A look back at my month with photos, blog posts, plans & goals progress, links and more.
What I’ve been up to
October has been a bit of a weird month and almost everything I did fits in one of the other sections instead. The most notable thing was a really fun shopping day in Glasgow with Nic to see all the Halloween stuff, though I actually didn’t buy anything spooky. The highlight was spotting Noodoll’s giant Ricespud at Forbidden Planet! I’m usually in a bit of a rush when I go to Glasgow so it was good to visit some new shops and have both lunch and cake stops. I’ll have to do it again for Christmas.
This blog has almost entirely personal this year but I did have some new business things happening with my 2027 calendar design and an updated version of the seasonal fruit & veg magnets. It took me way too long to realise that if A5 magnets were discontinued, I could print both on A4 and cut them in half myself.
SCK kept me busy as I had both TokyoTreat and Pusheen Box to photograph and review. I loved all the Boosheen things and have been using the candy dish every day for things like biscuits, and wearing the hoodie under my coat for extra cosiness.
We’ve been doing SCK Team Q&As for our 18th anniversary and mine was the last one with both team and reader questions. I really enjoyed answering everything and there’s a few new photos from my house. This unit is getting out of control!
Purchases & Gifts
I was very happy to get these Miffy playing cards from Typo for a mere £5. I collect cute playing cards and these are lovely, though I wish the suits were at least different colours. The rest of the collection is really cute too so I will have to keep an eye out for sales.
Friend mail is the best mail and Deth P. Sun sent me a couple of his new zines, plus loads of stickers. Where to stick them all…
Christmas came early as my joycon broke again (after Nintendo already fixed it out of warranty). I was expecting to have to deal with it until I could buy a Switch 2 after Christmas but my mum kindly gave me one as an early gift! I’m trying to decide whether to buy the Ocarina of Time remake or Pokopia eventually but currently still working through the Picross series (yes, that says 39 minutes SO FAR – the bonus puzzles you get for buying the earlier games are massive. Best value games ever).
Things I Wrote
Great month of blogging for me – I’m pleased with all these posts.
- My Unedited Product Photos + Tips!
- 2027 Calendars & Tea Towels
- East Coast Mini Trip
- September Recap
- SCK Team Q&A: Marceline
- Fall 2026 Pusheen Box Review
- TokyoTreat & Sakuraco Snack Box Highlights
- Kawaii Nintendo Switch 2 Accessories
- Last Minute Kawaii Halloween DIYs & Activities
- Kawaii Halloween Craft Kits & Patterns
- New Kawaii & Craft Books To Buy & Preorder
- Kawaii Glow In The Dark Picks
- Kawaii Halloween Plush
- Kawaii Links & Videos Roundup
Plans & Goals Progress
Books: 4 more, now 2 books ahead on my reading challenge. You can see them all in Books, Comics & Zines I Read in 2026. I also picked up some new books. The top 2 were free (from GET Free Books at the Buchanan Galleries) and the bottom one is an oral history of my own era of being active in the music scene. I had already read the Newby book but it was such a nice edition (and a great book) that I had to take it.
Crafts: I have sadly yet to start on my dressmaking but I have taken my measurements and bought some interfacing so I’m getting there. More excitingly, Robotime sent me a new batch of exciting miniature kits to make – and I’ve finished one that goes cuckoo! (very loudly, I jumped out of my skin the first time I did the electrical test).
Cycling: I was 33km behind schedule at the beginning of the month and now I’m way ahead, having done 267km this month!The Tour of Watopia is on with double XP for every km so I’ve been doing the 2 shorter routes each week + part of the longer route. I also tried out MyWhoosh, which is a free alternative, and found it surprisingly decent but nowhere near as fun or popular as Zwift.
Also a big month for hanging out with World Tour riders – I got to ride and chat with Zoe Bäckstedt & Jonas Abrahamsen in the Zwift Tour de France Club and Tadej Pogačar (5xTdF winner) on MyWhoosh. I also bumped into Huub Artz from my TdF in the Life but he did not return my Ride On, booo.
2026km goal update: currently 1755km completed, 68km ahead of schedule.
Other stuff: I am back learning Dutch on Duolingo after Nic suggested getting the gold badge for every level. Returning to the basics has been a little boring but good to know it has all stuck.
