A Little Brother, a Couple of Crumpets, and Macy Gray

It's been a while since I wrote a blog. You may have noticed this, you may not have. You may run, dressing gowned to the computer every morning at 6am, desperate for more whimsical anecdotes about vegetables. "But how ARE they going to figure out how to keep their tomatoes alive this time?" you may ask yourself.

(We will water them. That's what we will do)

The lack of recent blogging can be blamed on puppets. Yes, you heard.

I've been performing a puppetry version of the 3 Little Pigs at the Albany Theatre in Deptford all month, wearing a tank top and having at least one pig on my hand at all times. It has been a brilliant, fun month, allowing me to perform with my ace husband (we figured that husband and wife puppetry isn't sinister unless we brought the puppets home and called them our children) It was an exhausting month, doing 2 or 3 shows a day, dealing with heckles like 'We want Tom- Tom is BETTER THAN YOU' and, inexplicably, one child shouted 'SPIDERWOLF' at me every time I came on stage. Time at home has been limited and has mainly been spent nursing our limbs (I don't know if 'puppeteer's forearm' is a real medical term, but it should be) and, well, talking about puppets. I haven't been by the computer enough, and so blogging has taken a back seat. The pigs were in the front.

II have been inspired to blog again by my little brother. I say 'little.' He is 25 and significantly taller than me. He also has a proper job and a car. He also often marinades things.

My wonderful little brother is travelling solo around China. For 3 weeks. Over Christmas. I was in awe of him when I first heard this news. The most adventurous thing I've ever done over Christmas was going directly into the lounge to greet my parents after a heavy night at the pub on Christmas Eve.

In short, he is having a wonderful time. He is travelling to the known and the unknown, meeting new people, eating new food (with varying degrees of success) and attempting to communicate in mimes that often leave people frightened and confused.

Right now, he is my hero. His blog has made me think about having adventures. Yes, his stories make me want to travel to the unknown, they make me want to grab my passport and disappear for a few weeks, and they make me want to embrace those parts of the world that currently only exist for me on Google Earth.

But they also make me excited for my own adventure, the one that I am on right now. (well, not RIGHT NOW- right now I am in my dressing gown, wondering whether or not to have jam or marmite on my crumpets- I will probably go for one of each, so it feels like a full meal)

As I sit here in my little spot by the window, watching the constant drizzle hit the garden and the cat sheltering uncomfortably under a bush (it hasn't yet occurred to her that she can just come inside) I am filled with anticipation and excitement about the year to come. I am going on tour around the UK with my show 'Running on Air' for a large portion of the Spring and Summer of 2011 and I cannot wait. It feels as though this has been a long time coming, and Joni and I are ready for it. Well, she needs to pop to the garage first for a check that she'll not only make it to the end of our road, but also to Glasgow, but we will be ready. We will. I am looking forward to be doing what I love every day, to meeting new people in the show, to convincing people it's OK to use a biscuit tin as a drum in front of complete strangers.

I am looking forward to making new work next year, to reading new books, making new meals and finding new songs that I want to listen to on repeat for hours (This is a trait I share with my brother who listened to 'I Try' by Macy Gray on constant repeat for roughly 4 months without a break back in 2001)

In short, I have decided that 2011 will be a year of adventures. Some of those will be in wellingtons, some of them will not.