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Christmas Merriment

My Housemate's a Mermaid (Alice E. Bennett) Christmas, Humour, New Year, Uncategorized ,

With all the Christmas happenings going on, I thought I’d already drafted and scheduled a Christmas post. Turns out I hadn’t, hence why with barely more than 24 hours to go I’m typing this.

Happy Christmas and merry New Year.

I hope you all have a happy, joyful, merry, wonderful, safe, yada-yada-yada Christmas and New Year. I’m going to be away from the website during this period while I spend time relaxing with friends and family (and focusing on other writing and reading exploits).

Next week there will be not one, but two book reviews going live, so keep your eyes peeled for those. I will see you again in the new year.

Now, where’s the nearest coffee shop?

Best wishes,

AEB

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“The Alice Show”

My Housemate's a Mermaid (Alice E. Bennett) comedy, Cotswolds, Humor, Humour, Swindon, Travel, Uncategorized, Young Professional , , , , , ,

I’ve been going through old video material. Some it used for assorted MHAM posts, others filmed in the moment, yet never used. (Believe it or not, even I have a version of a cutting room floor!)

After conducting an even deeper dig into the Alice archives, I’ve pulled together a compilation video of clips, both seen and unseen. Where possible, I’ve tried to piece together when content was originally filmed and overlay it into each clip. I had more than this, but at 11 minutes long I felt the video was already pushing it beyond the five minutes I’d originally planned (maybe in the future there could be a sequel).

It’s a little bit of a vanity project, but one which I hope some of you may get a chuckle out of.

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A quick break in Lymington

My Housemate's a Mermaid (Alice E. Bennett) British, Holiday, Humor, Humour, Travel, Uncategorized, Vacation , , , , , ,

Just back having spent a lovely couple of days in the New Forest town of Lymington (England). Boyfriend Ben was busy attending to work matters and, with me having copious amounts of annual leave left to take, I thought I’d have another go at exploring.

Unlike last year, when I visited neighbouring Lyndhurst, this time I didn’t get ill from Norovirus (actual yay!!)

I didn’t take many snaps for a few key reasons:

  1. I was only in Lymington for two full days
  2. I spent most of that time in coffee shops and eateries, reading books or writing like the Devil himself

Other reasons:

  1. I visited the St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery, but they had a policy of not taking photos in the gallery (which is fair enough)
  2. It’s November, things get dark from 16:30
  3. I walked up and down the main High Street so many times I felt I was one selfie away from being branded a loitering millennial
  4. Pulling together videos takes time, especially when…
  5. I’m also taking part in a personally adapted version of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year

But hey! Here are a couple of snaps I did manage to take. (All of which from around the quay at the moment I thought “I should probably take a photo for the website”)

There’s a nature reserve (located next to a busy stretch of road – you wouldn’t know it!)

There are ferries to the Isle of Wight (which I didn’t utilise, but I did walk up to with no intention of boarding. I went right to the edge and thought “huh, so that’s what the ferries look like up close. Okay,” then retraced my steps back to the quay. Valid use of an hour’s walking with a laptop strapped to my back, if ever there was one.

There was also the mini event of the train cutting over the quay, which felt strange and yet very watchable.

And then there’s me, hello!

In conclusion

Lymington is a wonderful place to visit for a short break, particularly around this time of year (November), when things are less crowded vs the high/school holiday season.

I stayed within the town throughout my stay but there are plenty of other local attractions within the New Forest for those wanting to explore, alongside the car/foot passenger ferry to the Isle of Wight. Lymington is accessible by car and serviced by two train stations, one of which being only a couple of minute’s walk from the town centre.

For what it’s worth, these were the coffee/catering I visited* (*I visited other establishments which formed part of nationally recognised chains, so I’ll celebrate the independents instead!)

Lounges of Lymington

The Larder, Lymington

The King’s Head Inn, Lymington

Coffeelogy, Southampton (this place isn’t in Lymington, but I stopped here on my way home!)

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A very BBC reaction to UK politics

My Housemate's a Mermaid (Alice E. Bennett) Humour, Mermaid, News, politics, Uncategorized , , , ,

I was watching some of BBC’s in-depth news coverage of the Conservative party leadership the other night and couldn’t help but burst out laughing. It’s BBC Newsnight at its best impartial tongue-in-cheek self.

For context:

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What is going on with Jus-Rol’s cinnamon swirls / rolls?

My Housemate's a Mermaid (Alice E. Bennett) Baking, British, comedy, food, Humor, Humour, Review, Uncategorized , , , , , ,

2026 update: See also Jus-Rol will not get the hint on their cinnamon swirls / rolls

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After battling a mouthful of disappointment, I just wanted to highlight how much of a travesty Jus-Rol‘s cinnamon swirls rebrand is.

In the simplest of terms, it’s awful.

For those less aware of its previous incarnations, Jus-Rol’s cinnamon swirls is a ready-to-bake product. What it offers to the market is something straightforward and quick, providing the same results of freshy made pastry, without the time and stress needed to make a batch from scratch.

To quote Jus-Rol’s website:

“Jus-Rol’s ready to bake Cinnamon Swirls are a perfectly easy way to bake your family a tasty morning treat at home. Just shape, bake and enjoy warm from the oven. The aroma will fill your kitchen with joy as they bake up.”

https://www.jusrol.co.uk/products/cinnamon-swirls

Making Jus-Rol cinnamon swirls was easy. You took it out of the tube, split the cylinder of pre-filled pastry into six and then whacked it into the oven, cooking for a defined period of time and icing once cooled.

Now the process is several steps longer and ten times worse. Instead of one pot for icing sugar, now you get two, one for the icing sugar and one for the “cinnamon filling” which looks more like chocolate spread and smells of nothing.

Even if we park the creation of needless plastic packaging, it is hard to overlook the messy complexity created by the introduction this modest little pot. Once the filling is smeared across a flat rectangle of raw pastry, the consumer then has to roll the pastry and only then cutting it into six.

Thanks to this step, the cinnamon goes absolutely everywhere. Some pieces were left drowning in brown paste, others with barely a scrap inside. Some swirls were trying to uncurl and others kept oozing.

Turns out whacking them into the oven doesn’t help much either. Cast your mind back to the picture on the Jus-Rol box and compare it to what we got.

While we can all laugh at mis-shaped pastries, it doesn’t compare to how they used to look with the old recipe.

Turns out I’m not the only one disappointed by Jus-Rol’s change in manufacturing. With an average rating of 1.1 at the time of writing, Tesco’s customers are less than impressed.

And the feedback on Jul-Rol’s Facebook page is comical.

Here’s hoping Jus-Rol listen to this feedback on and tossing aside whichever team of dingbats thought it was a good idea to implement cost-cutting, planet harming, changes to a classic.

Have you also experienced this frustration? Drop a comment below and/or contact Jus-Rol’s customer service team via their website, Jus-Rol (jusrol.co.uk)

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Meanwhile, in Alice’s head…

My Housemate's a Mermaid (Alice E. Bennett) comedy, Humor, Humour, Uncategorized ,

Something I came across on the internet that makes absolutely no sense other than afterwards finding out it’s a thing and the cat is apparently called Maxwell.

And, in fairness, it is the most truest of reflections when it comes to what is usually floating around in my head.

Oh, God, what have I gotten myself into? Make it stop!!

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Relaxing summer days in Devon

My Housemate's a Mermaid (Alice E. Bennett) Devon, Holiday, Humor, Humour, Travel, Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , ,

This is a smidge of a belated one, given boyfriend Ben and I were holidaying in the last week of August. What can I say? I’ve been rather busy since getting back, and by busy, I mean swamped in work emails.

Back in South Devon, we had a rather splendid time in and around the English Riviera (even if Ben’s reaction to that description was laughter, followed by “no, really? The English Riviera?“)

We did wine tasting, we did a cider tour, we visited National Trust properties, I even did a walk along the River Dart in hopelessly inadequate footwear. We did all the classy things. We had a simply wonderful time thanks to all the wonderful human beings that made it so.

Oh, and Ben’s car almost got flooded, due to the super blue Moon (he’ll insist it looked worse than it was, but he was the one moaning about his wet socks for the rest of the night!)

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Attractions visited (in no particular order):

  • Ring O’Bells, Chagford (pub and restaurant). Great priced bagette sandwiches, just what we needed after an early start on the road
  • James Bowden & Son, Chagford (shop). AKA the never ending shop
  • The River Shack, Stoke Gabriel (restaurant). Coffee, breakfast, pizza, this place never fails to delight
  • The Castle Inn, Stoke Gabriel (pub and restaurant). Repeat customers throughout the week
  • Hunt’s Cider, Stoke Gabriel (tour and tasting). Tried about 6 ciders, then got offered more by the owners because we were one of the last ones there. We may have been stumbling across the fields on the way back…
  • Sandridge Barton (home of Sharpham Wine), Stoke Gabriel (wine tasting and self-led vineyard walk). Oh my god, the wines were beautiful!
  • Slapton Sands (beach and WWII memorial). Got our steps in and relaxed on the pebbly beach, taking in the sounds of local nature and the sea (relaxation somewhat broken when Ben said “look! There’s a dead crab near us”)
  • National Trust – Coleton Fishacre, Kingswear (visitor attraction). The property where Ben compared every bedroom to the side of his house and I made passing comments over the 1920s obsession with single beds
  • National Trust – Greenway, famed author Agatha Christie’s holiday house, Brixham (visitor attraction). The property where Ben said “so, this will be the kind of second home you own one day?” I pulled a face that made him laugh
  • Brixham (town). There were models/figurines of topless mermaids everywhere (locals, please fill me in on this, I didn’t get the connection, other than it being a significant fishing town)
    • I previously wrote a post giving my person review of Brixham, including top attractions. You can read it here
  • Paignton (town). See above, alias “where Alice loitered in a coffee shop with her book”
  • Ikea, Exeter (shop). Because we stopped off there on the way back and Ben and I love day trips to Ikea…even if it is only the second time in 10 years I’ve been to one)

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It’s Happened Again!!

My Housemate's a Mermaid (Alice E. Bennett) British, comedy, Humor, Humour, News, shopping, Television, Uncategorized , ,

Following the post I published towards the end of 2022 about a mother opening an Amazon parcel containing boxes of cereal, I have two thing to report.

  1. Amazon have yet to implement a policy forcing people to open parcels on the doorstep (sorry Lizzie)
  2. It’s happened again!

As spotted on a social media platform (for the sake of argument, let’s call said social media platform “Gacebook”):

Image reads: Amazon Warning!!!! I want to make our community aware so this doesn’t happen to anyone else. I ordered an iPad Air of Amazon certified seller and received a pack of cleaning wipes.
Package was tampered with. I managed to grab the driver to return the item. He said he could not change the delivered status. He rung his boss and who said to him, ‘bring the wipes back and we’ll get her sent out an item tomorrow’. Needless to say the iPad never turned up. After several calls to Amazon Customer Services I am still unable to change the status of the delivery to returned until the driver has done so. I know this will not happen. Its currently being investigated by Amazon customer services.

Another instance of someone trying to buy an Apple product, only this time they got duped with surface wipes.

I don’t know why I should be surprised and really it is a terrible thing that people are being unfairly mugged off in such a way, but it still amazed me when I saw it appear on my social media feed.

That, or it could be a sign that I need to get a life.

As a thirty year old, eating blueberry yoghurt from the tub and watching reruns of The Hills I’m going to decline the opportunity to comment. I’d only dig myself into a bigger yoghurt-based hole.

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How I got free tickets to RIAT (the Royal International Air Tattoo)

My Housemate's a Mermaid (Alice E. Bennett) British, Charity, Event, Humour, Uncategorized , , ,

To say Ben is into planes is more than a little modest, it is the understatement of the century. We both also happen to live close to Fairford, the Wiltshire RAF base which once a year becomes home to the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT).

Two slight issues with my initial plan of a date-day visit:

  1. In 2023 the price of an individual adult ticket was £65
  2. As well documented by Captain Obvious, RAF Fairford is an exposed airfield. If it rains, you’re gonna know about it

The solution? Volunteering!

Ben and I put enlisted as event volunteers, selling programmes to raise money for the RAF Charitable Trust. Two highlights were Ben saying “I didn’t think you were actually going to dance with a stack of programmes” and a police officer who tapped me on the shoulder and said, in an incredibly stern tone, “excuse me, madam, but do you work in a boxing ring?” (I was waving a programme high above my head at the time). After realising I wasn’t getting a telling me off, I laughed and waved it even higher.

I know it wasn’t meant to be a contest but Ben and I sold a lot of programmes from our combined efforts, a lot.

By noon we were released from volunteering duties and allowed to enjoy RIAT for the rest of the day, free of charge. We enjoyed both the static and air displays with plenty of sugary snacks and then, when the British weather turned we darted into Ben’s car and continued watching the displays, warm and dry and accompanied by RIAT’s FM radio commentary (another perk of volunteering, prime car parking).

Not even strong winds and rain could stop us laughing during our day at RIAT. I learnt a lot about planes (although I don’t see me becoming RAF recruitment material anytime soon) but I also got to learn more about the great work of the RAF Charitable Trust. All whilst having a cheap date day out with Ben. We came away with Ben’s vocal cords ripped to shreds and my arms and feet feeling the burn from all the dancing. But you know what? It was totally worth it.

You can find out more about volunteering opportunities at RIAT through their official website

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Shin-kicking – a very Cotswold news story

My Housemate's a Mermaid (Alice E. Bennett) British, comedy, Cotswolds, Culture, Humor, Humour, News, Uncategorized , ,

Nothing sums up my experiences growing up than the hype surrounding the “Cotswold Olimpick Games”, an annual summer event that takes place on Dover’s Hill, Gloucestershire.

You, however, might be more familiar with one of the key events that take place during the games, skin-kicking.

Not heard of shin-kicking before? Well have no fear, for this news clip from BBC Points West will explain all in glorious local news fashion.

(Even I was left thinking “what did I just watch?”)

There’s a lot to unpack here in what is almost a 4 minute long video, so let me hit you with what’s going on (my personal highlights are in bold):

  • 00:12 – It’s not a piece of old reel footage unless a random horse suddenly appears
  • 00:29 – What. On. Earth? (I choked on my cup of tea when I first saw this)
  • 00:41 – Local news gets interviewee’s name wrong (#standard)
  • 01:29 – “It’s a part of our heritage that’s nice to keep alive” – in school we were frequently told that it was a stupid sport and told to not do it
  • 01:40 – Already looking considerably more violent than the 1950s version of shin-kicking
  • 02:08 – I genuinely feel a bit sorry for anyone who travels overseas, or makes special effort, to visit the Cotswold Olmpicks. My sister went last year and said it was a load of cr*p
  • 02:35 – Dear Lord, those shin guards! (I couldn’t stop laughing…again). Also, the buttoning up of the suit jacket which I’m guessing is a nervous twitch on the part of the presenter, as if this bloke is seriously going to pelt him
  • 02:44 – “Be careful, because I am a world champion” is a phrase that has probably become very tiresome down Mike’s local pub
  • 02:50 – Demonstration of shin-kicking (otherwise known by Alice’s laugh of “hahahahahaha! This is brilliant, hahaha”)
  • 03:01 – “Do you normally have something down your trousers?”
  • 03:15 – I’m starting to think someone has dared Mike to wear that silly hat
  • 03:35 – The weather presenter completely baffled, like the rest of us, by what he’s just seen

And don’t you worry, as always you’re very much welcome.

Image credit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-39538277

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