• Orla Kiely: A Life in Pattern {Fashion and Textile Museum}
    days out - Family Life - London - Orla Kiely

    Orla Kiely: A Life in Pattern {Fashion and Textile Museum}

    June 27, 2018 - By 

    Today I finally got to visit the Orla Kiely: A Life in Pattern exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey. I’ve been a huge fan of Orla Kiely for about 15 years and have a growing collection of handbags, bedding and homeware. The only thing I’ve not really bought into is her clothing range. Even if you don’t know the name you will know her prints. My favourite is her stem print which can be found on just about everything from cars to books, candles and yoghurt pots. The Fashion and Textile Museum is a short walk from London Bridge underground…

  • days out - Local Review - London

    A visit to Dinosaurs in the Wild, Greenwich Peninsula, London

    June 24, 2018 - By 

    My 6 year old is just crazy about dinosaurs so it wasn’t hard to accept an invitation to Dinosaurs in the Wild on the Greenwich Peninsula, London. We don’t often go to this side of London but it didn’t take long on the Underground and before we knew it we were blinking in the sunshine at North Greenwich. A visit to Dinosaurs in the Wild, Greenwich Peninsula, London Dinosaurs in the Wild is just a 10 minute walk from North Greenwich Underground station. We arrived and were greeted by the friendly staff and ushered into the huge pop up building which…

  • 8 farms to visit within easy reach of West London
    days out - Family Life - Local Review - London

    8 farms to visit within easy reach of West London

    June 23, 2018 - By 

    Any one starting to worry how to keep the kids busy over the Summer holidays? I have to admit that panic is starting to kick in. I’ve booked quite a few things but that doesn’t stop me trying to come up with ideas for some of the days we’ll be spending at home. I love to have different days out, other than the park or cinema. Living on the edge of London we’re really lucky to be within easy reach of farms and countryside. I thought I would post a round up of some of our favourite farms to visit…

  • How the Light Gets In
    book review - Family Life - London

    How the Light Gets In {book review}

    June 19, 2018 - By 

    How the Light Gets In is the exciting new book from award winning short story writer and novelist, Clare Fisher. You may remember that I reviewed her debut novel All the Good Things last year. From the publishers that brought you Attrib and Other Stories by Eley Williams, How the Light Gets In is another spellbinding short story collection. How the Light Gets In by Clare Fisher A book of very short stories that explores the spaces between light and dark and how we find our way from one to the other. From buffering Skype chats and the truth about beards, to fried chicken shops and the…

  • Places for outdoor swimming or water play in west London
    Family Life - Local Review - London

    Places for outdoor swimming or water play in west London

    June 18, 2018 - By 

    With the Summer holidays looming here in the UK I have everything crossed for lots of sunny days. I like my children to get plenty of fresh air as it really helps to tire them out. Nothing beats water play in the open air but there are actually very few places you can go near where we live in West London. I thought I would share our favourite places for outdoor swimming or water play in west London. Places for outdoor swimming or water play in west London Ruislip Lido Our favourite place was water play is Ruislip Lido in the London Borough…

  • Celebrating the Royal Wedding {with Mrs Mactivity Royal Wedding crafts}
    Crafts for kids - London crafts - Royal crafts

    Celebrating the Royal Wedding {with Mrs Mactivity Royal Wedding crafts}

    May 17, 2018 - By 

    Are you celebrating the Royal Wedding on Saturday? If so, how? I really wish it was taking place during the week so we could all have an extra day off! However both children are doing something special at school. My Year 3 boy was having a Royal tea party at school today, and my Year 1 daughter has been buys making a crown which they were all wearing to lunch. Both of them had to wear something red, white or blue to wear too. We had a little tea party at home to watch the last Royal Wedding and I’m…

  • days out - Family Life - Local Review - London - Ruislip

    Bluebells in Ruislip Woods

    May 8, 2018 - By 

    We are so lucky to have Ruislip Woods National Nature Reserve and Ruislip Lido near where we live. The Lido gets pretty busy on a sunny weekend so we avoid going but it’s surrounded by ancient woodland which is the perfect place to escape to for a cool walk. We last visited a few weeks ago and were so happy to see the bluebells blooming. We headed for a walk around Park Wood. It had been raining a lot but thankfully there were lots of raised paths so we didn’t get too muddy. My children love the woods and it was…

  • 5 happy things
    Family Life - London - Monday Happy List

    Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things

    April 23, 2018 - By 

    Happy Monday everyone. Hope you had a great weekend. I love starting off each week by writing my Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things blog post. It’s a great chance to reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of our family adventures – it’s a post I always enjoy writing. Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things I’m British so have to comment on the recent amazing weather. I don’t really like hot hot weather but after a miserable Easter holiday it was just what we needed. The children were very happy…

  • days out - Family Life - Local Review - London

    Our Disney on Ice Worlds of Enchantment experience

    April 6, 2018 - By 

    Last week I told you how excited we were to go and see our first Disney on Ice show at the Wembley SSE Arena. Our whole family are big Disney fans so were really looking forward to trying something new and watching Disney On Ice Worlds of Enchantment. Yesterday we had a lovely morning at home, the sun was out for the first time and it was great to spend time in the garden. After lunch we headed into town as we wanted to go shopping at the London Designer Outlet before the show. We grabbed some bargains and stopped…