When I got in from BritMumsLive! on Saturday night I was pretty much ready to flop on the sofa and collapse in front of something mind-numbing on TV. As luck would have it the BBC were showing I Love 1996, and I'm a complete sucker for this type programme. Lots of talking heads and opportunities to say "I remember that!" 1996 holds a special place in my heart though. It was the year I did my A-levels and left school. The year I moved into my first flat and the year I started my first job. A pretty memorable year. In addition to what was going on in my life there was also the matter of a ... read more
seven days
I promised myself a new dress if I lost a certain amount of weight. Thanks to all my running I managed it in time for BritMums Live! A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days. ... read more
Fiddlesticks! – Sean Taylor & Sally Anne Garland
You can tell that a child likes a book when they insist on sleeping with it by their bed at night, open at the page of their favourite illustration. Just so they can look at it as soon as they wake up the next morning. That's exactly what Little Miss C was like with Fiddlesticks! Mouse loves his little house and is incredibly house proud about it. One day he noticed that one of his windows was a little crooked though. Oh Fiddlesticks! he exclaimed. Unable to fix the problem himself he enlisted his friend bear to help. Bear tried to straighten up the windows, but ended up pulling it clean ... read more
Arm knitting and organza flowers at the WI
There are many many reasons I love my local branch of the WI. I've met some lovely women and had a great laugh with them. But most of all I love that fact that one evening a month I get to leave the house and the responsibilities of being a mum behind for an evening and I go and do something for myself. Our particular WI branch is what many refer to as "one of those modern ones" in that it's about as far removed from the stereotypical Jam and Jerusalem image of the WI as you can get. With ages between 24 and 70-something (as far as I remember) they're a really refreshing bunch of women with ... read more
Supertato – Sue Hendry
I'd be slightly scared to work out just how many picture books Little Miss C and I have read together now. We're definitely well in to the hundreds though and I'm now declaring ourselves experts on what works in our family book-wise and what doesn't. Rarely have I found a book though where I'm still chuckling about it a few hours later, but with Supertato that's exactly what happened. I mean, when did you last read a book about a super-hero potato protecting the other supermarket occupants against an evil frozen pea? The concept is so completely bonkers that it's brilliant! No only are ... read more
Salmon, Shiitake and Mixed Mushroom Egg Fried Rice #MushroomMeals
It seems that Master C isn't the only picky eater in our family. As my mum is keen to remind me, I went through my own fussy patch when younger and for quite a while the only two things I would eat were mushroom soup and baked beans. Cold. Neither sound particularly great cold, but when you consider how fussy some kids can be about mushrooms also a surprising choice. We're still struggling to get Master C to put any non-bread food past his lips at meal-times, but luckily Little Miss C seems to have put her fussy days behind her (let's hope I'm not tempting fate by saying that!) and is ... read more
seven days
A busy week, so very difficult to choose just one photo to sum it all up. Someone's had a birthday here... A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days. ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Dinosaurs
It seems last week's Ladybird Tuesday post went a bit AWOL. I'm pretty sure I remember writing it, but it's certainly no where to be seen online, and the book I thought I wrote about was actually covered months ago on here. Maybe I imagined the whole thing! Anyway - on to this week. I've chosen to go back to the Ladybird Leaders series (series 737) this week and in particular book number seven from that series - dinosaurs. The whole idea behind the Leaders series was that they were first information books, designed for enquiring minds and to stimulate reluctant readers. I've heard many ... read more
Challenge Complete
I did it! The weather was hot, hot, hot. The sun relentless and the hills bigger and harder than I remembered them being. But I managed it. 5km round Verulamium Park, only breaking into a walk for a few seconds when the people in front of me slowed down at a narrowing in the path. I crossed the finishing line though and had a medal placed round my neck. Challenge complete. The route looped round this large park and zig-zagged up the hills towards the highest point in the park. The terrain varied from short grass, to hard paths, to long grass and even mud through the wooded areas. A large ... read more
seven days
The most colourful fun I've ever had running. A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days. ... read more