Stephen Fry is probably responsible for a lot of things in life. I think he was the first person I heard talking about twitter on TV and to be honest I didn't really "get it" then. Something that's like writing a blog, but only in 140 characters. What's the point I thought - put it all in a blog post in as many characters as you want. Oh how wrong I was! When you're new to twitter it can be a bit tricky to see how it all works. You start off following Stephen Fry and wondering why the world seems to be going on about how great this new thing is and instead you're ... read more
What will you do for money?
Don't worry this isn't going to be a post about whether or not you'd sell your body for money or anything like that, but I am wanting to hear what jobs people are prepared to do to get some extra money. As everyone knows economic times are tough here in the UK and there are plenty of people who have recently been made redundant. It is hard to find a new job, especially if you want to work in a specific sector or on certain days of the week to fit in with childcare. I realise that things will differ widely across the country and that here in Hertfordshire we're fortunate to live ... read more
Seed swap
Looking at the heavy frost we've had these last few nights here in Hertfordshire it's hard to believe that spring is on its way, but it is. One very clear sign - the annual Homemade Life seed swap has started! ... read more
seven days
A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days. ... read more
Never too young to garden
Whenever Little Miss C goes out into the back garden, one of the first things she does is try to get into the shed to get one of her many watering can. Once she's got it she then marches straight over to the water butt where she can be heard chanting "fill it, fill it" until the watering can has been filled with water. After that she goes straight over to the veg plot and makes sure that all the plants get a drink. Sometimes the water even comes out of the spout of the watering can! ... read more
seven days
A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days. ... read more
VTech My Laptop
If there's one thing that children want to do more than anything else, it is to do whatever their parents are doing. Any parent who has ever tried to use a laptop whilst a toddler is in the room will know that they will very quickly run over and start trying to press buttons - normally whilst you're in the middle of something rather important! At just 18 months old Little Miss C could already get past the screen lock on my iPhone and before than she managed to launch various applications on Granny's computer too. We were beginning to think that it was time to get her some ... read more
The power of a child’s imagination
The more I watch Little Miss C play the more amazed I am at the way in which she uses toys in different ways to how the original designers intended. One of her favourite Christmas presents this year was a Bigjigs train set. She loves playing with it and in particular letting the trains run down the far side of the bridge that is part of the set. Having seen how good it was letting trains go down the "hill" she decided to take things a step further. Her VTech Toot Toot Drivers Garage has a spiral ramp so LMC decided to combine the two - cue trains running up ... read more
Homemade playdough
The weather here has been awful since the new year and after all the excitement of Christmas and New Year I've had my work cut out keeping LMC entertained. A bit of pre-planning meant that today I was able to do something with her that in my opinion falls into the "fantastic mummy" category - home made playdough! I found several recipes online, but a nanny friend told me to look for the ones that involved heating the ingredients as these were the ones that she had found most successful. With that piece of information I decided to try this recipe from the ... read more
Dead Tomorrow – Peter James
Organ donation is one of those subjects that many of us don't talk about. To donate most organs you need to be dead and talking about what happens to you once you've died isn't something that many people like to bring up over Sunday lunch. Unless a family member or friend has needed an organ transplant then it's quite possible that you may not have put much thought into the subject at all. Despite being a registered organ donor I have been lucky enough not to have anyone close to me needing an organ donation and I fell into that category of not really thinking about the people ... read more