Did you know that it’s Chinese New Year on Sunday? I didn’t until I googled it just now, but then I am a little lacking in culture sometimes. Never mind, I realised just in time to cook up something delicious! Any excuse for a prawn cracker.

Actually, prawn crackers hold a bit of a special place in my heart. When I was at secondary school, my best (and basically only) friend was Chinese, and her parents owned a takeaway. Quite often I’d go round there after school and help fill bags with prawn crackers. Their house, which joined on to the takeaway, was always full of wonderful cooking smells and boxes of onions in towers against the walls. View Post

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I’m pretty nosey. I love looking at other people’s houses and all the little bits and bobs that make a home unique. I think it comes from when I was a child and on Saturdays my mum would sometimes arrange house viewings, pretending she was secretly wealthy and looking to buy. (That was probably what sparked our favourite game of ‘Estate Agents’ too). I particularly love rooting around on other people’s bookcases. It’s like a library, but without having to remember your card. View Post

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Today you can win a copy of ‘Licking the Spoon’ by Candace Walsh.

My memory is not great. I can barely remember anything that happened as a child and am constantly letting my own children down by not being able to remember their first steps, first words, and other important occasions that mothers really should have etched in their minds forever.

A lot of the memories I do have are connecting with food, primarily the smell of certain foods and of meals being cooked. View Post

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Today I am taking part in a blog tour. Yes yes, I know, yawn yawn, but pay attention please because this blog tour is promoting a very special book. (Plus you get a nose round the author’s house.)

Lunchtime by Rebecca Cobb is beautiful, her illustrations are adorable and Rebecca herself is lovely. Lunchtime is, as Julia Donaldson said, “Funny and charming – as delicious as the little girl’s dinner.”

"Lunchtime by Rebecca Cobb"

But then I would say all these nice things wouldn’t I?

Why?

Because Rebecca is my step-sister.

I know, cool right? What a talented family we are! (And renowned for our modesty.)

I have already mentioned Lunchtime, but it was in a post that was a bit crowded with other things, like my collection of jugs in the shape of chickens where the milk comes out of their beak, so in this post we get to find out a little bit more about Rebecca and where she works.

"Rebecca Cobb's work place"

“This is what my work space looks like,” says Rebecca. “It is very exciting because a couple of months ago it looked like this”:

"Rebecca Cobb's work place"

“And then we attacked it with a crowbar and it looked like this”:

"Rebecca Cobb's work place"

“And now it looks like this”:

"Rebecca Cobb's work place"

“As you can see it is still a work in progress” says Rebecca, “but compared to the rest of the house, which is a bit of a building site, it is the most finished room. This is also our bedroom at the moment and having a bed right next to my desk makes it very tempting to sit in bed under the duvet to do my drawing, especially when the weather is so cold. But I tried it the other day and instantly fell asleep for 3 hours so I have banned myself from doing that!”

“I mostly draw at my lightbox because even when I do not have it switched on I like the smooth surface of the glass to draw on. I have it right in front of the window and I can look out at the garden which is a bit derelict at the moment, like the rest of the house, but it is full of birds and the next door neighbour’s cats. One of the many brilliant things about moving into our house is that we can now have a pet and I cannot wait to get a kitten!’

Lunchtime is doing a blog tour to celebrate its release in paperback so now you have no excuse for not buying it, even if you are a bit of a skinflint.

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‘Ay up.

(That was me experimenting with accents. I don’t think it went well. I won’t do it again.)

Today I’m giving a bit of a plug to a whole month of competitions that Whitworths Sugar are running over on Twitter during February. As you know, I’ve been getting my bake on with Whitworths lately, so thought I would help you to win your own Whitworths Sugar goody bag, so you can make delicious pear and ginger cake too.

"Baking sugar"Whitworths is holding a different competition every week, with three winners being picked at random every week. Here’s what you have to do: View Post

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A couple of weeks ago, I went to Bath university to see England play Australia. They won. It was awesome.

It was the first proper live netball match I have watched that wasn’t being played by slightly wobbly mums, and it was incredibly inspiring – we all came away absolutely buzzing, and with big plans for our own netball team.

Less inspiring though was the team mascot. The event was packed out with women and girls, and yet at half time they got this: View Post

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As some of you may know, underneath my heart-of-stone, gin-swilling exterior, I have decidedly hippyish, earth-mother type tendencies. I hardly ever make Belle have a bath and I breastfed her until she was two and a half! I know, shocking isn’t it? An ongoing supply of free nutrition that helps protect against infection, obesity and can raise your IQ? Whatever will nature think up next.

"Musings on Motherhood"I’m currently reading ‘Musing on Motherhood – About Pregnancy, Birth and Breastfeeding: An Anthology of Art, Poetry and Prose’ – edited by Teika Bellamy – and it is absolutely fabulous. As it says on the tin, it’s a collection of writing and art from real mothers, talking about what it’s really like to be a mother – not just the practicalities of never being able to go to the toilet alone, but the emotions and feelings that swell up in you at the most unexpected of times and the amazing bond you form with your baby, even though they’re basically just a helpless ball of mess and screams.

Some of the poetry I had to sort of pretend to read, but that’s just because I’m a bit thick and don’t really understand poetry. Any mum though I’m sure could relate to this one by Marija Smits:

The Cold Cup of Tea

An already-cold cup of builder’s strength tea
Is sat by the sink, and saying to me:
‘I’m delicious, delightful, so drink me up do!’
But I’m knee-deep in nappies, and children, and poo;
So call me again when I’ve sorted this mess
And have time to relax, and unwind and de-stress…

*

Later, much later, when the kids are asleep,
In my nightie and slippers I quietly creep
To the kitchen, and there is that cold cup of tea,
Still delicious, still delightful, and still waiting for me…

….

What I love about Musings on Motherhood is that it gives you the opportunity to take a bit of time out from actually being a mother, and think about what it means – what is it that defines us as mothers, what are the shared experiences and emotions we all go through?

For me, it’s hard to pin down exactly what being a mother is all about. I became pregnant for the first time when I was 16, so hadn’t even really started to figure out what it meant to be a person, let alone a mother. My identity as a parent is so integral to who I am as an adult woman then, that I can’t even begin to separate out what it means. I have never been a grown-up and not been a mother, it is just who I am.

What does being a mother mean to you?

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Last month I was asked to take part in a spending challenge. I got quite excited initially, imaging a Supermarket Sweep style dash around the shops, sweeping make-up and sweeties into a trolley.

No such luck.

The challenge was actually to reduce the amount of money I spent as part of a project by Voucher Codes called Small Change/Big Difference. The challenge asks you to think about the little amounts of money you fritter away of things like coffees and cake, and to commit to cutting back.

First off you can calculate just how much money you spend on things like this in a year with their special calculator – you put in what you have a week and it calculates your annual expenditure. I felt pretty smug filling it out, as I don’t smoke and don’t drink much, but was quite taken aback by how much I spend essentially just on snacks:

"spending calculator"

Goodness me. It seems like such a lot when you look at it like that doesn’t it? I work from home, so quite often pop to the café round the corner to work for a few hours for a change of scene. Seems like that could be an expensive habit.

Once I had shocked myself into action, I then had to spend two weeks trying as hard as possible to cut back on all those little extras that add up over the course of a year. There were quite a few obvious areas of weakness for me, so here’s how I got on:

Cafes
I do love a nice café. It’s silly, because I know I could just make a cup of tea at home for about two pence, but there is something so much lovelier about having someone else make it for you and enjoying it surrounded by people chatting and laughing. It’s just nice.

For two weeks though, I didn’t go to my local café once. I reckon I saved about £15 altogether, but I’m not entirely convinced this one is worth it for me. Working from home can be pretty lonely, and getting out of the house and being around other people for a couple of hours can make all the difference. £30 a month seems a small price to pay for my sanity.

"Pretty hot chocolate"

Magazines and newspapers
This is definitely a weakness for me. It wouldn’t be so bad if I actually read them, but all that happens normally is that I end up with about four weeks’ worth of Guardian Weekend magazines in a pile, unread. I don’t go out of my way to buy anything, but if I’m at the station or in a supermarket (which doesn’t happen often as Boyfriend doesn’t trust me to do the shopping), I’m quite often tempted to just pick something up as a treat.

For two weeks then I didn’t buy anything. So that’s two Saturday Guardians and probably one or two magazines – £10 or so altogether? Also, because I didn’t buy a magazine, I wasn’t drawn in to one of the ‘subscribe now for 68% of the usual cover price and get a free soap worth £37’ offers. Bargain.

Other miscellaneous nonsense
I tend quite often to shop, much like I eat, out of boredom. This is a risky strategy as I get bored easily. In early January for instance, bored of updating Facebook statuses and writing about goodness knows what, I went online and bought a bone china tea set hand painted with robins.

"robin teaset"

I think you get the point.

For two weeks though I tried my very best not to do this. It was tough, as I was in London a couple of times during the fortnight, each time with a couple of hours to kill in the middle of the day. During my first visit, it didn’t go so well, and I ended up with three miniature mounted photographs of London landmarks. Oopps.

On my second trip though, I did better. I even tested myself with a visit to the V&A museum shop, but resisted the urge to buy anything at all, not even a postcard, although I really quite wanted to buy a lion necklace that was in the sale. I did like this card, but satisfied myself by just taking a picture rather than buying it.

"Jerome K Jerome Quote"

What a good girl I am.

The lion necklace was £45, so I consider this £45 saved.

What are your bad money habits? How much do you think you could save if you cut out just one small pleasure?

Produced in association with VoucherCodes.co.uk

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I did a very noble thing this week.

Chatham Marine asked me if I’d like to review a pair of their shoes and I said no. I said it for you loyal reader. I said it so that you could have the chance to win the shoes instead.

I know, I am lovely, you’re right.

If you’re looking for a pair of deck shoes that provide exceptional quality, comfort and functionality, as well as quintessential nautical style, then look no further than Chatham Marine. (I pinched that bit off their website. It sounds good though doesn’t it? I’m not sure I’ve ever typed the word quintessential before.)

It’s not just deck shoes though, they have some really lovely boots, casual shoes, and these rather gorgeous Chelsea boots too:

"Chelsea boots"

If you win, you’ll get £70 to spend on anything you like on the site – just enough for the Chelsea boots if they take your fancy!

To enter, just sign up here. The competition will close on 28 February and you can read the full T&Cs here.

Sponsored post – produced in association with Chatham Marine. Listed on ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions

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Did you enter my recent competition to win £50 of vouchers to spend at The Co-operative, not to mention a fun food planner?

Good. I should hope so too.

This is just to let you know that I have now put all of the entries into my magic hi-tech competition hat, and the winner, chosen at random is…

*Annoyingly long X-Factor style pause*

…

(See, annoying isn’t it?)

…

Natalie Holland!

Well done Natalie – an email is on it’s way to you as we speak!

If you weren’t lucky this time, fear not, I have a competition to win £70 to spend on shoes here!

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I fear that Belle is getting a little cynical.

She came home from school on Friday with the sad news that this year she hadn’t made it into the school dance troupe. “Never mind,” I said, “I’ve got you a little something to make up for it!”

She looked suspicious.

“What if I had got in?” she asked.

“Well, ” I said, caught a little off guard, “it would have been a congratulation present!”

“Did you buy it or do I have to review it?” she asked.

Damn.

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A few weeks ago I was having dinner with some friends. Conversation turned, as it so often does while you’re trying to enjoy your dinner, to talk of something a bit gross. In this case it was plastic surgery.

Now I have always said I would never have plastic surgery. It’s expensive, it’s risky and really, I’d rather spend my time and money on something else. Anything else actually. And what’s the deal anyway with having to change the way we look?? View Post

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