This week I have been trying to act casual.

You can tell because my face gets that odd, tense look and my laugh gets a little high pitched. The overall effect is of someone trying to look dead casual, and failing miserably, looking instead like they might be having a mini stroke.

It’s because I’ve been getting excited about going to the Vuelio Blog Awards on Friday in London. I’m one of four people up for the parenting award, and I’m incredibly flattered to have been chosen. It’s not like some blogging awards, which are chosen based on votes and are essentially popularity contests, it has been judged by a panel of experts, and as a result it feels much more special – a bunch of people who don’t even know me have sat down, looked at the UK blogosphere, read loads of parent blogs, and picked mine as one of their favourites. It feels pretty ace.

I’m trying to act casual though because I’m not sure it’s terribly cool to admit that actually you really, really want to win. I think I’m meant to say that it doesn’t matter to me whether or not people like what I write, or how many people read it, or whether it makes them laugh or cry. I think I’m meant to say that I do it just for the love, because I want to share my thoughts with the world and it doesn’t matter to me if only one person reads them.

That’s nonsense of course.

We all want to be liked and respected, we all want to do well, and I of all people am driven by wanting to be recognised as being good at what I do. I have always thrived on praise, like a small child. If I win, this will be me:

Vuelio Blog Awards

So, what’s my point?

I guess it’s a thank you really. It is a cliché, but it’s true that this whole thing just wouldn’t be the same without you. Everybody that has ever read my blog, or told their friends about it, or tweeted a link to a post they loved, has contributed to its success. You might be reading this for the first time, (in which case, hoorah!), or maybe you’ve been reading for years, and have stuck with me through the ups and downs and frequent moaning and ranting. (Double hoorah!)

Whatever the case, thank you. Thank you for helping me to create something that means I can work flexibly around my family, and get to do cool stuff, and spend my time writing. I really, really appreciate it. That means more to me than any award.*

Wish me luck!

Vuelio Blog Awards

*Very nearly true.

Photo credit – Melpomene and  Luis Molinero/shutterstock

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DIY advent balloons

I’m assuming you all had a go at my trick or treat balloons last month?

Good.

And you enjoyed it so much that you’d like another balloon craft activity for this month?

Excellent. Of course. Well you’ve come to the right place. This weekend I had a go at making some advent calendar balloons, which I think make a thoughtful alternative to simply giving your kids a shaped piece of cheap, nasty tasting chocolate every day during December.

My idea works as follows – every day you choose a teeny tiny gift, or write a lovely note with a special message, or reminder to do something festive, and you seal it up in a box, jar, or some sort of carefully crafted container. Every morning, before your children have woken up, you fill a balloon with helium, tie it to the gift with a length of suitably festive ribbon or string, and leave it outside their door.

Yes, it is a bit of a faff, and it will involve you getting up early and having a tank of helium in your bedroom for a month, but come on!! This is Christmas!! Time to make the effort. View Post

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elderberry syrup

I blame my fiancé for the weather at the moment. Throughout the beginning of November, when the weather was lovely and mild, he kept complaining about wanting it to be colder. And now look! Sure, it’s probably not actually his fault, unless he is a lot more powerful than I ever suspected, but he’s certainly got his wish. Yesterday my car beeped at me for the first time in the season, to let me know that the temperature had dropped to four degrees.

It’s not that I don’t like the cold weather – I love nothing more than a crisp winter day and a bright blue sky – it’s just that I’m not so keen on the stuff that goes with it, the dry skin from too much central heating, the coughs and colds and the general sluggishness that comes with spending too much time inside eating stew.

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that way. Sebastian Pole is Pukka Herbs‘ co-founder and master herb smith. He came up with five tips for me to help us stay well this winter. Stick to these and, like us, you’ll hopefully feel a lot perkier. We’ve certainly yet to be struck down by any winter bugs. View Post

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We were sat having dinner this week, doing the usual thing of ‘let’s spend quality time together as a family and try to sound interested about each other’s days.’

“What did you do at school today?” I asked Belle, (obviously. My fiancé is too old for school.)

“PE,” she said. “It was fine, I got a lollipop.”

“A lollipop?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes,” she said, “because I did well in the stretching exercises and sit ups.”

lollipops View Post

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Keeping it in the family this week, this post is written by Belle, aged 13. Thanks Belle!

So thanks to Osper, this year I am able to splash out on the people I love for Christmas!

I have planned the budgeting, the people I am getting the presents for and even ideas of what to get them. I am normally RUBBISH at budgeting as I normally spend it all in one go on a game or a new, random bit of junk that don’t need and will probably never use, but being able to see your balance anywhere makes you think a bit more about what you are going to buy.

I made lists, drew sketches, practised mind mapping and even had to do a lot of thinking! If you would like to see more then just watch the video below:

View Post

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It was back in April that I first discovered Lily & Me. We were away for the weekend at Ladram Bay in Devon, and we happened upon the House of Marbles. It was one of those wonderfully random places – a marble museum, tea shop and mini shopping centre all in one, stocking lots of lovely local brands, including Lily & Me.

I was drawn to the Lily & Me rail because of the beautiful patterns and got sucked in by the soft fabrics and gorgeous shapes, which looked like they would be really easy to wear, yet flattering and stylish at the same time. I got in touch, as I was interested in the brand, and discovered that the company is run by a fantastic family team. After some chatting, I paid them a visit last month to their design barn in the Cotswolds and found out all about how Lily & Me came to be, and their plans for the future.

Lily & Me is all about pattern. I met their designer, and learnt about the process behind coming up with new designs and colours for every season. I could reveal secrets about the spring/summer range for next year, but I would have to kill you, and that could get me in trouble. View Post

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As you may have seen from my Instagram recently, I have been thoroughly enjoying my new Harris Tweed cape from Cocoon Luxe. It’s not like anything I have ever owned before, in the fact that it is actually designed and made for real grown ups and I didn’t get it from a charity shop or Sainsbury’s.

I was a bit nervous about what it would actually look like on. I’ve only ever seen very glamourous women wearing capes, women who I would describe as ‘willowy’ in that skinny-because-they-don’t-even-like-white-bread-even-as-a-treat kind of way. I don’t usually describe myself as graceful or elegant, so I was a bit worried that I would look sort of like a toddler dressed up in her mother’s luxury tweed cape, (as we all did at some point or another as children).

When it arrived, however, all of my doubts were cast to one side. I DID look glamorous, and far from making me less willowy, despite the fact that I thought it would make an outfit look a bit top heavy, it actually fitted really nicely and gave the illusion that I could be a size 8 underneath it. No one would be able to tell.

My first outing with the cape was in Stow-on-the-Wold when we stayed at the Old Stocks Inn. There is a considerable amount of tweed in Stow-on-the-Wold, so the cape helped me to fit in.  View Post

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I was writing a blog post recently for a national newspaper blog. I had included an anecdote from this story that I’m about to tell you, about Belle winning a Halloween fancy dress competition while we were away for the weekend in a caravan at Trelawne Manor Holiday Park, near Looe in Cornwall.

The editor came back to me.

“Do 13-year-olds normally dress up for Halloween?” she asked. “I found that surprising – were you attending a party? From a caravan? I think this needs to be explained a bit more.”

This made me laugh quite a lot.

Perhaps 13-year-olds don’t dress up in London, but down here, in the West Country, where we are clearly more culturally lacking, they certainly do. Also, I wasn’t quite sure what she meant by my needing to explain – was it simply the concept of staying in a caravan that baffled her?

Anyway, that’s not really part of the story, I just thought it was funny. View Post

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Sometimes my Mummy asks me if I would like a glass of wine or a tumbler full of gin or something.

For a second I am confused. “Hmmmm,” I think, “has she forgotten that I am a baby? Maybe if I just slowly accept the drink she won’t realise…”

And then I remember that I am a whole 20 whole years old and that basically I can do whatever I want, because I am a real life grown up.

*Eats seventh Jaffa Cake in a row because nobody can stop me.*

My journey of discovery with alcohol has taken many paths over the years. Currently I don’t think I will ever be able to drink cider ever again after, well, spending the first few years of being a teenager in Somerset. White wine I just plain don’t like and rose makes me feel like I’m on a “cheeky night out with the girlies”. You know what I mean. Red wine is usually my go to if it’s before 8pm and it appears to be socially unacceptable to drink hard spirits.

My favourites though are gin and whisky. I had heard the name of gin whispered around the parent blogging community for many years before I actually first drank it at a wedding this summer. I was absolutely hooked and the best thing is it never makes me vomit because it is sugar free. Aces.

A great drink I also discovered this summer at Standon Calling festival was slightly warm Lidl multivitamin juice carton (you know the ones that you always seem to have on a long car journey even though usually you don’t shop at Lidl and you’re not quite sure where they came from) with what I’m pretty sure was Famous Grouse in it. It sounds totally dog, but it was great, especially for taking the edge off putting up a tent with Belle. (She was better at it than me.) View Post

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A couple of weekends ago we spent the weekend at Trelawne Manor Holiday Park in Cornwall – read about our holiday there here. While we were there, we did as we always do, and checked the local area for National Trust places to visit. We stumbled upon the Cotehele Estate having a ‘behind the scenes’ day, and it sparked some musings about the National Trust from my fiancé. Please make him welcome, and share your own National Trust experiences.

National Trust cotehele estate

If ever there was an organisation that deserves a jolly good pat on the back at the moment, it’s The National Trust.  They’re just so life-affirmingly interesting and wonderful, and so far from what they were 30 years ago.

When I was a child, we’d go to National Trust properties on days out or when rain was ruining our holidays, which was rather a lot.  Back then, the most children had to look forward to was an adventure playground, and even then the word ‘adventure’ was used in its loosest possible definition – most probably your only adventure was avoiding a puddle of muddy water at the bottom of a disappointingly short slide.   View Post

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Christmas is nearly here. It’s basically only a few days away, right? With that in mind, I have a present for you! Well, the opportunity to win a present.

I’m giving away a little selection of goodies from Belle & Boo. Belle is an adorable little bob-haired girl and Boo is her small bunny companion. As you can imagine, all of the products are really cute. Cute coming out of their ears. 

As well as the lovely characters and the beautiful quality of the products, I particularly love the fact that the company is based in Bristol. One of my favourite things about Bristol when I lived there was all of the independent shops and brands that sold lots of pretty things that you can’t find anywhere else. Luckily though, Belle & Boo products are all available online, if you don’t fancy a trip to Bristol to find them.

I’ve really loved this company for a while now, especially because I have my very own Belle, and so they make ace presents for her. It’s not that I have deliberately given my children names that lend themselves to gifts, but it wouldn’t really be Christmas without Bee saying “Oh wow… a fridge magnet with a bee on it… yay… thanks…” 

I have a lovely little bundle of things for give away today, not least this cool snowman wall sticker, which you put together yourself as individual stickers:

build-a-snowman-wall-sticker- View Post

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A few weeks ago I had an email from the people at Popchips.

“We want you to have some fun,” the said. “Go out and do something new or unusual or exciting!”

“Sounds cool,” I said, “what do I need to do exactly?”

“Whatever you want!” said Popchips. “We just want you to try something new – actually, six things to be precise, one for each bag of Popchips in a multipack!”

Crisps, fun times – what’s not to love? I was in.

But then came the tricky bit. When someone gives you completely free rein, it can be hard to decide what you actually want to do. I started mulling it over, thinking about the things I enjoyed doing, the sort of things that perhaps I had never done but really wanted to. What is it that I love? What are my favourite things?

And then I hummed songs from The Sound of Music to myself for a little bit.

Of course! What I needed was a theme. No random adventures for me – I needed a plan for my spontaneous fun!

And this was it… View Post

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