Crinoline Robot's vintage week

My mojo is returning, slowly. I'm still knitting, slowly, and I've been organised enough to write and post a letter to Marija. I've even remembered that my embroidery is in my trunk so a bit more of that might get done one day! I made it through my print deadlines with only one Deadline Desperation purchase, a dress with cats dressed as astronauts on. (Yes, there will be photos.) My next deadline for OPM clashes with E3, the big international games convention in LA. As a vast chunk of the mag will be devoted to things on show at E3, all that will be coming in at the last minute so I will be stressed, stressed, STRESSED. Expect no blog posts and more novelty shopping mid-June. On a more sensible shopping front, last weekend I got some legging things to wear for the gym, though I still haven't got round to joining said gym. I'm not that organised.

The garden looks bloody awful. I'd hoped to put in some time on it over the bank holiday, but it rained. Staying in and reading books/rewatching old episodes of The Avengers and The X-Files was great for recharging my batteries but definitely not good for my garden. The neighbours must be really cross with me, though it would be terribly bad form to say anything. (One of the good things about living in a working-class area – whatever you put or do in your garden is your own business. In fancier places, like Bath, neighbours might feel entitled to query the state of your garden, but round my way nosy parkers get told where to go.) I need to cut the grass and get round to chopping down the willow that's coming close to invading next door. At least my tomato plants and coriander are thriving. Grow your own curries, that's the thing to do.

We got free tapas on Tuesday! Tapas Revolution has opened a branch in Bath and emailed Mr Robot's firm to see if anyone wanted to help the chefs and waiting staff 'test' the menu and organisation at a pre-opening evening. Ohellyes. The food was free and the drinks were half price, so for about £14 we got completely stuffed and not a little squiffy. We left a big fat tip as a thank you, because what's not to love about free Spanish food? I still find the British way of eating tapas - getting lots of dishes all at once, and sharing - deeply wrong, but the poor waiting staff would never cope if they had to deliver individual dishes constantly, so I guess it makes sense this way.

Fuelled by cider, we've also narrowed down which places we want to visit on our trip to India next year: Kolkata (taking in Chandernagore and Serampore, for my family history), Sunderbans (big mangrove forest/wildlife park near Kolkata, for a bit of peace and quiet and so His Nibs can try to photograph a tiger), take the overnight train up to Darjeeling (HIMALAYAS!), then fly off for a couple of days in Mumbai to take in the art deco splendours before coming home. Sounds good, eh?

I had my annual deep de-mothing session last weekend: remove everything from the wardrobe, hoover wardrobe, spray wardrobe with clothes moth killer (lasts up to a year), check clothing for holes, put everything back. It ensures tidy wardrobes and drawers, and no moth-related anguish. There were no holes in anything, I'm happy to report. It's a good thing to do if you have time; you can see what you own, think about which items you no longer want, and ensure that the things you do want to keep are bring looked after.

So, what do you think of the space cat dress? Fun, or do you hope it'll get ravaged by moths? (It won't – it's polyester. Ha!)