... and I have been so bloody busy! First and foremost, Holly's project has been done AT LAST after two months of freaking over how I would do it and then a final week of frantic scribbling and weeping at my desk. It is done. Huzzah.

I became a complete and utter art robot over that last week. I'd get up in the morning, draw, realise at about 3 that I still hadn't had my lunch, I'd draw some more, have tea, then draw, and often I'd get to bed at about 2am. It was like this every day... well, except for the one night where I panicked and pulled an all-nighter. My only thought was producing. I wish I'd had this dedication in Year 12! But I've since had an interesting thought since all the hard work... in a sense, I had to become the main character. In the episode, she becomes possessed to draw these things, and after a day or so of hard work I was seriously into it. I was drawing like a madwoman; compelled to create all this bizarre work. I still feel a strange compulsion to draw now, actually. It's weird.

By the day of the actual shoot, I had about 14 pieces done. Three were A3, the rest were A4. And I was still freaking out, thinking I needed more. I stayed over at Holly's the night before and actually worried that I hadn't done enough. She had to tell me about five times that I didn't need to draw any more, that what I had with me already was more than adequate.

So... yeah. Panic over.

The first day of the shoot was at Holly's nan's, where we had borrowed a bedroom to be the bedroom of the episode's main character, an SFX student for whom I was providing the artwork. Set dressing was left to me, so I stuck up photocopies of my pieces (to make the wall look busier) along with printed imagery related to what she was drawing, and then my pieces on top, minus a few that she would actually be drawing in the scene. In the corner, our resident SFX girl Jasmine had provided an awesome model also related to the theme we were working with, whereupon our camera operator Conall (also Jasmine's boyfriend) had a sudden and genius idea to backlight it with this amazing colour-changing light he just happened to have knocking about. So Jasmine's model was silhouetted by an eerie green glow.

Also present was Chris, also a camera operator who brought this awesome home-made slider in with him. His brother Darren was in our year at St Aelred's, and one of Chris's films recently won an award at the Keswick Film Festival. We had Barney, Holly's assistant director, Kate, our leading lady... and I think that was it! Magdalena and Mohammad were there for a while with one of their own crew dudes whose name eludes me; they're making a documentary on the production of the series, but they left early, probably since they got everything they needed. Ooh, and a guy called Phil, too; he's been a director for decades and worked with the likes of Catherine Bigalow, who won an Oscar for directing The Hurt Locker a few years ago. So Holly was fangirling a little bit!

For most of the day, I operated the boom mic (just like I had while working on 'A Message to My Donor') and provided Holly with the phases of artwork required for each particular shot. As I'd been working on some of the A4 pieces, I'd continually scanned them in in various stages of completion so that we could make it look like our lead was actually working on them. You can see the progression in the shots, which is really cool.

Then, I went downstairs to get a drink. Under the halogen lamps, and in such a crowded space, we were all suffering. I got back up to find the door had been closed and they were carrying on without me, so I resolved to just sit on the landing gabbing to Jasmine and drawing Holly's nan's banister rail. I'd pretty much burned out my imagination after all the intensive work and it was the most interesting thing I had to hand... so yeah! Holly's nan's banister rail :P

After an amazing lunch of corned beef hash provided by Holly's nan (it was DELICIOUS, and I don't normally like corned beef!) we got back to work and I carried on with the boom. It's a really nerve-wracking thing to do because they're so sensitive; I was scared of so much as breathing near it in case I ruined the shot!

We finally wrapped up for the day at about 6, two hours later than planned, and I tidied up the room while Holly made sure everyone else got to the bus stop and onto the bus safely (most of them were going to Bolton). I tidied away pretty much everything before she got back, and then we headed back to hers.

After another late night, we were back in Bolton University early to film some scenes there. Scenes today were shot between two cameras, 'drama' and 'doc', as the main character would be being followed by a documentary crew. I wasn't as much use on this day except to help Holly out here and there... though I was an extra during the classroom scene, and I did get a close-up! Unfortunately, because of my acting role in the film, there ended up being two bloopers in which I laughed - the first time I turned, saw Jasmine and smiled at her when I was meant to look mildly annoyed, and the second time, I looked at the camera and just started laughing.

While being an extra in the film I started doodling to make it look like I was doing something; more specifically, I did something relating to the work they were meant to be doing in the classroom. Later, after lunch, when we were due to be shooting scenes outside, I decided to stay behind since I wasn't actually needed, I was exhausted and it was cold. So while I waited, I carried on with it and the result was Mr Wrinkles, the Pseudo-Roman Bust. I was quite proud with it!

Holly finished up getting all of her shots, we headed up into the editing suite to digitize everything, and after both providing Magdalena and Mohammad with an interview for their documentary, we headed home. I was relieved to get back to mine. I still had a few things to do - Holly's nan wanted me to do a poster for a charity gig in Lowton, and Holly required a drawing of a cat and a dog for the same project she needed the alien for, but the bulk of the work was out of the way. I was looking forward to seeing Jason after five long days and getting on with some projects of my very own, like my novels for a start.

And guess who got two new ratties on the 7th of March?! I went into town on the 6th thinking I'd like to get two more for the big cage (it can house up to 5 comfortably and I thought I'd get some young'uns to keep Boffin and Barnaby company as they get a bit older). I checked Pets Emporium, where I got Thelma from, but to no avail. They had mice, hamsters, rabbits... no ratties. So I hopped on the 'leccy bus to Ravenhead Retail Park, popped into Pets at Home...

There were four in, I discovered after looking for a while. I thought there were three at first and was actually prepared to buy them all because I know how social they are and I wouldn't want to leave just one on its own, but then saw there was another squirreled away at the back. I fell in love with two in particular; a roan dumbo and what appeared to be a black dumbo. But after standing there for ages like a creep I finally asked an assistant about them and it turned out that they wee only just in, needed 24 hours before being sold, and that they didn't even know the gender.

I met Jason at his place and stayed the night. It was all nice and peaceful until Lee got back with Sian in tow, but thankfully they went soon after. I brainstormed some names with Jason, hoped with all my heart that they were girls, and the next day we went back to the shop.

They were girls! And the black dumbo turned out to be a Berkshire as well, with a little white stripe on her belly! So I named the roan Bijou and the Berkshire Burrito, and we took them home. They're so beautiful. I think they've been well-handled already by whoever bred them because they're so easy to pick up compared to my other three when I first got them, and they've both been bruxing and boggling and have even slept on me! Cuteness! They're funny about treats though; Bijou takes them, eventually, but Burrito hasn't eaten a single chocolate drop yet even though we've offered her loads. Strange. Hopefully she'll develop a liking for them soon because they're an awesome trust training tool.

And... that's pretty much it! I hope you guys are all okay! I've missed you loads this past while!