That’s the collective noun for a group of foxes – a skulk. I looked it up and everything. You can also call it a leash of foxes apparently, but that sounds very un-fox like to me. How many foxes have you ever seen on a leash?

I believe you can also call them a troop of foxes, but then I just imagine them all in little outfits, walking on their back legs and playing drums. Adorable yes, realistic no. Today then I am giving away a skulk of foxes. That’s final.

This particular skulk is painted by a lovely lady called, ironically, Cat. Cat is passionate about about animals and colour and loves creating art that brings a smile to people’s faces.  All of Cat’s pictures are painted to order, so she can work to any desired size, colour scheme and budget. You can see more at her website here. View Post

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It’s here! My Win Christmas competition is here at last! Crack open the sloe gin and cherry liqueur chocolates and feast your festive eyes on the amazing array of prizes I have lined up for you.

Win Christmas

I really am very excited about this competition as I am a massive fan of Christmas. With a view to spreading the Christmas love I have been very busy over the last month getting dozens of companies on board and gathering prizes in what I now like to call ‘the Christmas room’. (Sorry Bee. It will be all gone by the time you come home for Christmas I promise.) It has been a wonderful way to get into the Christmas spirit without having to actually spend any money. Sure I don’t get to keep any of the prizes, but that’s OK, I’m just thrilled to be able to offer such a fab collection of goodies. View Post

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If there is one thing that Belle is lacking in her bedroom, it’s room to grow. She just about has room for her bed and books, but the minute she dumps he clothes on the floor it looks like a launderette has exploded. For years she has dreamt of a funky cabin bed, just like this one from Room to Grow, although in her room she would literally just slide into the wall.

Cabin bed with slideUnfortunately for Belle she isn’t allowed to enter my competition to win £150 to spend at Room and Grow, so we’ll just have to hope she stays small for now. View Post

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The world can be a pretty cruel place.

I went in Marks and Spencer recently for example and they had sold out of Jaffa cakes. That’s the kind of savage situation I am faced with on a daily basis.

Believe it or not, there are other parts of the world, outside the yummy mummy Bishopston bubble, that face even trickier conditions, if you can even imagine such a thing. Belle and I have been learning all about it in our new book – ‘Discover the Savage World’ from Miles Kelly.

As someone who doesn’t really like to read the news, having to face up to the fact that the earth is blighted with war, fire, sandstorms and what not is pretty scary stuff, but also quite exciting. We do live in a pretty amazing place after all and a lot of the powerful forces at work are often more impressive than terrifying. View Post

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What makes a perfect cuppa for you? For me it has to be whole milk. I just don’t see the point of that skimmed nonsense. It’s basically water isn’t it? What’s the point of that? It has to be weak too, none of that vigorous squeezing nonsense. My perfect cup of tea looks a bit like chicken soup. I tried making it without the teabag once – it basically tasted the same.

Cup of tea

To help you create the perfect cup of tea, Virgin Pure are giving away one of their funky WaterBars. They look pretty cool don’t they? Obviously it helps if you have a super funky kitchen like this one, but still, we can’t all be Jamie Oliver.

Virgin Pure WaterBar

To enter, all you have to do is tell Virgin Pure what you think makes the perfect cuppa. (I’m guessing for most people it would be basically the opposite of mine – something that actually tasted of tea.)

Virgin Pure competition

There are two ways to do enter:

  • Follow @VirginPure and tweet your comments using #VirginPurePerfectCuppa
  • Like the Virgin Pure Facebook fan page and tell Virgin Pure what makes the perfect cuppa! Use #VirginPurePerfectCuppa in your comments.

Post by Virgin Pure.

Only Virgin Pure page fans or Twitter followers will be entered into the prize draw.  Full terms and conditions are available here.

So what is a Virgin Pure WaterBar anyway?

Good question. The Virgin Pure WaterBar is small, stylish and sits on your kitchen worktop. (Again, the opposite of me.) It is connected to your mains water supply, purifying tap water and serving it perfectly chilled or boiling hot, thus providing your family with an unlimited supply of purified chilled and boiling water at the touch of a button. Find out more at Virgin Pure.

Disclosure

 

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Weight Watchers has just launched its new season diet campaign, Together is Better. The idea behind that campaign is that losing weight is easier if you have the support of a friend, someone to share the journey with.

I can totally empathise with this logic.

As you’ll have seen if you follow me on any social channels, I have recently taken up running. I’ve been doing it for four whole weeks now and am very pleased with myself. I call it running, but it feels a bit more like ricocheting off the pavement at the moment – sort of stumbling from one foot to the other. However, I can feel I am making progress. When I first started nearly a month ago, running for one minute without feeling like my head was going to explode was difficult – now I can do three minutes non-stop. Baby steps and all that. (Quite literally in this case.)

I have not missed a single session yet and have even gone in the rain. Look impressed. View Post

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I’ve got a lovely competition for you today. It has a first, second and third prize, which in my mind makes it a Proper Competition, like the Olympics. (If you want a medal too I could probably make something out of cardboard. Winners will not be required to stand on a podium.)

Today’s competition is brought to you by booRah™. BooRah™ is a new business, formed by a husband and wife team and inspired by their two young sons. They have created a range of watches and sunglasses designed especially for children and the brand name is a mixture of the boys’ names when they were little and couldn’t speak properly. They came up with the name for the business booRah™ themselves whilst sat chatting in the back of the car. Boo is the 6 year old and Rah is 7, soon to be 8. View Post

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It used to be that people wrote letters.

When an elderly relative died you would discover a box of musty smelling postcards and love notes, written in a consistent, swirly hand, the letters looping elegantly from one to the next. You’d search through them, trying to piece together the history of a relationship, the feel of the paper in your hand somehow bringing the story to life.

Nowadays we send emails or texts – often short, poorly spelt missives that do little to conjure up any sense of romance or intrigue.

Emails aren’t all bad though. Just because you can’t physically hold them, can’t bring them up to your nose and inhale deeply, imagining you catch the scent of the other person, doesn’t mean they can’t tell just as powerful a story. Thanks to Memeoirs, you can now capture those stories, pin them down onto paper and tuck them away in an innocent looking cardboard box in the garage, ready for future generations to discover and get excited by. View Post

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Bee left for university on Saturday.

*sobs quietly, so as not to draw attention to self*

You’d think a bit of a sob would be natural, but I was surprised to learn from a recent survey by P&G that only 75% of mums experience some sort of sadness at their kids leaving home. That’s a whole quarter of them who are dumping them at halls and basically cracking open the gin in the car and whooping all the way home.

Perhaps more shocking though was that 45% of under-35s admitting they had never bought a toothbrush, toothpaste or shampoo before leaving home. What are parents teaching their kids nowadays?? Bonkers.

Leaving home is a big step, but little deeds can make the difference, such as teaching your children how to cook or do their own washing. Even something as simple as showing them what products you use can ease the transition, with a quarter of children who use the same products as their parents saying they do so because reminds them of being at home. View Post

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If you live in Bristol and are partial to the odd takeaway then listen up – this is the post for you.

Meals.co.uk is a takeaway website with a difference. We’re not talking a list of your local kebab shops here, we’re talking top notch restaurant and takeaway food, delivered to your door. We’re talking all of the quality you get from your favourite local restaurant, but in your pyjamas in front of the TV. That’s the best of both worlds in my eyes.

On the Meals.co.uk website you simply pop in your postcode (they cover only Bristol at the moment) and it comes up with a list of local restaurants. You have a browse of the menus, pick your favourite, and place your order, all in one place. View Post

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I’ve gone a bit competition crazy lately. I never planned to be one of those blogs that is just about freebies, and I promise I’m not going to spam you too often with rubbish competitions for things like sachets of coffee or a free packet of chewing gum every time you tweet a million times for me, it’s just that people keep offering me genuinely nice things to give away.

Sorry about that.

(It’s a tough life for you isn’t it?)

So if the chance to win a Kindle Fire HD isn’t enough for you this week, (greedy so and so), then I also have this funky pair of Hi-Tec walking boots to give away. View Post

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Summer is officially here.

Can’t you tell by all the rain we’ve been having?

*sobs*

The kids have only been off school for a few weeks and already you’re three quarters of your way through that emergency bottle of gin, your Pinterest boards full of inspiring outdoor craft activities look like hell on earth and you’re dreaming of getting away from it all, ideally on your own on a desert island with the remainder of the gin. View Post

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