There are some Ladybird books that I keep looking out for. Titles that I really wish I'd had as a child and dream of owning now. It's rare that I find them when searching the shelves in charity shops, but sometimes you do get lucky and today was one of those lucky days. Series 634's Learnabout... Knitting is probably up there with Learnabout... Sewing as two of the books i most want to own in the whole Ladybird back catalogue and I was so pleased to find a copy of it on the shelves of my local charity shop for just 33p! If you're new to knitting this really is the perfect ... read more
Archives for April 2013
When Turkeys are Profitable…
I am a housewife. There, I've said it. It may not be a sexy title, but it's what I do. I'm a wife who stays at home and looks after the children and runs the home whilst my husband goes out to work. It's not something I feel forced to do because of my gender, but it's the job that I am currently doing and it's something that women (and some men) have done for years. Women (and in the past there have been many more women than men) have been running homes for years and there's no doubt that we're doing as wide a range of things now as ever. Some of the role has ... read more
Featured post: Dressing the kids
I feel I should start this post with a caveat. Possibly quite a large caveat. My fashion sense isn't exactly always what I think those in the know call "on trend". When it comes to dressing the kids though it all seems so much easier. Maybe it's because you look at the kids all day that you can tell what suits them and what doesn't, whereas I hardly ever see myself in a full length mirror. Something I realised quite soon after Master C was born is that I now needed to familiarise myself with boys clothes as well as girls and what has surprised me is just how ... read more
Featured Post: Money for old clothes?
I've written before on here about the disaster zone that is our spare bedroom at the moment. One of the biggest problems in there is the huge amount of clothing that we've all grown out of in the last couple of years. Not only do the kids grow up, but after two children in less than three years I've also changed size (and shape!) several times. With no more children planned it's time to tackle the clothes mountain once and for all. There are several options as to what to do with all these things we no longer wear. Many of the children's clothes will be passed on to friends ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Some Great Men and Women
When choosing a book to cover each week here on Ladybird Tuesday I often find myself realising just how little I really know and this week is yet another example of that. Some Great Men and Women is actually part of the Ladybird Key Words East Readers series (641) and contains a series of double page spreads on various men and women from history. Some of them were inventors, others adventurers and some military personnel. They certainly all have a place in history and I do recall learning about many of them at junior school. However, there are some people featured in this book that I have to ... read more
Magpie Monday – Lego Airport
I've been meaning to join in with Magpie Monday for ages and just never got round to it, or just though that my finds would not be of interest to others. Last week's charity shop booty was a bit special though. Lego. We all love it. Or if you don't then you much be a bit mad in my opinion. The only thing is that charity shops generally know that we all love it and hence the prices are often quite astronomical, especially if you find a boxed set that can be considered vintage or a complete set. In out local hospice shop last week I spotted a typical pile of plastic bags full ... read more
Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
The speed at which I get through books has decreased so much since I had Master C. Being exhausted, combined with no longer having pregnancy insomnia means that my "to be read pile" is growing faster than I can read and writing up what I've read on here is also no where near as fast as it used to be. It's therefore quite telling that I've only just finished Mummy Barrow's Book Club book for February - Gone Girl. Well, at least I managed it before we got into May! I've always loved a good bit of crime fiction and that's exactly what this is. What was slightly ... read more
Lucy Ladybird – Sharon King-Chai
You just know a children's book has got it right when you ask Little Miss C what she thought of it (the morning after she read it as a bedtime story for the first time with Daddy) and she instantly says: It's really, really pretty mummy and I love it! I'm completely in love with Lucy Ladybird too. The art work is simply gorgeous. Cute, colourful and full of little things for children to look for. There's also a magical huge fold out for the last page of the book and Little Miss C was so excited when she found this for the first time. In terms of the story... Lucy is a ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Indoor Gardening
Yes, I know it's Thursday, but sometimes you just have one of those weeks. Better late than never and all that... So let's talk about Indoor Gardening. Doesn't the title alone just age this book? Does anyone even talk about indoor gardening any more? I see plenty of references in modern day to houseplants and possibly herbs in the kitchen, but not much more than that. Indoor Gardening appeared as part of Ladybird series 633 which was entitled Early Learning, but actually featured a number of crafts and hobbies. As a series it's one I'd really like to find more of, ... read more
What sort of parent are you?
I'm not sure I know the anwser to this question at all. In life parents seem to come in all different shapes and sizes. There are the people who read all the books as soon as they get the little + symbol on the pregnancy test and always seems to be one step ahead of everyone else in terms of knowing what development steps come next and what the latest thinking is on how to take care of every challenging behaviour that your child presents you with. At the other end of the spectrum are the people who don't read a single book but just know what to do, and their children appear to be ... read more