There's no doubt that baby showers are now very much a part of many women's pregnancies here in the UK. I didn't have one when I was pregnant with Little Miss C and now that I'm pregnant again I have to admit that this time round I possibly won't bother - mainly because we have pretty much everything we need anyway. They are a lovely opportunity for friends and family to celebrate your impending arrival, most importantly before you become a sleep-deprived parent. Now that I'm over half way through this pregnancy I am starting to think about the new Baby C's arrival ... read more
seven days
A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days. ... read more
Rainy day sticking
After what feels like an eternity of wet weather I'm starting to feel like there are very few indoor activities that Little Miss C and I haven't tried recently. She's now been struck down by chicken pox so I'm trying to come up with even more things to do and am very grateful that I've got a couple of copies of Creative Steps to review which are packed full of great ideas for things to do. A full review including some of their projects will follow, but I'm going to start with one of the more simple things we've been doing. All that was required ... read more
Review: Little Learners from Parragon Books
It's well known as to how much Little Miss C loves books and she seems to get excited whenever the postman arrives with a package and has started asking if all parcels that arrive are books for her! We were both very pleased to open one jiffy bag containing a selection of books from the new Little Learners range from Parragon Books. The first thing that strikes you about the Little Learners books is that they are lovely soft muted colours rather than the usual primary colours of baby and toddler books. They are also incredibly tactile books too, more so than many others in our ... read more
FoodCycle
Have you ever thought about what happens to food that's still on the shelves of your local supermarket when it reaches its "display until" date? Much of it is still perfectly edible, but as it can no longer be sold it instead often ends up just going in a shop's general rubbish. Wasted food - not nice, but sadly a fact of life in many shops. There are an estimated 400,000 tonnes of surplus food that can reclaimed each year from food retailers here in the UK, but all this food can be turned into healthy and nutritious meals. Food poverty is another huge problem facing us here in the UK ... read more
seven days
A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days. ... read more
Yeo Valley – so much more than just yoghurt!
Sometimes a physical change of scenery can help you clear your head and see things clearly and that's exactly what happened to me yesterday. I was lucky enough to be invited, along with a handful of other bloggers, to visit Yeo Valley - home of yummy yoghurt and some equally yummy farmers (well, so says their TV adverts!) - to find out more about the company behind all the yumminess and their way of doing things. When I recently wrote here about wanting to use my blog to find out more about the people and things that make me smile this trip was exactly the sort of ... read more
E is for Evidence – Sue Grafton
When I said that I need to read something a bit lighthearted next I certainly wasn't kidding. I'm a huge crime fiction fan and love everything from classics like Wilkie Collins and Agatha Christie right through to some of the slightly more "trashy" US crime fiction. I love a good mystery and find that the distraction of trying to figure out who killed who in a crime novel a great way of switching off from day to day worries once I'm in bed. Sue Grafton's E Is For Evidence is part of the Kinsey Millhone "alphabet series" which I have dipped into ... read more
Garden leeks
With all the warm and wet weather that we've had recently the garden has been shooting up, but it's also been difficult to spend time out there gardening due to it being so wet. Our veg plot is ready for things to be planted, but to be honest I'm a bit behind schedule in doing so. However, there are a few crops still in the ground that have been growing at speed recently. A long, long time ago I had my first attempts at growing leeks from seed and after a very slow start I'm delighted to say that the above photo shows the first of the crop brought in to our kitchen for ... read more
VTech InnoTab – Review
Little Miss C and I were both absolutely thrilled to be asked to review a VTech InnoTab by the wonderful people at Cuthberts Toys. LMC has always loved technology and like many children picks things up naturally, especially when she has seen adults using iPhones, laptops and iPads. The InnoTab is a fantastic bit of technology, all wrapped up in a super child-proof case. Featuring a 5"colour touchscreen and coming with loads of applications already loaded it is bound to keep any child occupied and entertained. There is a mix of games, animated books, drawing and painting ... read more