I’m so pleased the toddler is beginning to like things other than Thomas. I was scared for my sanity but lately we’ve been enjoying episodes of all kinds of things and he was happy to watch So You Want to be a Pirate? the latest offering from Aardman and Sony Pictures Animation. Need to remember where you buried your treasure? Want to learn the secrets of navigating winds or learn how to cook delicious giant squid with lemon? This is non-stop family fun! Featuring the voices of Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, David Tenant and Brendan Gleeson, it’s a great introduction…
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I’m not quite sure what made me buy these. I have a thing for souvenirs of London and thought they were kind of kitsch. There was a set of four on a shelf, featuring a view of Leicester Square, Soho Square, Sloane Square and Berkeley Square. I’m a proud Londoner and knew I wanted the Leicester Square and Soho Square tins. Pre-children I had a pretty good social life and loved going out in the West End. Charity shop guilt kicked in though. How could I leave two tins on the shelf when they were clearly part of a set?…
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There’s a small sniff of autumn in the air, the toddler is ready to go back to nursery and my thoughts have turned to the C word (Christmas!). I have a fantastic giveaway from Hamper Gifts today, a lovely Best of British Food Hamper presented in a hand wicker basket, with contents including Edinburgh Tea & Coffee Co. Scottish Breakfast Tea Caddy, Cherry & Coconut Flapjack and Alice McPhersons Petticoat Tails Luxury Shortbread. One of these festive Christmas hampers would make a fantastic gift and is already pinned to my festive Pinterest board so I’m well prepared for gift buying.…
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Our latest film from the Tots100 Film Club was The Lorax. Based on the children’s book of the same name, and written by Dr Seuss, it tells the story of the Lorax who speaks for the trees against the greedy Once-ler. We have a couple of books by Dr Seuss, including The Lorax, which we love to read. Fortunately the toddler is also happy for some quiet time so we were able to sit down to watch The Lorax on DVD. It’s quite short at 25 minutes so was the perfect length for him to sit and watch. The…
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I’m ashamed to say I didn’t own a single general cook book until Dorling Kindersley very kindly allowed me to chose a couple of books from their recent catalogue to review and Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook arrived on my doorstep. I’m a huge Mary Berry fan and own a couple of her baking books but wasn’t aware she had written more than seventy cook books since her first book was published in 1970 (thanks Wikipedia!). Anyway, my poor family have been eating recipes torn from magazines for years so the Complete Cookbook has been very welcome. I have spent some…
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So far we’ve had an inexpensive school holiday. We’ve stayed local and enjoyed play dates, trips to the park or library. We’re often put off going further afield as the cost of days out can really add up. However it is possible to save money on days out and there is plenty of advice from money saving expert Sarah Willingham on Morrisons website – just look under M Savers/Savers Summer for lots of inspiration. Cheap activities Your local council will have loads of great activities planned all summer. Some will be free, and others much cheaper than the private options.…
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The toddler is 29 months old. He has always loved toys, the noisier and more interactive the better. He’s a typical boy and despite my best intentions at introducing a variety of toys his firm favourite is his train, set since he was about 18 months old. Now I have to be honest and say I may have spoilt him a little by getting him 4 different sets. We’ve been really lucky and he was given a wooden Brio train set. This was his first set which we’ve added to and is his firm favourite. Next up was a Chuggington…
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I was asked if I would like to try Truvia sweetener, which is a calorie-free sweetener from the stevia leaf. It has the consistency of sugar and is an innovation in food, working great in all sorts of recipes from your good old hearty meals to refreshing drinks. My husband has been using it as a sugar substitute in his hot drinks and I tried it in baking, whipping up a delicious batch of scones. The scones tasted lovely although I made sure to slightly lower the temperature of the oven and baked the scones for an extra 5 minutes…
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I don’t need to tell regular readers that my son is a huge Thomas the Tank Engine fan. I spotted a vintage Thomas duvet cover in a charity shop and snapped it up for a couple of pounds. When I got it home I wasn’t sure how to use it – re-size it as a toddler duvet, a bean bag cover or cushion cover. Instead I thought it would make two fun fitted sheets. The ones we’ve been using have been plain blue and these would be a little different. It was quite simple to make. I unpicked the duvet…