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A little while ago Belle and I went for a weekend in Newquay, Cornwall. From the beach we could see a large building out on the headland.

Headland Hotel Cornwall

Can you see it?

‘What’s that do you think?’ Belle asked at the time.

‘I don’t know,’ I said, ‘but it looks a little bit creepy doesn’t it? Like it could be an abandoned asylum, staring out to sea.’

Turns it out wasn’t an abandoned asylum at all. It was The Headland Hotel, as we discovered when we pulled into the car park in front of what, in fairness, does have a very grand, traditional feel to it. (I did ask and although it was purpose built as a hotel, it was used as a hospital during World War II, so perhaps I just sensed the ghosts of patients past.)

Inside was very far from hospital chic. Instead it had a very classical, opulent hotel feel. Proper chintz, but in a good way, if you know what I mean. Big comfy sofas and swooshes of curtain, framing gorgeous sea views from what felt like every window.

Headland Hotel Cornwall View Post

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Fancy £20 off your next holiday? I’ve got a Booking.com discount code for you today, so you can claim £20 back from your next stay AND earn every time a new friend books accommodation! 

AdvertisementBooking.com discount code

I love staying in hotels.

One of my favourite things about the whole experience is the hotel breakfast. When would you ever make yourself a fruit salad for breakfast, drink juice from ridiculously small glasses and poach yourself some smoked haddock? You just wouldn’t.

I did once miss a hotel breakfast. I was staying for a night in Manchester with Fiance and we’d had a bit of a late night and overslept. When I woke up, checked the time, and realised we had slept through breakfast I was GUTTED. I mean properly, irrationally gutted. I had this awful sinking feeling and just wanted to turn back time – to do anything to make it NOT TRUE.

As you can see, it still haunts me. I probably need to get over it.

booking.com discount code

My normal hotel breakfast

I tend to book my accommodation through comparison sites like Booking.com, where they search for the best deals for you in whatever location you want, give you reviews and ratings, and generally make the whole process a lot more straightforward. Not like the good old days when you had to get out a Yellow Pages and take pot luck. How did we COPE WITH LIFE before we had to ability to see star ratings from strangers??

What’s super cool about Booking.com is that you can now get money off with my discount code. View Post

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I have two questions for you:

  1. Do you love taking your family to the theatre? (Maybe you’ve always wanted to take your kids but never quite got round to it – that counts too.)
  2. Did you know that Amazon sold discount theatre tickets?

If you answered YES then NO then welcome to my world.

(If you answered YES and YES then good work, go to the top of the class.)

I am probably one of Amazon’s best customers. I have Amazon Prime and man, I get value from my free delivery. I could be in the middle of doing something, like getting dressed, or hoovering, and I’ll suddenly think ‘Oooh, I really need one of those box files for all my documents…’ and boom, it’s ordered.

(Probably a little bit impulsive but I’ve never ended up with anything too ridiculous.)

I have an Amazon wish list for things I want, lists for other people… I’m ALL OVER IT.

And yet.

Until a couple of days ago I NEVER KNEW that Amazon sold theatre tickets! How have I missed this?? More to the point, how has Amazon, who seem to know I need microfibre cleaning cloths before even I do, failed to let me know?

You missed a trick Amazon! We love the theatre!

Anyway, now I know, so it’s okay.

Amazon Tickets actually launched back in 2015. It offers all Amazon customers quick and easy booking, low and all-inclusive prices and trusted customer experience when booking tickets to music, West End theatre, comedy and live events across the UK.

I love the idea of ordering tickets through Amazon like this as I always get a bit anxious booking tickets when it feels like there are half a dozen places you could buy them from, and you’re never sure which is going to give you the best deal.

June is Family Show Month at Amazon Tickets, so they have extra special offers on some really great family shows, like these.

Amazon Tickets family shows View Post

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must see kids movies

We didn’t have a video or a computer or anything like that when I was younger. Sometimes though, my Dad, who was a primary school teacher, would get to bring home some bit of equipment from school for the summer holidays, which was VERY EXCITING INDEED.

(Kids nowadays are spoilt really with everything being so instant – the BBC computer arriving home at the end of July was an epic experience.)

When I was about ten years old and my sister was six, we had the video one holidays, so we went to see the slightly dubious man across the road who did dodgy videos, and he lent us E.T. In the opening sequence, where E.T. gets left behind, my Mum put on a baby voice and said ‘Mummy, Mummy, don’t go!’ My sister and I both burst into tears and pretty much cried for the whole of the rest of the film.

(We didn’t often watch films so we may have been a little over sensitive to the whole situation.)

ET must see kids films

Image by 360b/shutterstock

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I had a bit of a cooking revelation recently.

FROZEN CHOPPED ONIONS!

Iceland Eat The Week ham hock risotto

Note to self: next time don’t use a white background for onions.

Have you ever used them?? I can’t believe I have gone for nearly FORTY YEARS and never cooked with a frozen onion! No more chopping, no more children asking ‘what’s wrong Mummy?’ in a worried voice while I sob quietly to myself over the chopping board. No wanting to make a pasta sauce only to find we have no onions, and NO WASTE.

I feel like this is a landmark in my culinary life. I’m not even exaggerating. If I could suggest one food hack that you take away from this post it’s to always have chopped onions in your freezer.

There’s quite a bit of snobbery around frozen food for some reason, but there are actually a lot of benefits to harnessing the power of frozen. Not only is it super handy, and often cheaper, but nutritionally it’s often better for you, as stuff is preserved naturally by freezing and doesn’t have to have lots of artificial preservatives added to it. (I also discovered that you can shop online with Iceland and the minimum order is only £25, which is handy to know.)

So all hail the frozen onion. View Post

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