I probably don’t make the most of my Apple News subscription, but I do enjoy the magazines that are included as part of the price. The TV guides alone are worth the price, but there is a lot of choice on there - history, gardening, interior design, cars, sports, gossip, fashion, you name it, it’s in there. And just recently, some new knitting magazines have been added which is a great update for me!

I’m halfway through my 30 Days of ShadowDraw challenge and really enjoying the chill vibes this month is giving me. The app allows you to pick a drawing and then effectively guides you through tracing how the picture comes together, so you end up with the finished result. I’m loving getting some use out of my Apple Pencil and occasionally feeling like I’m actually making some progress. Occasionally, I have a bout of doubt and say ‘but this isn’t really me drawing, it’s just copying.’ And then Mr C said, quite profoundly, ’the Core Challenge was just you copying and you didn’t have any problems with that’. Which is true and beats that imposter syndrome down. I’m doing what I’m doing and I love it!

More and more content is being added to the Apple TV+ streaming service, and I’ve noticed they’ve started increasing their children’s output alongside the adult dramas and films. Recent additions include the acclaimed Wolfwalkers and a new series of Snoopy and Charlie Brown, but one that really caught my eye was Stillwater. Obviously, it was the panda that made me give it a watch, and whilst the show itself is aimed at a younger audience, it is so beautiful, I had to watch the whole thing. Exquisite animation follows three kids through various situations, often requiring their neighbour Stillwater the panda to offer some wisdom and tell them a story that illustrates the moral of the episode.

Pretty good sequel, all things considered. It’s hard to do follow ups when the panda has already achieved everything his heart desired. This is a good story though, the threat real. There’s perhaps a bit more fighting than I’d have liked, but it’s nicely offset by the cuteness of the baby panda flashbacks. Dude, seriously.

So, the biggest question is, why have I not watched this before? It’s a great big fluffy adorable panda for goodness’ sake? But, righting that wrong now, thank goodness the film stands up to the cute main character. Good story, great cast, fab animation, lots of fun jokes and of course, lots of great wisdom to take away. It did feel a bit like Star Wars goes to China but I loved it.

It’s about time for the (sometimes) annual collection of novelty mugs, and this time I’ve got a selection of five that feature top secret ninjas, a bit of computer geekery, and of course, a panda. Let’s start there in fact. This panda hug mug is adorable, although it’s disappointing the hug is being given to the biscuits you are just about to eat, rather than yourself. As with many mugs like this, I worry about putting chocolate biscuits right next to the hot beverage. There’s going to be a melting situation if they are there for any length of time. But that probably just means you need to eat them quicker. Biscuits gobbled up, hug from panda, a pretty good start to the day.

I used to be a total Grinch about Christmas. The entire concept offended me and I wanted nothing to do with it. I’d link to the many posts I wrote about boycotting the festive season, but really, I’m over it. I’ve mellowed in my old age. In reality, I’ve realised that my issue with Christmas is the same as the issue I have with most things - the pressure from society to do things you don’t want to do.

When I last properly baked, I made chocolate butterfly cupcakes, that were very delicious. Pondering what to do with the multitude of cake cases I was left with, I received a suggestion from Lou that I subsequently promised to attempt. The conversation went along these lines, paraphrased, naturally: Lou - Make panda cupcakes! Me - WHA? Lou - They’re easy, chocolate buttons, dash of icing, no probs. Me - Hmm, next time, I promise.

The BBC aired a documentary about the new panda couple at Edinburgh Zoo, covering why and how they arrived at their new home, how their handlers were trained up, and what the zoo expects from the happy pair. Naturally, I was their target audience, and although there was nothing groundbreaking in there, it was a cute way to spend an hour or so. Here are my notes, although, again, nothing we don’t already know… except perhaps the cost of bamboo!

When I visited Edinburgh for my Alphabet Adventure, I very much liked it. Which is lucky, because the zoo have recently taken ownership of two pandas - on loan from China. I remember the Park & Ride bus stopping at the zoo on the way back, and I considered getting off but it didn’t look all that impressive from the outside. Now, it is one of my top destinations! I loved hearing about the pandas arrival - being flown in on a FedEx plane, and being nicely secured in see through FedEx crates. Who knew you could just FedEx a panda? It would have been brilliant if that had been one of the packages Tom Hanks had been left with on Cast Away.

It’s been a while since Baby Panda Thursday ceased to be updated on a regular basis, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve stopped looking at all things cute and panda shaped. Lots of people tweet me panda related items and I love it! I also particularly love apps and games that involve pandas. If your app has a cute panda as the icon, then you’re very likely to make a sale.

Credit: San Diego Shooter/Flickr Today is the 100th edition of Baby Panda Thursday, and, I’m afraid to say, the last. It’s been an absolute pleasure to scour through photos of pandas every week (give or take) for the last two and a half years, but I’m determined that Thursdays will not be bad days anymore, and they will not need the cuteness to cheer me up. Don’t think for a second that this is the last you’ll see of pandas on the site, though.

The BBC have a new series on at the moment called Nature’s Miracle Babies, and the first episode featured lots of cute and cuddly baby pandas. I only half-watched it really, jealous of the man getting to play around with the balls of fluff, and also slightly concerned when they practically ripped his plastic apron from him as they played. I watched and blogged a BBC documentary on the almost impossibility of pandas reproducing, so I’m well aware of their “miracle” status. Still, they are cute when they finally arrive.

Whilst wandering around the Steam Fair last weekend, we found a line of displays that showed off how smaller engines could deliver a steady stream of water. One couple in particular had a unique way of showing off their technology. I should have taken video really, because the panda was hooked up to the lever and pumping away at the water. Back and forth he went, poor thing. It was like slave labour!

I am a terrible artist. I can see things in my head, but there is some kind of communication lost between my imagination and my hand, so that a pencil drawing ends up looking terrible. Nevertheless, I recently got lost in a world of “how to draw” videos on YouTube, and when I realised it was Baby Panda Thursday today, I thought the two things would combine quite nicely.

This baby panda looks how I feel today. As always, watch with the sound down, because for whatever reason, being in a zoo makes people screech.

A beautiful little animation. It’s sad at the end, but the description on Vimeo suggests it “sets off the compassion of an imaginative little boy” which I think can only be a good thing.

A great set of baby panda photos by jsteph on Flickr. Credit: jsteph/Flickr

Whilst on my trip around the Merrivale Model Village, I spotted the zoo with added baby pandas! Fantastic! There doesn’t seem to be an awful lot of bamboo for so many pandas living in one space, and I’m surprised they are housed between the monkeys and the llamas.

With thanks to Martí, who pointed me in the right direction.

Credit: jsteph/Flickr I’m aware that content on this here blog has been a bit thin on the ground recently. Thank goodness for the music challenge for being something of a stopgap. I’m burrowed under calendar dates and F1 facts, getting towards the end of the second part of 365 F1 Stories. The finish line is close now and it’s hard to think of anything else. I’m pushing myself too hard, but it’s almost impossible not to - it’s fun to do, and the nearer I get the more I want to do.

This week, I got my update from the WWF about their work with pandas. When I first sponsored a panda, they sent over information about Zhu Xiong, suggesting this was the specific panda that my money was going towards. I doubted that very much, but either way, that has come to an end anyway. From the newsletter: …it’s been a while since our team in China have spotted her. We think she may have retired to an area where it’s too remote and inaccessible to find her anymore.

Credit: suemoff/Flickr Sad news this week, when the world’s oldest panda died aged 34. Ming-Ming lived in Guangdong Province, and passed away from kidney failure. But, she had lived a long life - the average for a panda in captivity is just 22 years!

A couple of weeks ago, Google featured pandas in their doodle for Earth Day. They were interactive and moved about a little when you hovered over them, but even stationery, they were still little cutsies. I do approve of the penguins, too, but this is not Baby Penguin Thursday.

My dearest, darling brother (ha!) emailed me this last week. It’s a poster for Panda liquorice (bleurgh), and the tagline reads: “If you love liquorice, all you see is panda.” I don’t like liquorice at all, so I would change it to: “If you like pandas, all you see is panda.” But I guess that’s not as catchy.

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a new iPod game called Land-a-panda. The premise is simple, but it gets complicated quickly. You have a panda on one side of the course and he is keen to get to his lady friend on the other side of the course (they must be in that magical 12 hours of a 365 period when they’re attracted to each other).

The BBC have a cute little clip of baby panda Po, introduced at Atlanta Zoo. A while back, I thought the Beeb were doing better at allowing videos for embeds, but it appears not, so I will have to settle for just linking and hoping for the best. I did take a cheeky screenshot though.

Panda toast! Credit: Equilibriax/Flickr

A couple of recent updates from ZooBorns.com have covered the world of baby pandas exceptionally well. Firstly, a baby panda at Zoo Atlanta has been sponsored by Dreamworks! Kinda weird, but they’re funding some conservation projects in exchange for calling the panda Po, which is apparently from the Kung Fu Panda film. It sort of doesn’t sit right, but at the same time, I’m sure the extra funding is very welcome! Then there’s the post about the progress of panda cubs in Madrid, and there are a gazillion pictures in this post, with my particular favourite being the final one.

From the Chengdu Panda Breeding Centre, the subject of that BBC programme I sort of live blogged. Credit: tinachensf/Flickr

Just cuteness today. Credit: Ross Manges/Flickr

Remember last week I told you about the Natural World Special that was to be shown on BBC Two on Tuesday? Well, I watched it and here are my findings. “We have pushed the symbol of conversation to the brink of extinction.” Hehehe, he said International Rescue. Around 2000 giant pandas remain. How can it be a carnivore but only eats grass? Founded with just six pandas. AWWWWW. That woman looks really happy to be carrying the panda. Wouldn’t you?? They say the ultimate goal is to release them into the wild, which seems odd. The pandas aren’t that good at looking after themselves normally, let alone after having been bottle-fed. When they reach 300 pandas, they will start to reintroduce them - so that there’s a good base to start from. None of the right kind of bamboo grows near Chengdu. Doh. Some people are climbing into the mountains to cut down the bamboo for the pandas. It might have made more sense to build the panda base near the food. Apparently the pandas reject two thirds of what is brought back. Ungrateful beasts! A giant truckload of bamboo lasts the pandas only one day, so there are lots of cutters who have a regular income from the greedy bears. One panda is just sitting and eating. A worker puts another piece of bamboo in, it grabs it and starts chewing on that instead. They are so cute and lazy. There’s one 12-24 hour window for pandas to get pregnant in a whole YEAR. They are making the male pandas do special exercises to strengthen their legs specifically for the act of mating. You know that whole thing of animals leaving their scent to scare off others? Pandas like to climb their back legs as high up a tree trunk as possible to pretend to be taller. They ain’t foolin’ no one though. One panda is unfortunately called Pin Bin. It could be Pin Pin. It could even be Bin Bin. I’m not sure. I should have put subtitles up. They have tested one female who is ready for mating and brought Pin Bin into the cage next door. They have tried to use bamboo to tempt the male towards the female, but he just sat down and ate it. They’re saying it’s the first time she’s ever been near another adult panda. And then seem surprised that they don’t know what to do once they are thrown together. They have had to give up on the whole mating thing. Silly pandas. “It’s a myth that pandas aren’t interested in sex. They’re just picky about their partners.” They ran out of time trying to get the two pandas to mate so they’re doing things artificially instead. There’s quite a lot of pressure all round, considering they only get this chance once a year. He has just blown a tranquiliser dart at the panda. Kinda like in the movies. Although then it’s not pandas, and more people. It’s taking 15 vets to do all this. Madness. But then again it only takes five minutes for them to do it, so the panda can be woken up again in good time. They’re so fluffy and cute. They’re not going to know if the panda is pregnant or not until just before she gives birth, and that could be anywhen between 11 weeks or 11 months. I’m beginning to think these pandas are just plain awkward. Now they’re talking about family inbreeding, and freezing bits and pieces.

Next week, there is a programme on the BBC all about the Chengdu Research Base in China. I will definitely be watching the programme - although probably not as it goes out live, which is Tues 7th at 8pm on BBC Two. iPlayer all the way! I’ll report back my findings next week. Meanwhile, in advance of the programme going out, the BBC offered up three super cute videos of some of the baby pandas at the base. Here they are! (I don’t think much of the keyword laden titles.)

I wanted to do something with the image of the giant maze from Longleat, but it didn’t come out as well as I’d hoped, and wasn’t interesting enough for a header. Instead, I upped the green colour, and used a kaleidoscope tile effect. It’s not what I was going for at all, but I find it intriguing. Made with: Pixelmator Original Image: Maze Font: Apple Chancery

Now, remember I told you before about Cutest Food? I just adore this Panda Gummy Bear picture. Who would ever eat that? It’s far too cute for consumption. And, the always excellent ZooBorns has a whole host of baby panda goodness - photos taken at a research base in China. I particularly like this quote from the comments on that post: I am surprised that the intense concentration of so much cute in one place hasn’t caused a temporal disturbance.

11 weeks ago, a zoo in Vienna, Austria welcomed a little baby panda. Now they’re trying to decide on a name for the youngster, and are asking for people to vote. His brother is called Fu Long, and the choices they’ve come up with are Fu Hu, Ao Kang and Wei Xing. Does anyone else think Fu Hu sounds like boo hoo? Sadly that name is winning at the moment.

Not much to report this week, as Thursday appears to be behaving itself so far. However, via ZooBorns, I learnt that the one and only baby panda cub born in the US in 2010 has made it’s appearance at Zoo Atlanta. Not sure referencing the size of a cell phone is particularly helpful when they vary so much! I don’t really like the scrawny panda cubs, they normally get cuter when they’re a bit older. It’s only a few weeks until we have another fluffy bundle to ogle though. Long live the baby panda!

A quick look at Etsy this week. Sliding Invitation Cards It looks like the panda is actually crushing the text, but in fact, it slides around a bit. I’m not quite sure why, but it’s fun, and I particularly like a purple panda. Etsy Link: simplypearlee Silly Fuzzy Pandas Aww, these are so cute. The wool is definitely fuzzy, so I wonder if it might be a bit itchy and therefore not huggable, but even so cute little square shaped pandas.

I think this little one likes being petted.

For Giggles and Joe and anyone else who is having a bad day. Credit: { just jennifer } / Flickr

LEG! Credit: San Diego Shooter/Flickr So fluffy.

Credit: Shinya ICHINOHE/Flickr I know, I know, it’s not called ‘Baby Panda and Man Thursday’ but I love how the panda is just oblivious, happily chewing on what I assume is bamboo but looks suspiciously like a cigar.

It must be time for another Etsy-flavoured Baby Panda Thursday, in which I bring you some of the cute handmade stuff I have spotted over there. Painted Rock Panda with Bamboo I know, I know, it’s a painted rock. But look at how much detail there is! It’s definitely weird, the panda is a bit squished but I like it. Ohm Ohm Panda We’ve already established that I like pandas when they are given amusing characters (ahem, Nerdy Panda). I like to think this one has quite a stressful job running a bamboo factory, and is taking a breather from high-flying meetings.

Just one snoozy panda for you today. Credit: Thai Yin/Flickr

Thanks to Leigh, I have found a new panda related site to peruse: Perfect Pandas. The updates are generally cute panda related items, such as Panda Ice Cream and Panda Mahjong. I particularly like the post about the Panda Earbuds. I would not wear these, but still. Cuteness.

I got an update through for the panda I adopted and the newsletter bore the headline: “Panda rescue drama.” Inside it tells the story of a panda that wandered off and became stranded on a steep hillside. A rescue team had to be dispatched to get it back. It says: To stop the wayward bear becoming frightened, onlookers and other non-essential staff were evacuated from the site. The rescuers then climbed down to where the panda was located, and lured it away from the hillside with sticks of delicious bamboo. They soon managed to coax it back to the safety of the reserve.

I don’t suppose these are baby pandas really, but I wanted to point out the newest panda related goodies I have been coveting on Etsy. Nerdy Panda! I also think the happy bread is quite cute but that is not for this post.

On Friday of last week, the Cutest Food blog posted a panda cake. It just missed out last week, so I saved it up for this week. It is cute, although the bottom one looks a bit like a pair of binoculars.

My goodness, there are some really fabulous photos of Yun Zi available thanks to the San Diego Shooter. Relaxing Peekaboo! Sitting How adorable is that big ball of fluff? And how soon can I get to San Diego??

I think it’s time we had another Etsy edition of Baby Panda Thursday, starting with this rather cute note card: 5x5 baby panda note card I never really have any need for note cards but there are some really nice ones available. Lupe This is similar to the Mr Panda that I bought a while ago, but there’s something about the lack of detail on this one that I like.