With everything that's gone on over the last few months there are a few things in live that have had to slip. One of those has been the time I've had to spend crafting. In many ways crafting (along with running) is my therapy. It keeps my head in the right place when the rest of life is manic and it's certainly been manic of late. Over the years I have written many times on this blog about losing, and then re-finding, my crafting mojo, but this time it's different. I've wanted to craft. Desperately so at times. But there just aren't enough hours in the day and the kids, keeping a roof over our ... read more
Paddington Pop-Up London
There's really not long to go now until Paddington 2 opens in cinemas here in the UK and I'm thrilled that other people can finally see the film as I absolutely loved it. I've already written all about what I thought of it, but there's another special part of the story to tell you about - Paddington Pop-Up London. Just as soon as you've seen Paddington 2 you'll understand why Paddington Pop-Up London is such a key part of the film. I don't want to give away any major spoilers, but the Pop-Up is basically the reason Paddington ends up going to prison. It's a beautiful book that shows off ... read more
Great British Sewing Bee Sewing Studio
Since moving house my sewing machine hasn't been out anywhere near enough. I have so many projects that I keep meaning to complete, but as usual there just aren't enough hours in the day. Or enough space on the singe table that we have in our living room. I know that it's only a matter of time though, and then I'll finally be able to crack own with some of the things I want to make. There must be patterns that I bought over a year ago that I haven't even made a start on yet. And the less said about the cot bed quilt that I started a lifetime ago the better. When Little Miss C first came ... read more
Taking to the rails with London Midland
I make no secret of the fact that I love train travel. The opportunity to sit and daydream whilst looking out of the windows, combined with the motion of the train is something I've always loved. I've not had the opportunity to do a long train journey for quite a while (although the other half and I are plotting how we can use our Two Together Railcard to enable a cheap weekend somewhere along the Great Western route at some point) and still talk fondly of the mammoth trip I once had to do for work up to Edinburgh and Glasgow by train so when the opportunity came for a bit of solo train travel ... read more
Feeding a thousand with Wok For 1000 #WokFor1000
What do you get if you assemble over a 150 budding chefs in London's Borough Market, get top chef and School of Wok founder Jeremy Pang in charge and give all of them the motivation to feed a thousand of London's food insecure? The answer is an incredible Wok For 1000 event that saw friendships made, Asian cookery skills developed, a huge amount of food prepared, and about 1400 people fed. I was incredibly proud to be part of yesterday's Wok For 1000 event as it was an amazing opportunity to understand what is already being done to help so many people that are short of food, and what more ... read more
How To Save Money With The London Explorer Pass
London can be an amazing city to visit. It will give you some unique experiences you won't have on any other trip. It is one of the best places in the world for art, culture, and history, and also for nightlife, attractions, shopping, and general fun. However, London can also be very expensive. Whether you are visiting from another part of the UK or from abroad, the cost of going out in London can be high, and even for people who live in London, visiting the biggest attractions can seem extremely expensive. Luckily, there are packages designed to make a day out or a weekend in London as ... read more
Thomas and Friends Smart Tablet
As you will all know by now. Master C is train obsessed. But it's an obsession that I regularly try to use to his advantage when it comes to teaching him things. For ages he wasn't at all interested in holding a pen or doing any sort of "mark making" as it's described in Early Years Foundation Stage documentation. Then he suddenly started wanting to draw trains, in particular drawing on carriage on each separate piece of A4 paper and then sticking them all together. This was swiftly followed by seeing track layout diagrams in some of my OH's model railway magazines and the next thing we knew ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Adventure at the castle
It's been a little while since we've visited the Ladybird Key Word Reading Scheme here on Ladybird Tuesday, but that's where we're headed today with book 10b in the series - Adventure at the castle. The early books in the Ladybird Key Words Reading Scheme are the ones that everyone seems to be familiar with. Simple sentences about Peter and Jane were how many of my generation learnt how to read. I'm guessing that many of us moved on to other books though and didn't progress on to the later titles in the series like this one. By Adventure at the castle we have left Peter and Jane ... read more
Paddington 2
Where on earth do you begin to write about Paddington 2? Never before has a film exceeded my expectations so much and there are so many things I want to tell you all about it. The key message has to be that you MUST go and see it. Even if you though the original film a bit naff (I did - I didn't even bother with the last 30 minutes on Amazon Prime as I was so bored) this is completely different. It's a million times better. Paddington 2 move you to tears of both sadness and laughter, but also completely change your opinion of Hugh Grant as an actor. Out on general release fro 10 November ... read more
Embracing autumn evenings hygge style with Hunkemoller
I love autumn evenings. I think that by the time they come around I'm ready to snuggle down and get all cosy in an evening with a spot of crochet, a good book or watching something on TV. I guess it may all link into the Danish concept of Hygge that I am rather in love with. A while back I read a book all about A Year of Living Danishly and I found learning all about the country and the way people live there utterly fascinating, but the bit that stood out for me most was this idea of hunkering down in the autumn and winter and just staying at home with family and friends. It's a concept ... read more