“This was the only jumper I could find,” said Bee, coming downstairs wearing a black cardigan she had pilfered from my chest of drawers, “you need more clothes.”

It’s true. I am notoriously bad at buying clothes. I have several issues with it. Firstly, I find it difficult to justify spending money on clothes when technically I already have some. It’s not like having an empty fridge, where you have to buy at least a token tub of hummus and some yoghurts to not look like you’re neglecting your children, because there are actually clothes in my wardrobe. I have things I can wear, so buying more feels a bit greedy.

Secondly, I hate trying things on. You get all flustered and sweaty, and then you look in the mirror and see your thighs at angles you never normally see them from and you just want to cry. That is not my idea of fun. Thirdly, I apparently have no dress sense, so my kindly family have told me many times over the years. Rude.

In Joe Browns though I have found the solution – they are very reasonably priced, they deliver, so I can try on everything in front of my carefully positioned mirrors at home, and finally, everything is so lovely that even my mum surely wouldn’t be able to question my taste? Also, a lot of things have flowers on, which is my Best Thing when it comes to clothes. View Post

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Today I have a guest post from my fiancé, because he knows about football and I wasn’t sure who Sir Geoff Hurst was. I did pose for the picture though:

Sir Goeff Hurst

Think of Mcdonald’s, and you’d be forgiven for not associating them with sport at grass roots level in the community. All right, you might think of their logo blazoned on sponsorship boards at every football World Cup in recent memory, but you probably wouldn’t think that they’re that heavily involved in getting children active and involved in their local football clubs.

We were pleasantly surprised too.

“Do you want to come with me to interview Sir Geoff Hurst? “ Jo asked, adding, “is that a thing?” to confirm her understandable ignorance to English footballing history. I don’t blame her for this – mine is sketchy too, but it’s always nice to have superior knowledge to Jo when the majority of the time, on most subjects, I’m metaphorically in her rear-view mirror. View Post

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This week’s good cause is a project focused on bringing together families for active, creative, open-ended play in a natural environment.

So, what’s the problem?

A lack of good quality, affordable, child centred, nature-based, whole-form education in our local area.

How does your organisation set out to solve it? What makes your approach unique?

We want to start a network of independent ‘micro-school’ classes, sharing ideas, funds and resources. We want to inspire other parents so that, like us, they can organise locally and hire a teacher to give full attention to a small group of children, teaching in a style that they choose, as often as they feel is needed, using whatever methods they see fit.

We want our class to be in a beautiful location and the environment to be an extension of the classroom, in all seasons of the year. We imagine that even classes using different methodologies could share and be connected, perhaps encouraging new innovations in teaching or rediscovering old ways in the process.

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It’s almost that time again.

The Summer Holidays.

Dum dum dum!

That seemingly endless six weeks that comes with the daily struggle of balancing childcare, keeping your children entertained while you are looking after them and trying not to blow all of you summer holiday cash in the first week by taking them to the cinema every day when things get a bit too much.

The best strategy I have come up with, after 15 years of practice, is to really plan your time as a whole, rather than taking it day by day. The key is to have some chunks of time scheduled out with fun activities throughout the six weeks, so that you don’t feel too guilty if it’s the third day in a row that they’ve been watching TV under a blanket instead of doing some wholesome crafts. If you’re looking for some fun activities for kids during the summer holidays, I’ve got some great ideas that I’m roping Belle into:

Camp Wilderness

If your kids like going off to camps, that’s one whole week of the holidays ticked off already. Summer camps can be great for both parents and children. The kids get some independent time away from home, have fun, meet new friends and learn useful skills, while the adults don’t have to worry about childcare or having to miss work for a week. This year Belle is going to Camp Wilderness, which is run by The Bushcraft Company, who are experts in children’s outdoor education. More time to work for me, more learning how to make fires by rubbing two sticks together for Belle.

Camp Wilderness

Photo – Camp Wilderness

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I’ve always loved Hestercombe Gardens. When I moved back to Somerset from Bristol, one of the first things I did was to renew my Hestercombe membership. (I mean I unpacked a bit first obviously, and did important things like plumb in the washing machine, I didn’t rush out immediately to Hestercombe, that would be silly.)

I love the constrast at Hestercombe between the wildness of the landscape gardens and the structure of the formal gardens. I love visiting at different times of the year and seeing how the gardens change; the leaves turning red and brown, frost on the grass, the wisteria in the spring time – it’s all very beautiful.

It’s no surprise then that Hestercombe made it onto our list of potential wedding venues. Choosing somewhere to get married, as we are discovering, isn’t easy. We wanted a wedding venue in Somerset, as I don’t want to be travelling miles on my wedding day, and we wanted somewhere that was tranquil and quiet, without feeling remote. We’re keen to get married somewhere that has a personal connection and of course, money is a consideration too. Hestercombe ticks a lot of these boxes. View Post

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Being self-employed is a double edged sword for me. On the one hand I love the flexibility it gives me; I can be around for school plays, sick days and to ferry in the inevitable forgotten PE kits, and it’s brilliant not to have to be forever letting Belle down because I can’t get time off work.

Ace.

The flipside of this though is that it can be difficult to establish that elusive work life balance. To make up for the time I have off with family and home commitments, I often find myself fretting about work in the evenings and trying to get a head start on work emails over the weekend.

School holidays are tricky too. Unless we are actually away, I often find we spend day after day in a sort of limbo, where I’m working from home out of guilt at going into the office, but Belle is still left to her own devices. Taking proper holidays can be hard too – no one pays for your time off when you work for yourself and overcoming that feeling of losing out on valuable income puts the pressure on.

I’m about to embark on a new project, (which I plan to finish before the summer holidays), with Direct Line for Business. It’s going to cover not just the practicalities of self-employment, like business insurance, but also some of the emotional difficulties, as well the logistics of keeping everyone happy when you work for yourself.

As part of the project I’ll be hosting a Twitter chat and creating a video with one of Direct Line for Business’s experts, asking for their top tips to help successfully manage your own business. I’d love to know what issues you struggle with, and what advice or support you would find useful.

To kick things off, I’ve come up with five things to think about if you’re self-employed or are thinking about setting up your own business: View Post

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wedding reception games

I’ve been thinking this week about wedding reception games. I have no idea if it’s a thing or not to play games at a wedding, but I do love anything with a competitive element. At my 30th birthday party I created table games based on Guinness world records; on one table I had some bubble gum, to see if people could blow the world’s biggest bubble, on another I had spoons, for face balancing, (obvs), and on another I had Ferrero Rocher.

The world record for the number of Ferrero Rocher eaten in a minute currently stands at nine, but this was set in 2012, after my 30th birthday; before that it was something that sounded ridiculously easy, like five. The main fun of course was putting together the challenges; a big thank you here to my boss at the time for letting me use the work laminator. View Post

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Would you rather have flowers or chocolates delivered to your door?

It’s a bit of a different dilemma to those posed by John Burningham isn’t it? Did you read that book as a child? Would you rather be embarrassed by your dad coming to school and dancing in front of your friends or by your mum having a row in a cafe? Would you rather live with a gerbil in a cage or a fish in a bowl?

I’m not asking you to cover yourself in jam or spend the night in a haunted house to enter, all you have to do is do your thing with the Rafflecopter widget at the bottom of the post. You know the drill.

The prize is your choice of either a rose basket or a chocolate hamper. I know, I spoil you don’t I? View Post

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This is the second in my behind the scenes series and this week I’d like to introduce you to Lori. Lori writes the gorgeous blog Wild & Grizzly and has one of those workspaces that you think might only really exist on Instagram. You can see more from Lori on Twitter and Instagram.

blogger workspace

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Are you busy on Sunday June 28th?

Now you are!

No, you’re not coming to my house, this isn’t a party invitation. Sorry, but I only have a two seater sofa – it wouldn’t be much fun.

No, you’re off to the Barclaycard British Summer Time Family Event. (If you want to.) Standard general admission tickets for the day are £19.50 but Slummy single mummy readers can pick them up for the bargain price of just £10! Cracking deal isn’t it? That means you could take a family of four out for an amazing day of fun for just £40.

What else could you do for £40?? Even a trip to the cinema costs about that nowadays, way more when you factor in overpriced popcorn. View Post

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Today’s post is from my fiancé, and is a follow up to his recent post where he looked forward to his first festival experience.

Wychwood festival

I’m writing this a couple of weeks after my first festival experience.

Hard to believe, isn’t it, that someone who works in music and likes to believe he has notes, harmony and stave lines pouring through his veins could possibly have gone 35 years without ever spending a few nights of mild discomfort and cold in a field in the name of the art form which I’m most passionate about? View Post

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I have a reputation in my house for being ruthless when it comes to decluttering and it’s true, I am definitely not a hoarder. What I will say however, as my mum is inevitably reading this, is that when I cleared out that stuff you stored in my garage, I definitely did not throw away anything that wasn’t actual rubbish.

(I know she doesn’t believe me – anything that has ever gone missing is attributed to me throwing it away – but there we go, it’s written down now, so it must be true.)

I find decluttering very relaxing, therapeutic almost. I am most at ease when we go on holiday and have minimal stuff around us, and although I do like to have a certain amount of bric-a-brac around for sentimental reasons, I just don’t see the point of hanging on to boxes full of crap. When you’ve moved house as often as I have you really are forced to question exactly how much of your stuff is worth packing, moving, and unpacking again.

Here are my pearls of wisdom to help you declutter:

Understand your motivations

Be wary of throwing things out because you’re in a bad mood, only to regret it later. If you’re not sure, get as far as packing it up and putting it in the garage or the car and then leave it a couple of days. For things that are plain garbage to you like old furniture, let the roll-away dumpster in South Park Township take care of the disposal instead of leaving them in your shed and covered in dust.

Get some cash back

If you’ve got some decent quality items to get rid of, you might want to think about selling them – it might just be DVDs or CDs, but if you have a lot of them then the earnings can add up. An app like Ziffit is easy to use as it has a built in barcode scanner to help you process and cash in on your unwanted items – it really couldn’t be simpler. View Post

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