There was a time when I was actually quite mentally agile. It may seem hard to believe that, especially if you've ever seen me at the school gate desperately trying to remember what it is I've forgotten to bring that morning, but back when I was commuting every day I used to be able to solve the most difficult sudoko AND the easy crossword by the time my 30 minute train journey was over. I even went as far as getting the application form for one year's national sudoko championships! Children and a lack of sleep means that my head is in much more of a fog these days, but the brain is a ... read more
A year long Hotter Shoes review
On Monday morning I had three different people stop me on the school run to ask where my shoes were from. If that doesn't give you a spring in your step after half an hour of trying to get two children out of the house with school uniform, book bag, reading books etc all correct then nothing will! So what were these amazing shoes attracting everyone's attention you may ask? The latest Hotter shoes in my collection - these gorgeous Dalton shoes in Flint. It's nearly two years now since I first discovered Hotter Shoes when I did a review for them of a pair of gorgeous Gaby Wedges. ... read more
When wind turbines are beautiful
When we went on our family holiday to Cornwall last summer Master C was absolutely obsessed with all the wind turbines that we saw whilst there. Every time we drove past one there would be a shout of "windmill" from the back seat and in a way it became the saying of the holiday. Back home there aren't as many wind turbines around Hertfordshire, but trips north always seem to find a few and once again the familiar shout goes up from the back seat. The thing is - I'm actually rather fond of wind turbines. Not only do they do a wonderful job at producing green energy, but I actually think ... read more
My week in crafts
Another row finished whilst watching today's swimming lesson. #crochet #craft #momsoninstagram #handmade #homemade A photo posted by Penny Carr (@realbeingmrsc) on Apr 16, 2015 at 1:50am PDT It's been a week of mainly continuing with the two main projects that I started last week. Firstly the crochet ripple blanket has progressed well. With it still being the school Easter holidays here Little Miss C was booked on to an intensive swimming course which meant that we were at the pool every morning for a 30 minute lesson, in addition to her usual slot on a Friday afternoon. Excellent ... read more
Review: Nick Baker’s Bug Safari from Interplay
We love all things nature based in this household, so when we were asked to review the Nick Baker's Bug Safari from Interplay I just knew that it would be perfect for Little Miss C. Her dad writes at UK Nature Blog and is forever finding interesting bugs and other creatures in the garden so this was a perfect opportunity for her to do similar. So, first of all here's what you get when you unbox it: Bug tongs Tweezers Field lens Viewing pot with magnifier lid Brush Instruction booklet with insect identification details in it LMC rushed out int the garden with it all ... read more
My week in crafts
Since my lightbulb moment a week or so ago I'm finding that whenever I have a moment or two spare, rather than reaching for my phone and going on social media, I'm picking up something crafty and doing that instead. And I'm absolutely loving it! Not every week am I going to manage to complete a whole crafty project (and possibly not even every month!) but I do want to try to keep track of what I'm up to so here goes with the first of many My week in crafts posts. In the last week I've kicked off two quite major projects. Firstly I'm crocheting again (the first since finishing my big ... read more
Understanding pensions with #MoneyHangout
It's a couple of weeks now since I took part in Legal and General's #MoneyHangout about pensions and retirement finances and to be honest I'm still trying to digest all the valuable information I learnt and act on it. There I was trying to pay attention during the hangout and be ready to ask my question on cue, and instead I found myself furiously scribbling notes as it was so useful! Just to share with you some of the particularly useful points that I took away with me. Firstly, to try to track down pensions that I have from old employers and ensure that all my details were up to ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: King John and Magna Carta
Now that my Ladybird collecting hobby is so well know I feel like I have an army of spies out there looking for Ladybird books for my collection. One such spy (more commonly known on twitter as Tall_Rich) tweeted me one Saturday evening from St Albans Abbey to tell me that he'd spotted a new Ladybird book. @BeingMrsC seems this has been reprinted (c) 2015 of an original 1969 book for the 800th anniversary pic.twitter.com/subIKYFK7C — Richard Gillin (@tall_rich) February 28, 2015 In fact it seems that there was a whole display of Magna Carta related books, with the Ladybird reproduction of ... read more
Introducing the Pointy Nosed Pooch and Finding Balance
It's funny how sometimes you don't realise what is missing in your life until it is reintroduced and then you're left wondering how you ever coped without it. Back when I started this blog (nearly 7 years ago now) one of the main drivers was because I was feeling swamped by my day job and I wanted to force myself to make the time for all the crafty things I enjoy. It may seem a bit like a backwards way of doing things, but I was determined to actually do some of the things that I was reading about on other people's blogs, and for me a way to do that as to make myself write about what I got ... read more
Making Flop
Yikes - it's been quite a couple of weeks here. The whole household has been more ill than I think I can remember, and inconveniently it's all happened at once. Master C's been off nursery, Little Miss C's been off school and even Mr C has been off work for a while. There have been trips to the Dr for all three of them (including one to the out of hours GP at Watford hospital) and antibiotics for two of them. And in the middle of all that we had a quick 36 hour trip up north to visit my mum and celebrate her birthday and late Mothers' Day with her, my sister and brother in law. I've been ... read more