Hello and welcome back to my monthly update for November 2023 and the unofficial part two of my trip down to London. Keep reading to find out how that went and what I got up to for the rest of the month!

In a word; stressed. While I loved spending time with my mum when we looked after her in London, I don’t like being in London – hence why I live in Scotland. The problem with having a good memory, especially a near photographic one, is that everything down there reminds me of things and as I’ve discussed before my teenage years were filled with depression. Everywhere down there reminds me of something bad, and a lot of people haven’t moved away, especially old bullies. I’ve healed a lot, but no one wants to bump into people who made their life a misery.

We also had a whole saga with our boiler when we got home, and all I’m going to say is don’t ever use Scottish/British Gas. Always go with a local company. It was a long week at one point when we had engineers in and then had our seasonal vaccines at an early morning appointment. I had to reschedule them as we both had migraines and felt unwell for our actual appointment. I wasn’t able to do it on the website due to someone completely failing when they made a pop-up form and didn’t add a submit or close button /facepalm.

Thankfully, the NHS have a dedicated web team for the online portal and a contact form directly for them. Despite the issue being fixed quickly, the website said there were no appointments available, so I had to call up to reschedule anyway. It ended up being a relatively easy process – once I got through the mountain load of options. There was an option to opt out of a survey, and I couldn’t hit the ‘NO’ button fast enough!

As usual, we had the vaccine side effects and I think I’m still paying for PEM (post-exhaustion malaise) for adventuring in the Lake District (read more below!). At least we now have a working boiler with heating and hot water again. The biggest problem was that I struggled for the rest of the month to get back into any type of routine. I was keeping up with some things and then others I just couldn’t seem to manage. 

My physical health hasn’t been too bad. The only thing worth mentioning is that I injured my little finger on my left hand. I don’t think I fully dislocated it, but I am pretty sure I subluxed (partially dislocated) it. How did I manage to do this you ask? I have no clue because I did it in my sleep! It’s not the first time I’ve injured myself in my sleep. It happens way too often, although not usually this badly.

I didn’t realise at first that I’d done anything to it. It was a bit sore and didn’t feel quite right. I didn’t think much of it until we were in London when it was still irritating me and I noticed that it was slightly bent… eep. There was NO way in hell that I was going to minor injuries down in London so I decided to wait until I got back home. I had an appointment with my nurse and was planning to get her to take a look… then I had to reschedule it due to the engineers coming. I’ll see what she says next month, it’s not hurting it just doesn’t look quite right.

The other thing that happened this month is politics-related, and while I normally do not delve into politics on my blog, this is something that affects my community deeply. The Tory government that is currently running the UK has been doing the rounds, so to speak, with marginalised groups, targeting each one while in power. It was only a matter of time before they pushed their ideologies about disabled people. They did just that in their budget, making massive changes to disability benefits and forcing disabled people back to work. According to them, disabled people need to work from home to “do their part”, whatever the hell that means.

The problem is that working from home isn’t as easy as it sounds. Many people in the disabled community, including myself, have tried to find work-from-home jobs. Despite the pandemic, most of them require people to journey to the office at least once a month or keep to 9-5 hours. These are exactly the reasons why we can’t work in the first place! /sigh

These changes are supposed to come into effect in 2025 which is also the year of the next general election. I’d like to hope that we can all band together and force them out, but too many people in the UK are delusional and don’t care about anyone but themselves. The Scottish Government foresaw this coming and moved disability benefits last year away from the UK Government’s Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). The party in control in Scotland, the SNP, shouted “nasty party” out as these changes were announced so I think we’re safe as long as they stay in control. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of hate for SNP up here. Not that the alternatives are any better. That’s always the problem with politics; it’s about picking the devil you know.

I’m taking part in The Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) 2023 and as part of the competition semi-finalists get a spotlight tour hosted by BBNYA in association with the Foliosociety and The_WriteReads. As I was so busy this month, I was only able to take part in one spotlight:

• BBNYA 2023 Spotlight Tour – Starlight Jewel by E. L. Lyons

I started to play Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV) a bit more than just doing my Island Sanctuary. I’m still finding my feet again and have only done a few roulettes which ended up with me being thrown completely in the deep end! That was probably for the best because I just kept putting it off and worrying about doing them. Now that I’ve done two of the harder ones without intending to, I feel a lot better!

As for my Island Sanctuary, I hit level 20 which is the highest rank and I don’t think that’s going to change for a while, if ever. I say that because they gave us traps for creatures that don’t fail, like Master Balls in Pokémon, and that seems like something final. It was extremely satisfying capturing the rare creatures who have been avoiding me for MONTHS. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks running about collecting them, including my pride and joy, the griffin (above).

I also captured:

• Alligator
• Funguar
• Alkonost

This is a full list of creatures that can be captured on the Island Sanctuary for anyone who wants to be nosey.

I also started playing another game, The Inheritance of Crimson Manor. I originally played this as a demo in a Steam Game festival way back in 2021 and loved it. I added it to my wish list, and I think I grabbed in a sale last year. I’ve been avoiding playing a new game until I finished Lust for Darkness, but if I’m honest with myself, I don’t think I’m going to. There’s a pain in the ass mechanic on the last boss which isn’t disabled player friendly, and I just cannot be bothered to keep dying on it over and over just to finish the game.

The Inheritance of Crimson Manor is a point-and-click puzzle game, and I’m just enjoying playing it casually when I want to.

I watched a lot more movies in November 2023, mostly because I was working from my tablet while I was away and could only use split-screen with a few streaming services. That limited my TV options, so I decided to watch movies instead.

• Venom: Let There Be Carnage – I loved the first film, Venom, and was looking forward to the sequel. Although Chris had warned me that he hadn’t enjoyed it, I gave it a fair shot. It started great with the comedic relationship between Eddie and Venom and when Carnage arrives on screen it’s epic… and then I don’t have a clue what happens. The final battle was so anti-climactic and disappointing. Carnage is supposed to be so much more powerful than Venom, and he was easily overpowered. They also got the lore mixed up, from what I gather (I’m more a DC girl; Chris is the Marvel one, and he said the same). Surprisingly, after this, there is a third movie on the way and that’s probably only because it’s going to link into the MCU.
• The Electrical Life of Louis Wain – This is one of those oddball movies that caught my attention, and Benedict Cumberbatch seems to love starring in them. It’s about a Victorian illustrator whose illustrations of cats changed England’s view of cats as being just for catching pests and turned them into the beloved pets we now know them as. It wasn’t the greatest of movies, but it was certainly interesting to watch to learn from a historical perspective.
• Molly’s Game – Molly’s Game has been on my to-watch list for ages. I believe I originally saw the trailer and saw the chemistry between Idris Elba and Jessica Chastain. It’s a brilliant film and based on real-life events, which is quite chilling. Molly ran high-end poker games for the rich and famous, including celebrities. There’s a scene where a male actor ruins her game and calls her to mock her, an event that actually happened. In the movie, the character is played by Michael Cera, who is extremely creepy, and the character is an amalgamation of several Hollywood actors who went to Molly’s games. But it’s believed that it was Tobey Maguire who did make that call, and belittle her that way.
• Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop – A B Movie that caught my attention because of the name, and while it was a fun little watch with some great British stars, it was a bit disappointing. With a name like that, I was expecting something actually spooky, and it was anything but.
• A Haunting in Venice – I’ve been really enjoying the new Poirot movies, and have been desperate to watch this one. So when I was looking for a movie to watch one night, and it was finally on Disney+ it seemed like perfect timing. Instead, I found my attention wavering almost immediately. The acting was as always brilliant, it was just the story and scenes themselves, they just weren’t compelling this time.

As for TV shows watched in November 2023, I started with finishing off some web series episodes for The Murdoch Mysteries including a cross-over with fellow Canadian series The Frankie Drake Mysteries which I’ve previously watched. These were fun mini-specials that were outside the main storyline.

I then caught up with new series of some shows I regularly watch:

• Hudson & Rex – Season 6
• London Kills – Season 4
• Hope Street – Season 3
• The Chelsea Detective – Season 2
• Harry Wild – Season 2
• Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries – Season 2 + 3 and the TV movie Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears

There were two that I want to talk about in more detail, the first being Shetland season 8. Shetland is a crime drama set on the Scottish Islands of the same name. This new series sees a new lead character replace Douglas Henshall who left at the end of season 7. She is played by the amazing Ashley Jensen who I fell in love with in Agatha Raisin, and has a great back story. Best of all she has fantastic chemistry with Tosh, and while their partnership is only temporary at the moment I can see it growing into something brilliant. They’re the complete opposites in attitudes but are close enough that they don’t constantly butt heads and work well together.

Then of course there’s the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials! The first one aired at the end of November and it was brilliant, I enjoyed it so much. I loved how creepy it was, how much representation was in it and of course, having the 10th Doctor and Donna back together again. Having an ambulatory wheelchair user as one of the main characters, played by a disabled actress was wonderful to see. I hope we get to see Ruth Madeley’s character again in the future as she was great fun.

New TV Shows I started this month are:

• Who is Erin Carter? – Mini series – I’m not exactly sure what was happening in this show all the time. It was a bit of a weird one, but I got sucked in and did enjoy it even if it was a bit outlandish at some points.
• In The Dark – Season 1 – This show is about a blind woman who finds her friend’s dead body, and then his body disappears. She becomes embroiled in the mystery. I have mixed feelings about this one, the big issue being that the main character isn’t played by a disabled actor. She did a whole lot of research, of course *rolls eyes* and they managed to find a disabled actor for a secondary character, but nope, couldn’t quite manage it for the main character. I’m watching it because I’m curious to see how it turns out, especially as the main character is a very different type of disabled character than we normally see on screen. She’s outrageous and rude, and while I’m so there for any non-saint disabled characters there are just some things she does that I can’t stand. Especially as the show’s creators have already made dubious decisions which makes me see some of her actions as reflecting negatively on the disabled community.
• Bodies – Mini series – I loved the sound of this mystery series on Netflix that involved detectives from four different time periods and it did not disappoint. It was incredible and I highly recommend it for crime and sci-fi fans.
• The Doctor Blake Mysteries – Seasons 1-5 and the TV movies The Doctor Blake Mysteries: Family Portrait and The Blake Mysteries: Ghost Stories – A cosy Australian mystery series set in the 1950s, this was another one that I kept seeing and wasn’t sure if it was my kind of thing. It turned out it was ok and I ended up watching everything.
• Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries – Seasons 1 and 2 – A spin-off from Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries set in the 1960s and featuring Phryne Fisher’s long lost niece. Despite its cliche set-up, it ended up being a great show.

• Family Law – Seasons 1-3 – I kept seeing this show everywhere, and it had four actors that kept drawing me in; Jewel Staite, Victor Garber, Genelle Williams and Lauren Holly. Staite is the main character a lawyer who has an extremely public moment of public intoxication and has her license suspended.  The only person willing to let her at their firm so she can get her license back is her estranged father (Garber) who cheated on her mother (Holly) and left them when she was a child. She’ll be working with her half-sister and half-brother who got to have their dad in their lives, although it becomes clear that none of them have healthy relationships with him. It’s a show that covers serious topics while also being a dramedy that serves up comedy that is just the right side of being slap-stick, and the whole cast is on top form. Staite’s character is both brilliantly sarcastic and on point while also being a complete bitch. I gobbled up every season.
• Whitstable Pearl – Season 1 – A cosy British amateur detective show set in a seaside show which was surprisingly heavy with the way it handled grief and depression – which it did very well.

Here is what I read in November 2023:

• Once Upon a Summer: A Folk and Fairy Tale Anthology (Once Upon a Season Book 2)
• Winter’s Gifts (Rivers of London #9.5) by Ben Aaronovitch
• The Judas Blossom (The Nightingale and the Falcon #1) by Stephen Aryan
• The Sandman Universe: Dead Boy Detectives
• Nightmare Country Vol. 1
• The Sandman Universe Special: Thessaly (2023) One-Shot

The books I reviewed in November 2023 were:

[rcno-book-listing ids=”32551, 32811, 32758, 32756, 32772, 32791″ wc=250 readmore=”Read my review”]

We didn’t do much in London and chose to just relax. It meant we could save our energy up for our stopover on the way back which was in the Peak District. The weather was still a bit miserable but we made the most of it, visiting the local village we were staying in. The views of Lake Windermere were absolutely gorgeous when we had a wander about.

At this time of year, the landscape was covered in autumn shades and it was just beautiful to walk through even in the rain. As I had been resting so much I was able to keep going for a lot longer than I expected. I knew I’d pay for it later, but we were heading home and I knew I’d be able to rest if PEM did hit me hard.

A craft fair and a market were happening as it was a weekend and I had a small budget so I was only able to pick a few things up.

The first item pictured is a highland coo magnet from Bankyard Creations which you can find on Etsy and Facebook. The beautiful bookmark is from artist Elle Parker and you should check out her website if you’re looking for gifts for bird lovers she has all sorts of products featuring her lovely artwork!

I needed a new lip balm and when we came across Honeybee Artisan Crafts I was happy to find one! I’ve been using it ever since and it has worked so well. My lips feel great!

One stall that I didn’t pick anything up from but promised a shout-out to was a stall called Ahima Boutique. They sell artisan jewellery, clothes and accessories and have some wonderful unique pieces of jewellery. I would definitely check this place out if you’re looking for a gift for someone!

Thank you for joining me for my November 2023 monthly update and reading all about how I was geeking by last month!

Join me next month for 2023’s final monthly update!

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