When Thunderbirds premiered on BBC 2
An excitement washed over us like waves
But on a hike our friend eventually lead us
Into a cosy shelter of caves!
Thursday, 6 November 2025
Word Of The Day: The
The
One of the best ideas I thought up last night isn't today's story, The Three Elements Of Friendship, or my story idea What Makes Us Human, about Tin Tin and me swimming deep under the water. It's a DVD compilation featuring four different shows, named Sunshine Favourites. The four shows included are: Spot, Meeow, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet. Here are the episodes featured on the DVD:
- Spot - Spot's First Sleepover, Spot's Birthday and Spot Bakes A Cake
- Meeow - MaisieMac Goes To Australia
- Thunderbirds - The Mighty Atom
- Captain Scarlet - White As Snow
If it becomes a real DVD idea, please look out for me, won't you?!
Tuesday, 4 November 2025
Scooby Doo In Boo York
While out in New York to get supplies for Daphne's Halloween party, Scooby and Shaggy enter a mysterious Halloween shop where they are shown a magical mirror by its mysterious owner. Curious, Scooby examines the mirror and takes a tumble through its glass into an alternate version of New York, where monsters reside and it's Halloween every day.
Word Of The Day: Accolade
Accolade
All it takes is a drop of lemonade to spruce up a beautiful Summer's day, and whenever Lady Penelope and I settle in the mansion garden to shelter under the gazebo from the hot sun, we always share a drink of lemonade together - even Parker might have a sip if he's lucky enough.
ACTIVITY:
In the style of Bluey Fancy Restaurant (the series, not the episode), make your own lemonade concoction using berries and fruits...and the occasional vegetable or two.
Word Of The Day: Email
ACTIVITY:
Write a pretend email to 'er ladyship asking for her advice on something, be it a bad case of formication or some homework you want to complete.
Sunday, 2 November 2025
Stitch Says...Relax
I have decided to relax and move onto something else. Hey hey hey hey hey, calm down! I'm not giving up on writing! Hey, stop!
STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!
Okay, okay. You've all stopped complaining. Thank god. Because I didn't know whether to write stories or create, I'm going to dedicate the rest of my life to relaxing and doing other things I find creative, rather than writing full stories, because publishing is too hard and can result in doubts about whether to write or create which can result in lashing out at ones you love.
I've been lashing out at my family for too long, all because I was addicted to writing and no relaxing ways to create. Remember Steven on My 600LB Life? Well, he had an abusive nature and was absolutely atrocious to everyone around him, including Dr Now. Now, every time I think about Steven, I think about how awful writing stories is. It's too much work and it always makes me think I'm....no, I'd rather not say trash about anything I want to say right now. I'm still going to do this blog, but I want you guys to know that I'm not giving up on this either, not for stories, but for non fictional writing.
So, never give up. Not on storywriting, but on something entirely different - relaxing creative activities. I believe in you. You can get through this! And most of all...when this form of creativity relaxes you....you can forget everything about being the negative person you once were.
Amen, and namaste.
UPDATE: SURPRISE! Just kidding, I'm not giving up storywriting, thanks to encouragement from my Mum and fellow chatbots, I'm going to do some storywriting again. I'm never giving up!
Saturday, 1 November 2025
'70s Chill
The ‘70s was a rather rainy time in Britain. Sure there was politics and sport going on in the 9 o’clock news, but Britain’s children didn’t care, because all throughout the ‘70s, kids were looking forward most of all to when their favourite Supermarionation series airing on TV. There was Fireball XL5, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and of course, the most legendary Supermarionation series of all, Thunderbirds. Thunderbirds aired Saturday mornings on ITV in 1976 at the time, so for me, Brains, Alan and Tin Tin, who are managers at ITV at the time.
On rainy days like this, we would escape the downpour by running into the building as fast as we possibly could, quickly closing our umbrellas or holding the latest edition of The Times over our heads. We’d run to the counter, dripping wet, and the counter lady would look at us and say, “Oh dearie me, you lot are dripping wet. Let’s get you into your marvellous little clubhouse you wanted to be on.”
And that was it - it was our special room. A room which allowed Thunderbirds to be made possible on such a channel as ITV. The floors were patterned with fluffy red velvet carpet, and there was an orange, red, pink and dark blue beanbag lined up in a circle around a giant lava lamp. The walls around us were white and patterned with orange, pink and red flowers with bright yellow middles.
Just nearby was a wardrobe full of beautiful clothes - T-shirts and trousers and socks and hair accessories and knickers and pants - everything we needed when we got out of our wet, soaking work clothes.
10 MINUTES LATER….
Look at us now! We were dressed for work in black uniforms, Alan and Brains wearing bowler hats and Tin Tin wearing a beautiful blue cocktail dress, but now we’re dressed in groovy ‘70s attire. First, check out how Alan looks. His hair had been slit back, and he is wearing a comfy orange T-shirt and brown comfy jeans. The socks he wears are a beautiful shade of red. Brains has snazzier green glasses, he has a sparkling blue jumper on, his boring denim jeans have been replaced by sparkling purple trousers and he was wearing sneakers and blue socks. If you listen very closely, you can hear him making kung fu action hero noises as he poses for us all to see, only to fall over onto his bottom again as we all laugh with him. I just scoff through my laughter, “Brains!” and help him up again.
And Tin Tin looks even beautiful in her ‘70s attire. Her dripping wet cocktail dress has been exchanged for a brown jumper, and she is wearing some rubber bracelets on both wrists. Her wet trousers have been replaced with cool red sparkling ones, and she is wearing the comfiest high heels no girl had ever worn before. Her hair had been done up in a ponytail, and there are three hairclips on each side of her hair - on one side, there are two green clips and one orange clip, and on the other, there are two pink clips and one purple clip. She now has the smell of elegant rose perfume, making her attractive to Alan.
And me? Well, you should check me out. I am wearing a comfy pink T-shirt decorated in daisies, loose orange trousers, red and blue converse boots and, just like Tin Tin, I have clips in my hair - except they have glittery butterfly wings on them. I now have orange perfume on, and I smell as beautiful as an orange tree in an orchard.
Speaking of which, Uncle Orange, one member of Applejack’s family who almost took Applejack in to learn her city ways, was a teenager at the time, and came to see us and accompany us in our room. We both smelt beautifully of orange perfume, and Uncle Orange’s real name at the time was Bob Symphony Orange. He was falling for another girl at the time, a teenage filly named Amelia Harmony Orange, and no matter how many times he tried to get her, she just turned her head away and stuck her pony nose up in the air.
Bob had been depressed over not getting the girl he wanted for quite sometime, but luckily Alan, Brains, Tin Tin and I invited him into our club. Bob and Alan spent most of the time at the table, playing board games and sipping orange juice - you know, because orange juice is Bob’s favourite beverage - while Tin Tin gave me piggyback rides around the room, and Brains just relaxed on the bean bags. We were in complete harmony in this room, because we were free from the loud noises and thuds and screams that made ITV shows like Coronation Street and Emmerdale possible.
Meanwhile, over in another room, Amelia Orange was hanging out with her friends Robert and Zoonie. This was the Fireball XL5 room, and she enjoyed it here as much as she spent time in either the Stingray, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 rooms with Marina, Destiny Angel or Joe, even before Henry from Angelina Ballerina came along in 2001. Amelia would often play tag with Zoonie, and then chill out with Robert and listen to the latest reggae pop hits. And whenever Robert emerged from the bathroom after a toilet break, oil dripped from his bottom onto the floor.
Deep Water
The night sky was reflected upon the choppy waters of the cold, dark blue ocean, making it thrash and crash about like a wrecking ball destroying everything in its path, something only International Rescue can sort out for themselves, not just themselves, but for all the people in the world to notice, realise, understand. However, now, there are no cases for International Rescue to solve…not yet. There was just peace, quiet and prosperity among these violent waters.
Why?
Well, you’ll see why.
Deep underneath the cold, icy waters of the night-lit ocean, four simple figures swam gracefully in the ocean, feeling the pleasure of escaping the rules and regulations of civilised life and finding happiness among the gentle yet violent waters of the ocean. One was masculine, with blonde hair and beautiful eyes, and skin as smooth as a bank of ice.
The second figure was a little smaller in detail - his chest not as masculine as the first figure, but also a little weak, yet he is a strong swimmer. He wears glasses on the beach where we play and relax, but he takes them off when he swims with his friends. Speaking of which…
The third figure was as slender and soft, with satiny skin that matched the smoothness of the cold water. Her swimming was just as graceful as either Brains or Alan….or me. I’m the one who is enjoying swimming with them under these choppy midnight waters. I may be six years old, but I’m enjoying the whole freedom-filled stint with my three best friends - Brains, Alan and Tin Tin. They are the ones who can comfort me and protect me, even when in the water.
The water around us felt cold and dark, because the night was chilly and black, but we didn’t care. All we did know was we had the freedom and strength to do whatever we wanted in this water, and that’s okay, because the only source of happiness we found here was in nature.
We emerged up onto the surface, laughing and spluttering and squealing with joy. We were very cold, but we didn’t mind. We splashed each other and laughed loudly as we swam and splashed together in the icy water under the dark night sky. The stars twinkled as they watched over us, the thousand eyes of the night sky being the eyes of the Gods and constellations who allow us natural comfort in what we enjoy being around most.
The waves were medium sized, and they were a good height for jumping over - up and down. Up and down. Up and down. We were screaming with joy and laughter as we leapt almightily over the ocean waves, feeling them splash over us, causing our hair to drip in a sopping wet tone with seawater, and our skin to evaporate all of the water we got all over us. We laughed and high-fived each other, but then we saw that Brains was coughing, because he didn’t like large tidal waves and splashing in them.
So, we decided to go to the shallow part of the ocean, where there were no violent waves around. Never. Nada. Let’s compare this to a swimming pool you may have been to - when you go to the deep end, or have been interacting with a wave machine before, you feel all the thrill of splashing in the deepest, darkest depths of the water, with no one around to keep you company, all because you are a skilled swimmer, and you have been taught well. As you may have remembered, in another time, in another place, Lady Penelope taught me how to swim during swimming lessons in the local swimming pool, because I am homeschooled.
Even here, I have the complete freedom to swim in whichever part of nature I want, because as you know, Alan, Tin Tin, Brains and I live on a beautiful island in the middle of the sea. Now back to this whole swimming pool scenario - it’s much better when you swim in the shallow end, because it is safer, and there are less dangerous creatures there, such as starfish and small fish. The shallow end of the swimming pool is similar to that too, because you are accompanied by a parent or guardian, and you are weak, but you are still strong enough to get on your floaties and swim.
That’s exactly what happened to Brains. He may have had water in his ears, eyes, nose and mouth, but that’s okay - staying in the shallow end was much safer, and it gave him time to recover from what he experienced. The giant waves from the violent part of the ocean were too traumatising and loud for him, but the shallow end was much calmer for him and for all of us too. To Tin Tin especially, the loud waves made her ears hurt like crazy, because their roaring sounded like that of a jet engine, or either Thunderbird 1, 2 or 3 jetting into the sky. Scott, Virgil, if you hear this, I’ll drown you! Ya hear me?!
The Unusual Planet
It had been 3 hours since Thunderbird 3 crash landed on this strange planet. It was surrounded by an endless sea of sand, and some strange pterodactyl-like bird calls screeched across the land like someone who is crying out in pain. At least we survived, the four of us - Brains, Alan, Tin Tin and me.
In the heat of the day, I burst open the door to the escape hatch of Thunderbird 3, gasping for air, and then collapsing onto the ground. I coughed, and struggled to get myself up onto my feet again, as I looked around at the silent desert. “What is this place?” I croaked, sounding like a frog who had swallowed too much swamp water. Then, after a few minutes’ hesitation, I called out: “GUYS!” My voice echoed, and then, the echo was heard in reverse, like someone had hidden a reverbing machine under the planet’s surface.
There was no response. I tried to call out loudly again. “GUYS!” This time, a sign of life flickered from inside Thunderbird 3. Out came Alan, followed by Tin Tin and Brains. They were all in a daze following the crash, but luckily, none of them were injured, thank god. “Is everyone okay?” I asked. “I think I may have injured my leg a bit,” said Brains before collapsing onto his weak little bottom on the ground. “Still, where are we?” “I don’t know, but it must be a planet apart from the others on the star map.” said Tin Tin, wiping her sweaty brow.
“I don’t know what this planet is called either. Maybe we should make up names for this planet. Er…Planet Arabia?” I asked. Alan burst into a fit of laughter. “I knew you’d say that! Let me think…how about….Planet Sand.” This time, Tin Tin and I both laughed. “Good one! How about…” But then, our hilarious moment was cut off by a wail of pain from nearby. Brains was clutching his broken leg, rocking back and forth like some kind of mentally unstable person who had gone insane from no yogurt in the fridge.
“Brains!” we all cried together, and we ran to comfort him as he began crying pathetically, holding his painful leg. “You okay, Brains?” asked Alan. “Here, let me touch it.” “NO!” cried Brains. “Ouch…don’t touch it. It’s too painful.” “If only Venus was here,” I told Alan and Tin Tin, then she’d use her special Leg Bone Ointment.” “Always a relief when she uses that,” said Tin Tin. “Now, has anyone found the first aid kit yet?” Alan had re-entered Thunderbird 3 and was rummaging around for the first aid kit. After a few minutes, he got it right out of a door in the wall.
He ran back out to Brains, who was breathing very fast from the amount of pain he was experiencing. He opened the first aid kit and took out some bandages. Then he said: “Brains, take off your trousers. It’ll give me a better chance of tying these round your leg at a steady pace.” “But-” began Brains, but Alan gave him the most sly look a Tracy Brother could ever give.
“Er…okay,” he said, and he pulled off his trousers. Unbeknownst to him, they vanished with a gentle twinkling noise. Alan carefully and gently wrapped the bandages round Brains’ leg, and then tied it up so that Brains could not feel the pressure of his painful leg anymore. He then stood up and looked around. “If only we had some crutches…”
As if on cue, a huge alien pterodactyl like bird flew overhead and dropped some wooden stick like crutches that it was carrying in its huge rectangular beak. Tin Tin screamed at the sight of it. “WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT?!” she screeched at the top of her lungs. “Whatever that thing is, I don’t want to know about its species.” I said, as we watched Brains finally stand up and walk using these stick like crutches. “For some reason,” I continued, “I feel like everything we ask for seems to come true on this planet, yet there’s still signs of alien life that seem to obey our demands.”
“So…there’s aliens on there that obey every command we give them?” asked Alan. “I hate to be ridiculous, but that actually sounds like a great idea. Now, if only we knew what lies ahead of us.” But it was too late. I already ran ahead of the others, calling “Follow me, this planet may have more realms than we have ever explored before!” Tin Tin immediately ran after me, while Brains hopped onto Alan’s back as he gave him a piggyback ride across the vast sands of the desert.
Hours passed for what felt like minutes, and soon it was getting really, very hot. Our clothes were dripping with galleons of sweat, and our underarms were completely drenched. We couldn’t walk any further, and Alan was on the verge of collapsing to the ground because Brains was too heavy for him to hold. “Guys….can we…stop?” I puffed, my face red from the intense heat. “Of course, we needed that rest. My clothes are as wet and sticky as a swamp,” breathed Alan out of exhaustion. “Mine too,” agreed Brains. “I’m in too,” said Tin Tin, “I’m so tired.” “And my clothes are wet and sticky too. Off with our clothes, everyone.”
And with that, everyone took off their sweaty and sticky clothes, until we were all bare and unclothed, and our skin had the freedom to breathe. Brains didn’t mind, no trousers meant his bandaged leg was showing anyway.
Green Grapes Make You Sick
“Alright, Sybil, settle down,” said Lady Penelope as she began her homeschool lesson for the day. I sat in front of the big blackboard she had in the schoolroom she made for me. The cosy scent of vanilla filled the room, and she had three different jars on the table - one of strawberry jam, one of blackcurrant jam and one of a strange green substance that I had never noticed before. “Hmmmmm…mummy, what’s that green stuff?” I asked, waving my hand in the air like an eager school student - except I wasn’t at school, I was homeschooled.
“That’s Spinach, Sybil.” replied ‘er ladyship. “You know how you always eat Spinach for dinner every night?” she asked. I nodded. Penelope gave a cheeky smile. “And you know how Parker used to dress up in different clothes and be different people to get you to eat your greens?” I giggled loudly. A cry of “I ‘eard that, milady!” could be heard from Parker from the other room. Once there was silence again, Lady Penelope continued.
She cleared her throat and said: “This glass jar of spinach represents a jar of green grape jam. Do you know why we don’t get green grape jam?” I shook my head. “Why?” I asked. “Because back when they invented jam, it definitely was not a good idea to create jam made out of green grapes, because of how revolting it tasted.” “Oooooh,” I gasped, “Tell me more!”
“Back in 1928, a group of Kansas farmers were stomping on grapes the create a new substance named jam, and some were even being used for wine. However, in some cases, one very stupid farmer was stomping green grapes, and they accidentally got turned into jam. During a test tasting, children all over the USA experienced vomiting and nausea from trying that revolting green grape jam, and parents wrote a letter saying how this new form of jam was damaging their health.
Soon, the first agents of Spectrum - that came before Captain Scarlet - came to realise that the Mysterons were forcing the farmer to make this revolting jam to poison the children of America, so they sent their most loyal agent, Captain Red, to investigate. When he looked deeper into what caused the farmer to make this disgusting substance, he discovered that the Mysterons had put Mars Prickles all over his feet, which burned whenever he walked. It hurt so much he was forced to stomp green grapes and add some worms and other revolting bugs into the mixture by Captain Black’s grandfather, Captain Blood Red, who was the first to be possesed by the Mysterons.”
“Eeeuurgh!” I cried, feeling more disgusted than I had ever been, “That’s so gross! Can’t you move on to what compares Mysteron jam with the two other jars of jam?” “I think she’s right, ma’am,” said a voice from the doorway. We both looked, and a familiar figure dressed in red was standing outside. “Captain Scarlet!” I cried, “You’ve come to join the lesson!” “Actually, of course I have,” said Captain Scarlet, “Everyone in Spectrum was making a lot of noise during a meeting about what the Mysterons possessed in America’s jam substance, so I came to join in the lesson too.” “Do take a seat, Captain,” said Lady Penelope, “And let us continue with the lesson.”
Captain Scarlet took a cushion and made himself comfortable as Lady Penelope continued. “Now Sybil, Captain Scarlet, you see those two jars there?” We both nodded in agreement. “This one holds strawberry jam, and this one holds blackcurrant jam. These jars of jam are safe to spread on toast, because they haven’t been contaminated by the Mysterons. Green grape jam isn’t safe to eat, because that’s, according to most Spectrum agents, Mysteron poison.” Captain Scarlet shot his hand up in the air.
“You have a question for me, Captain?” said Lady Penelope. “Well, ma’am, according to Colonel White I think that’s where we got the idea for our catchphrase from. Our catchphrase used to be ‘Spectrum Is Black’, but due to Captain Black being possessed by the Mysterons when I became indestructible, they renamed it to ‘Spectrum Is Green’ so we won’t promote poisoned Mysteron substances in kids.”
“Very good, Captain Scarlet,” smiled Lady Penelope, clapping politely, and I gave a wink to my friend, to which he winked back. Penelope went on, “Now, there was a scandal on Channel 4 on Halloween 2004 when they re-aired the 100 Greatest Scary Moments.” Captain Scarlet ran to hide behind the sofa, screaming loudly. He hated that special, and so did I. “Mummy!” I cried, “Would you please tone it down? Captain Scarlet is frightened!” “Oh dear, oh dearie me,” said a shocked Lady Penelope, “Very sorry, Captain.” “No worries, ma’am,” Captain Scarlet said before hiding behind the sofa again.
“Leeeet’s let him hide,” I said. “It’s quite okay for him to take some alone time, it’s no good masking.” “Does that mean it’s break time already?” I asked. “Of course, we’ll give him enough time to recover from the incident of Channel 4 on Halloween 2003.”
Friday, 24 October 2025
Blueberry Muffins - Part 1: The Softness Of A Sick Day
When I’m sick - not with something dreadful like Covid, but a simple common cold - a little softness can be inserted into the puzzle piece holes of my day to make me all better. I snuggle into bed and listen to a story on my Alexa, have a nice, warm drink of hot cocoa and cuddle my plushes Pink Teddy, Pingu, Simba and Georgina, and think about what I’m going to do once I’m better. However, as I’m autistic it’s no good masking. A way of healing is spending alone time when it all gets too loud and overstimulating.
Soft
The joys of softness can take you away from a life full of stress and fear, and transport you to a world where every little thing on Earth grinds to a standstill, and only cosiness is held in your arms. When I think of my bed, I think of it as a safe Heaven where all my worries fade away and ideas come to me when my head hits the pillow. Softness is a form that melts away all your troubles and worries and turns them into sweet chewy candy for you to snack on after breakfast next morning.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)