In our house there are two boys (one big, one small) and me. We have a cloakroom (but alas no cloaks) and most of our shoes live on the floor of the cloakroom. In the warmer weather when you walk past, you are aware that that’s where the shoes live because of the gentle hum of feet wafting under the gap under the door.
Thankfully I was sent a pack of happi feet shoe fresheners to try. These are innovative shoe fresheners which sit above the sole allowing the shoe to breathe whilst freshening it with one of the four scents from their range –
Caribbean beach breeze
Japanese cherry blossom
Freshly laundered
Madagascan vanilla
I tried the freshly laundered, which to me is probably the most logical clean foot smell. It does indeed smell clean, fresh and having used it on my stinkiest, most ancient walking boots for a few days, I can confirm they smell much, much better. I’ve juggled them about and tried them in a few different pairs of our shoes and it’s all good. Plus they have the added benefit of making the cloakroom smell fresher too.
Happi feet are available from Tesco and retail at just £2.60 a pack which lasts approximately 6 weeks. You can swap them from shoe to shoe as and when needed.
Disclaimer: I was sent a packet of happi feet shoe fresheners for review purposes, all images and opinions are my own.
We’ve always felt it was important to read to and with our boy. When he was nought but a bump we’d regale him with a host of stories in the hope he’d pop out reciting the works of Shakespeare, or at the very least The Gruffalo. That surprisingly enough didn’t happen, but he has always, always loved books and bedtime stories are something we all look forward to.
He’s three now and although he can’t read yet, he is starting to recognise some letters; it’s time we stepped up our bedtime story routine and got him joining in a bit more.
The other night I happened across love2read on Twitter. They create personalised photo books around your child’s family and life. The idea being that if they’re matching words to pictures of things they love and recognise, then that will enhance their love of reading, make it more relevant to them and ultimately more enjoyable.
You select from a pretty wide range of titles including – I love…, All About Me…, When It Snowed… and Where I Live. We plumped for I Love… because Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and we’ve been talking a lot recently about the people and things we love.
The whole process is incredibly easy. Once you’ve chosen which book you want, you need to select and upload your pictures. Generally you’ll need about 10 digital photographs of fairly decent quality. You can drop your pictures in and swap them around on the pages until you are happy. Then enter the text you’d like, for example “I love Daddy”, check you’re happy and then order your book. Easy-peasy.
We ordered our personalised book on Wednesday morning and it was sat in my hot little hand by Friday lunchtime. Delivery time depends on when you order in relation to their print runs, but delivery was fast and it was well packaged.
Now my delightful husband has his own printing business, so the first thing I did was hand it to him for his professional opinion. He thought the print quality was good, with the inside pages being of a decent weight (which means good quality paper). He was pretty impressed (and in terms of print he’s the most critical man in the world). His one criticism was that the staples were too small, but that’s something only printers and the overly fastidious would notice, and let’s face facts, that’s not going to massively impact on your enjoyment of the book.
Bedtime rolled around and ta-dah, I revealed his new bedtime story. He wanted to examine every page carefully, delighting in the pictures and describing what was in them. One of the pictures was him on the beach, which sparked a lovely conversation about what we did that day and what he liked about it. We then sat and read the personalised book properly, cover to cover, several times.
The wording is very simple. In the “I love…” book we put things like “I love the playground”, which he does. He instinctively repeated the words after I read them out and I pointed at the individual words as I read along so he’d start to get the idea of reading left to right. It was all good and we read it several times over. He loved it so much he’s taken it to bed with him.
We’re impressed. The process was simple and the product of good quality with clear educational value. What I liked about it was it is also a lovely photo book which you can use to record special days, such as birthdays, holidays, Christmas and Valentines.
At just £14.99 a book I think it represents good value for money, given it’s not only an unusual but lovely learning tool, but a photo book of memories. My top tip would be to sort out 10 or so photographs before you sit down and create your book.
I think these are really lovely gifts for toddlers. I like that the range of titles you can choose from is pretty vast so you can personalise books to be read with Grandad or Auntie Lisa or whoever. If there isn’t a title which matches what you want there’s the option to create your own. It’s flexible and honestly it took very little time to create. As I said, sort your pictures out first, that’s always the hard bit.
Would I recommend? Absolutely yes. Will I be buying more, absolutely yes. Does he love it? Oh my goodness yes. Just don’t show it to someone fastidious about staple length.
Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of the personalised book “I Love…” for review purposes, but my reviews are always honest, especially regarding staple length.
Just after Christmas we were hit by chicken pox. It was about as fun as a dose of, erm, chicken pox. We did the decent thing and stocked up on calpol and calamine lotion and prepared to ride the storm. The itching soon started, so we cut his nails before he could really start scarring himself.
Since he was born we’ve been trimming his nails with some baby scissors, it was a pretty nerve-racking experience all round, they weren’t really sharp enough to accidentally remove a finger, but you never knew. Luckily just before Christmas we’d received a “Stylfile Nipper Clipper” to review. It seemed like a really good time to crack it open and give it a go.
The “Nipper Clipper” is a baby nail clipper with a safety spy-hole (so you can see if you’re clipping nail or finger), the clipper also comes with a special nail file which smooths ragged edges. The clipper was easy to use, nice to handle and did the job. His nails were short again, and after a quick file were smooth enough not to do damage to his chicken pox.
They are different to your standard nail clippers, these are very safety-focused with the spy-hole. The handle is large and easy to grip when potentially wrestling with a wriggly baby and there is a free to download “distraction app” to, erm, distract the baby.
So would I recommend the Stylfile Nipper Clipper? Yes, absolutely. I’ll be buying one for my pregnant pal and using ours from now on. I wish I’d’ve known about this before as it would’ve saved lots of tears, tantrums and wrestling, not to mention any number of heart-in-the-mouth baby mani/pedi sessions.
Disclaimer: I was sent a Stylfile Nipper Clipper free of charge for review purposes. To be fair, had I known about it earlier we would’ve been using it from birth!
I’d never heard of Heroes of the City before, but when I was approached to review their app and I had a quick Google, I knew it was probably something we needed to investigate further. As I’ve already mentioned in approximately 300 other blog posts, we love a vehicle in this house. Splodge is nothing short of obsessed and was nee-nawing at ambulances long before he uttered his first real words.
As soon as I saw what Heroes of the City looked like I knew he’d love it. For those not in the know, Heroes of the City is a cartoon about rescue vehicles in a small town where everyone can be a hero. You can follow the exciting adventures of Pauli Police Car, Fiona Fire Engine and Calamity Crow as they help the townspeople find thieves, put out fires, and solve some of the mysteries that happen in the otherwise quiet town. Heroes of the City is all about friendship, the stories are warm, lovely and focus on co-operation and helping each other out.
The Heroes of the City app is currently free to download from the App Store or GooglePlay. Like any app it was quick and easy to download. I had a little explore myself before I handed my trusty iPad over to Splodge and I was quite pleased with the app. It features…
More than six hours of cartoons.
Nine, age appropriate, interesting and fun games.
The ability to collect trophies to open up new features.
The Heroes of the City app is aimed at 2-6 year olds. Splodge is three and I think that it’s about right for him, though it does work on different levels so there will be things he can grow into. He already plays with a few apps on my iPad and he can easily navigate his way around them. The apps we’ve already got he enjoys but they’re a bit limited, they have maybe one or two games. He likes them but he’s played with them for a year now.
I showed him the app but I’d maybe caught him at the wrong moment, he had a little tinker and then wandered off. A bit later that day I left the room, leaving my iPad on the sofa, I returned and he had opened the app and was watching one of the cartoons. So I sat with him for a little while and we watched it together, then opened up the games and we explored them.
The boy genuinely loves the games. He likes the one where you colour in Paulie the Police car; he likes the one where you set up a train track and the train chuffs around it; and he absolutely loves the one where you fire Calamity Crow out of a cannon. He giggles away to that. If I can hear him giggling I know exactly what he’s doing. He likes to watch the cartoons too, they’re just the right length and are lively and engaging.
We’ve had it about a week now and I cannot leave my iPad unattended without him leaping on it and opening it up. It’s something that we snuggle up and can play with together, it’s a colourful, well designed app. It’s glossy and expensive looking and is somehow free. This baffles me because it’s packed full of great content.
I’d be really happy to pay for the app as there’s so much in it. Not only that but if you go to their website they have a range of downloadable activity sheets and stories available for free. It’s well worth a look.
If you’ve got a child who like Splodge enjoys a vehicle then do check the heroes of the city app out. It’s fab, it’s fun and best of all it’s free!
Disclaimer: We were sent a link to the heroes of the city app to try for free; however it is freely available to anyone who wants to download it via the App Store or GooglePlay.
Now I’m self-employed, I am officially a part-time member of the ladies who lunch brigade. When I was offered afternoon tea for two at Opus One at the Radisson Blu in Manchester, I decided it was high time I treated one of my fellow self-employed types to high tea. So last Wednesday myself and a fellow home based freelancer put on real clothes, turned Homes Under the Hammer off and went out for a posh tea at Opus One.
I’d been there before and had a lovely time, so I knew we were in for a treat. We arrived and were informed they were expecting a drinks party so we’d not be able to sit in the lovely, light and airy space by the window and we were seated in the main restaurant. We thought it’d be a great place for a romantic meal in the evening, but the red lighting was a bit much for daytime, and meant that we couldn’t really see what we were eating.
There were a few afternoon teas we could choose from but we decided that since it was December it’d be rude not to try the Festive Afternoon Tea. My friend plumped for a pot of English Breakfast tea and I gave the Ceylon a go. Both were a good brew.
The afternoon tea arrived and as I’m vegetarian, they’d made a few extra veggie sandwiches for me. I’ll admit in the light it was hard to tell what they were, but we both liked the cheese and pickle and I enjoyed the cream cheese and cucumber. We were both half starved so the sandwiches disappeared in double quick time.
I’d been eyeing up the scones, I love scones, these were prettily presented and the proper, thick, crusty clotted cream had a shard of caramel stuck out of it. The scones were sadly cold, but that could’ve been our fault for faffing about taking pictures. They were however light and beautifully made, just the right size and for me and they are always the highlight of an afternoon tea. If you can’t give me a decent scone then I’m going home.
First up were the mini cream horns. I felt it prudent to start with these because they looked delicious. I’m not overly keen on pastry and I like it wafer thin if I ever do have it, so this was for me a little on the thick side, but (bowing to knowledge passed on to me by Grandma who was a pastry chef) it was perfectly crisp and flaky. It was a good cream horn.
We then tried the fruit cake, which was moist and an excellent example of what a top notch fruit cake should be and it was packed with fruit. We both felt that it could’ve done with a bit of marzipan to make it feel more festive, but it was actually one of my highlights from the tea.
I was most excited to try the mini chocolate fudge cake which looked beautiful but for some reason photographed terribly. Take my word for it, this was the good stuff. The cake was moist, light and fluffy with a gooey-gooey centre that oozed out. It was plate-lickingly good. I might have rubbed a finger across the plate to ensure no crumbs were left, I might not have, I am a lady after all.
We finished off with the winter berry jelly, sadly we were only issued with one jelly, which we assumed was an oversight as other tables were given one each. So we had to share the little jelly, which felt a bit intimate. It’s been a long time since I shared a jelly with anyone other than my husband. I loved the jelly, full of lovely fresh berries and it was such a zesty, palate cleansing end to the tea.
In all we’d had a lovely time, we’d eaten some really tasty things, drank some very good tea, put the world to rights and taken a selection of shockingly bad pictures of food. I think it’s the ideal resting point after a hard morning of Christmas shopping and before getting the tram home. The staff are friendly and attentive and the atmosphere, despite the lighting is relaxed and intimate. It’s decently priced too at £18.95 per person.
Opus One Bar and Restaurant is located in the Free Trade Hall, Peter Street, Manchester M2 5GP; Tel: 0161 8358904.
Disclaimer: We were invited as guests of the restaurant and were not asked to pay for our food or drink. We did love it though and will be back for more!
We were sent a pack of 24 Certainly Wood firelighters for the purposes of this post. All images and opinions are our own.
We’ve got a lovely open fire, it’s one of the things that sold this house to us. There’s nothing nicer on a cold day than snuggling up in front of it and keeping cozy. We burn wood on it; we have a tree surgeon friend who keeps us well supplied. We’ve got to chop and dry the wood ourselves, but it’s free so why not.
I work from home and unless it is absolutely bitter outside it’s not worth putting the heating on just for me. Ordinarily I just swaddle myself in blankets and drink gallons of tea to keep warm. Sometimes I attempt to light the fire, most of the time I fail to light the fire. I just can’t do it. Hodge has mad firelighting skills, me, not so much; so when I spotted the Certainly Wood Flamers Firelighters I thought I’d give them a go.
Certainly Wood are a family business based in the UK who endeavour to sustainably source quality firewood and kindling. They sent us a box of 24 Flamers. These are natural firelighters made from wax dipped fine wood shavings. They are odourless, easy to light and have a long burn. They are suitable for all wood burning appliances and apparently particularly good for barbecues.
I had a good look and sniff of them before I used them. I think we’re all familiar with those awful chemical, white blocks that stink and just seem dreadful. These are the polar opposite. They are little shredded wheat type things which are all natural. The flamers have been dipped in paraffin wax but I couldn’t detect any smell, either in their raw state or once lit. They are to my eye (and nose) perfectly innocuous.
As the temperature dipped and my thick blanket and pot of tea weren’t enough, I set to work and built a fire. Following the instructions on the packet I built a fire using logs and kindling, I shaped the kindling into the suggested wigwam shape with a couple of the firelighters tucked in and around, then I lit a match. Immediately they burned brightly and the kindling quickly caught. Within 10 minutes the fire was blazing, kicking out some heat. An hour later I’ve had to unbutton my cardigan. It was a darn good fire.
They were so easy to use, even for a failed Cub Scout like me. I will be keeping a stock of these handy for those days, and there will be many of those days, when I need to light a fire and keep cozy.
You can buy the Certainly Wood Flamers Firelighters directly from them via their website. They cost around £3 for 24 or £5 for 50. I used two to light a decent sized fire. I am genuinely happy to have discovered these.
Hodge, bless his cotton Christmas socks, at the grand old age of 38 still (yes still) gets a Christmas stocking from Santa (aka me, Santa only gives good children presents, not grown ups, no matter how well behaved they are). So I’m always on the look out for handy little bits and pieces. Practical, useful little stocking fillers that won’t break the bank.
I was rummaging round the I Want One Of Those website when I spotted the key bottle opener, it was priced at just £7.99, or 3 for £20, which seems a good deal, especially if you’ve adult stockings to fill, or secret Santa’s to shop for.
The key bottle opener is a handy key shaped, erm, key which is also a bottle opener which can be added to a keyring, meaning you’ll always have a bottle opener handy. It’s small, neatly designed, sturdy and makes a great stocking filler or secret Santa present.
In the interests of science I had to check if it did the job, so for you (yes you, because you’re worth it) I cracked open a cold one using the key bottle opener. It worked, success! The beer wasn’t too bad either.
Disclaimer – We were sent a key bottler opener free of charge for review purposes.
I’ve suffered from low self esteem all my life. After a period of illness this year that low self esteem turned into depression. There have been times this year I’ve been sad, dead eyed, weeping, cold in front of my son. He’s two and doesn’t really understand. He asks “what’s wrong Mamma?” as he did this evening when I cried, and he cuddles me and kisses away my tears. It’s heartbreaking and lovely. Ultimately it’s really unfair on him.
I feel such guilt at these times, he doesn’t understand. I hope he’s too young to remember the dark days. The dark days are fewer than they used to be. I’m working on my recovery for him and for me.
I was mooching around Twitter when I came across mention of a book called A Monster Ate My Mum. It’s a new book aimed at the children of mothers who have post natal depression. To be honest, having read it I think it works for depression generally.
I loved the title. It does seem like a monster has eaten me. Snatched me away from my family. Eaten my smile, suppressed my giggles. Made me less human. I had a copy of the ebook to look at and read to my boy. I was immediately struck by the gorgeous illustrations. I fell quite in love with the illustrations by Helen Braid and when I read the book to Splodge and Hodge they loved them too.
Author, Jen Faulkner suffered from PND with her third child, she wanted to find a way of explaining her feelings to her older children, so she wrote a poem which this book is now based on. It is beautifully and heartbreakingly written.
From my perspective as a parent with mental health issues, this hits all the right notes. It explains things perfectly in an accessible way. Husband Hodge said it made him feel sad because it made him reflect on the impact of my depression on the family. But he agreed that the book is a valuable tool in explaining why Mummy is sad to her little ones.
We sat down and read it to Splodge who is just short of his 3rd birthday. He was excited by and engaged by the illustrations and wanted to look at them over and over. We read the story to him a few times. I’m not sure how much he understood, he is still very young, but he did say “Mamma sad” and pointed to the Mummy in the book. I think if this was read to him regularly then he’d understand more. So that’s what we’ll do.
It is a beautiful book about a sad subject. I’d definitely recommend this for children who have Mums like me. I feel really strongly about mental health issues. I speak and write frankly about my problems because I’m not ashamed, I have no reason to be ashamed and by speaking out it makes it less of a taboo.
Children aren’t stupid, they’re often more astute than adults, by teaching them about the reasons why Mummy is sad can only be a good thing. By not demonising mental health and depression it might make them ask for help if they need it later in life, it might make them more equipped to cope with the problems others face later on, and if it helps them understand there and then that Mummy isn’t like that because of anything they’ve done, then that can only be a good and incredibly positive thing.
I really hope this book is picked up and used as a tool for helping families in this situation. I’m quite in love with it and I know it will help us and Splodge. My recovery continues. The dark days are less frequent but they are still there, at least now I can explain that the monster ate my smile.
I love an afternoon tea. I mean who doesn’t? What’s not to love? Dainty sandwiches, scones with jam and cream and a selection of decadent miniature cakes. It’s basically perfection beautifully arranged atop three plates.
It was with some excitement that we ventured into the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel in Manchester for the launch of their autumn afternoon tea menu. It was fortuitously timed too, as the next day just happened to be our wedding anniversary. Perfect.
We arrived in the sumptuous Manhattan style surroundings of Opus One which is located in the Free Trade Hall. Possibly one of the most beautiful and iconic buildings in Manchester. We reminisced about the last time we were in the building, me to see the Halle perform, him to see The Charlatans in 1991. It’s been a while. The building is still beautiful and very, very grand.
We were shown to our seat by Peter, who was effortlessly charming and affable. We made small talk and he discovered we were celebrating our wedding anniversary… more of which later.
My Mister of 13 years ordered the Gentleman’s Afternoon Tea which came with a pot of tea of your choice, a selection of rustic sandwiches, mini hot Yorkshire pudding, warm pork pie and mini fish and chips served with freshly baked homemade scones served with clotted cream and preserves. This mammoth feast, suitable for the very greedy gentleman was £18.95 per person.
Rustic style cheese savoury sandwich
Being no kind of Gentleman at all, he was a bit miserly on the sharing front, but I did snaffle a cheese savoury sandwich and a forkful of the rather excellent, clearly homemade and not from a tin mushy peas. He said the pork pie, which was served warm in a light but golden hot water crust pastry, was the best pork pie he’s ever had. I can testify (in court if need be) that he has sampled a large range of pork pies. It did look exceptional, as did the crispy Yorkshire pud filled with beef and gravy. Impressive and manly.
As I’m a dainty lady, I opted for the Traditional Afternoon tea, again priced at £18.95 per person. For that you get a pot of tea of your choice, a selection of dainty lady style finger sandwiches, a plethora of delicious cakes and for me the highlight, freshly baked homemade scones served warm with clotted cream and preserves.
The sandwiches were delicious and garnished with a few salad leaves, for my taste there could have been more greenery, but I am a lover of a frilly green leaf. I must confess there was some mixing and matching of the sandwiches between us, but both his rustic and my dainty lady styles were excellent.
I then eagerly moved on to the scones (thus prompting a heated debate about the pronunciation of scone, I say it correctly, he doesn’t. End of). My heart belongs in Devon and we go often, I’m no stranger to the cream tea. I was delighted to see they served proper clotted cream rather than a thick whipped cream which I’ve had elsewhere. The jam was jammy, but the real hit were the warm, light and just the right size without being too much scones. I will look back on those scones with a fondness I usually reserve for beloved relatives.
Jaunty little carrot cake
Then to the top tier of my afternoon tea. There was a banoffee tart, generously topped with a delightfully marshmallowy Italian meringue. A dark chocolate éclair made of the lightest choux, a cider jelly which we were both a little unsure of, but did serve as an excellent palette cleanser and a deliciously moist jaunty little carrot cake.
I always feel a little sorry for the beautiful cakes, visually they are the stars of the show, but as they’re usually left until the very end they’re not fully enjoyed, they get toyed with and left. Thankfully the staff are very happy to box up anything you can’t squeeze in there and then for you to take home for your supper, or for the tram journey home.
Once our plates had been cleared away, the lovely Peter presented us with a beautiful plate with “Happy Anniversary” written in chocolate with two mini chocolate brownies and strawberries, it was a lovely, lovely touch and underlines the attention to detail and high standard of customer service we experienced on that day.
A lovely, personal touch!
It’s a beautiful, relaxed venue; if you can bag a window seat you can watch the hustle and bustle of Manchester from the comfort of a beautifully upholstered velvet chair. We were entertained by a jazz band, they were perfect, the music was not intrusive and they played arrangements of classic songs. I loved it, it all felt so restful apart from the urgent need to slip into something with a looser waistband.
I’ve had a few afternoon teas in my time and this was an excellent quality, great value tea in a stunning, iconic building. I’d very happily go there again and I’d recommend it to anyone. The prices are competitive too so you don’t have to save it for a special occasion tea, though the grand surroundings do make it feel extra special.
Opus One Bar and Restaurant is located in the Free Trade Hall, Peter Street, Manchester M2 5GP; Tel: 0161 8358904.
Disclaimer: We were invited as guests of the restaurant and were not asked to pay for our food or drink. We did love it though and will be back for more!
