people he's killed, and how amazing he is. I loathe him.

This is Bruiser. He died very suddenly. We thought he was a she until he started crowing 😂

There's someone on our Nextdoor app complaining that he can hear a cockerel at midnight. Are you going to tell him he's hallucinating, or shall I? We had one once, he was beautiful. We built him his own sound-insulated bedroom & kept him in it until 7am because of people who don't like bird noise!

open.substack.com/pub/chicksng... Smile enigmatically and people will wonder what you’re up to!

I've written another Substack post...but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to read it... Sign up now and you can get it straight to your mailbox! chicksngiggles.substack.com

Please tell me it's not just me who has an insanely strong and very childish urge to do this in front of the TV whenever the Orange Menace is on it, wanging on about how great he is...

My very own over-positive friend, my pocket cheerleader, my ever-present reminder to get up off of the office chair. And it's driving me mad!

Shall we take a bet on the chances of it ever stopping raining in England in 2026?

Could #Ipswich have been a great seat of learning? We'll never know what might have happened if Thomas Wolsey had lived, and not fallen out with Henry VIII. open.substack.com/pub/chicksng...

Anyone who says #mounjaro is cheating, when I've just done three hours in the gym in two days, a swim, and rather a lot of walking, is asking to be walloped with a kettlebell, quite honestly... 💪 #weightloss #wegovy #ozempic

My phone just beeped with a Met Office yellow snow warning (nobody likes yellow snow), Netweather.tv says we're in for rain, and Weather Bug is predicting thunderstorms later. Well I suppose one of them will be right.

Murder at Midnight - it’s riotously funny, well done and a good night out. open.substack.com/pub/chicksng... #TheNewWolsey #theatre #culture #Ipswich 😀

Silkies. Utterly cute, a bit barmy and definitely worth saving from euthanasia-friendly vets. Een when it takes six months of TLC. #backyardchickens #chickens #hens chicksngiggles.substack.com/p/splodge

There's an 'Ipswich Window'? Who knew? And who knows where it is? chicksngiggles.substack.com/p/through-th... #Ipswich #history #architecture

It's an amazing win, when after eight months of #mounjaro you realise that you can finally wear the ring your late dad left you over ten years ago. He would have been so happy to see me finally manage to get healthy again. 💔🥰

I've seen some really daft #mounjaro related questions on Facebook support groups. So I wrote my own little guide to what you need to know. Enjoy! open.substack.com/pub/chicksng...

Today has felt very Monday. It was definitely a job for chickens, who can cheer me up with one squawk of their little beaks, or a not-so-subtle tap on the door, hounding me for snacks when I'm in the kitchen making coffee. This is what I saw when I opened the back door... Love those daft birds 🥰

Any excuse for a Bewitched gif.

It's been...a week. I've tied my adventures with ChatGPT in with #mounjaro and stress relief strategies. chicksngiggles.substack.com/p/the-cortis...

Sunday afternoon, post-holiday, post-weekend, post-Christmas, January inspired "What am I going to do with my life this year" feeling right now. I hope it involves travel, nice people and cheese.

There can't be many places where you can find out about Nik Kershaw, nuthatches and Cradle of Filth at the same time. #Ipswich #cityofculture chicksngiggles.substack.com/p/a-week-in-...

I wrote this before the Oxford study about GLP-1 meds that’s been in the media this week. My opinion hasn’t changed. open.substack.com/pub/chicksng...

I wrote a thing…will 2026 be my writing year? open.substack.com/pub/chicksng...

My abiding memory of Madonna's 'Vogue' is attempting to learn all the choreography for a Dancercise fitness class, and either being able to get the arms co-ordinated or the legs and feet, but never both at the same time... #totp

So in honour of the 1990 #totp Christmas replay - here's me in 1990. With my knees out and Pat Butcher earrings.

Tonight's retro #totp fest has been singularly uninspiring. Was 1998 really this dull? I'm sure I bought loads of albums that year.

OK, we got to a decent tune eventually #TOTP - I won't hear a bad word against REM.

Beginning to question my decision to watch more #TOTP 1998 - Oh Mama it's terrible. Some of these tunes are that bad I forgot them halfway through listening to them.

That's another few #TOTP pulled to bits and snarked over. I should do this more often! Happy weekend fellow music critics.

MUUUUUUUUUTE!!!!!! #TOTP

Is it almost time for the Mute Cliff button? #TOTP. I've listened to some dodgy tunes tonight, mostly from 1998, but I can't lsten to *that*

The best lead singer of The Smiths klaxon #totp

Ohhhhh Climie Fisher <3 I loved them. #TOTP. First concert...

1988 Christmas #TOTP. Eddi Reader appears to have decided not to even bother lipsyncing and is peeling a satsuma instead.

I think 1988 must have been a good year for gingers. Eddi Reader, Tiffany, Belinda Carlisle, Rick Astley, the reds were coming out of the closet! I asked my hairdresser at the time to dye my hair the same colour as Belinda Carlisle. There's no remaining evidence of that. Good. #TOTP

Oh. Enya. Well, my Dad liked her. #Enya.

I forgot how good 1988 was - in more ways than one! #TOTP

Best not-quite-Christmas number one EVER. One of my favourite PSB tracks. Definitely better than the original...

Let's all hear it for 1988 #TOTP - S-Express and no Cher! My teenage sneaking into Hollywood's nightclub and drinking Malibu & lemonades like I was sophisti-ma-cated period....

OK, #TOTP has redeemed itself with Faithless. Although this one's not my favourite. It's still better than Boyzone by a very long mile.

Ally McBeal! Who'da thunk I'd have ended up writing about her in my dissertation about Anne Boleyn and 20th/21st century feminist cliches in 2021? #TOTP

Can I manage another 1998 #TOTP? It's started with Boyzone, I think it's time for a comfort break. Mostly for my eardrums. I can feel my glucose levels spiking at this one.

OK Cher, if I tell you I believe in love, will you stop singing at me? #TOTP. And to think nobody used autotune before this one. Cherilyn has a lot to answer for.

I don't think the Corrs are So Young these days. But then, neither am I. #TOTP. Think I'll take Suede's So Young from a few years earlier.

Bloody hell, Cher was only a few years younger when she sang 'I believe' in 1998 than I am now. Wish I looked like that in a short skirt! #TOTP