Typecast

My blogging friend, Lisa, contacted me and asked if I would host this post for her.  I agreed as it's a subject that I'm passionate about and can always be found discussing off-blog in various forums and Facebook groups.   * * *  If you don't know me, I'm called ' The Mummy Whisperer ', and I love blogging.  I was a coach/therapist who after having kids decided to focus just on Mums; but then I found a love of blogging, won an award and wrote a best selling book  to help Mums enjoy being a Mum more; so I'm now addicted totally! I've been watching the Mummy Blogging community with interest as it starts to follow patterns I've seen before.  I've been expecting a big shake, there have been lots of disagreements which have caused upset, but the panic about  do follow or no follow links  for paid posts is the start of the bigger shake up. A maturing community needs to learn to balance laws with freedom, structures with inno...

You don't expect to see the back end  of a cow at Blog Camp... I'd say "click'em to embig'em" but you don't need to damage your eyeballs in that way! Maybe hover your cursor over the images for an explanation? Images    © Nickie O'Hara  © Sandy Calico Related Links Blog Camp : Blogging about Blogging How Many Jackets...?

It's that time of the year.  I've attended Blog Camp UK and I'm going to bang on a bit about what I learnt, what inspired me and how I move forward with my blog.  Non-bloggers look away now. Have they gone?  OK, lets get down to it.  First of all... I LOVE BLOG CAMP .  Every time I attend one I come away re-enthused about blogging and full of ideas.  I want to spend time evaluating what the speakers said, think about how I can implement that to my advantage and find ways to keep creating interesting content.  That's what I want to come away from any blogging conference with, to be honest, but I have total confidence that Blog Camp will deliver every single time. The agenda was ram-packed and there were a few sessions that were double-booked but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and go with your gut instinct.  I'm glad I did as I managed to centre some thoughts and get clarification on my idea of the way forward. For a full...

How many jackets does one take to an important event (It's like the start of that old "lightbulb" joke, isn't it?   See here for my own Twitter version of it )?  I ask because it now seems that I am known as " Three Coats O'Hara " within certain circles.  Let me try and explain. This is my "smart jacket" Sally was my official chauffeur  offered to pick me up and drive to Blog Camp UK last Saturday ( aka: Blogging about Blogging ) and we had a pretty early start - 6am on the road.  I wore jeans, boots and a t-shirt and needed to take the following: a black cardigan to travel in; my smart jacket for during the day; my big coat in case of emergencies. Now, in my world, that's normal.  But not really normal according to everyone else.  Apparently, one jacket would have done the trick.  I DISAGREE. It was a cold morning so I threw on my sloppy, comfy, black cardigan to keep the chill off my aging bones.    I also ...

Frugal times call for frugal measures so I was really pleased when My Family Club approached me and asked me to help spread the word about their website.  Their website is full of articles based around saving money as a family and includes voucher deals, offers, discounts and "best price" tips for household goods each week. As mum (and nana) to an ever-growing family it's important that we squeeze as much as we can out of every single pound that comes into the house but to also findi ways in which we can still enjoy ourselves without it feeling like we are counting the pennies all the time.  I call upon my fellow parent bloggers all the time for their amazing Top Tips  (as does Lisa from The Mummy Whisperer ) and here are a few of the ones that I've been using recently. Money, money money... Amanda from  Flying Start Magazine  tells me that her best budgeting tool is to calculate how much money you are going to use for a given period of t...

Having the week off work over Easter gave me the best opportunity to go and sample the new menus over at our local Frankie & Benny's restaurant ( voucher supplied, see disclaimer below ) .   We've never eaten in Frankie & Benny's before so thought we would try the lunch menu (available Monday to Friday, 11am - 5pm). The Blackburn restaurant is just outside the town centre but ample parking is available at the ice arena or the shopping area behind the restaurant.  I rang beforehand and was told that we wouldn't need to book a table.  I was even called "Madam" on the phone!!  We turned up around 3.30pm and the restaurant was quiet, with around 20 or so diners already eating.  We were shown to a table immediately on arrival and provided with menus.  Our waitress answered all our questions about the starters and main courses, advising us with recommendations.  The lunch menu has 1-course, 2-course and 3-course options (different...

Living with someone who has to take a myriad of pills to keep them on an even keel for a number of reasons means that I am very aware of dependency, the side-effects and the reason for taking them in the first place.  But for a while now I have been worried about my sleep pattern.  I am a light sleeper and my husband is a deep sleeper, to the extent that he snores really loud.  I was experiencing a maximum of four hours broken sleep a night and it got to the stage where I was delirious through lack of sleep, I was snapping at everyone and was resentful if they were enjoying a lie-in at weekend. One trip to the doctors resulted in me chatting about relaxation techniques (tried and tested with a big fat fail as a result) and not much more including trying out something along the lines of  Gold Bee - Botanical Supplements & Hemp Products .  Nowadays there is a wide range of unique supplements that can be used to aid sleep and for...

Weirdly, I thought I would try and write more this week seeing as though I have a week off work and plenty of time to be creative with words but every which way I turn I seem to find something music-related that inspires me.  Then Nicki mentioned my "great taste in music" (her words, not mine... and no, I didn't pay her to say that either) so I thought I'd surprise you with the song that my husband and I consider "Our Song". We didn't have a proper reception at our wedding for a number of reasons so we don't have a song that we danced to.  If I get my way, we shall be reproducing the dance scene from Pulp Fiction during the party for our 25th wedding anniversary (in 5 years time... eek!).  To make up for that I choose Dub Be Good To Me as "our song" because the lyrics totally resonate with how I envisaged our relationship in the beginning and also what everyone thought about us too. And because I never stick to the rules tota...

Listography time and it's another music themed collection.  I'm don't really buy albums unless they are compilation albums or a ' Best Of...' because I'm a bit mainstream but you do get some amazing hidden gems on album tracks.  Here are my chosen six five (Kate made me boot one of my favourites.  You'll never know which one it was now...)  When you're done, head on over to Kate's blog to see what everyone else has chosen. Freddie Mercury - Mr Bad Guy I could listen to this album over and over again.  I have it on vinyl (somewhere) and have it downloaded as mp3 files on my phone.  The personal lyrics ooze out of each song and I'll never forget my daughter dancing along to Living On My Own when it was re-released after Freddie's death.  She was only 2 at the time but had fantastic choices in music. Eminem - The Real Slim Shady LP Was this the last ever album to officially be called an "LP"?  Marshall...

"Music is forever; music should grow and mature with you, following you right on up until you die." Paul Simon I remember hearing a comedian talking about Google Maps and Streetview, saying that you have the whole world literally at your fingertips and where do you go first?  Your own house!   It's the same with YouTube. I save weird little clips of all genres all the time so I scrolled right back to page ten of my favourites (I somehow have accumulated 939 favourites.  I should really have clear out...) and it's like stepping back into the 1980s.  Now, where's my puffball skirt and my blue eyeshadow...? ==================================== I have no idea where I found this clip from and the sound is ever so quiet.  Five Star were one of my favourite bands in the 1980's and their concert at Preston Guild Hall in 1986 was my first foray into live gigs.  I got a tad over-excited the other week when the official F...

This is an advertorial All survey results provided by E.ON and Jewson For more information please see my disclosure page E.ON and Jewson have been conducting some research into attitudes towards DIY by asking about DIY experiences (good and bad) and promoting their "buy 1 get 3 free" insulation offer at Jewson stores (subsidised by E.ON).  They have loads of information and money saving tips on their related website, What's In Your Loft . Not too long back we replaced the insulation in our loft, mainly because our house is so old that we can't have cavity wall insulation (the walls are too weak) and we are constantly looking for ways in which to keep the house warmer.  And it's usually when we're wearing an extra layer of clothing and scrutinising the utilities bills that we think about ways in which to save money and energy.   I'm lucky in the fact that my husband does most of the jobs around the house; and if he can't turn h...

CybHer is the first all-inclusive female blogger event of its kind in the UK and is being held on Saturday 12th May 2012 (the last few tickets are still available at the time of writing).  I've been asked to speak in one of the 'Geek' sessions on the day. Now, rather than me tell you things that you may not need or want to know, I'm inviting you to guide my session so that I deliver the content that is going to help YOU .  The session is aimed at beginner and intermediate bloggers who use the Blogger platform, so ideal for people just starting out with their blog or who have been blogging for a short while. My session details are: " Ask A Blogger Geek " 2.00pm - 2.45pm The room will hold 30 delegates.   You don't need to book for the session - you just turn up.  I hope at least one person attends or it will just be me sobbing into Twitter on my phone...  The session will be very informal with every opportunity to interrupt and ask questi...

So this happened yesterday... (click the pic) ... and it was a bit of an anti-climax to tell you the truth.  I mean, to spend that much time on Twitter denotes that you have nothing better to do or that you spout a lot of shit.  WhatEVER! * makes the W sign with fingers * But the pressure to say something memorable was MASSIVE.  Yes, I know that's not what Twitter is about.  I'm not the first person to reach 100,000 tweets and I won't be the last ( obviously ) but when you normally have a lot to rant about say then there might be people watching to see your insightful input. *SDER* oh how I love that expression oops, sorry, you're not all members of the Parent Blogger group on Facebook , are you and that's where I first heard it.  And I can't even remember who first said it but I love it! SDER means Self-Directed Eye Roll and it's my new favourite acronym.   I do it so you don't have to. Anyway... The point of this post...