Tag Archives: lego

Contradictions? Oh no they’re not!

The World Cup

I don’t generally follow much sport. However, I really did want England to win the World Cup so that we could channel our furious nationalistic energy in to football, instead of Brexit. So football is NOT coming home.  And my home is still NOT going to be in Europe.

Clean eating

Tonight I had a ‘meal of two halves’ (to borrow a sporting metaphor ).

  1. Homemade vegetarian burger, served with a large spoon of sour cream.
  2. A steak. Medium rare, served with a large shake of Ottolenghi tomato sauce.

Social life

Tonight I was meant to go to a social evening after work. Instead, I went home, listened to podcasts and filed personal emails. Like all introverts who need solo recharging, I feel refreshed and relaxed.

Feminism

I am a feminist, but I do feel quite entitled to a seat on the Tube. I mean, men have much stronger sturdier legs than me … My handbag gets pretty heavy.

Lego

I should have rebuilt my daughter’s Lego house that I accidentally smashed in the middle of the night. But I suggested instead that it was time to renovate “like we are” and she thought that was a good idea. Phew!

steak card

A genuine greeting card that I am saving for someone very special.

[Writing time – 15 minutes. Reading time – at your leisure.]

Here’s one I wrote earlier

Kids – sorry the grown-ups broke your EU  Dear kids, Yesterday some grown-ups broke your European Union. Sorry about that. They didn’t really mean to. I hope that you can fix it when you’re older. Remember to vote. Love, mum

Hype cycle of life I’ve had a few days recently when I’ve been without my phone. This made me realise how I use social media to fill all the little gaps in the day when I’d rather scroll than think or look or talk. (Introverts unite!)

Keep the water in your mouth Yesterday I found a Post-It note in the kitchen with these words of wisdom: Keep the water in your mouth.

 

All animals are created equal

We don’t have pets, but we do have some amusing animals in our lives. Here are some photos of our favourites so far…

Kangaroo with glasses

An air of resigned dignity on this poor kangaroo. The new management really don’t take her qualifications seriously.  

damian hirst dove

Amazed at Daiman Hirst’s dove.

Lego minifig crocodile man

Grrrr. No idea what this Lego minifig is. Some poor man trapped in a crocodile suit?

grape dragon

A once terrifying dragon rendered harmless by a bunch of grapes.

bees on orange flowers

So busy.

New York croissant cat

It’s a croissant cat!!

 

 

 

Lego is blog superfood

I’ve been suffering from an extreme case of blog procrastination. If this blog was a small child, well-meaning strangers would frown at its unsuitable footwear and thin arms.

But hooray! All the planets are aligned, the Interweb is working, and my hands are warm enough to type.

Quite a few people stumble here by searching for Lego.  So to feed up my poor malnourished blog, here are some amusing Lego pictures. Does anyone ever get tired of cute Lego? Not me.

Lego minifig crocodile man

Grrrr. No idea what this Lego minifig is. Some poor man trapped in a crocodile suit?

Lego minifig hippy

We had a hard time trying to describe what ‘a hippy’ was to the kids.

Proof that I was in New York

I did make an ambitious claim several weeks ago that I would put up some pictures from my NY mini-break. Here they are:

New York Chinatown signs

The ancient Chinese culture and traditions on display in Chinatown.

New York September 11 memorial

The 9/11 memorial at sunset.

New York croissant cat

It’s a croissant cat!!

New York Central park

Central Park. It looks fake, doesn’t it? But it really was this pretty…

New York Met elephant vase

At The Met I found out that mid-18th century French porcelain could be terrifying.

So, the blog child-beast has been fed. And I can happily procrastinate away for another short while.

Here’s one I wrote earlier

Lego love for all the family. It really really hurts when I step on hard, sharp, pointy bits of Lego. I suffer through strange foot indentations because  Lego is wonderful.

Too lazy for words. Greetings from New York. I’ve just popped over for a high-end mini-break with husband.

It’s a (pink) girl’s world

I try very hard not to fall in to the blue/boy and pink/girl trap. I hate the fact that some very ordinary things are being gender-coloured. See exhibit A: Pink Globe.

Pink globe

It's a (pink) girl's world

Is Lego just for lads?

My boy has always been showered with Lego gifts. Cars, rockets, spaceships, planes, robots, trains… But when it came time for his sister to experience the  world of high-quality plastic studded construction bricks, she was not impressed.

I wanted her to use her imagination to build wonderful freeform creations  from generic secondhand Lego. She wanted cool Lego sets like her brother, but they had to include pink, sparkles, babies and ice-creams. Sigh…

My solution – I scoured eBay for girly Lego. It took ages, but I think I’ve found the solution.

The Lego spaceship

The Lego spaceship

Little Lego car in corner

Little Lego car in corner

Lego on pillow

Good morning my lego love

Hello Kitty tea set with Lego

Hello Kitty tea set with Lego

Lego with playmobil ice cream shop

Lego combined with Playmobil ice cream shop

Girl power

Here’s one of my favourite pics of a strong female role model for my daughter …

Princess leia in bread

The Princess of carbs

How Star Wars took over my life

I used to like Star Wars quite a lot. As a young-ish urban childless New Media professional, basic Star Wars knowledge was mandatory.  We all spoke fondly of the original films, and bitched about the betrayal of the prequels.

Now my family has surrounded me in Star Wars again, and I am thoroughly sick of it. I trip over Lightsabers left in the hallway. I step on dismembered Lego Star Wars figures. I try to block out the sound of my boy humming the Star Wars theme song.

However, with some effort, I can think of a few positive things about Star Wars:

  • The kids use The Force to attack each other when they’re playing Star Wars, rather than traditional hitting, kicking etc. Non-contact violence.
  • Like all good space operas, the Star Wars films have interesting storylines for the kids to re-enact and interpret. The plot is just as important to them as the spaceships and weapons. The gadgets and technology are part of the Star Wars world, but not the main focus.
  • I understand why Jar Jar Binks exists. To little kids, he is a comic genius.
  • Princess Leia sometimes gets involved in the fighting, so my daughter can join in the battles. (We pretend that Princess Leia has a Lightsaber too …)

My Star Wars home

Here is some photographic evidence of the Star Wars-enhanced home I live in.

Lightsaber in toilet rollI found this in the bathroom one morning. A simple tribute to the Lightsaber by my boy…

Princess Leia trapped in sticky tape

Princess Leia trapped in sticky tape

Han Solo may have been encased in Carbonite, but see what happens to poor Princess Leia in our house. I spent ages looking everywhere for this damn figure, then my daughter told me that “The princess was stuck-ed”.

star wars lego on shelf

Dad’s Star Wars Lego – do not touch!

My husband keeps his ‘vintage’ Star Wars Lego safe on top of our bookshelf. When little kids come over, they stand there wide-eyed looking up at it. I feel a bit silly saying: “No, you can’t play with that, it’s special Lego for adults.”

Lightsabers and vacuum cleaner

Lightsaber storage disaster

The Lightsabers are stuffed in behind a door, amongst umbrellas and bits of a vacuum cleaner. When will Ikea come up with a Lightsaber storage solution?

Brought to you by the Interweb – Star Wars as an educational tool

I’m not too sure about this – Lucas Learning was set up by George Lucas to provide “technology-based instructional materials
that make learning challenging, engaging and fun.”  Hmmmm – shameless merchandising, anyone?

Lego love for all the family

It really really hurts when I step on hard, sharp, pointy bits of Lego. I suffer through strange foot indentations because  Lego is wonderful. The kids use their brains to think of things to make, eyes to find the right pieces and fingers to click it all together.

Of course Lego have a bountiful website, but nothing compares to the sound of small hands rummaging around in boxes of plastic bits.

Lego snowman

A snowman to last for years

I’m not sure about the sinister eyes, but the carrot nose is very amusing.

Vintage Lego – groovy

1970s lego people and furniture

I believe this is called ‘vintage’ Lego.

I found some of my old Lego at my parents’ house. The people look quite ABBA-esque don’t they? I loved the cute furniture too, although the scale was not quite right.  These Lego people would have had a hell of a time trying to wash their hands …

Vintage Lego – space age

Check out that hi-tech computer!

This is some of my brother’s old Lego. I think the hi-tech computer screens are adorable. I wonder if there are Lego iPad pieces yet?

Lego planes

lego planes on shelf

Lego planes arranged very neatly on my shelf.

One morning I found these assorted Lego planes neatly arranged on my shelf by my son.

Lego sweets

lego sweets

An assortment of Lego sweets.

A piece of foam + Lego lights = sweets on a  cake. My daughter is hoarding these colourful little pieces of plastic to make desserts …

Brought to you by the InterWeb – Edible Lego

Look what happens when Lego nerds get in to the kitchen – edible Lego.