Some of you who read my blog regularly will know that it has been a little while between drinks - both metaphorically and physically. Not only did we buy our very first home, we’re also expecting a baby! If you’ve ever been through that first trimester, you’ll know that actually having the energy to do anything besides from dragging your sorry self to work is rather ambitious. So this blog fell by the wayside somewhat. 

When I originally started this blog, it was a way of keeping in touch with my family and friends back in Australia without spamming them with email. As my London jaunt turned into a few year stay to a rather more permanent thing, this blog morphed into a place for me to talk about London happenings, travel, art, food, user experience and more recently, a place for me to show my sketchnotes. 

I’ve been wondering for some time whether I should refocus this blog and I’ve finally come to a decision. Since I’ve been focusing most on my sketchnoting and illustration recently, that will still continue to live here, as well as any interesting tidbits on London or user experience. Any food related stuff including cooking, restaurants or travel — which generally focuses around eating — will move over to my new blog at www.whatscookingthisweek.com. Some of you may already be familiar with my Twitter account where I post the recipes plus restaurants that I eat at and this was always the intended extension of that account. It may not be all up and running just yet but should be once the DNS sorts itself out. Anything already posted will stay where it is but it will be easier to subscribe to what you are interested in from now on. 

For the first time in six years of living in London, both my parents came to visit me. My father, despite being almost 60 had never left Australia before. It was my Mum’s third visit to London, having previously lived there in the 1970’s and spending over a month with me in 2005. She was my original inspiration for the big move, having spent most of my childhood poring over her travel scrapbooks.

If you’ve noticed a slow-down in the blog posts lately, it’s because we’ve been up to a bunch of stuff and I’ve been run off my feet. Here’s what we got up to:

• A walk around Hackney, London Fields, Victoria Park and Regents Canal in order to keep them awake after they arrived at 6am (Yes, I had to go pick them up!)
• Lots of London sightseeing, they did an open top bus tour, went on the London Eye, saw Tate Modern, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.
• Went to see Australia perform dismally on the first day of the second test, held at Lords Cricket Ground. We did lunch in style with a three course picnic with wine and cheese provided by Villandry. Ashes Flickr Set.
• Drove up to the Lake District, staying in Avon Wood at Windemere Lake. Lake District Flickr Set.
• Spent Dad’s 60th Birthday at Beun Ayre restaurant, Broadway Market. I don’t think I’ve ever seen steaks that big before in my whole life.
• Mum and I went to the V&A Museum of Childhood, located just in Bethnal Green whilst Dad went to see the Imperial War Museum by himself!
• Went to the Dove Club’s Belgian National Day Celebrations at the Dove in Broadway Market. Proceeds went to St Joseph’s Hospice located in Mare Street.
• Mum and Dad travelled on the Eurostar to Belgium. From there, using their Eurail passes, they spent time in Brussels, Gent, Luxemberg, Basel, Zurich, Munich, Innsbruck, Florence, Pisa, Bologna and Ancona before catching a Superfast ferry to Patras. They then had to endure a seven hour train journey to Athens!
• Brad and I met Mum and Dad in Athens before catching a ferry to Naxos, the largest island of the Cyclades for three lovely nights. Lots of sightseeing, sitting on the beach and greek food. Highly recommended. Flickr Set.
• Mum and I went to The Sanctuary spa in Covent Garden for an evening spa, massages, facials and thai foot therapy. Bliss!
• Went to the Saturday Market held on Broadway Market in London Fields. Top marks but now my Dad thinks I’m a bit of a hipster.
• Drove my Dad to Silverstone Raceway, for his 60th birthday present, which was a 2 hour driving experience in a Formula Ford. The smile on his face after was worth every penny. Flickr Set.
• Mum and Dad went to the Science Museum, originally to check out the F1 exhibition that was on but it turns out their permanent collection held a lot more interest.
• Attended the Smarkets Launch Party. Congratulations Team Smarkets!

The day after the Smarkets Launch Party, it was back on a plane (feeling rather shabby if I’m honest) to Perth via Kaula Lumpur. It’s been another whirlwind week catching up with family and friends, as well as walking my dog Brandee. I wrote this en route to Sydney, where I had a few days there with Brad’s family before flying back to London via a stopover in Hong Kong.

You know what they say, no rest for the wicked!