I'll let you into a little secret. My real first name isn't actually Penny. If you look in my passport you'll find that I'm actually a Penelope. Not the most common of names, but one that has a few famous owners. One of the most notable of which being Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds. Back at junior school the playground taunts were usually around being called Lady Penelope and other children teasing a boy in my class with the surname Parker about whether or not he was my chauffeur. I'd never really seen Thunderbirds at the time so had absolutely no idea what they were on about. Fast ... read more
As easy as riding a bike…
Do you remember learning to ride a bike? For years I struggled so much with balancing, then one day I was round at a friends house on a playdate and somehow I just mastered it. I've still no idea how I did it, but things just clicked and the next thing I knew I was happily riding around her garden as if I'd been doing it for years. There's something about riding a bicycle that I just love. A sense of freedom as you ride along with the wind in your hair. Or more accurately nowadays, with the wind rushing past your aerodynamically designed cycling helmet! It may not have the same romantic ... read more
Enhancing Your Life Both in and out of Work through Communication
Many people see their work life and their life outside of work to be two completely entities. Many people see the clock striking 5 o’clock (whenever they finish work) as their chance to leave their work life behind for a bit and concentrate on their other life: their ‘real’ life. But why must there be such a difference between work life, and life outside of work? Why can’t we do things at work to enhance our life outside of it, other than just make the money to fund it? And why can’t we do things outside of work that will benefit us during it without it making us feel down or tired? We can ... read more
Go Back To School Before You Go Back To Work
It’s a competitive world out there, and even if you’ve only taken a year off work to raise your kids, you’re still at a disadvantage from your colleagues and competition. Even if you believe you’re still qualified for a certain position, someone else might have gained experience or a qualification in the past year to give them a slight edge. No matter how old you are, or where you are in your career, it never hurts to earn a few extra skills outside of work. If you’re hoping to go back to work in the near future, perhaps your should consider going back to school first. ... read more
Meccano Off Road Racer
As a child Meccano was always one of those toys that I wanted to play with, but I never seemed to be allowed to do so. We had a small kit at home and I have vague memories of my Gran having some in her sideboard cupboard, but then I have no recollection of it ever coming out for us to play with. Instead we just seemed to always play Pick Up Sticks with her at her dining table whenever we visited. My Dad always used to speak fondly of building Meccano structures and machines when he was a lad and seeing as he went on to be a mechanical engineer I guess that makes sense. I also have fond ... read more
Goodbye old car, hello new family bus!
Change, change, change. That's what life has been full of recently. At times it is utterly exhausting, but there's certainly no chance of me being bored in the near future and I'm one of those people who seems to thrive from being busy. One of the latest big changes has been saying goodbye to my trusty old set of wheels and buying a new (to us) car. It's not a step that I was expecting to take as I'd always assumed that my old Skoda estate would keep going forever. I'd had it since LMC was only about six months old and since then it had been on numerous trips around the country, carted a ... read more
Where Should You Focus Your Home Improvements This Autumn?
Everyone likes the idea of making changes to their house in the hope of improving the property. However, lots of homeowners have no idea which rooms they should focus on first. So, this article aims to provide some logical suggestions that should assist readers in making the right choices. As most people should understand, it’s often best to start with areas guests might use frequently. The Living Room There are lots of ways in which anyone could improve their living rooms. Giving the walls a new coat of paint could change the aesthetic entirely. Also, adding some new light fittings ... read more
Features Every Garden Needs To Really Shine
It's a shame how rarely a lot of people take advantage of their gardens as a potential space in their home. Often people do the bare minimum in order to keep their garden looking halfway decent, or even worse, don't do anything to it at all. However, in the same way that you can use to the interior of your home to express yourself in new and exciting ways, your garden can have plenty of personality as well. It might seem to some people that making a garden a more exciting space can be something of a challenge; there are few things that are guaranteed to make any garden a little more ... read more
An alternative way of heating your home with a pay monthly boiler
Without meaning to, I think I've become a bit of an expert recently on all things utility based. The last few months have seen me become a dab hand at working my way around comparison sites, understanding tariffs and contract options for gas and electricity, and also learning many of the phone keypresses that are needed at various utility companies to actually get to talk to a human being there rather than a computer. As we're currently in a rented flat I've not had to worry too much about the actual mechanics of how we're heating our home, but we're hoping to buy again in the New Year that ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Division Made Easy
Shockingly, it's over two years since Multiplication made easy appeared here on Ladybird Tuesday. Back then I wrote about how maths can really divide people as a subject. Some love it and some hate it. I've always thought of myself as being firmly in the "love maths" camp. When at school it was the lesson I always looked forward to. The idea of English or Drama on the timetable filled me with dread. Give me double maths over that any day of the week. I'd like to say that I'm still on the "love maths" side of the fence, but as Little Miss C has advanced through the school system (she's ... read more