There are just three weeks to go until my 5km run for Save the Children. The training (so far) is going well. Sponsors have been supportive and I'm thrilled by how much I've raised so far. All is on plan. But I didn't count on one thing. That pesky running bug has caught me good and proper! I'm enjoying running. I'm enjoying my training runs. On the days I do evening runs I find myself looking forward to getting out and having some time on my own to mentally refresh whilst pounding the streets. I'm actually looking forward to my race and loving this challenge that I've taken on. Loving it ... read more
Featured post: Popping across the channel to France
We're lucky here in St Albans in that we live just a short 20 minute train ride away from St Pancras International station - a gateway to Europe, right in the centre of London. When I was commuting I used to have to walk past Eurostar arrivals and departures every day and became quite jealous of all the people heading off on holiday in France, back from foodie trips in Brussels, or small children home from adventures in Disneyland Paris. When you have a look at a site like Hotel Direct and realise just how cheaply you can get hotels close to Disneyland it makes me more determined than ever ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Easy to make Puppets
I've a bit of a double treat for you on this week's Ladybird Tuesday. As well as featuring Easy to make Puppets from series 633 I'm also going to be taking a look at How to make Puppets from the same series. Easy to make puppets was first published in 1973 and as with so many of the books from the time it has a very early 70s look about it. How to make puppets then followed 1978 and was part of a second set of books from this series, which seemed designed to replace some of the earlier titles. Certainly, looking at the back cover, it's as if the earlier titles in the series simply no ... read more
Week 7 of the Couch to 5k for Save the Children
When I sat down last week and wrote about my Couch to 5k experiences so far and first asked people to sponsor me I wasn't quite expecting the response I've received from friends and family. Not only have you all helped me to smash my initial sponsorship target for Save the Children (thank you, thank you, thank you!), but there have also been loads of supportive message. Not only from people I see daily on the school run, but old friends that I've not properly caught up with in years, but also online friends that I've not yet had the pleasure of meeting in person. You've all been amazing - ... read more
Little Lou and the Woolly Mammoth – Paula Bowles
Is it just me, or are Woolly Mammoths just the sort of animals that you don't really think about much? Certainly I don't, yet Little Lou and the Woolly Mammoth is the second book that we've been sent to review featuring one (the last being How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth) so Little Miss C is becoming quite familiar with them. Little Lou is bored playing with her toys and wants someone to play with instead. She suddenly sees something move in her pile of toys and goes to investigate. Then she finds a woolly thread, so she following it and her adventure with her new woolly thread begins. A ... read more
A morning of pampering at the Verulamium Spa
Every so often an email appears in my inbox that I just have to jump and answer in a split second and an invitation to spend a morning at the Verulamium Spa was one such email! Ever since the new Westminster Lodge leisure centre opened in St Albans I have been a regular visitor. Little Miss C does weekly swimming lessons there, we go swimming there as a family and the kids have attended several other classes and events there. In all that time I've walked past the entrance to the Verulamium Spa, but it wasn't until Tuesday this week that I finally stepped through the door and discovered that ... read more
Dinosaur Roar! – the app version
Little Miss C loves dinosaurs, loves books and loves apps on my iPad. It was therefore a bit of a no-brainer that she fell completely and utterly in love with the new Dinosaur Roar! app that has been created based on the best-selling picture book of the same name by Paul and Henrietta Stickland. The classic Dinosaur Roar was originally published 20 years ago and the combination of Paul Stickland's dinosaur artwork and Henrietta Stickland's rhyming text led to it selling over five million books worldwide. A new 20th anniversary edition has now been published by Random House in collaboration ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: ‘People at work’ The Policeman
There's been a bit of a break here on Ladybird Tuesday whilst I sorted out the behind the scenes blog stuff, but this week I'm delighted to say that we're back! And I have a wonderful new charity shop find to share too. The very first Ladybird Tuesday featured In a Hotel from the 606B People at Work series and it therefore seems appropriate to be back there for the first post on this new blog hosting platform. I'm bringing a bit of law and order to proceedings by featuring The Policeman which was the second book to be published in this popular series. It was 1962 when Ladybird first ... read more
Getting my running shoes on for Save the Children
It's over a month now since I revealed my plans to get fit and hopefully raise some money for Save the Children at the same time. I had been planning to blog through every week of the Couch to 5k training programme, but with all the blog woes that I've had alongside all the time for the training itself I've struggled to find the time. This morning I completed week 6 of the training so now is definitely the time for a catch up. I started this whole plan as unfit as possible! I walk loads, but that's pretty much the only regular exercise I was doing. Before children I had run a couple ... read more
Morrisons for the weekly shop #MorrisonsMum
If you've read any of my Thrifty Mrs C posts you'll know that I'm a huge fan of a bargain, especially if it involves saving money on the weekly supermarket shop. In my quest to save money I've become a bit of what bargain hunters refer to as a "supermarket flirt", moving around to where the special offers and best prices are. It was therefore perfect timing to be asked by Morrisons to become a #MorrisonsMum in the week that they announced that the prices had been cut on over a thousand items in a permanent move to bring about a new cheaper Morrisons. So, off the family headed to the St Albans ... read more