2015 is the hundredth anniversary of Ladybird books and that means there's likely to be many more appearances of Ladybird books in the media. It's a shame therefore that last week's Ladybird Tuesday went AWOL, but I hope this week's will make up for it. BBC Breakfast posted this video on its Facebook page earlier today and I thought it therefore appropriate to choose something from the Ladybird Key Words Reading Scheme for this week's Ladybird Tuesday. Post by BBC Breakfast. I've gone with book 2a We have fun as it's one of the series where I have copies of both the ... read more
Embracing the winter outdoors #Hibernot
We were lucky this year that the kids managed to see a white Christmas, but when you're children a couple of days of snow a year just isn't enough and my two are always asking when they can play in the snow again. That's why I jumped on an opportunity that came into my email inbox last week to take them somewhere with guaranteed snow today. As part of their Hibernot campaign Land Rover covered part of the slope in front of Alexandra Palace with snow and invited people to simply come along, play in the snow and have a good time. Talk about perfect for snow loving children. The whole ... read more
Stationery Chat #StationeryWednesday
It's fair to say that I'm absolutely loving working with Bureau Direct reviewing their stationery products. I might even go as far as saying it's a dream job. Our latest review parcels arrived today so fellow Bureau Direct blogger Nickie from Typecast and I decided to get together and have a chat about what we received. Disclaimer: The Bureau Direct products featured in this video were received for review unless stated otherwise. ... read more
How to make flowerpot bread
I do love it when the kids get slightly unusual Christmas presents and one of Little Miss C's uncles really came up trumps this year (not that the other two uncles didn't, if you're reading, as the kids love all their presents too thank you!) with a flowerpot bread making kit. Flowerpot bread you may think - what on earth? The idea's quite simple really. You make bread, but rather than put it in a traditional bread tin or on a baking tray in the oven, you instead bake it in terracotta flowerpots. It's incredibly easy to do and a great activity to do with kids, so here's my how to ... read more
Election 2015 – Round 1
If you live in the UK you must have been living under a stone if you haven't noticed that there's going to be a General Election in May this year. Here we are just a week in to 2015 and already all the political parties seem to be setting off in full election mode determined to get our votes in what is possibly going to be one of the closest run elections that we've had for many years. The mainstream media is obviously already starting to get excited about this, but it may seem a bit early to start blogging about it, apart from the fact that in my ward in St Albans we're actually off to the ... read more
When maps meet stationery – part 2 #StationeryWednesday
Don't you just love it when two of your favourite things come together? I got all excited back in November with the vintage map washi tape that I found at Bureau Direct, but now I think the team there must have realised that a love of stationery and maps goes hand in hand as look at what I've found now. This Paperways Handy MemoPad comes with a map of Europe on it and is just the perfect size for keeping handy in the kitchen and writing a shopping list or similar on. There's a world map version too (although the map is obviously at 90 degrees to the way up you'd normally have the pad - ... read more
When notebooks go technical… #StationeryWednesday
When you think of notebooks in this modern age they're often seen as being a bit old fashioned and quaint, especially when you talk to people who keep all their notes digitally on their smart phone. But then again many of us like this old fashioned way of connecting pen with paper and I find that my brain flows somewhat better with a pen in my hand than it does at the keyboard. Possibly a strange thing for a blogger to say, but I find that some of my best blog posts come when I've sat down and made handwritten notes first. In these days of cloud computing and backing up everything though ... read more
Fathomless Riches – Rev Richard Coles
The Rev Richard Coles might not be a name that you instantly recognise, but if you were to see a photo of him you'd probably think his face is familiar, as well it is, as he seems to pop up all over the BBC these days on everything from Songs of Praise to Have I Got News For You. His voice is even more recognisable as he is also a regular host of BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live. All rather impressive when you consider how few vicars have a public profile outside their parish. That alone may be considered impressive, but when you add to it that fact that the Rev Richard Coles is also gay, has ... read more
The magic of a white Christmas
Here we are on the first day of a new year. Mr C is back to work tomorrow, Master C back to nursery and I think it's therefore time to say that Christmas 2014 is over. The last ten days seem to have vanished in a bit of a whirlwind, but I think it fair to say we had a good Christmas. The emergency dentist appointment for me and both kids being at the GPs on the Monday and Tuesday of Christmas week made me wonder if we were going to be a house full of sick people for the big day itself, but luckily I think we dodged a bullet there. We just had my mum staying with us for Christmas itself and ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Christmas Special!
Ladybird Tuesday often goes a bit AWOL over the festive period, but seeing as I always mean, but fail, to do a round up of Ladybird inspire gifts before each Christmas I though that instead I'd do a quick round up of the Ladybird presents I was lucky enough to receive on Christmas day. First up was a gift from my husband that I'd actually put on my Christmas list - The Ladybird Story. This book started life as a PhD thesis on the history of Ladybird books and whilst it is written very much in an academic style, it is completely fascinating. I've not yet had the time to read it all ... read more