Preview: Just So Festival 2016

One of our annual summer highlights is the Just So Festival which is held for three days every August at Rode Hall in Cheshire. The festival began in 2010 and this will be our third year there. It’s a weird and wonderful melting pot of music, storytelling, theatre, magic and adventure. We love it and this year will be our first full weekend there.

The Just So Festival 2016 takes place on 19^th, 20^th and 21^st August. You can dip your toe in and go for a day, or fully immerse yourself in the festival experience and get a weekend ticket, or even book a camping ticket so you can stay over and enjoy the night time adventures including the lantern parade, pillow fights, the night sky spy and a magical midnight feast.

Just So Festival 2016

The Just So Festival from Wild Rumpus is a three day treat for all the family, guaranteed to fuel your imaginations, it is packed full of wonderful sights and sounds, things to see and do and it’s a truly memorable event for all the right reasons.

This year there’s the outdoor cinema showing Labyrinth, Swallows and Amazons and The Wizard of Oz as well as circus workshops, Suitcase Stories, Travelling Treasury and other theatrical treats, such as the latest show from festival legends Les Enfants Terribles and stories around the campfire from the wonderful Ian Douglas.

Just So Festival 2016

This year we’ll be camping and I’m very excited about that. I’m already picking out some of the things we simply cannot miss at the Just So Festival 2016. Here are my top picks –

Sky Spy – join the Whizz Pop Bang magazine team for the ultimate bedtime wind down. Spotting patterns and shapes in the stars and trying to get a sense of just how vast our universe is.
Ian Douglas – Campfire Stories
Les Enfants Terribles and their new outdoor show The Fantastical Flying Exploratory Laboratory
Samba Drumming Workshop
The Gruffalo visiting the Spellbound Forest
Midnight Feast on the Village Green with stories from Ian Douglas, songs from David and midnight shenanigans
Making Clay Faces and Bushcraft Wands
The Baghdaddies – one of the most fun bands I’ve ever seen live!
Circus Skills Workshop
Relaxation workshops including Indian Head Massage, Tai chi, Family Yoga and Laughter Yoga.

There are hundreds more things to do at the festival, with something going on for all ages, from tiny babies to adults.

One of the fun (but non-compulsory) elements of the festival is the famous Tribal Tournament. You and your family can dress up as a fish, frog, fox, owl, lion or stag and take part in the Tribal Parade on Sunday night to see which tribe comes out on top! Some of the costumes are amazing and it’s something we’ll need to put a bit of thought into as the festival approaches!

Just So Festival 2016

The Just So Festival is a wonderful, creative, imaginative, fantastic weekend for the whole family. It’s a lovely opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors, meet some mermaids, dress up, be silly, be creative, learn, enjoy, explore and just be together as a family. I wouldn’t miss it for the world!

The Just So Festival 2016 will take place at Rode Hall, Congleton, Cheshire on 19/20/21st August. For more information, or to book tickets for the Just So Festival 2016 visit their website.

Preview: The International Cheese Awards 2016

This year will be my third visit to the International Cheese Awards at the Nantwich Show. It goes without saying that this fantastic event is the highlight of my foodie year. Last year I had the privilege of being asked to be a judge and I must have done something right, as I’ve been asked to judge again this year.

Judging takes place on trade day, which this year is on 26th July, and the massive International Cheese Awards marquee is thrown open to the public on 27th July.

This year is the 119th International Cheese Awards, which are held as part of the Nantwich Show in Cheshire. This year there have been a record breaking 4956 entries across literally hundreds of different categories of cheese, with entries from small artisan producers, to huge dairies and supermarkets. Last years Supreme Champion was the Greenfields Dairy Crumbly Lancashire Cheese, and I can personally vouch for this beautiful cheese, it’s a regular in our shopping basket!

On show day (27th July) the demo kitchen is in full swing, with a host of familiar faces returning to this year’s show – including James Martin, Sean Wilson and Will Holland. Book your tickets for the demos in advance (£5 on the Nantwich Show website) – they always sell out so quickly! Plus there’s a whole marquee of cheese to sample and explore.

As well as hosting the The International Cheese Awards 2016, the Nantwich Show is a brilliant day out for all the family, there’s so much to see and do, the Nantwich Show is apparently the biggest agricultural show in the UK, with everything from cows, sheep, pigs and pigeons to horticulture and honey. Check out the vintage cars and agricultural machinery as well as the latest in tractor technology! I know my boy would love it there!

Tickets are available on the gate priced at £18 for adults, £7 for children, £13 for senior citizens and family tickets for £45. However, if you book via the Nantwich Show website in advance, you can get discounted tickets (£15/£5/£10/£35). Your ticket covers admission to both the biggest cheese awards in the world and the largest one-day agricultural show in the UK, making it even more of a bargain!

The International Cheese Awards 2016

I can’t wait to get my judges coat on again and get sampling some of the finest cheeses from across the world. If you like cheese and want to learn a little more about the industry, I really can’t recommend the International Cheese Awards 2016 enough. It’s a HUGE marquee of cheese, and an experience every cheese lover should experience at least once in their lifetime.

Our Summer Bucket List 2016

With the summer holidays just one week away it’s definitely time for me to turn my attention to how I’m going to keep my lively and lovely 5 year old entertained during the summer holidays. We need a summer bucket list!

I say summer, it’s mid-July and we’ve seen precious little sign of the sun, or indeed the ‘not rain’ we tend to associate with the summer months. I am not at all hopeful that the next couple of months will be wall to wall sunshine. I’d like some sun and some warmth at least. I’m not a sun worshipper, but I do like a lazy evening in a warm beer garden. Plus it’s great to see the boy and his friends splashing about in a paddling pool to cool off.

Summer, where art thou?

After school today I sat down with the boy for a serious chat about our summer holiday plans. He didn’t take it especially seriously and came up with this plan for the summer holidays…

Go swimming
Play
Go to the park
Go to the ice cream van

I put a little more thought into it, based on what we had planned already and what I think we would like to do during our time off together and came up with this…

OUR Summer bucket list:

Go on holiday and find somewhere new to explore
Camp at the Just So Festival
Visit the Lake District and show the boy some of the sights and places I explored as a child
Have a spa day
Put the tent up in the garden and have a camping day
Be by the sea
Explore down by the river with the boy
Have a picnic with some of his friends in the park
Indulge in a spot of beer gardening
Make jam
Go on a bear hunt
Find some happy.

There. It’s as simple or as complicated as that. It’s a loose plan but most of it is achievable. It doesn’t all require sunshine, but it would be nice if it could be arranged. I’ll let you know how we get on.

Summer Bucket List

Nothing will ever be the same again

Grief makes everyone act and react in different ways. On 25th June 2016 my dad died suddenly and I was tossed into that weird limbo stage, part grieving, part organising everything, part comforting his also grieving friends and relatives. It’s been nothing short of a privilege to know my dad, he was a one off in the truest sense and we have been overwhelmed with love and support since he died.

Nothing will ever be the same again.

Everyone copes with loss differently. I can see this in my immediate family and in his close friends. There are said to be five stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. For me I feel like I rattled through them quite quickly, but even now as I write this just over two weeks since I last saw him, I am very aware of the gaping hole he has left in my life. I will miss him forever. I know this to be a fact.

In times of adversity, and there have been many of those such times for me in recent years, I have turned to my dad, my husband and to a small but loyal band of close friends to help me through.

My dad is no longer able to support me, but I knew him pretty much inside out and well enough to second guess his immediate response and what advice and guidance he would give. I know in this situation we’d be indulging in some gallows humour and bantering our way through the trickiest bits in order to not look the full horror of his loss in the face. I thank the friends who have made me laugh, really laugh at this time. I know he’d probably want to shake them by the hand.

My boy Ben has been fantastic. At just 5 years old he doesn’t really understand what’s happened and why I’m so upset, though I try not to be too glum in front of him. He has granted me extra cuddles, he’s made me smile a great deal and almost managed to tidy his room. If you ever need a distraction from grief I’ve found a 5 year old boy is pretty effective.

My dad and my husband had a special relationship. They’ve known each other since we started going out in 1995. He started working for my dad in 1998, becoming a partner in the business in 2000 and when my dad retired in 2013 he handed the business over to him. They worked together for a long time, didn’t always see eye to eye, but made it work. I think they had a tremendous respect for each other.

My husband has lost someone incredibly special to him. We all have.

My friends have been excellent. Too many to name, all messaging me offering quiet support, making themselves available for trips to the pub, or for lunch and just letting me talk and cry and laugh. I am incredibly lucky to have such good people around me. I know these words to be an understatement.

I think I’ve managed to choose the best friends I could hope for. Every message of support, every card through the door, every whisky raised to my dad has been very much appreciated.

The funeral may have been and gone, and life must for almost everyone return to normal. For me nothing will ever be the same again. It will take time for me to learn to live my new normal, find a way to be without my dad there to pick me up when I fall down.

I always see adversity as an opportunity for change, a chance to alt-control-delete my life. Something big may come, or something small. But whatever happens I know that my dad instilled in me humour, logic, love and the steely determination to get through and succeed in whatever direction I choose to strike out in.

I’ll miss the old bugger. But I’ll keep trying to make him proud of me if it’s the last thing I do.

Nothing will ever be the same again

Having fun with Num Noms Series 1

A few weeks ago the small boy had a play date with his friend from school, Eloise. They had a lovely time together, played beautifully and it was lovely to hear them giggling conspiratorially away together. Ben often has boys round for play dates, so it was nice to see the difference when he had a girl around. During a lull in the afternoon I gave them a pack of Num Noms to play with to see what they thought of them.

Num Noms Series 1

Num Noms are collectable little cups of cuteness where you mix a Num and a Nom to make your own combination of flavours. Num Noms are adorable, scented, squishy characters with tons of personality. We were sent the Num Noms Series 1 party pack to play with. So what did Ben and Eloise think?

The party pack contains 4 nums, 4 noms, 2 motorised Num Noms and a cupcake cup and spoon. Ben and Eloise were really keen to get the pack open and start playing with them. The first thing they did was give everything a really good sniff. They’re all scented and there was much discussion about what they all smelt like and which one was their favourite.

Num Noms Series 1

Once they’d thoroughly investigated, they started to stack them and play with them, creating their own unique combinations. They were especially excited by the motorised Num Noms and experimented with stacking them and seeing how high they could go.

They played with them for a good amount of time and Eloise was particularly excited to show her sister how they worked and all the different flavour combinations you could make, so she took them home to play with.

Num Noms are the kind of thing that children would collect, they have a pocket money range which starts from £2.99. Standard packs at £8.99 and these larger party packs for £19.99. I think they’re a fun thing to play with, a little pocket money treat which can spark discussions about how things smell and what they smell like as well as being a little bit of squishy fun.

Num Noms Series 1

The Num Noms Series 1 party pack sells for around £19.99 and is suitable for children aged 3+. For more information on Num Noms visit their website.

Note: We were sent the Num Noms Series 1 party pack to play with and review. All images and opinions are our own.

Having a Legoland Manchester birthday party

As the mother of a 5 year old child it’s fair to say that most of his weekends (and consequently our weekends) are taken up with various birthday parties. These days class protocol dictates you find one or two children with birthdays in the same month and throw a joint party. This cuts down party costs for the families of the birthday boy or girl and means that guests only need to buy one present (which will be divided up between the birthday children).

Last year parties tended to be whole class affairs, but this year the boys and the girls have largely split up into smaller friendship groups. Soft play is still very popular, trampoline parks are on the rise, but for the boys in Ben’s class, the big dream is a Legoland Manchester birthday party.

Having a Legoland Manchester birthday party is what most of the boys in his class want. A few weekends ago we went along to a party to celebrate a couple of his classmates turning 5.

Legoland Manchester birthday party

Each child who attends gets to take an accompanying adult, so it is in many ways like a normal visit to Legoland. You go in and the group has their photo taken and you head up to the “factory tour” which is always entertaining. Once you’re through that it’s onto the Kingdom Quest ride (my favourite bit) and then on into the discovery centre itself.

When we went, all the kids raced through Miniland (past Blackpool Tower and other attractions made from Lego) and straight through to building the Lego racers. The parents grabbed a coffee (party entry came with a voucher – a godsend!) whilst all the boys got stuck in. After around 45 minutes we were summoned to the party room where the kids tucked into a lunch of sandwiches, crisps, fruit and juice.

Legoland Manchester birthday party

It was time for some party games. There were two hosts from Legoland who were really engaging and professional. They kept the party flowing nicely, an eye out for any health and safety issues the parents might have missed and they were great at getting all the kids up and involved in the party games. Think musical bumps, musical statues that kind of thing – great fun and the boys all had a great time.

Then the cake came out. Legoland provided the cake, though I guess you could bring your own if you wanted. It was one of those rainbow cakes, different coloured layers sandwiched together with buttercream. It was really, really pretty (I now want to bake one) and it was a good cake; light and moist. I liked it a lot, almost as much as the kids.

Legoland Manchester birthday party

After we’d all eaten our colourful cake, everyone queued up to go on the Merlin’s Apprentice Ride and then it was time for everyone to say goodbye.

It’s worth noting that once the party is over you can stay for as long as you’d like afterwards. We stayed for a little while, enjoyed the Fire Academy (soft play area), headed to the brand new Lego City Builder area for a while and then for an obligatory turn around the shop (I might have bought MYSELF some Lego).

Legoland Manchester birthday party

As something of a kids party veteran I can say that I thought the Legoland Manchester birthday party was well run, efficient and the boys had lots of fun. I think it is a nice touch to offer parents a coffee and leftover cake and sandwiches. I like the fact that once you’re in you can stay for as long as you want afterwards too. The food was good, the cake was great and there is very little organisation and input required for the parents throwing the party.

Prices per child are £17.50/£22.50 depending on when you go. Whilst this is not cheap, I do think that is does represent good value for money, especially as you can stay until it closes if you want and enjoy all of the attractions in Legoland Manchester.

Packages for a Legoland Manchester birthday party currently start from £17.50 per person (£22.50 at weekends) and more details can be found on their website.

Having a Legoland Manchester birthday party

Note: We were attending a party of a classmate and I thought I’d write up the party experience.

My Sunday Photo 10.7.16 – Fizz!

What a week. It’s definitely been 7 days I’ll remember forever. A week of frantic funeral arrangements and sadness, which ended with me spending a day baking solidly for an afternoon tea party which was held on Saturday.

A celebration I wasn’t really in the mood to celebrate. I went, I smiled, I circulated and then I came home and crawled back into myself.

After the funeral on Thursday I met some friends in the pub, shared a bottle of very acceptable prosecco with them and raised a glass to my dad. Prosecco is the celebratory drink of choice round these parts and I really wanted to raise a glass to him.

At the afternoon tea party there was also prosecco aplenty, I caught this snap of a tray of drinks being poured for the guests. A bottle of birthday fizz.

fizz

Everything seems a bit of a jumble right now. I’m so tired but I’m forging on as best I can. Life goes on apparently.

Baking the blues away – keeping occupied

I’m trying to ease myself back gently into the world of blogging. My dad died less than a fortnight ago and I’m still trying to settle the thoughts in my head. I know I’ll not be back doing what I was doing for a while yet and I am determined to be kind to myself.

My blog posts will be sporadic for the next few weeks or months. Who knows. It was his funeral on Thursday and I’d planned to spend yesterday baking for an afternoon tea party this weekend. I like baking, occasionally I really nail it and pull something extraordinary out of the oven, sometimes I bake something which goes straight in the bin, and oftentimes I make very average cakes which people appreciate but I see fault in every slice.

Yesterday was about fulfilling my promise to bake for the party, but also to spend the day focused on a creative task and a way of keeping occupied. To properly occupy my mind and my hands for long enough to make the world feel ordinary for a while. I had to resist the temptation to box up a batch of cakes for my dad, but a day baking is a day well spent.

Keeping occupied

I baked a coffee and walnut cake, cute coffee cupcakes, a Victoria Sponge, blueberry buttermilk scones and a sticky marmalade tea loaf. I spent the whole day on my feet baking and clearing up after myself. I don’t know if it’s done me any good, but it’s kept me occupied and there’s enough cake for 30 people at the party.

I wasn’t especially impressed with my Victoria Sponge which I think suffered because I rushed it and I forgot about it while I was chatting to the window cleaner. I’m pleased with my little coffee cupcakes and the coffee and walnut cake. I know the scones will come alive with a dollop of jam and clotted cream too.

I’ve always enjoyed baking and I think it’ll be a good therapy and distraction for me over the next few weeks. Anyone got any decent recipes for me to try?

Obituary: Peter Charles Woolley 1941-2016

On the 25th June 2016 my life changed forever. My dad died. He was one of my best friends, one of the few people who would tell me things straight, a man who made me laugh every time I saw him and the person who has quietly supported me throughout my life, through good times and bad. He’s gone and I’ll never get over it. Here is the obituary I wrote for him.

Peter Woolley passed away peacefully at his home in Didsbury on 25^th June 2016. He leaves his daughter Jane, her husband Matthew and grandson Benjamin, and his son David, his wife Lisa and grandson Joseph.

Peter was born in Ladybarn to Nellie and Bill Woolley. His father died in the 1960s and Peter was a devoted son, visiting his mother every day until her death in 2007.

Peter was 18 when he set up in business in Salford as a printer, having served his time as an apprentice in Heaton Moor. He then moved the business to School Lane in Didsbury, and finally to the current premises on Barlow Moor Rd in 1970 where he became a well-known and popular figure in Didsbury.

In his youth Peter was a keen and accomplished sportsman. He was Captain of the Burnage rugby team, a surprisingly talented basketball player and also a wrestler. Peter was a bodybuilder and for a period of time held an unofficial bench press record, as well as being something of a mentor for the younger members of the gym.

Following the birth of Jane and David, Peter decided to pursue his burgeoning interest in magic and joined the Order of the Magi in 1978, eventually becoming President in 1993. At his first meeting Peter met the man who was to be his friend for many years, Max Jacobson. Doug Henning sparked his interest in illusions and with the help of his brother-in-law David he built some props and spent several years performing in clubs, theatres and small venues around Manchester. Peter was a naturally funny man with a gift for comic timing and often had people crying with laughter.

Due to popular demand Peter eventually stopped performing entirely and put his efforts into mentoring and developing young performers including Tony Stevens, Alan Firth, Phillip Partridge and the man who was to become his unofficial second son, Mike McClean.

Thursday nights at Pete’s house were almost legendary, with both Jane and David recalling being dragged downstairs to form an impromptu audience for the performers and there being an atmosphere of supportive camaraderie.

In 2002 Peter left the Order of the Magi and joined a new magic society, The Manchester Circle of Magicians. At the first meeting Peter was elected President and thereafter became an Honorary Life Vice President of the MCM. Peter will be remembered as a great supporter of magic in general and the MCM in particular. He was a great mentor to many budding magicians and had a wicked sense of humour.

In 2010 Peter welcomed two grandsons to the family and in 2013 retired from his printing business, (passing over the reins to his son-in-law Matthew) to become a professional grandparent. Typically, Peter loved to make Joseph and Benjamin laugh and did tentatively introduce them to some magic tricks. Balloon animals were a speciality.

Peter Woolley

Peter enjoyed his retirement and relished the chance to catch up with close friends; going out for regular curry nights, comedy evenings, Monday magic nights, popping across the road for a brew and short breaks away to Pickering in Yorkshire.

He was a popular and well liked figure. He had a deeply ingrained and bone dry sense of humour, a strong work ethic, he believed in honesty and he surrounded himself with people he respected and admired. Peter was very much a self-made man, one of life’s gentle eccentrics and the world will have a lot less laughter in it without him. He will be greatly missed.

Love wins – playing parenting good cop bad cop

At 3am this morning the screaming and shouting started. The small boy had woken up and was engaged in complex negotiations with his dad about returning to bed and going to sleep. The small boy has a bad cold and is what can only be described as incredibly overtired.

I lay in bed and listened to the back and forth between father and son. After 20 minutes or so of tantrums and tears I intervened. It was clear it was my turn to play bad cop, so I marched in, confiscated the Lego he was arguing over at that moment and threatened to put all of his toys in bin bags unless he got into bed.

This did not work, he sat on his bed cried a bit harder. I went back to my room and waited for the next stage of negotiations to fail. This is ridiculous, he’s perfectly capable of going to sleep and I’ve never heard him behave like this for so long. I thought about it while I listened to them.

It was my turn to play good cop. My boy was poorly and tired. When I’m poorly and tired I want someone to cuddle me, stroke my hair and sing soft kitty to me. I warmed up his hottie, made a little nest for him under the blankets on my bed and welcomed him in for a cuddle and some love from his mummy.

Within minutes his tears had dried and his breathing was slowing. I squeezed him a bit tighter and told him I loved him and that I’d always look after him. He was asleep and snoring quietly to himself soon after. What’s more he slept past his normal 6am wake up and right through to 8am which is tremendous.

Today I resolve to love my son a little bit more and give him the things that I want and need. Love, friendship, consideration, affection, laughter, happiness, safety, freedom and respect. Last night at 3am I lost sight of the poorly little boy with needs and was more concerned with getting the household back to sleep. This is not a licence for him to get away with 3am tantrums every day, but a reminder to me that I need to think about why he’s behaving badly and deal with the cause and not the effect.

Today we’re having a lazy day with lots of cuddles and calpol. Tomorrow is a new and hopefully brighter day.

Good cop bad cop