Typecast

Our back yard is the smallest yard in the history of terraced housing in old mill towns.  It has to be.  There isn't enough room to swing a ladybird once you've taken into account the space used up by the two wheelie bins, the makeshift shed that houses chopped wood for the log burner, the plastic garden table and chairs and the rusting barbecue.  So I haven't really invested much time into making it look 'nice' out there. Picture Credit: BBC A while back I sent off for the BBC Dig In free seeds, thinking that I'd donate them to my son's primary school.  They duly arrived, I sent him off to school with the envelope and he returned with it saying that they school had been donated loads of seeds and they couldn't use them all.  Since then (approximately 9 weeks) the envelope of seeds has sat on the desk in the front room, waiting for someone to do something with them . I was bored last Saturday so I was wandering round the kitchen, opening and cl...

This is it.  The moment.  That one moment I’ve been building up to.  I can hear the rumbling of the crowd. Muffled.  I am walking through a tunnel and the noise of the crowd gets louder and louder.  The light from the sun is blinding for a moment.  I raise my hand, flat, to shield my eyes.  The other girls are with me, dressed in similar attire.  We walk, we jog, we make silly movements; knee to chest, swivel a foot, pull an ankle up towards our waist, circling our shoulders, twisting, bending.  Two sharp trills on a whistle signal us over to the starting point.  I crouch, feet set one behind the other, touching metal, fingers and thumbs not quite touching the white line.  SET.  I bend my head down and raise my hips. BANG. A shot rings through my ears and I propel off.  Stamp, stamp, push, push, elbows tucked in, arm swing forward, arm pull back, fists clenched.  I can hear nothing other than the sound of my feet on t...

An innovative idea from Erica of Little Mummy and LittleMumpreneur fame, the Great British Blog Festival is taking place this week.  This is a chance to celebrate blogging in general, pick up hints and tips, find out why people enjoy writing their blogs so much, the varied reasons for doing so and everything else in between. There are five main host blogs: Little Mummy Little Mumpreneur English Mum Café Bébé Me, The Man and the Baby and each day a new post about blogging will appear on the host blogs.   Each day the five articles will be linked to the main article so there will be plenty for you to read.  No matter whether you are a new blogger, an experienced blogger, a business blogger or a just fancy picking up some new ideas then have a browse through the articles.  There's also a competition you can enter to win a free copy of Erica's Blogging e-Course .   My article  -  Pimping Your Prose -  is about using social networki...

people sitting on a sofa watching people sitting on a sofa (Marcus Bentley - Big Brother voiceover, 2000-present day) Picture Credit: Channel 4 It's almost open season on the  victims chosen few that have been lucky enough to be catapulted to their 15 minutes months of worth of fame.  For the next thirteen weeks the nation will be divided between those who watch Big Brother and those who don't.  You are being given fair warning that I will be watching and most some of my tweets and blog posts may be BB-related. After 11 series, various spin-off shows, memorable and forgettable (in equal measures) contestants, tasks, fights, friendships and more, the door of the Big Brother house will close for the final time.  Until then, I will be glued to almost every episode, offering my opinion to anyone who will listen or read and trying to work out who is worthy of the money that the fame generated by this programme provides. I think that the applicants are wi...

I know... it's like stating the obvious but at least someone has had the guts to say it. My stalker good friend Cass over at The Diary of a Frugal Family  has decided to create a new Blogging award just for me to give out to fellow bloggers who she thinks have "Brilliant Blogs".  I have acted all shocked and Gwyneth-like but it comes as no surprise...  Big headed?  Moi? *giggle* So, I now have to do the usual and pass the 'award' on.  Who do I think is worthy of this award?  You know, I don't think there are any blogs out there that don't deserve it but if I give it to everyone then the meme would just stop here and that would be boring! Here are my five recommendations for this week (and I'm trying to pick blogs that I haven't recommended before) - click through and save them as favourites because their recommendations will be just as good too:   From Marketing To Milk   Mummy Tips    Baby Genie   London City Mum ...

Editors note:  This is the story of "MummyMad" - the fourth in a series that I have called " Cancer - Your Story ".  If you are interested in sharing your story please click on the link and  contact me . Related Links : The Mad House  (Blog) All " Cancer - Your Story " posts Cancer Research - http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/ Photo credit: D Sharon Pruitt -  Pink Sherbert Photography * * * I  thought I would tell you my story, which is a story of how cancer touched my life and the choices I made. Firstly the basics, I am a 36 year old stay at home mum to two very energetic and exuberant little boys aged nearly 4 (MiniMad) and 5 (MaxiMad) and wife of 15 years to MadDad. We used to live in Berkshire, but moved back to the northeast when I was pregnant with MiniMad. Due to a family history of cancer and my Mum’s younger sister getting a pretty rare and unusual cancer (primary Peritoneal Cancer), she was tested for a number of genetic markers, or spellin...

We all remember the Marshmallow challenge that was instigated by Heather at Notes from Lapland , don't we? ( you can view my attempt here )   Well, here is the follow-up The Malteser Challenge How long can YOU balance a malteser in mid air using only the power of your breath? ( staring Jake, age 11 )