You may have noticed I've gone a bit quite again. There's a very simple reason this time - I'm spending every spare minute finally cataloging my Ladybird collection! When I started collecting Ladybird books I have to admit that I had no real idea what I was doing. I remembered them fondly from my childhood, but had no idea of how many Ladybird books were out there - I just liked the ones I'd spotted in charity shops so decided to start buying them. Several years down the line there are over 400 books in my collection and they are somewhat scattered across the house. With the help of a ... read more
What I read in January
2016 is the year that I'm going to get back into reading. Both for pleasure and to educate. There are so many subjects that I am interested in, but feel like I know very little about, so this is the year to change that. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce This was passed to me a while back by a member of my knitting group. She told me it was a book she'd received from a friend on World Book Night, but she thought it might be a bit too sad for some of the older members of the group, so she gave it to me instead. I wasn't too sure what to make of that, but actually I ... read more
January – all the things I’d forgotten I’d done
Did I fall asleep or something? Where on earth did January go? It seems like only two minutes since Christmas and New Year, but then at the same time they also feel like a lifetime ago. So, what exactly have I been up to in January. Sitting here now it seems a bit hard to work out exactly what I've been up to for the whole month, but I'm sure I'll work it out. The biggest thing has probably been that January has been the month in which I started running again. Here I am on the 29th of the month and I'm delighted to say that I've clocked up a whole 70km in January (so far!) and am ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Learnabout Camping
I couldn't really feature any other Ladybird book after last week's blog post, could I? Learnabout Camping is one of the later books in the Learnabout series (series 634) and was first published in 1977. The thing which sets it aside a bit from some of the other Learnabout books that I've featured here before, is the inclusion of cartoons like the one on the cover. Whilst the book contains the typical Ladybird illustrations (this time by Eric Winter) there are also a series of cartoons by Martin Aitchison dotted throughout the book. These are very different in style to the illustrations ... read more
Trying to choose a family tent
The last time I slept in a tent was when I was 17. It was part of my Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award expedition on the North Yorkshire Moors and it was an eventful trip. We reached our campsite that first night and one member of the team pulled something out of her rucksack and said with a flourish "here's the tent inner". Seconds later another member of the team did exactly the same. Word for word the same. Now, I don't know how much you know about old fashioned tents, but two tent inners isn't exactly right. Especially when it's raining! Luckily things improved from that point on, although ... read more
Stick Man at Wendover Woods #weloveforests
Stick Man, oh Stick Man, beware of the mud... I think that's probably what we should have been chanting as we went round Wendover Woods just after Christmas. After loving the Super Worm trail last year we had been invited back to try out the new Stick Worm trail and we were not disappointed. Stick Man seems to have become a huge celebrity this Christmas. Not only did he get a Christmas Day show on BBC1, but he was also on the cover of the Christmas Radio Times. Do you get any more famous than that? Still not got round to watching everything I recorded last Christmas but that's not ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: How it Works The Husband
Happy New Year Ladybird fans! All that Christmas card and letter writing put me a bit behind schedule in the run up to Christmas, but now the kids are back at school (and most importantly Master C in pre-school on Tuesdays!) Ladybird Tuesday is back to stay. And how else to start, but with the Christmas best seller The Husband. The Husband is one of the new series of comedy Ladybird titles which take a look at some of the modern day problems that now face those who grew up reading original Ladybird titles. All written by Joel Morris and Jason Hazeley these books combine original ... read more
Thrifty Mrs C: 52 Week Saving Challenge
I'm back on the Radio Verulum Drivetime show this evening with my monthly thrifty slot, and one of the things I'm going to be talking about is thrifty new years resolutions. New years resolutions can scare some people, but actually they're a perfect opportunity to help kickstart yourself into a thriftier way of life. It may be that you want to start small and for you the right thrifty resolution might be to start meal planning, or to buy more things secondhand. Possibly to look on a price comparison site and see if you can get a better deal on your utilities bill. Or, if you're someone ... read more
Review: Clangers Squeeze and Whistle Tiny
Being woken up in the early hours of the morning to the noise of a swanee whistle coming over the baby monitor is a bit of a strange experience. That's the risk you have though when you get your little one a Clangers Squeeze and Whistle Plush - or at least it is with my son! Master C was super excited to unwrap a Squeeze 'n' Whistle Tiny and she has soon become a firm friend. After three years of just being attached to his favourite cuddly toy dog he's now started taking a huge interest in other toys and treating them like friends. Tiny Clanger was one of the first and certainly the ... read more
Why I will be sending Christmas Cards this year
If you're on Facebook or email I'm pretty sure that over the next week or so you'll start seeing messages along the lines of: Just so you know we're not doing Christmas cards this year, but we will be making a donation to charity instead. Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year! That's all fine and dandy, and everyone's entitled to do whatever they want, not only at Christmas, but for the rest of the year too. But as someone who hasn't given up on Christmas cards I thought it about time to actually shout about why I will be sending them this year, and why I'd encourage others to do the ... read more