One of my favourite dates in the year is Mother’s Day! There’s something rather lovely about celebrating mum’s and I remember celebrating my first Mother’s Day just days after my son was born a couple of years ago. I really don’t expect a present from my two this year (a day off from nappies and bottles would be enough – I hope my husband is reading!). Published in time for Mother’s Day on 18 March, Stories of Motherhood, the latest title in Everyman’s Library’s Pocket Classics series, celebrates all aspects of motherhood. This beautifully packaged anthology gathers together more than…
-
-
With our beautiful Irish surname we just had to start thinking about some St Patrick’s Day crafts! First up was some baking and what could be nicer than some rainbow cookies to remind us about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Rainbow sweets, otherwise known as m&ms, were bashed over the head with a rolling pin and added to a basic cookie mixture. Already looking pretty – rainbow cookie mixture. Makes pretty cookie dough too! Not bad looking cookies either. Big Brother tried to sneak one off the wire rack whilst they were cooling so they…
-
Dear Potential 2012 sponsors, This year there’s an exciting new conference for women who blog called Cybher and I would love to go along. I’ve been blogging for 7 years and love to blog about my loves in life – my children, baking and sewing. I’m a stay at home mum to two small people and therefore can’t afford a ticket. I’m currently looking for a relevant company to sponsor me. Could that be you? I only need the cost of the Cybher ticket (a reasonable £100), as I live in north London and have my trusty Oyster card. In…
-
Do you struggle to find fun things to do with your children during the holidays? Look no further as I have a family ticket which can be used at the Edinburgh, York, London, Hamburg and Amsterdam Dungeons up for grabs. The family ticket admits up to 2 adults and 2 children and can be used until the 31st December 2012, so perfect for the school holidays or a birthday treat! If you’re stuck for things to do in Blackpool then look no further than Blackpool Tower Dungeons where you can experience 1000 years of Blackpool’s most blood-curdling history. It’s one…
-
I have the tiniest kitchen, it is actually smaller than our bathroom, yet I spend an increasing amount of time in it. Aside from preparing seemingly endless meals for the four of us, my week isn’t complete without some baking. As space is so precious it’s really important that the products I use are both practical and stylish. The one product I must have is decent scales. I’ve gone through a few in the pursuit of perfection but my Brabantia digital kitchen scales do a great job. Most importantly they are compact – essential in my tiny London kitchen. They…
-
Little Sis is too young to be stealing from my make up bag so where’s my make up? We had a family photo last week and, wanting to look my best, was looking for makeup. I have drawers of bottles and potions and presumed there was something at the bottom of it all. A lipstick, a mascara wand, eyeshadow trio. Something. But guess what? Nada. Just cotton buds, hair grips and a button. And some fluff. Pre-children I had an Aveda card. I could afford to shop there and bought lots of small, pretty expensive things. They made me look…
-
I spotted a new product on the supermarket shelves last week, Tesco Easy Home Bake Gingerbread dough. I quickly hid it in the trolley before my husband could start muttering that we didn’t need to try another product! We tried this out when we fancied a bit of home baking and made some biscuits. It’s simple to use – roll the dough, cut your required shapes, place on a greased baking tray and bake for 12-15 minutes. The easiest biscuits ever! The dough is advertised as sweet and crunchy, which I was a bit sceptical about, but they were sweet…
-
It’s not often that I liken my youngest to a panda but it seems that she’s had something in common with the newest inhabitants at Edinburgh Zoo. The dreaded colic. Just like Yang Guang and Tian Tian, Little Sis has been horribly unsettled; crying and not sleeping or feeding properly until the small hours. This was so out of character that we had to seek help from our Health Visitor. It’s difficult to imagine when she’s sleeping so peacefully next to me during the day but we’d come to dread the evenings. We agreed it was probably colic which is…
-
Mary Rebecca hosted a really cool Valentine’s Day Swap 2012 which I signed up for as I love all things red and heart shaped. My partner Jennifer has a really cool tumblr blog at Vintage Enydot. She sent me an amazing box of goodies including yummy limited edition love hearts and some fab cupcake cases, which I can’t wait to use. We’re off to visit family this week and I’m looking forward to stocking up at my favourite cake shop so I can whip up something special. I loved putting together a parcel for her. Aside from some chocolate and…