Review: The Jungle Bunch DVD

The Jungle Bunch is a brand new animated adventure in which a group of animals, known as The Jungle Bunch embark on a mission to stop Igor the evil koala from destroying their jungle habitat.

The Jungle Bunch stars a heroic orphan penguin called Maurice who may look like a penguin but he’s a real tiger inside! Maurice is adopted and raised by the great tigress, Natacha and is known as the Great Warrior Tiger and the leader of the Jungle Bunch. He is both dynamic and courageous and is known all over the jungle and respected by all the animals.

Giveaway & Review: The Jungle Bunch DVD

Along with his friends, known as the Jungle Bunch, Maurice tries to maintain order and justice in the jungle, just like his tiger mother did before him. But, Igor, an evil koala who is hellbent on revenge wants to destroy the jungle once and for all. Will Maurice succeed in saving the jungle?

The Jungle Bunch is a lively animated adventure aimed at children aged 3-7 years old. There’s lots of slapstick and fisticuffs, as well as some really funny and touching moments. I found myself laughing along with my son and really getting involved in the story. Watch out for familiar feeling moments in the film which are reminiscent of the Indiana Jones and Rocky films.

The ensemble cast of animated animals makes a rag-tag bunch of heroes. Watch out for the brilliantly funny Batricia, brainy Gilbert, Miguel the monkey and Junior, Maurice’s adopted son, who for my money is the real hero here!

The Jungle Bunch is a heartwarming story, with lots of action and adventure along the way. It’s a feel-good family adventure and a lot of fun too. It got the thumbs up from my mini-reviewer!

The Jungle Bunch is available on DVD or on digital download now. It’s rated U and has a running time of 1h 37min.

Giveaway & Review: The Jungle Bunch DVD

How I conquered my Diet Coke addiction

I was addicted to Diet Coke. Until November 2017 I would routinely drink about two litres of the stuff a day, served fridge cold in a glass stacked with ice. Beads of icy condensation would form on my refreshing glass after glass after glass of Diet Coke. But I gave it up, and here’s how and why I did it.

I don’t really remember when I started drinking Diet Coke. I think it was in the early 2000’s and my first few cans were from the vending machine in the college I worked in. From memory, I’d found regular Coke too sweet and I wanted something like Coke but not as tooth-tinglingly sweet. It wasn’t so much the diet aspect I enjoyed, but the cold refreshing, thirst quenching nature of the drink. I was soon hooked and drinking one or two cans a day.

How I conquered my Diet Coke addiction

As the years went by I started drinking Diet Coke at home too. It probably started as a cold one after work and developed into the several litres a day habit I ended up with. I knew that regardless of the minimal calories I was ingesting, Diet Coke probably wasn’t that healthy for me. When I was pregnant I shifted to caffeine free Diet Coke, but soon shifted back. I’ve flirted with the odd month or two without caffeinated drinks over the years, but I always went back to Diet Coke.

Whenever the concerned voice inside my head mentioned that Diet Coke probably wasn’t that great, another voice would remind me that the school nurse encouraged me to drink lots of fizzy drinks as they would fill me up so I wouldn’t eat (who gives that kind of advice to a teenage girl?). I would also tell myself that there were so few calories in it I was doing myself a favour by drinking it. Of course now we know different.

In 2017 I’d spent several months being under the weather or just plain poorly. I knew I needed to make some changes, so in November I undertook a serious detox plan. It was pretty horrible but it did work and I felt better for it. During the detox I gave up pretty much everything except fruit, vegetables and water. When I came out the other side I was no longer craving Diet Coke.

Caffeine is a drug and it’s highly addictive. Where I can I try and opt for caffeine free options in all kinds of things. There are even caffeine free pre-workout supplements (click for source) which if you’re a gym goer could help improve your performance and energy levels.

I’ve probably had 15 years of drinking Diet Coke under my belt. Did stopping make me feel any different? Well, yes. Once I’d gone through the caffeine withdrawal headache, I felt much better. I have gone from having under three hours sleep a night to getting almost double that on average. More sleep also makes me a nicer, more humany human.

Tips for giving up Diet Coke

Mentally prepare yourself. Giving up isn’t easy and you will probably get a headache and a raging thirst for Diet Coke.

Find a few alternative drinks that you can drink instead. I’ve started drinking more water and I mostly drink very weak sugar-free cordial with ice. My current tipple is no added sugar Vimto and I also like an orange squash. I make mine very weak so it’s more like a flavoured water than anything.

Keep a note about when you stopped and what is different for you. You will probably find you’re sleeping better. If you’ve got a Fitbit this can help monitor your sleep. Seeing an improvement in this area was a big motivation for me.

Reward yourself. For me giving up fizzy drinks entirely is fairly unrealistic. Every week I choose a few interesting cans of fizzy pop and put them in the fridge, my current favourite is San Pellegrino. When I feel like a treat I will crack open a can. A little of something nice is good for you, two litres a day, probably not so much.

That’s how I gave up Diet Coke. I’ve been Diet Coke free for over two months now and I feel happier and healthier for it. I’m very pleased that I’ve managed to step away from my Diet Coke addiction.

How I conquered my Diet Coke addiction

Recipe: Easy, Cheaty Sausage Rolls

When it comes to throwing together a quick lunch or picnic; sandwiches and sausage rolls are always the order of the day. Being able to serve up a still warm, freshly baked batch of homemade sausage rolls will earn you the kind of domestic goddess style brownie points that a trip to Greggs simply cannot match.

I always keep the ingredients to make these sausage rolls in the freezer, so I can whip up a quick batch if I need to. If you can defrost the ingredients overnight before making your sausage rolls, then so much the better. These sausage rolls are really easy to put together. I admit that they are quite cheaty, but they are miles better than any shop bought ones.

Recipe: Easy, Cheaty Sausage Rolls

Easy, Cheaty Sausage Rolls

Ingredients:
1 packet of ready-made puff pastry
8 of your favourite sausages, or equivalent weight in sausage meat
100mls milk

Method:
Preheat your oven to 220° and grease a large baking sheet.

Unroll the puff pastry. You may need to use a rolling pin to roll it out a little thinner if that’s your preference. Cut the pastry with a knife into 8 equal parts which are long enough and wide enough to wrap around a sausage.

Squeeze the sausage meat out of the skin and place the sausage meat in the middle of each piece of pastry, discard the sausage skin.

With a brush, brush along one edge of the pastry and roll it into a sausage roll shape, using the moistened edge to seal it shut. It doesn’t really matter if the sausage meat is peeking out from the ends of the roll.

Once you have finished, score the top of each one. I used 3 or 4 slashes, and then brush them with milk.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool slightly before eating. I think they’re nicer warm, but they can be eaten cold and are perfect for a quick lunch or a picnic in the park.

If you’re catering for a party, you could cut your sausage rolls into smaller, bitesize pieces before baking. Make sure you reduce the cooking time slightly if you do this. You could also swap out the meat sausage for a good veggie sausage if you’re catering for vegetarians.

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like to try these delicious vegetarian black pudding sausage rolls.

Recipe: Easy, Cheaty Sausage Rolls

STEM Crafts: Learning with Jelly Bean Architecture

If you want to keep my 7 year old son entertained for an hour; give him a bowl of jelly beans, a packet of cocktails sticks, show him the rudiments and watch him build all kinds of wonderful things. Welcome to the wonderful world of jelly bean architecture.

STEM Crafts: Learning with Jelly Bean Architecture

I confess, jelly bean architecture is not an invention of mine. When we went to the Just So Festival last year, my son spent a happy hour or so building with jelly beans. It’s something that we’ve revisited at home a few times since and it’s great fun; not to mention wonderfully educational and developmental!

You need two things to start building – lots of jelly beans (we get cheap bags of them from the petrol station, there’s no need to go gourmet with these) and lots of cocktail sticks. You will also need the knack. The first few times you try to spear a jelly bean onto a cocktail stick, chances are you will stab your finger instead. The trick is to hold the jelly bean on a flat surface and carefully press down, piercing the hard sugary coating.

STEM Crafts: Learning with Jelly Bean Architecture

You should think of each jelly bean as a corner piece. You can probably fit up to four cocktail sticks into a single jelly bean. Whatever kind of structure you’re building, the only limit is your imagination.

We find it best to warm up by building some simple 3D shapes, pyramids and cubes are great. How many cubes can you stack on top of each other? Can you fit a pyramid on the top? Who will eat the last jelly bean? You can then move on to more complex structures. In the picture here Ben has built a fire station.

STEM Crafts: Learning with Jelly Bean Architecture

Jelly bean architecture is perfect for budding architects and structural engineers. Anyone who is interested in building and construction, 3D shapes, maths, anything like that, plus it’s tremendous fun! It’s probably the most enjoyable STEM craft we’ve done together.

STEM Crafts: Learning with Jelly Bean Architecture

Board Game Club Review: Ticket to Ride First Journey

I am part of the Asmodee UK Blogger Board Game Club run by Playtime PR. Each month 50 bloggers are sent a board game to play and put to the test. This month we were sent Ticket to Ride First Journey to play.

Board Game Club Review: Ticket to Ride First Journey

Ticket to Ride First Journey is a board game designed for 2-4 players aged 6+. I played it with my 7 year old son. My son loves maps and geography, so we were really excited when we were setting the game up. The rules take a couple of reads throughs to understand, but it’s actually quite simple to play.

The game consists of a board with a map of Europe on it with key train stations such as Amsterdam, Berlin and Athens. The box contains a set of 72 train cards, 32 ticket cards, 4 coast-to-coast cards and 1 golden ticket. There are also four different sets of coloured trains.

Each player chooses a colour of train to be; I was red, he was green. The aim of the game is to be the first player to complete 6 tickets, or the first person to place all twenty of their trains on the train tracks.

Each player starts with four coloured train cards and two tickets. Each ticket shows two cities, and you need to connect those two cities with your trains in order to complete the ticket. Taking turns, you have a ticket, say from London to Athens and using the coloured train cards you have to plot a route between them using your trains across the coloured paths.

Board Game Club Review: Ticket to Ride First Journey

If you complete a track which crosses the board entirely from east to west, or west to east, then you pick up the East-to-West bonus card, which counts as one completed ticket.

Ticket to Ride seems quite complicated, but it’s really not. Once we had played it once, my 7 year old had really got the hang of it. We’ve played it over and over, which is always a sign he likes playing something. It’s good fun for adults too, I quite enjoyed trying to plot my route from A to B. It can be quite a quick game to play if you don’t have very long, and it’s great for short attention spans.

Ticket to Ride First Journey is fairly widely available and costs around £28. It’s a well made, quality board game. The board is longer than your standard Monopoly style board. The size of the board is why completing the East-to West route is so coveted. I would say that you get 20 trains of each colour and we have never completed six tickets; we have always run out of trains after two or three tickets worth of travel.

Board Game Club Review: Ticket to Ride First Journey

Overall, we really liked Ticket to Ride First Journey. It’s a really appealing game, especially for train and map enthusiasts. My son really enjoyed playing it, and I really liked that it’s got a nice geography element to it, so you can really start to learn where the major cities of Europe are. It’s a thumbs up from us!

We were sent the Ticket to Ride First Journey game for review for the Asmodee UK Blogger Board Game Club. All images and opinions are our own.

Find other board game and toy reviews here.

28 Self Care habits to stop anxiety in its tracks

Having an anxiety disorder I try to manage it myself. I personally don’t like myself on medication, but I absolutely don’t judge anyone who benefits from it. Different strokes for different folks and all that. What I am very keen on is self care.

I’ve had a lot of therapy and one common thing which has come up is that I understand myself, my problems and my triggers really, really well, which is great when it comes to managing myself more effectively. Understanding and recognising when things are going to start to slide is a big help, and once they do I have a whole raft of self care tricks up my sleeve. They don’t always work, but nine times out of ten I can head an episode of anxiety off at the pass these days.

There are five recognised areas of self care, these are –

Physical – sleep, food, exercise, medication etc
Spiritual – meditation, prayer, forgiveness
Lifestyle – routine, relaxation, time in nature, setting goals
People support – family, friends, therapist, church, support group
Emotional self care – positive thoughts, writing it out, dealing with and processing emotions such as grief.

28 Self Care habits to stop anxiety in its tracks

Ask someone for help. People you love will almost always want to help you, or at least hold your hand a little.

Bake something from scratch that will make you focus on the process of baking. Most baking or cooking from scratch is process driven and needs a little concentration and consideration, it’ll occupy and distract you and you’ll have a cake to eat and share afterwards.

Be in nature, go for a walk and enjoy the fresh air and gentle exercise. Try to find beautiful things to admire, like blossom on the trees, small flowers or fluffy clouds in the blue sky. Take notice of things. Look for plants famed for their smells, such as lavender and lemon blossom which are known to help reduce anxiety and stress.

Buy some flowers. Treat yourself to a bunch of your favourite blooms. They don’t have to be expensive. Right now I have a very cheery bunch of daffodils in a jug which smell fantastic and brighten up my home.

Cuddle a human. If you have a human to cuddle, a partner, a child, a parent, a friend, cuddling them can help soothe you. A therapist once told me if you hug someone and your heart is pressed against theirs, the hug has extra love and soothing power. I’ve tried it and I think she might have been right. If you can’t find a human, a cat or dog will be just as good.

Declutter. This has two benefits, you get a tidy house and the act of physically doing something and focusing on the task is great. My anxiety means that over the last few months, my drawers and cupboards have had a lot of attention and it’s quite pleasing to live with some order and no chaos.

Do something you’ve been putting off – grasp the nettle. Sometimes my anxiety is around something I need to do that causes me anxiety. It might be replying to an email or making a phone call, or just tackling something I don’t know how or where to start. Just finding the nerve to just do it can take the anxiety away.

Gardening – getting out in the fresh air is almost always good, digging, planting and creating a nice spot for you to sit in the garden with a cup of tea is never a waste of time.

Get crafting. This is something you can do at home. During a very bad spell a few years ago I took up cross stitch which was great, it really focused me on something other than the inside of my head. I’ve now joined a monthly craft club and sitting for a few hours and working on creating something new gives me one evening a month which I know will be anxiety free.

Go out with friends. Anxiety can make you feel really isolated and alone. Meeting friends for a quick coffee, or going for a night out will help to remind you of the good people around you. Surround yourself with good people if you can, they can make such a difference to you.

Go to bed early. Insomnia, poor sleep patterns and anxiety go hand in hand. Sometimes when I’m anxious I won’t sleep a wink for days. Sometimes all I want to do is sleep. If you can sleep, then an early night and stocking up on a bit of precious rest can help.

Go to the seaside. I find being near water very restful. I live by the river, so a walk by the river can help soothe me, a lake is good too, but a walk on the beach, even a blowy wintery beach really calms the mind.

Have a bubble bath. Wind down with a warm bubble bath, light candles and create a restful atmosphere. Close your eyes and relax, or take a good book in with you to keep you company.

Listen to music. Music for most people has the ability to lift moods and put a spring in your step. I find some music empowering, some comforting, some makes me happy and some makes me sad. Make a playlist of your favourite songs and listen to them when you need a mood lift.

Make a plan. Having something to look forward to, be it something big like a holiday, or something small like a night out with friends, can give my chaotic mind something to focus on. Having something I really want to do on the horizon can give me something to focus on and aim for.

Meditate. Meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, all of that can help you clear your mind and give you some respite from the constant chatter of anxiety. Look on YouTube, download an app or join a class. There will be something out there that will suit you and help you find a bit of inner calm.

Mindful colouring can be great for adults. Mindful colouring books and magazines are widely available and when my mind is really racing, sitting down for an hour and focusing on colouring in can take my anxiety down a notch or two.

Pamper yourself. Give yourself a manicure, pop on a face mask or book yourself in to a salon for a treatment. It’s easy to neglect yourself, especially if you’re feeling negative about yourself. Giving yourself a little pamper can make you feel a bit brighter about things. If I’m down I will dye my hair a cheery colour and it makes me feel a bit less grey and dowdy.

Remove toxic relationships/people from your life. If someone is having a negative impact on you and your life, then you need to start taking steps to remove them from your life, or minimise contact with them. These people are often the trigger for anxiety and removing the trigger can make a huge difference to your long-term mental health.

Say no. If you find yourself saying yes to people or things because you don’t want to let people down or disappoint them, but really you’d much rather say no. Maybe you need to look at why you’re saying yes and what you are getting out of the situation. Maybe it’s ok for you to say no to a few things. It really is ok for you to put yourself first sometimes.

Sing. You don’t have to get on stage and sing, you can sing in the shower, or in a choir, or at church or a concert. Sing along to your favourite songs, let yourself go and sing, sing, sing. You’ll feel better for belting out a tune.

Change your routine. If you can shake up your routine a bit, do. Walk a different route to work. Do something different during your lunch break. Take an afternoon off and go to a gallery, walk in the park. Find something you’d not normally watch on TV that someone has recommended and give it a try. Step out from what you’d normally do and try something a bit different.

Take a social media break / digital detox. I find at times social media can be a bit overwhelming. If it’s not the contact messages, it’s checking likes, it’s feeling bad about the number of likes, and it’s comparing myself to other people and feeling inadequate. Stepping away for a day, a week or forever can be a really healthy thing to do. Sometimes when it all gets too much I delete the apps on my phone rather than deleting the account. That way I can access things if I want to, but they’re not there on my phone, throwing up notifications and vying for my attention. Stepping away for a few days can help to refocus me on the important things in my life and just gives me space.

Turn off your phone. Being available 24 hours a day is all very well and good, but there are certain times when the phone needs to be turned off or put away. Family mealtimes are a time to focus on each other. I try not to use my phone on the school run, so I can fully focus on my son and what he has to say. Turn it off an hour or so before bed and give yourself time to disconnect before bed. Plus it’ll help you wind down for sleep too!

Watch TV or a film. Turning you mind off and watching something that really interests you for a few hours is great self care. Watching a favourite film can be as comforting as putting on an old pair of slippers. Think about what your favourite film is, which film always makes you feel warm and fuzzy, or helps you process feelings of anger. Which film puts you in your happy place? Dig out the DVD, grab some popcorn and treat yourself.

Wear comfortable comforting clothes. I have some clothes in my wardrobe which make me feel better for wearing them; an especially snuggly cardigan, a nice pair of pyjamas or a special jumper. Equally, I have clothes I wear when I need to feel confident. Clothes maketh the man (or woman), so if you need to, dig out your snuggly cardigan, or your uber-confident jacket and put them on.

Write a letter to someone. My postman mostly delivers bank statements and bills. Last year, fed up with the number of brown envelopes on my doormat, I asked if any of my Twitter followers wanted me to write them a good old-fashioned letter. Five people said they’d like that very much; so I sat down and wrote five chatty letters and popped them in the post. They were thrilled and I was equally thrilled when they wrote back. It was a lovely feeling to correspond with someone, like the good old days. What was lovely was to sit down and think of lots of nice, happy, chatty things to talk about it my letters. It helped me focus on the good and the positive. Having a pen-pal is a wonderful thing.

Tell people what they mean to you. I’m a lover. I’m always telling people what they mean to me. Friends and family get told I love them all the time. People who help me get thanked and told how much they’ve made my life easier. It’s not fake, it’s genuinely meant. Sometimes I feel like no one cares about me or appreciates what I do, so leading by example, I tell people what they mean to me. Someone has to start spreading the love, why not let that start with you?

Do you have any self care habits which help you?

More about me: 18 Things for 2018

If you’re a keen reader of parenting blogs, you may have seen lots of bloggers writing 18 things for 2018 blog posts. It’s taken me this long to jump on the bandwagon, so please indulge me on this one.

I was tagged by Cassie from Lily’s Little Learners to come up with 18 things for 2018 and I’m tagging Karen from That Lancashire Lass and Liz from Expression and Confession. I wonder what their goals and plans are for 2018?

The 18 things for 2018 thing is a goal setting / wish list kind of thing. I’m not really a goal setter, nor am I much of a creator of wish lists, but here are 18 things I’d like to do/see/achieve/eat/drink/remember forever from this coming year.

More about me: 18 Things for 2018

18 things for 2018

One.
Let’s start off with my blog shall we? I hereby promise to try to write more interesting content. In 2018 I hope you will read and enjoy more recipes, more craft blog posts, more travel, more interesting days out and more things to do kind of blog posts.

There will be a few reviews, some sponsored posts (they keep the bank happy) and hopefully some surprises for you and for me along the way. But definitely more food and more crafts, because I like writing about them and if this blog isn’t at least keeping me happy, then it’s no use nor ornament to anyone else.

Two.
Spend more time with Ben. He’s 7 now, he’s still happy to hang out with me, so this year I’m going to squeeze every drop of enjoyment out of spending time with him. We have a few Mother and Son trips booked and plans to bake, craft and build lots of LEGO together. He’s ace and full of love for life, who wouldn’t want to hang out with that?

Three.
Walk the dog more. We got the dog to keep me company and encourage me out of my office and down by the river throwing balls. But she grew and grew and grew much bigger and stronger than she was meant to and I struggled to walk this big strong dog. But I love being out with her, she doesn’t so much run, but she bounces and prances along and she has me in stitches. This year I plan to walk her more often, weather and my pain levels permitting.

Four.
This year my work/life balance needs to be significantly improved. I want to take an afternoon off a week and do something nice with a friend. I want to not be hunched over the laptop or glued to my iPad working all the time. It can be miserable and I don’t want to be miserable. I want to drink coffee with another adult and laugh about something, anything.

Five.
I want to lose a bit of weight. I say this every year but no significant progress is made. Each year I maybe drop a couple of pounds and keep them off across the year, which is the right kind of direction, but not a big enough change for my liking. I’ll never be skinny, but if I could be a bit more comfortable in my skin that would suit me.

Six.
Following on from five, I’d like to start doing some regular exercise again. I’m not sure what, swimming or Pilates would be my preference, but we shall see.

Seven.
I’d like to be healthier this year. 2017 was a pretty poorly year for me. I spent most of it snuffling into tissues, battling chest infections and sore throats. It was mostly the kind of low-level stuff which makes you miserable but isn’t bad enough to warrant taking to your bed for a few days. Let coughs, colds and nasty bugs be gone, more health and vitality please!

Eight.
One thing I’m very keen on looking at is how we can reduce our plastic usage in the home. We’ve always been keen recyclers, but our local council are very limited on the kinds of plastic they can recycle and honestly I’d rather use less of the stuff across the board to begin with. This is going to take some thought and planning, so leave it with me and lets see how I do.

Nine.
This year I want to be a better friend. Last year I was under the weather and antisocial. I was also grieving hard about my Dad. The only way I could deal with all of that was to hide myself away. My social life really suffered and I said no or made excuses for so many things. This year I want to say yes a bit more and be there for my friends.

Ten.
In 2016 we had our first foreign holiday as a family. We went to Majorca for a week and we had a lovely, lovely holiday. Although we have a few UK breaks lined up, I’d like to jet off somewhere warm with the boys for a week. I’m not sure when or where, but I think we deserve a sunshine break this year.

20 questions Sol Katmandu Hotel, Majorca with Jet2Holidays

Eleven.
This year I’d like to properly get the hang of Pinterest. I love it, I’d spend an hour a day looking at pretty things on there if I could, but I want to figure out how I can use it to properly promote my blog.

Twelve.
Be tidier and more organised. I’m fed up of working in a slightly chaotic office space, with boxes and press releases everywhere and a stack of filing waiting for me. I want to be on it and organised this year. Or I need a PA to do it for me. CV’s to the usual address please, can pay in biscuits.

Thirteen.
I’d like to learn a new craft this year. I’m especially interested in something like screen printing, lino print, string art or something like that. I’d like to do a bit more sewing (current sewing level: sewing buttons back on cardigans) and maybe learn how to use a sewing machine, even at a basic level. I have three machines in the house, so some idea of how to use them might be helpful!

Fourteen.
Ah photography. I keep flirting with it and then running away scared. I’ve got a bit of an idea about what I’m doing, but not enough for me to effectively put it into practice. I need to bite the bullet and just do it properly.

Fifteen.
It might be nice to spend some time with my husband. We never go on date nights or spend much time together as a couple. Two self employed people with a child and a dog is a recipe for being too busy. It’s time he took me out for a slap up meal dammit!

Sixteen.
Read more. I used to read and read and read. These days I’ve more or less stopped reading. It’s purely down to time really, but if I’m on holiday or on a break, I’d like to try and read a book or two this year. How hard can that be?

Seventeen.
Declutter. Like my office, my house has a tendency to fill with clutter. It’s time to put a stop to that and it’s time to have a sort out, a chuck out and a good clear down. Will 2018 be the year I stop shouting about all the stuff dumped on the stairs? (I doubt it).

Eighteen.
Stop. I’d like to just stop working so hard and running around like a mad thing trying to keep on top of life and just enjoy it a bit more. Enjoy the people I love and spend time with them doing things which will make memories. I’d like to stop, just for a bit each day or week and just be. That would be nice.

How do you think I’ll get on with my 18 things for 2018? I have high hopes for some and more realistic (low) expectations for others. We’ll see…

Review: CBeebies Play Time DVD

At home, our TV channel of choice is CBeebies. It’s packed with all of his favourites and he loves to wind down after a hard day at school with a snack. We were sent the CBeebies Play Time DVD to watch and the small boy didn’t take long to decide that it was already one of his favourites.

The 2 hour long CBeebies Play Time DVD from Abbey Home Media features all of his CBeebies favourites and for over 2 hours of fun-filled entertainment. With 12 episodes in the collection; including Teletubbies;Twirlywoos; In The Night Garden; Peter Rabbit; Topsy & Tim; Mike the Knight; The Furchester Hotel; Octonauts; Q Pootle 5; Ruff–Ruff; Tweet and Dave; Chuggington and Cloudbabies.

CBeebies Play Time DVD

The CBeebies Play Time DVD is a great way of entertaining young children with its familiar, well-loved characters and diverse range of fun and engaging shows.

Although we didn’t sit down and watch the whole DVD in one sitting, he did enjoy the variety of programmes on this DVD. He even liked watching the shows more suited to younger children. I think maybe he’s watching them from a slightly different perspective and getting something new out of them.

Naturally he had some favourites –

Peter Rabbit – The One That Got Away. When Peter and his friends encounter the legendary “Jack Sharp”, a large trout that even Peter’s father failed to catch; they try to reel the fish in once and for all. But catching a fish is a lot harder than it looks.

Topsy and Tim – In New Pet Topsy and Tim love caring for their new pet rabbit but struggle to agree on his name. When they notice how wiggly his nose is, they know just what to call him.

Mike the Knight – In Hidden Garden Games. When Mike, Evie and the Queen have a competition in the Hidden Garden, Mike learns that it’s good to let everyone have a turn to play. But it’s even better when everyone plays together.

Octonauts – In Mimic Octopus Peso is gathering red algae to cure the sick vegimals but needs the help of a Mimic Octopus to scare off a Moray eel. The eel uses its striped tentacles to pretend to be a group of poisonous sea snakes.

Chuggington – In Koko’s Puppy Training Koko Koko finds a lost puppy and wants to keep it. Koko soon realises a little girl is looking for the puppy and decides that she needs to take him home.

The CBeebies Play Time DVD is another great collection of CBeebies classics and ideal for keeping the little ones entertained this summer!

Order your copy of the CBeebies Play Time DVD today!

CBeebies Play Time DVD

Recipe: Crumbly Cranachan Shortbread with Whisky

Cranachan is a traditional Scottish pudding, usually made with whipped cream, whisky, honey and fresh raspberries, with toasted oatmeal soaked overnight in a little bit of whisky. Whilst my Cranachan Shortbread recipe isn’t faithful to the original, it is considerably inspired by this Caledonian classic.

This Cranachan Shortbread recipe is a beautifully short and crumbly whisky shortbread, dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with dried, crushed raspberries. It’s a biscuit and a half and a real Scottish inspired treat.

Recipe: Crumbly Cranachan Shortbread with Whisky

Dried raspberries are available, but hard to find. Unsuccessful, I ended up drying my own in a very low oven for many, many hours. I then crushed them in a pestle and mortar. I was pleasantly surprised with how they turned out, they didn’t smell especially powerful, but they certainly packed a flavour punch. They’d be great sprinkled on all kinds of cakes and desserts.

Cranachan Shortbread with whisky

Ingredients:
225g butter
130g caster sugar
350g plain flour
3 tablespoons of whisky
Caster sugar for sprinkling
100g milk chocolate
1 punnet of raspberries, dried

Recipe: Crumbly Cranachan Shortbread with Whisky

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180. You’ll need to have a couple of baking trays covered with greaseproof paper ready.

In a mixing bowl, thoroughly beat the butter and sugar together. Once fluffy, add the whisky and little by little add the plain flour. Mix with a wooden spoon as best you can. Try not to overwork it too much or the dough will go gluey.

I find the following method tidier and it stops you manhandling the dough too much. Once the shortbread dough is almost mixed, tip it out onto a large sheet of greaseproof paper; bring the dough together with your hands and then fold the paper in half with the mixture sandwiched in between.

With a rolling-pin, roll it out so it’s about 5mm thick and cut into rounds. I used a glass for this and carefully lifted each shortbread biscuit onto the baking tray. You should get around 18 shortbread biscuits out of the dough. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar over each round.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes. Keep an eye on the shortbread, they still need to be pale and not brown. Once they’re baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a rack.

Whilst the shortbread biscuits are cooling, melt the chocolate over a bain marie. Once melted, dip each shortbread into the chocolate and half coat it, put your biscuit back on the greaseproof paper and sprinkle the dried raspberries. Try to resist eating your shortbread until the chocolate has set.

Enjoy with a cup of tea or a wee dram if you’re so inclined! Sláinte!

If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, you might also like this Haggis, potato cake & poached egg stack or these delicious haggis pasties.

Recipe: Crumbly Cranachan Shortbread with Whisky

Crafts: Make your own Scottish Thistle Brooch

Celebrate your Scottish heritage (or admiration for the highlands) with this lovely Scottish Thistle brooch. It’s pretty simple to make and it took me around an hour to sew together and finish off. The thistle is one of the most enduring emblems of Scotland and this brooch is the perfect thing to wear on Burns Night, Hogmanay or St Andrew’s Day.

Crafts: Make your own Scottish Thistle Brooch

I confess that the idea for this craft came when I was scrolling through Pinterest and I came across something similar. The version I spotted looked quite basic and something for children to make, you can see that version here. I took the original idea and turned it into a brooch an adult would want to wear on a jacket or coat. I’m really pleased with how my Scottish Thistle brooch has turned out and it is now on my winter coat ready for showing off later.

Make your own Scottish Thistle Brooch

You will need:
Green felt
Large green button
Green and purple embroidery thread
Brooch back or a safety pin

Instructions:
With a pen or pencil, sketch a thistle shape on your felt (take a look at the sketch below as a guide) making sure there’s enough space for the button with some room around it. Carefully cut out the thistle shape. Pin the thistle to the felt and use it as a stencil to cut out a second thistle shape. Pin them together. Crafts: Make your own Scottish Thistle Brooch

Crafts: Make your own Scottish Thistle Brooch

Using the green embroidery thread, stitch the two felt thistles together. I’ve sewn them so the stitching is a little feature around the edges of the felt. Once you’ve sewn the thistles together, take your purple embroidery thread and in long stitches sew the purple prickles on the top.

Crafts: Make your own Scottish Thistle Brooch

Take your green button and sew it in place with the purple embroidery thread. Finish off the detail on the thistle with some green stitches across the thistle leaves. To complete your brooch, sew on the brooch back or safety pin on the back of your thistle. I stitched my safety pin behind the button.

Your Scottish Thistle brooch is now complete and ready to wear with pride!

Crafts: Make your own Scottish Thistle Brooch