This week, I saw two plays, two concerts, and two art exhibitions (although the last two were in the same place).

Pins and Needles at the Kiln Theatre (on Tuesday) was an interesting concept, but let down by some unconvincing acting, with the notable and honorable exception of Richard Cant as Jenner.

No Cars played their first gig in six years on Thursday (their singer has been in Japan) but you wouldn’t know: it was the same madcap fun as ever. There can’t be many bands that sing a ballad about breast milk.

Two people on stage playing bass and guitar, obscured by the back of some guy's head

No Cars; David Bowie makes a surprising posthumous appearance

The support acts were good too: Lovell were impressive, while Luiz Bruno and the Adult Children were almost as entertainingly bonkers as the headliners. I’ve never seen anyone play the keyboard on one of those tiny Korg Volca synths (the ones that are about the size of a VHS tape) live on stage before.

We went to the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the Victoria Miro gallery on Friday. I’d booked tickets in advance, as L— had the whole week off. If you’ve seen Kusama’s work before, there aren’t really any surprises, and the mirror room wasn’t quite as immersive as some of them, but it was worth the trip.

A mirrored sphere inside a mirrored room lit by orange lights, reflecting to infinity

Infinity sphere

We also popped into the Jules de Balincourt exhibition in the adjoining gallery. Odd but quite fun, I thought.

The Tattooer at Charing Cross Theatre (also on Friday) was baffling. It’s supposed to be inspired by a short story of the same name (『刺青』 Shisei in Japanese) by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki. I’ve read the story, and that was no help at all in deciphering this completely different tale.

The large-scale ink painting across the stage in the intermission was beautiful and captivating.

On Saturday, we attended a performance of the 14th century Chantilly Codex for lute, vielle, recorder, and voice, performed by professional musicians who had spent the week in a course on mediaeval music. I’ve never seen so many vielles in one place. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the flesh, let alone five at once.

I also did four days of work. It’s still mostly meetings, although I squeezed in a bit of productive activity.

I found an indoor herb garden in a charity shop for £20. This particular model sells for £150 new.

Only a few days previously, L— had asked me if I could make something similar, as they’re so expensive new. I thought I probably could, but serendipity gave me an even easier solution.

As to whether it works, we’ll have to wait for the seeds to germinate. We’re not using the official pre-seeded “lingots”, but regular potting compost and seeds instead.

I’m travelling up to Edinburgh for Haggis Ruby this week. It should be fun. I hope the trains work!