Tissue Whale

There she blows! Tissues!

Cute and cuddly aren't terms you'd necessarily associated with killer whales but this soft plush version really is nice to touch. This soft and squeezable orca has a zip in the bottom so you can unzip it, take out the airbag that gives it that chubby appearance and replace it with a small roll of tissues. Then you can just whip tissues out of the blow hole, leaving the next tissue poking out like a little jet of water.

Or if you just like cuddly whales and don't need tissues, you can leave the airbag in there and it's just a soft squashy friend.

Tissue Whale - £9.99 from ShinyShack.com

Piratical Doings

In preparation for that truly monumental occasion, Talk Like A Pirate Day (19th September), I'm in pirate mood. Granted my 'Avast there me Hearties!' needs some work and my parrot is battery powered, but I reckon if I start getting into character now, I'll be at least an enthusiastic landlubber, even if I haven't got the accent quite right when the time comes.

To add a bit of mood I have topped both the end of my pencil and my biro with a rather natty skull. I've got the one with the eyepatch and the tricorn on my pencil, while the biro is graced by the one in the pork pie hat. For some reason Pork Pie reminds me of a chap who works for the Inland Revenue. Funny that.

Pirate Pencil Toppers - £4.99 from ShinyShack.com

(Don't forget - 19th September - Talk Like A Pirate Day - be there or be keelhauled for the dirty dog you Arrrrr!)

Bionic Putty

I'm playing with putty again. This is because I have a selection of 25g pots scattered around my desk and every so often I pop of the lid of one of them and have a jolly good squidge, (that's not a real word is it?).

The irresistible thing about Bionic Putty for me is the colour changing properties. I've got 3 colour changing varieties, orange, blue and green. If I take one out of its pot and and give it a really good squash and stretch the colour changes start.


As it softens and warms up, the colour changes. The orange goes to yellow, the green goes to supposedly yellow, but I'd say more of a really light lime green, and the blue turns white. The obsessive thing is, if you stop playing with it, even for a short time, it starts cooling down and changing colour again, so to keep it in its changed state you've got to keep working it.

It's good exercise for the hands too! I've been very tempted to mix all three colours together and see what I get, and whether it will still change colour. My guess is that I'll get brown, changing to light brown. That's not pretty, so I'll resist the temptation for now.

Bionic Putty - £2.99 from ShinyShack.com

Detergent Dispenser Brush

So washing up isn't fun. There's a reason the dishwasher was invented, people don't jump up and down with joy at the thought of of dirty dishes and soapy water.

However, even if you've got a dishwasher, there are some things that have to be done by hand. And if you've got to do it, why not use a cute little kitchen gadget that looks smart and makes life easier?

With this little brush you can fill it up with your favourite detergent (do people have a favourite detergent?) and dispense it squirt by squirt by pressing the little button at the top.

It's cute, it's lime coloured and I'd quite like to have one on my draining board. I do like a nice kitchen gadget!

Detergent Dispenser Brush - £3.99 from ShinyShack.com

Apple and Wurmm Puzzle

I'm on the verge of being driven completely crazy. I could never have guessed how frustrating two interlocked simple pieces of plastic could be.

When the Apple and Wurmm puzzle arrived on my desk, I smiled. I thought it seemed like a really nice idea. The apple has holes punched in it, and the Wurmm, (or worm), is a rigid piece of curved plastic that spins through the holes. Joined holes allow the worm to pivot and change direction.

The name of the game is to wiggle the Wurmm into position so that it can be removed from the apple. Simple? Well, yes, in an incredibly frustrating yet unstoppably obsessive way. I've been working on it on and off for a few hours now and I haven't worked it out yet. I'm determined to get there though, so the fiddle fest continues.

Apple and Wurmm Puzzle - £4.99 from ShinyShack.com