Life In General – Had some DIY jobs to do at my Mum’s house this week. Her curtain pole had become detached, so after the application of some glue and new screws I managed to get that fixed back up again. There were a couple of other things to do while I was there too.

I had to replace a headlight bulb on the car this week, after recovering from the shock of how much a new bulb is (£35), it took me the best part of an hour to make the change. It’s interesting that the autopart store offered to install it for me (for a £5) charge, but I thought it would be easy enough to do myself! Of course what I won’t ever know is how long it would have taken the autopart technician to complete. I took the opportunity to check the anti-freeze / coolant levels as well, so in theory we’re all set for the winter.

I gave the central heating a quick test run too, bled the radiators etc. and all seems well. I need to get the boiler serviced, so I’ll try and book that in sometime soon.

I’ve also been using the Headspace app this week to get back into meditation again, it’s been pretty good, but I don’t think I’ll be progressing from a free account, as I can’t really afford it, and I think it’s a little overpriced. That said, what I’ve had for free is pretty good, so I’d recommend a free trial. It’s certainly been helping me to de-stress a bit from some of the family related things that have been going on over the last year.

Work – Ongoing development work this week and an update meeting. Things are moving forward slowly.

Allotment.

I’ve got my broad beans sown this week, so they should be ready around May time next year all being well. The garlic that I sowed last week is already shooting which is great, no sign of similar activity on the onions yet though. Otherwise it’s pretty much tidying and digging.

The mower has refused to start, and probably needs a new spark plug, so I’ll give that a try, but I’m not going to spend too much money on it, as it’s pretty much on it’s last legs anyway.

Currently Reading – You’ve heard of Amundsen and Scott, and probably Shackleton, but like me you might not have heard of Douglas Mawson. I read Mawson’s Will by Lennard Bickel [GoodReads] this week, and was surprised at how I’d missed this adventure tale until now. It wasn’t an easy read, both in terms of it’s content and also the way it was written, but it was very definitely worth sticking with.

The Week In Wildlife – In Pictures

Octlantis – A city created by octopuses [LINK]

H is for Hawk – I’m really looking forward to watching this. Having read the book, it will be interesting to see how they are going to translate that to television for an hour.

London Green Spaces Map – I hope my copy of this map is on the way, I managed to snag a free one (had to pay the postage), but it looks really interesting, and I love maps (as you probably already know). If you fancy grabbing one yourself, they’re taking pre-orders for the next printing. I’ll update when mine arrives.

Gunpowder – This looks interesting, will probably make an effort to watch.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi – You’ve probably already seen this, but just in case you missed it…