January seems like a long time ago right now and I have to be totally honest and say that over the last couple of months my year of thrift has taken a bit of a back seat in my life. There are plenty of thrifty things that I now do without even thinking of them, but the thing that has most put me off track is actually the response we've had whilst trying to save money on our mortgage. In the early part of the year we went to huge lengths to cut down our outgoings. We changed gas and electricity supplier, we changed our mobile phone contracts and we also shopped around loads for groceries to ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: The Frozen Planet of Azuron
Let's be totally honest about this post upfront. I'm no science fiction fan at all and this is actually the kind of book I normally avoid. But, it is a vintage Ladybird book so when I found it in a charity shop it came home with me and it's certainly part of Ladybird history. The Frozen Planet of Azuron was first published in 1982 as part of series 823. The series contained a total of 4 science fiction titles (The Energy Pirate, The Frozen Planet of Azuron, The Giants of Universal Park and The Planet of Death) and each book contains a short story. The Frozen Planet of Azuron was written ... read more
Planning Paris in a Day
Back in July 2003 Mr C and I celebrated my birthday for the first time as a couple and we headed off to Paris on a Eurostar train for what was then our first holiday together. Since then, before children, we travelled extensively together (at least 20 different countries and going right around the world for our honeymoon) and we loved those trips to foreign cities where we'd explore on foot, stopping for a beer or glass of wine in a bar and people watching when ever we got tired. We both really miss travelling now that we've got kids and often we'll talk about the trips that we've taken in ... read more
What’s on my bookcase – shelfie part 1
I'm super, super excited that later this year St Albans is going to be hosting its first Literary Festival. I'm even more excited as my good friend and fellow blogger Claire from Being a Mummy is actually in charge of the whole thing! With a very small team she's put together a programme with some great speakers for book fans of all types. I've blocked the days out in my diary already and I'm really looking forward to it. In the run up to the festival the other thing I've loved is some of the team sharing shelfie videos in which they talk you through what's on their bookcase. As someone who ... read more
Doing a grand job
Thank you for all your kind words after my outpouring of frustration on here the other day. Things can seem pretty bleak when you're sleep deprived and stuck at home with a poorly one, whilst also having to balance the needs of their sister, plus work obligations. There's no such thing as time off when you're self employed and in the middle of trying to remortgage your house! I'm delighted to say that Master C finally seems to be over the sickness bug that knocked him low for a week. As a result his general mood has improved significantly, making life somewhat easier. Eating is still a ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Talkabout going into hospital
When it comes to my Ladybird collection I tend to go for the older books with the matt covers as these are the ones that I remember most clearly from my own childhood. These matt covered seemed to be produced until some time in the 1980s when they instead moved over to the glossy covers that are most commonly found in charity shops today. In an ideal world I'd collect both, but it's fair to say that Mr C already thinks that our house is overrun with books and I don't really fancy divorce right now. Too busy with a million and one other things for a start. Some glossy covered books do sneak ... read more
When things aren’t as you imagined
I tend to keep this blog a happy place. To write about the nicer things in life rather than the mundane day to day. At the moment though the day to day is taking over somewhat and to be honest we're struggling with it. The thing is about 10 months ago Master C became difficult. I never expected life with two small children to be a walk in the park, and at first just put all our problems down to "a phase" but nearly a year later I'm definitely thinking that this is no phase. It's not just a few things either. By now his behaviour is completely ruling our life and making things pretty ... read more
BritMums Live and beyond to Red Bull
Last weekend saw over 500 bloggers descend on central London for BritMums Live! 2014. I enjoyed last year's conference so much that I booked a ticket for 2014 just a few hours after getting home. Once again it didn't fail to disappoint, but at the same time I think I have moved on a bit since then, and my blogging certainly has too. As well as being an excellent opportunity to meet up with other bloggers the conference featured some really useful sessions which I felt that I learnt a huge amount from. My notebook is full of plans for a new blog design, ideas on how to use Pinterest better ... read more
Featured Post: When I grow up Mummy…
This seems to be one of Little Miss C's favourite phrases at the moment. "When I grow up Mummy, I'm going to be ... a ballet dancer, an engineer like you, a doctor, a pirate, a racing car driver, a clown, a mummy, a daddy (eh?), a princess, a fairy, a vet or maybe a post lady." Ever since she started at pre-school last year LMC has become more and more fascinated in all the things that she might he when she becomes a grown up. She's only four, but it's lovely to see that already her ambitions are wide ranging, and certainly not limited by any kind of convention or stereotyping. I do ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Snow-White and Rose-Red
When you ask people which Ladybird books they remember best from their own childhood so many people recall the Well-Loved Tales series and being read the books as bedtime stories on many occasions. Strangely I don't actually remember many of them at all from my own childhood, yet I'm pretty sure I can't have avoided them all completely. So many people know the story of Snow-White from the Disney film, yet the story of Snow-White and Rose-Red was completely new to me when I found this book from the Well-Loved Tales series (606D) in a local charity shop. It's rather a strange story if the ... read more