Lost in the Wood

The Stand Comedy Club Newly escaped from the office job (forever, hurrah!), I  immediately set off for my native city, Edinburgh, to enjoy some festival fun with family & friends. This year I've taken a slower approach, moseying up to the action/madness in gentle fashion with a cake stop with friends to ease me in (not as used to crowds these days, Caernarfon generally doesn't do frenzy despite the many summer visitors!). Who better to sample a new (well, to us) cafe with but a lady who is very well informed about good cake, Kate from Cake Poppins Cake Poppins We tried out Love Crumbs at the West Port (the old town haunt of the notorious murderers Burke & Hare, now remodelled & amusingly referred to as 'the pubic triangle' due to its lap dancing/strip bars. The bars however, nestle amongst independent shops and cafes, the College of Art & a Catholic church with a beautiful starry ceiling so it's not as insalubrious as it sounds!). Love Crumbs

Poison & Crochet Leeches Jars Thought it was time for a more crochet centred post as I seem to have been distracted my lovely summer events and activities recently (I'm not sorry). This morning I was inspired by this story on BBC Wales www.bbc.co.uk/Medicinal leech farming making a comeback in Wales Istanbul Leeches Apparently,"leech-farming is back in Wales... the 60,000 leeches a year they provide for hospitals throughout Europe make Swansea's Biopharm the biggest suppliers of leeches in the UK." Long associated with quack medicine, they actually introduce a powerful anticoagulant chemical into blood making them "perfect for microsurgery, particularly when severed fingers or toes have been reattached".  So far, my only sighting of real leeches was an odd spin on the imagined old glass bottled leeches (previously available in all good old apothecaries). I spotted a large plastic drum (a recycled water cooler I suspected) of leeches for hi

Amelia Puddle Hello folks, this week has been full of big announcements and much artiness! Peter Capaldi as the next Doctor has been met with cheerful warmth in our little cottage and sighs of relief that it wasn't someone alarming like the smug student from the BT ads or Shane Ritchie (as my friend upsettingly threw into the rumour mix). Our personal hopefuls were Ben Wishaw, 'Johnson' from Peep Show & Zawe Ashton (the fabulous 'Vod' from Fresh Meat) but Peter C is certainly ok by us. Even more excitingly, The Doctor's new companion was unveiled today, rather unbelievably, at the national Eisteddfod in Denbigh. As pictured, the producers requested a cut-price Amy Pond type so hurrah, it is I! I'm planning a bilingual effort after doing surprisingly well in my recent Welsh exam (most surprising perhaps to the people who have tried to chat with me 'ym Cymraeg'). Sadly, my make-me-look-cooler oversized sunglasses have broken so I'm looking