Great excitement here yesterday as Sunday the 6th April seemed to mean the start of the local car boot season. Now I have to say that I am yet to find a really good car boot sale anywhere near St Albans. Ten years of trying and there's still nothing on a par with car boot sales of my youth up in Yorkshire. I keep trying though - determined to discover where Hertfordshire is hiding the good ones! The biggest local one has to be at the Hertfordshire showground and there's generally one there every Sunday throughout the season. Now the first thing I find a bit strange about this car boot ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Lives of the Great Composers Book 2
I find it amazing how many friends of mine now know about my love of vintage Ladybird books thanks to this blog and I love it when one of them surprises me with something they've found at a jumble sale of in a charity shop. Last week I was delighted to receive a mystery parcel with three wonderful Ladybird books in it. I have absolutely no idea who on earth these are from - and there wasn't even a postmark to give me a hint! So, if it was you thank you do much - please reveal yourself though. So now on to one of the books from that mystery parcel - Lives of the Great Composers Book 2. ... read more
Juicy recovery on the Couch to 5k programme
Now that I've revealed what I'm up to I can turn my attentions to one of the things which kickstarted this whole process - the Currys Juiced Up challenge to make a perfect post workout juice drink. Now in my case my "workout" was actually the first week's part of the Couch to 5K training programme and boy was it tough! Week one is a relatively easy start (compared to what I'll be doing at the end of week 9) but for someone who hasn't run in months and months it was hard work and by the end I was exhausted. I'm someone who always feels incredibly ... read more
Challenging myself – to hopefully help others
It's funny how sometimes lots of things happen which appear to be completely independent, but then you stand back and look at them and realise that actually they fit together perfectly. So, where to start with this tale? Let's start with Team Honk. If you've been online at all for the last few months then you can't have missed this amazing achievement by bloggers from all over the country. On Sunday the epic relay from Lands End to John O Groats ended and yesterday there was the amazing news that the combined Team Honk efforts have raised over £30,000 for Sport Relief. In early ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: 12c The open door to reading
My copy of this may not be in the best condition (apologies for the strange stain on the front!) but it is a truly fascinating book and one which I believe really has an important place in Ladybird history. Book 12c is the final book in the Ladybird Key Words reading scheme - the last step in teaching children to read after starting with the very simple "Peter and Jane. Jane and Peter." The Key Words scheme is probably one of the things that Ladybird books are best remembered for and I certainly remember learning to read with them. What I don't remember at all though is this ... read more
Crafting for Spring, Mum and Granny
There was much excitement here last week when I opened the front door to a postman holding a brown box with a Craft Merrily label very clearly displayed on it. After an initial panic that I'd done a spot of drunken late night craft buying online and then forgotten all about it I realised that in fact I was looking at the next box of crafting goodies as part of our role on the Bostik Family Craft Bloggers network. Yippee! There is just so much in this pack that Little Miss C and I have managed to spend all afternoon using it to make thing and yet there is still loads that we haven't ... read more
Mummy’s Little Sunflowers – Angela McAllister and Alison Edgson
With mother's day fast approaching it's time to feature some more of the pile of "mum" books that I've been sent to review. Next one in my list is Mummy's Little Sunflowers which actually goes much further than just looking at the relationship between child(ren) and their mummy. Instead this book looks at the dynamics of the relationship between siblings and in particular how a younger sibling can cause problems for their older brother or sister, yet they still need their help and support so that they can work together in a team. Scurry comes out of ... read more
JML Ceracraft Ceramic Pans
When I went to the Product of the Year Awards back in January I happened to be on a table with some of the JML team who were there to collect the award for the General Household category with their Ceracraft ceramic pans. I was lucky enough to be sent one of their ultra non-stick frying pans (the 24cm model) from the Ceracraft range to review a couple of weeks later. Ceramic pans are bit of a new invention, especially appealing to people who want to avoid the PTFE toxic chemicals that are used in many other non-stick pans. These ceramic pans are described as being ultra non-stick so that you ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: What to look for Inside a Church
After looking at Saints in last week's Ladybird Tuesday we're sticking with the religious theme this week with What to look for Inside a Church from series 649, Bible Stories. Earlier today I finally made time to look at a little brochure that came with the April edition Country Living magazine - Reclaim the Weekend, 50 simple things to make, do and discover. This lovely little booklet has some lovely simple ideas in there and on which jumped out at me was number 16, visit a church. With antique pews, amazing stone masonry, beautiful stained glass and peace and quiet churches ... read more
Imaginative play with Schleich
Here in the C household we've been huge fans of Schelich ever since Little Miss C received her first animal as a gift when she was about a year old. They really are the most amazing quality animals and beautifully realistically decorated. Even the undersides of them are given the same attention as the upper surfaces - something that you definitely don't see on other makes. Our animal collection has seen hours and hours of play. They've been thrown around the living room, covered with dirt in the garden, pushed down the garden slide, bathed in puddles and chewed on as teething toys ... read more