Typecast

I saw such a cool blog post the other day from " Clara Unravelled ".  In return for some kindness she received last year, she has decided to send something crafty (not a fox, I hope) to six random commenters on her blog post. What a fab idea! This totally fits in with my own personal ethos of "paying it forward".  Now that I have rediscovered my crafting mojo I can join in and send all the crap that I make  some crass-stitch ( not a typo ) or a small knitted project onto other people.  Do you want a bit of that?  I'm going to send something to Clara for coming up with such a fab idea and I'm going to send something to the first five   twenty people to comment on this post (please click through if you're reading elsewhere).  If I get more comments than that I may extend it, depending on how many fabulous (!) things I can make over the next few months.  If I know you well enough I may make something bespoke! If you are lined up to ...

I adore the  yummy mummy  modern style changing bags simply because they excite the organiser in me and I am a self-proclaimed handbag whore.  But the burning question of the day is " What does an anti-Yummy Mummy want or need a Yummy Mummy bag for? "  The answer is " Work! " I'm currently using a Pink Lining  wheelie case for work simply because I need something roomy to hold all my work paraphernalia.  And in a true " What's In Your Handbag " type of post I have listed the contents... ~ Laptop ~ File of documents and session plans ~ Additional paperwork ~ Filofax (natch - my A5 Metropole) ~ Laptop charger ~ Phone charger ~ Flip camera ~ Spare pens ~ External hard drive ~ Wet wipes (don't ask!), deodorant and umbrella It looks pretty cool, yes?  It's getting loads of " ooohhh, I love it " comments everywhere I go - everyone wants one!  I've already a lover of Pink Lining as they sent...

It's a pleasure to host the Soundtrack To My Life  of Maria.  She is a Spaniard married to an Englishman and raises a bilingual and bicultural child - something that always fascinates me as my grandfather was German.  She is also a professional translator and shares my love for MiaTui handbags!  For now, over to Maria... ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ The Dying Swan  Not a song per se. I was a ballet girl growing up, I started at three after my grandma saw my reaction when I saw some ballet on the TV, she told my mother I was going to ballet classes even if she had to pay for it. I loved every minute of it. My parents made me try other sports: sailing, tennis, horse-riding. I always wanted to go back to ballet, my legs even cleverly developed a rash in the winter Atlantic Ocean water so that I didn't have to go to sailing classes on a Saturday morning when I'd rather be doing a 4 hour ballet class (well, we did Spanish dance (zarzuela, flamenco, pasodoble and my r...

My husband owns one bag - a rucksack that he uses as hand luggage when we go abroad.  Any other time he uses his pockets because "that's what they're for" (his words, not mine).  On the other hand, I have an abundance of bags in all colours, shapes and sizes, neatly lined up in the spare room. My shoes and boots are stored in an old ottoman at the top of the stairs - it's busting at the seams. They are mainly 'classic' designs that I can wear on all occasions.  I have heels that are almost too high to walk in but look amazing, Mary Jane's for work, boots in every length you can imagine, an old comfortable pair of Reeboks, my purple Dr Martens... the list goes on.  I mean, my feet aren't going to grow any more so they are never going to go to waste and doesn't everything come back into fashion at some point?  Kev seems to manage with just a couple of pairs of shoes and a two of pairs of trainers.  He also tends to wear them until they...

So you have found the love of your life and you want to spend the rest of your life with him/her.  However, you want to them to remember those special landmark moments for ever and ever and you want to enjoy your 15-minutes worth of fame when the video goes viral across social media networks. If you have a song in your heart and camcorder to hand, here is the blueprint to happiness.  No pressure whatsoever!  The Proposal The Walk Up The Aisle The Speech (Yes, that's Tom Fletcher from McFly) The First Dance (of course I used Julia's dance - she has the most ingeniously titled blog too!) The Pregnancy Announcement The Family Photograph Image Credit Also have a look at this annually updated picture gallery of a family   ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Twenty-odd years ago I got married in a registry office surrounded by the friends and family that mattered the...

Amanda must really hate me. A few weeks ago she rang me up and invited me for a coffee and a catch-up.  The hook was that she had a present for me.  Now, Amanda has a hot pink A5 Filofax, unused and unloved, languishing on her desk. I have hinted about adopting it on a number of occasions and actually dared to think that she had finally decided to give it to me. We met at our usual haunt and she was carrying a rather un-Filofax shaped package with her.  We ordered our coffees and sat down.  She handed me the package. If I could have raised one eyebrow I would.  It was heavy.  I shook it and she screamed, "DON'T SHAKE HIM!" Him?  HIM?  What the actual... I opened the package and was greeted with a mason jar full of some gloopy mixture.  My heart sank. It was a fucking 'Friendship Cake'.  The type of gift you only give to frenemies.  I have survived almost twenty-two years of parenting without ever accepting ...

I've been banging on about 'finding the crafter within' again recently and may have mentioned it a few times here * cough * Silent Sunday * ahem * Mother of Purl * cough * but, for once in my life, I've actually finished a few projects. I mentioned that the next one would be a BIG project as I'd seen the pattern for a poncho that looked a bit unusual ( no Clint Eastwood jokes, purleeeeeese ).  Because I am me, I decided to use needles and wool that I already had so I wasn't too sure how it would turn out.  What do you think? As I've changed the pattern slightly I'll tell you what I did. The yarn recommended (a tweedy, rough type yarn) wasn't available so I used double chunky because it was on offer at the market.  I only used one strand of wool instead of two as the original pattern suggests.  The make of the wool I used is Byzantium and I used 4 x 200g balls which cost £3.49 each.  I used size 8 needles and a 5mm cable...

Back in November I spent a day with the Guinness World Records team trying to become an official record breaker (I failed * sad face* ) and seeing their new augmented reality feature (amazing) on display on a large scale.  They invited me back to see their new science show that's going on tour.  Here's Marco from the GWR team to tell you more.   Now, you know I don't normally plug events on here so this has to be something special for me to give it a shout out.  I had an brilliant day with the team and you can check if the Officially Amazing Science Live! tour is coming to a town near you   (there's a prize draw to win family tickets on that page too... ssshhh I didn't tell you!) .  Audience members will be given the opportunity to attempt some world records (I hear they're going to be along the lines of  ' How quickly can you duct tape yourself to a wall? ' and ' Who has the loudest scream? ') just as we were back in November and t...

Planning a family vacation may not sound like a difficult feat initially, but once you start planning out the details of an upcoming vacation, you may realise just how challenging this can be. One of the most significant challenges that parents face when planning a family vacation relates to choosing a destination that offers fun activities for their whole family. Some destinations may be more suitable for certain ages of children than others, for example, but many families have children of various ages.  Brainstorm Ideas It is important to understand that the picture-perfect vacation for adults is often different than what your kids may have in mind. Kids may have activities like water sports, mountain climbing, hiking or visiting theme parks in mind while you may want nothing more than to visit the spa or relax on a sun-kissed beach. As a first step in planning an amazing vacation, you should brainstorm some ideas. Gather your crew around the kitchen table, get out a ...

Sometimes you want to write about a subject but it never seems to be the right time.  Or there's not a good way to start or finish.  Sometimes you just have to wait and that post will come. Over many personal posts on this blog I have mentioned, in passing, that I left home at the age of eighteen and then became pregnant with my daughter.  There's always been a slight gap in that story which I have never talked about.  Homelessness. ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ After I flounced out of the family home to be with the man I had fallen in love with we realised that we had nowhere to stay.  It was summer and we were resourceful but after a couple of nights dossing on a friend's sofa and the occasional night in the car, the prospect of going it alone didn't seem quite so exciting.  We secured another couple of nights at a friend's house and scoured the local newspaper for a flat that didn't require too much of a deposit and ended up in a bedsit in Blackpool. ...

I spotted this picture of Catherine Tyldesley over the weekend  and something was niggling me... Remind you of anything? Photo Credit 1 |   Photo Credit 2

This week's Soundtrack To My Life has been created by Marianne, who celebrates three years in the blogging world this month.  After 18 years in Italy, a shift in circumstances meant that she had to return to England where her life changed once again.  Mari describes herself and a Great British Housewife and she is now editor of the Brit Mums Blog.  For now, it's over to Mari. ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Tom Browne - Funkin' for Jamaica August 1980 - I was 14 sitting in my step sister's room, she had bought David Bowie Ashes to Ashes and I chose this song. The summer was hot, the windows were open and Tom and David were on the record player on repeat until my dad came up a couple of hours later and asked us to change tracks. Pre-boyfriends when fashion, make up and nail varnish were my new best friends along with good old Smash Hits and NME. I still adore this song today as much as I did back then. Tom Browne's intro on the trumpet is bloody marvelous.  Love th...

It can be difficult to feel at all fashionable during your pregnancy; while on the one hand you're bursting with pride and excitement about the new arrival to your family, you'll eventually get to the point where you can't face another shapeless maxi dress, and start to wonder whether there is anything out there that will allow you to maintain your sense of style while your little one is on the way. To help mothers-to-be in need, Vertbaudet have launched a "maternity timeline" , with tips and ideas for outfit solutions throughout your pregnancy. As a children's and maternity clothing specialist with over 40 years of experience in the ultra-chic French market, Vertbaudet know a thing or two about style, and the timeline covers a range of comfortable and attractive options, as well as practical advice, to ensure you have plenty of options to choose from.  The timeline starts at around 14 weeks, and recommends you start thinking ahead - clothes that wil...

At certain times of the year (post-Christmas mainly, but also on the run up to that expected warm weather time of the summer) we find ourselves bombarded with adverts for diet groups all hinting at the need for that perfect body.  Many of these are spearheaded by 'ce lebrities' (and I use that term loosely) who have had 'amazing results' from using this particular method of dieting or have 'found their sparkle again', which they may well have done but they have also been paid a huge wad of money to front these campaigns. If you follow me on Twitter you may have seen a couple of ranty updates (What?  Hush now...) over the past few days...    I have a lot of respect for Weight Watchers and other dieting organisations such as Slimming World because they encourage well-being and slow, controlled weightloss.  Nothing faddy.  However, the lovely (and I do like her) Patsy Kensit apparently 'ballooned' in weight but managed to lose ...

Today the London Underground celebrates it 150th anniversary.  I fell in love with the Tube system when I visited London for the first time in 1981.  It was the magic of this network of tunnels underneath a city that I wanted to explore.  The names of stations on the maps that would lead me to a world that lay undiscovered by myself but seemed so ordinary to others. The first time I rode the Underground was an experience in itself.  My dad worked for three days a week in London and it had been decided that myself, my mum and my sister would join him for our half term break.  He drove down with our caravan attached and worked for a couple of days.  The rest of us followed on by train on the Friday.  We pulled into Euston Station and I was given the all important job of planning our Tube route.  Mum knew how excited I was by this. We were meeting Dad at one of his places of work.  A tube journey and then a bus would deliver us almost to ...