Imagine a world in which someone that is a cross of Richard Branson and Donald Trump (before Trump decided that trying to become President was a good idea) turns into a cat. That may sound quite far out, but it's pretty much what happens in Nine Lives, which Little Miss C and I went to see a VIP screening of this morning. Tom Brand (played by Kevin Spacey) is that Branson / Trump amalgamation. A man who goes in for the publicity stunts that Branson always uses with his Virgin brand, but with Trump's determination to always beat the competition - in the film's example in terms of having the ... read more
Finding Dory with Specsavers
Last weekend saw me have a rare weekend away without the kids, but being the amazing mum that I am (or just because timing worked out that way...) I made sure that Mr C would have something special to entertain the kids with on Saturday morning, and so he headed into central London with them to a special screening of the new Disney Pixar film Finding Dory to celebrate the launch of the Specsavers new Finding Dory eyewear range. Now with both kids loving the film Finding Nemo (to which Finding Dory is the sequel) and with Master C having worn glasses for the last year it seemed like a ... read more
Sleeping Beauty – a mid-century fairy tale
Sleeping Beauty has to be one of those Fairy Stories that everyone knows in some shape or form. It's been re-told in so many editions over the years and there have been film versions and even pantomimes of the tale too. What I wasn't expecting though was a 1950s meets sci-fi version, but that's exactly what you get with this new edition of Sleeping Beauty, re-told by David Roberts and Lynn Roberts-Maloney. Annabel lives with her two aunts Rosalind and Flora in the 1950s. As a child she loves science fiction books and often dreams about what the future might look like. What Annabel doesn't ... read more
Review: Magic Twirl Mim-Mim Plush Toy
Little Miss C has been a huge fan of Kate and Mim-Mim since the series first started on CBeebies back in August 2014. At one point recently it appeared in the schedule as the last thing the kids were allowed to watch before going upstairs to brush their teeth before school and as a result Master C also became a bit of a fan. Both children were therefore delighted when I brought home the new Magic Twirl Mim-Mim Plush to review. This is so much more than just a cuddly toy though as Mim-Mim really is brought to life by saying eight different phrases from the show whenever you either press his ... read more
Review: Google Chromecast Audio
Last week's Currys PC World Christmas in July event featured a particularly great goodie bag for gadget lovers. The first things I pulled out were a Google Chromecast and a Google Chromecast Audio. Now I've heard of the Chromcast before (and more on that later) but the Chromecast Audio was completely new to me. The thing was that I couldn't quite understand what the point of it was. And chatting to the friend that I roped in to pull together a video review for me, neither could he initially. So the idea behind the Chromecast Audio is that you use it to "cast" (or in non Google language ... read more
Lidl Back to School Range
I know term hasn't quite finished yet (that's coming soon enough!) but if you're a parent trying to be organised then thoughts are already turning to school uniform for when our little darlings go back in September. Master C will be starting school pre-school come September and so this will be the first year that I will have two children requiring school uniform and hence I'm really starting to see how the cost increases when you need to kit out more than one child. As a bargain lover I'm always on the look out for cheap ways to buy what I need and for a good few years now supermarkets have ... read more
Camping for real
With our trial run over Spring Bank half term saw us head off on our first proper camping trip as a family. This time we didn't have the luxury of our warm dry beds being just 20 minutes away. No, this time it was a proper family holiday. We decided to head up to Derbyshire and after reading about it on a couple of websites selected Callow Top as our base for three nights. I lived not too far from Derbyshire for most of my childhood and there were loads of local places that I wanted to revisit with the family and the convenience of it only being a couple of hours up the M1 made it an ... read more
Review: Shine-a-light books
I hate taking a long time to do reviews and for that reason I need to start this one with an apology. It was a long, long time ago that I was sent copies of the Shine-a-Light books On The Plane and On The Space Station to review and whilst Master C absolutely loved them I was struggling somewhat with how to review them. The thing is they're interactive books. Just writing about them didn't somehow seem sufficient, but I had a bit of a break from vlogging for one reason or another and it's only now that I've got round to actually talking about them properly. The magic of Shine-a-Light books ... read more
Confessions of a Summer Parent Challenge – the laid back approach
I'm not going to lie - I do kind of dread the six week summer holidays. My kids like the routine of school and pre-school and enjoy spending their days there with their friends. I'm simply not the kind of parent who manages to set up a Pinterest style set of educational activities for my kids every day, and to be honest life's too short for that. Truth is that whilst the kids are off school I still need to do all the various jobs around the house, plus my self-employed work too, so the six weeks ends up with a hell of a lot of juggling in this household! I keep thinking to myself that I ... read more
Historic Newspapers Vintage Recipe Books
I'm a complete sucker for all things vintage and that includes the piles of old magazine and newspapers that you sometime find in charity shops and at car boot sales. I think they tell us so much about the time they were written, not just from the news stories and articles, but also from things like the adverts they contain. I was intrigued therefore when Historic Newspapers sent me a couple of their news books which are Recipes and Cookery Ideas from newspapers of decades gone by. The two that I was sent were from the 1940s and 1950s, probably my two favourite decades in history. Have a ... read more