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
Getting to grips with Family Finances – Retirement and Pensions #MoneyHangout
Family Finances. They can be a bit of a headache can't they? There always seems to be so much to think about and the various rules about tax and allowances can leave you feeling confused and unsure about exactly what you should be doing for the best for you and your family. Children in school are not taught about the basics of budgeting and as a nation we don't really talk about money and finances - it's just not a very British thing to do. But, how are we going to get better if we don't talk about things? And how are we supposed to know what we should be doing if there's no one talking ... read more
Frozen Magic Snow Sleeve Review
If you ask Little Miss C what her favourite film is then I can tell you that she would answer within a heartbeat that it was Frozen. Heck, even if you asked two year old Master C you'd probably get the same response. There's something about the magic that Disney have created that has made it a huge huge hit with children and with the new Frozen Fever film due out on the 27th March, and promises of Frozen 2 to follow, there's no doubt that this obsession is going to run and run. LMC jumps on absolutely anything Frozen related and at the moment her bedroom looks like a shrine to Elsa and ... read more
What do a cute little tin, potato starch and almonds have in common? #StationeryWednesday
I'm pretty sure that none of you will have guessed that the answer is adhesive paste. Or more specifically Coccoina Adhesive Paste, as sold by Bureau Direct. I included a tin of this in a recent review order and to be honest it's sat there on my desk looking incredibly cute for a while now. So much so that I almost didn't want to open it and stop it just looking sweet in any way. But last week I got my Cricut machine out again and when it came to sticking some things I had cut onto cards I reached for the Coccoina instead of my usual glue stick. The Coccoina worked really well as a ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Ladybird by Design
Sorry for being a bit late with today's Ladybird Tuesday. A poorly Master C who has suddenly taken to having three hours of naps a day - all on top of me! - means that everything is running somewhat behind schedule here chez C. And apologies for any extra bits in this post - rather than going to bed he's insisting on sitting on my knee and "helping" me with my work! I'm also looking at something a little bit different this week on Ladybird Tuesday. Rather than featuring an old vintage Ladybird book from my collection I'm instead looking at a new book that has just been published dot tie in ... read more