A Humdrum Mum

Mmmmm, smells good (Pic from www.southsea bathinghut.co.uk) Let me start by saying I'm a Mitchum Girl. Those of you who recognise the name will know the safety promised (and delivered) by that green container. You won't sweat. You won't smell. Most of us probably aren't sweaty Betties, but the confidence offered by Mitchum keeps us purchasing. It's actually an antiperspirant-deodorant, a deodorant hiding BO and an antiperspirant preventing sweating. These green (ironic) scent-sentries lining up are recyclable in most areas, but still they add up. I am not an eco-warrior as such, but I am trying to be aware of what I consume. But I don't want to smell. So it was with a heavy pit that I made the decision to try out a natural deodorant brand which didn't contain nasties, was ethically created and, most of all, worked.  I love Southsea Bathing Hut 's own facial oil (reviewed here ) and the chocolate lip balm they sell. Mr Humdrum loves their stuff (

Well we just had to choose the worst day of the year to walk. The date had been set weeks before - who knew there would be the worst winds of the decade almost on this very day? But we didn't want to be beaten. We will walk to the cafe. At least it wasn't raining! Parking is free next the castle and obviously, it wasn't busy this day! We set off around the outside of this medieval monument. The sea wall affords views across to Portsmouth and Gosport, and Portsdown Hill if you look behind. You can see the Spinnaker Tower in my photos, but you'd have to zoom in. The sea wall leads to a walk along a path, switching between grass (a much more sheltered area) beside a playpark, and the beach. It is an easy, flat walk, made slightly harder in the wind. After 1.75 miles, you reach the Salt Cafe (@saltcafe66). This took us one hour - that wind did slow us down! I've had a breakfast bap there before and remember it being delicious, but slightly expensive. But today, we

"Oh, she 's very popular this summer," a Waterstones assistant tells me as I go into try to buy this for my friend's birthday. I end up choosing Nine Perfect Strangers for her instead, which I've also read, along with Three Wishes. I am a ex-booker, now a Kindler. (I have long since abandoned my crowd-led exclamations of "Oh it's just not the same as holding a book in your hands" etc. In fact, I've come to realise that I don't want to store another book in the house, or pack it off to the charity shop/save for the next car boot sale - I just want to READ the bloody thing. And my latest infliction, an arthritic thumb, sometimes makes holding books very painful, believe it or not. And I do buy the books that are important to me - like the latest Harry Hole or Rebus books. OK why did I need to justify all of that?)  One of my things with being a Kindler is that I just find another book from the same author, purchase, rinse and repeat. I ende

The B-52s - Hurry up and bring your jukebox money! London Apollo, Sunday 30 June 2019 It's been a week since we saw them and my opinion is still the same - one of the best live shows I've ever seen. Here's why. I first like to explain what sort of a fan I am. Mr Humdrum is more the fan that I am, although I'm quite familiar with most of their albums. I knew (and loved) Rock Lobster and Planet Claire from my local nightclub in the 80s and much preferred the earlier stuff to the poppier Love Shack/Roam singles. Off we popped last Sunday to the Hammersmith Apollo, via the Rik Mayall Bottom bench. What a venue (the Apollo not the bench!) - art deco, built in 1932 and currently in a gorgeous shade of green. A stunning bar leads into the (last week seated) venue. Late tickets equal restricted view, but we found a spot between two pillars and I managed to see quite a bit more than I usually can at gigs, being of slightly smaller stature than the majority of the audien