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.

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.

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.

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.

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. The first video I followed was okay, but I must admit, my panda looks nothing like theirs.

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.