General…

Started the month with Imbolc where I slow cooked some lamb cutlets in red wine and herbs, with a side of jasmine rice which turned out delicious. I followed up with an Imbolc themed tarot spread which turned out quite positive and some of the cards hit home with some of my recent thoughts which gives me a positive going forward.

At the start of the month I was targetted with a credit card scam, I can understand why so many people get caught out by these as they do sound so real, however there were quite a few things that raised my alarm. After calling the actual number it was quite obvious what he was doing; he’d attempted to make the transaction (just under £4,000) while on the phone to me, the real Barclay’s had messaged to ask if it was me, meanwhile the guy on the phone told me to respond with a “Y” to confirm the decline - I actually read the text and told him I wouldn’t be doing that. Funny thing is, I didn’t have that amount available on my card anyway as I’d just bought a tent. However it has prompted me to go through all my passwords and change everything (which is a bit of a pain, but it did leave me feeling quite exposed).

I finally made it to one of the Portsmouth Polyamory events this month and had a fantastic meal at Fuego’s in Southsea; great food and lovely staff. It was really great meeting a friend and chatting to some of the people I’ve only spoke to in WhatsApp, making some of those local connections. I’m hoping I can get to more in the future but my calendar seems to fill up so quick, so unless I get something in early then it’s really difficult.

For additional social a friend came to visit with their whips (so for my 40th I was gifted a kangaroo leather bull whip) and she taught me how to do a sidearm whip crack which was so much fun, I’m really enjoying learning to use a whip and am fascinated by these people who perform with two whips to the beats of music - maybe one day I’ll get there. However, having a latex catsuit with cat ears, taking the heads off of mannequins and then skipping down the road with the whip is of a higher priority (although I don’t expect it will look as sexy as Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman…) Other than the whip tutorials it was a great catch up with a friend who has become a good friend over the time we’ve known her.

In February my child also performed in the school play again, this time she played as Grandma in the Addam’s Family which was so much fun to watch and much better than last year’s performance. There was plenty of music and a lot of laughter, my child told me that it was their favourite play they’ve done as it was actually some acting rather than just singing and dancing. All the children performed so well and were well supported by the school.

This year Min and I chose to celebrate Valentine’s Day, we don’t usually do anything for it as it does feel like such a commercial thing, however we made it our own and went to visit Ye Olde George in East Meon, a place that we crashed at a few years ago when we were doing the South Downs Way. It was so good to go back after six and a half years, the place hasn’t changed and feels just as special as it was back then. The staff were so attentive and very friendly, and the food - amazing! Highly recommend the place if you’re ever in the area.

When my Mum passed she left a little money for my child to be used for a holiday or an experience of some sort, something special, well this month my child noticed that Hatsune Miku was going to be in London at the end of the year for the Miku Expo. So, up and on my phone I spent the morning in a waiting list when the tickets were out and managed to snag some fairly decent tickets at the O2 Arena. This will be my child’s first proper gig and first one in London, it will be a huge thing as they struggle with crowds, too much sensory input, but they have been a big fan of Hatsune Miku for years now and really want to push themself to do it. I’m excited about this, it’s going to be awesome seeing Miku and soaking in that atmosphere, but I’m really excited for my child and living through their experience.

My Vern 3 arrived this month and it is a monster! It’s a big tent compared to my other tents, but not substantial in size compared to some of the tents you see at campsites, however when you’re inside it feels huge! It’s a palace! It gives me the same comfy feels that came with my Vern 1 but extended, and as a plus, I got a stovejack which I look forward to putting to use in the future sometime. This tent should allow Min and I to get out and do some static camping, scratching their camping itch while lowering the amount of drain for them. I’m really looking forward to getting out in this thing.

The road to GCSEs have started for my child with an options evening which was a bit of a waste of time if I’m honest, the whole thing could have been sent through with an e-mail (and was the following day) so it did feel like a huge waste of time. It’s good to have them thinking about what they want to do in the coming years although I feel there is a lot of pressure on them to decide, when really, GCSEs don’t mean a great deal these days.

The end of the month was capped with a trip to Chichester to catch up with a few friends. It was really great spending two hours surrounded by good people and some friends who have grown close over the past years. I feel like I’ve lost a lot over the past few years but spending time with people like this reminds me that I may have lost some connections here and there, but I’ve gained some wonderful friendships with people, that I don’t walk alone.

A massive thing this month has been Min’s health which has had me very concerned about them, it does seem to be going downhill quite considerably, with some chest pains now making themselves more known. They’ve picked up a Visibility band and have been monitoring their health through this and setting their pacing which seems to be working quite well, at the very least it’s showing what is high intensity and what is low. Using this data they can start to pace a little better and hopefully that will help them. However, despite the decline in health we’ve still managed to get out and do things, hopefully with their pacing plans this year it’ll mean they can start doing a little more in due time.

The rum of the month was Black Death by Sin City Spirits, you can find my review here.

A Rant…

This month it became clear that Nev had sold his house, this coupled with news coming out of Reading I attempted to reach out and contact him; it seems the blocks he put in place a year and a half ago are still in place, and a check in/congratulations through e-mail was ignored (from my new e-mail address, so actively ignored). It made it very clear that he didn’t want any contact with me still, which does hurt a bit as at one point we were telling each other that we loved one another, that we were brothers, we were chosen family, a pack as we called ourselves.

The more I think about it the more I also realise, the house was something of importance to me. When my own marriage was going sour I was offered refuge there if things went bad, I spent a lot of my time there and have some very fond memories, I invested into the house as a second home, a safe haven away from home. Although I’d lost access to the house, it was still there, and over time things may have changed and we could have all been friends, visited it again — that’s not going to happen now.

I’ve come to the final realisation that he wants nothing to do with me - I’m pissed about that, it’s shit as I’d done nothing hostile towards him, it’s tarnished all of those happy memories… But it has helped me realise that there’s no going back, only forward - it makes me feel quite sad, but ultimately I need to look after my own wellbeing, and having somebody who can completely ghost you on a whim in my life doesn’t work.

Game on…

This month has been absolutely dominated by Guild Wars 2 which I’ve been playing with my gaming community Tryggr. It’s been such a blast going back over the old content and checking out all the new content that has arrived in my 12 years of not playing - I’m amazed it’s still running and going strong! There’s just so much to do, see, achieve. Through this month I’ve been getting back into the story, when I last played I had just finished the Heart of Thorns, so I continued from there (skipping the Living World stuff as I wanted to work masteries into my game time).

Path of Fire - This was a fun expansion and I really enjoyed the change of scenery as well as the vast amount of mounts and the masteries that came with them, there was a lot to do and the story was really quite fun.

End of Dragons - To begin with I absolutely adored this expansion with it’s oriental inspired setting, enjoyable story, and the mechanics around it all, however it very quickly became a pain in the arse to navigate the zones and rather frustrating at times. Very quickly it became a bit of a chore to get through and the story suffered because of this.

Secrets of the Obscure - Like the End of Dragons this started strong with a great couple of zones and the mechanics involved with the skycale, I really enjoyed this up until I hit Nayos where it became a chore. The story was enjoyable but in Nayos it became a lot of “do a series of randomly generated quests in areas before we give you the next story” which I found rather annoying.

Shows & Movies…

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Season 15; Episode 7 / Episode 8 / Episode 9 / Episode 10

Fallout, Season 2 - Finished. An enjoyable season with a lot of easter eggs thrown in from the game, I really enjoy the world and all they’ve done with it, however, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did the first season.

The Rookie, Season 8 - I hate Bailey. Getting that done with now and out of the way, the character is a nightmare that is purely a filler character that fits in every role. I can’t stand her and makes every episode she’s in a pain to watch. That being said I’m really enjoying the show and the rest of the cast are great.

The Owl House, Season 1 - So my child got me into this and we’ve been watching it together. It’s such a great little animation and a lot of fun to watch with quite a bit of lore to the world, my child has promised me that season 2 is even better, however has warned me in advance that the show did get cancelled.

Small Prophets, Season 1 - What a quirky, wonderful, and weird show that oozes with the wholesomeness that was The Detectorists. It was a fantastic story and felt so real.

Justified, Season 1 - I wasn’t sure if I’d seen this until we’d started watching it, I soon realised I had when I recalled little bits here and there, but I didn’t remember the story. It was great though and the ending of Season 1 felt so good and complete. It was a fantastic ending.

Murder on the Orient Express - A rewatch and well worth the rewatch. Fantastic show, filled with so many amazing actors and so well orchestrated.

Mr. Holmes - A great movie that I highly recommend watching. Ian McKellen plays an old man so very well that really made me feel invested in the character and the story, he played somebody slowly losing their memories so well, and the relationship between Holmes and Roger was fantastic to see. This went completely under my radar but was a great piece of art.

Knive’s Out - So much fun and such a great movie, it’s been a while since I last watched it so a lot of it had been forgotten until parts reminded me. It’s well worth the watch if you haven’t seen it.

A Haunting in Venice - Such a spooky movie which was just as eerie as I remember the first time I watched it. Fantastic acting from everyone involved and a murder mystery that has you thinking throughout.

Babydriver - Still a great movie with a kicking soundtrack. My only grievance with the movie is Kevin Spacey’s character going all soppy at the end and throwing his life away for the two of them.

Books…

Attention Seeker, Darcy Michael - A fantastic book about ADHD and how Darcy manages, as a fan of Darcy and Jer, I couldn’t help but read the book in his voice. It felt fun but with all the information and seriousness of a self help book, but without all the boring fluff. I highly recommend giving it a read.

Music…

New Vinyls;

Blink 182 - Enema of the State; I remember this being a lot better but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to some of the songs in the album that I remembered.

Blink 182 - Take Off Your Pants And Jacket; So I think I mixed up Enema of the State and Take Off Your Pants as once I started listening to this all my teen years came back to me, brilliant record

KoRn - Freak on a Leash; Ahhh… I listened to this album so much as a teen and the moment it started it took me back. I had this album on CD and listened to it constantly so having it on record brought back all the good times.

New Bands;

The Warning - A great band that Min discovered, I’m a bit of a sucker for strong female vocals and they tick that box. They’re a Mexican rock’ish band bringing a touch of Mexico to their music which I find really enjoyable. I doubt I’ll be getting any of their records, but they are an enjoyable listen.

I spotted on Band Camp that girli is in Southsea doing an album launch at Pie & Vinyl so I grabbed myself a pre-order of her record and space to listen to her perform a little, I’m really looking forward to getting down there for this. The first time I heard her track Dysmorphia I fell in love with her and really enjoy the music that she brings out, although I really like her singles more than her albums so I’m really, really hopeful that some of those single tracks will find themselves on her new album.

February 2026