My favourite photos – friends, travel and celebration

I entered a competition this week with Photoworld. It wasn’t so much the cool prizes that attracted me, as the excuse to have a little sit down and look through my photo albums. The competition has a different theme every week – this week it’s ‘friends’, next week is ‘travel’ and the week of October 6th is ‘celebration’. I had a look through the albums and picked out a picture for every theme, to help get you in the mood. Friends We moved about quite a lot when I was younger, so my oldest friends only date back to when I was about 14 years old. I have a close family, so I have them for my pre-teenage memories, but I’ve always thought it must be nice to have friends that you’ve known since you were really small. In the spirit of living through your children, I’ve made sure that Belle has friends like this. It was hard to do for Bee, as I was so young that I didn’t really have friends with children, but when Belle was about four weeks old I went along to a breastfeeding group and introduced her to some other babies. This is Belle, right, with her friend Ella, left. I love the look on Ella’s face, it’s a sort of mix of admiration – Belle is a few weeks older after all – and mild envy. Ella looks like she thinks Belle definitely has the best toy. We now live in Ella’s old house and Belle is still friends with Ella and her younger sister Josie. In fact, Ella is the one in the glasses in Belle’s Vertbaudet video last week.

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National Stationery Week and child sponsorship with World Vision

You might not immediately make the link between sponsoring a child with World Vision and National Stationery Week, but then the talent of any writer is take two seemingly unrelated subjected and weave them together into a convincing story.* Now I am a massive fan of stationery and love any excuse to buy a new pen, but in today’s modern touchscreen world I don’t often get to do much actual writing. One of the only times I ever sit down to write a letter is when I write to Eyerus, the child I sponsor through World Vision. I began sponsoring Eyerus after my trip to Ethiopia last year and it’s always lovely to get a letter from her – we’ve never met and yet she always shares such interesting details about her life. Child sponsorship really makes you appreciate how your money makes a difference to individual people and their communities. Ryman very kindly gave me a voucher to spend on treats to celebrate National Stationery Week – 31 March  – 6 April – so I thought it would be nice to share this with Eyerus. I bought myself a lovely new red pen to write my letter in (rather worryingly the same type of pen my Grandad used to insist on writing all his notes in when he was very old and forgetful) and I bought Eyerus a notebook and some coloured pencils. I’m pretty sure they won’t be celebrating National Stationery Week in Ethiopia but I hope that Eyerus gets as much joy from a notebook and coloured pencils as I do. Do you still write letters to anyone? *I’m not sure that is actually a writing thing, but one thing writers do need to be able to do is make a story convincing, and I pretty much…

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Birthday and Christmas present ideas that make a difference

This is a guest post from Must Have Gifts, part of World Vision UK. I did not receive payment for this post. I sponsor a child through World Vision and visited Ethiopia with them earlier this year so it’s a cause that is close to my heart. … If you have family or friends with a birthday in November or December it can often be a challenge to find a great present that means something but that doesn’t stretch the bank balance too much just before the expensive festive season. Thankfully, there are lots of charity gifts ideas from Must Have Gifts that can make a difference to other people’s lives as well as celebrating a special occasion. What are charity gifts? These are gifts that range from maize for a field through to re-building a roof for a clinic. A gift is brought online and donated straight to the community and the person you are buying for receives a card detailing the gift that has been made in their name. A gift that doesn’t sit on the shelf A charity gift of a mosquito net, a kid goat or chickens really makes a difference to children and the communities they live in. This would probably beat another pair of socks or a tie for that family member you are just sure what to buy.  These gifts improve lives as families can get produce from the animals and sell any excess, generating income.

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Do you let your children watch the news?

There is a lot of fuss made nowadays about internet safety and appropriate content online, but exactly how appropriate is it for us all to hear about the latest goings on in Syria, or the get updates on a rape trial, when we’re trying to enjoy a bowl of rice crispies or get on with a spot of homework? According to a recent survey, (conducted by NetVoucherCodes.co.uk), over two thirds of parents actively prevent their children from watching the news. Violent images of conflicts or acts of terrorism were the most common reason parents gave for switching off the TV, closely followed by coverage of topics such as serious crime. A majority of mums and dads also admitted that their fear of being asked difficult questions by their children was a factor in not letting them watch the news. Around half of the parents surveyed felt that 11-12 was about the right age for introducing children to the news.

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What’s on your fridge?

They say that you can tell a lot about a person by having a rummage through their bathroom cabinet, but if you want to be a little less creepy, I reckon that having a look at their fridge can do just as well. I like my fridge. I spend a lot of time wanting to open it and eat treats, so I have tried to cover the front with things I like – things that might hopefully distract me and make me forget why I was there in the first place. Here it is:

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As featured on Mommy.com

This is just a little thank you to Mommy.com for sharing one of my Ethiopia posts and helping to spread the word about the Enough Food IF campaign.If you’re not fed up of reading about my trip already, then check me out here.  Mommy.com features practical parenting tips, fitness advice, style trends, how-to videos, coupons and more and you can connect with Mommy.com on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

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My new glasses

My trip to Ethiopia was positive on just about every level, apart from one thing. On the flight on the way home, I managed to lose my only pair of glasses. Don’t ask me where they went, I have no idea. I took them off and popped them in the little pouch behind the seat in front while I had a snooze and when I woke up they had vanished. We waited until everyone had got off the plane, and scoured the floors, took apart the seats, but to no avail. It would seem they had literally fallen out of the sky. I managed to find my way home, squinting at signs and bumping around a little bit, and the very next morning set out on an emergency glasses mission. Fortunately, a rather funky new opticians has just opened across the road from me. Lunar Optical on the Gloucester Road in Bristol is one of those independent little gems that makes Gloucester Road so popular. When we went for eye tests when they first opened, not only were they incredibly welcoming and friendly, but they also had chocolate brownies and a cushion shaped like an owl – two of my favourite things.

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Mummy, I thought you were a burglar!

I was out early this morning. While everyone else was still asleep I was on BBC Radio Bristol, doing my best to sound intelligent and thoughtful about my Ethiopia trip, and not like a toddler who had accidentally been given a microphone. I got back at about 8am, and the house was still silent, but as I was opening the curtains in the living room I heard some quiet footsteps on the stairs. I turned and saw Belle, arms held out in front of her, Jackie Chan style. She saw me and looked relieved. “I thought you were a burglar!” she said. “Nope,” I said, “just me.” And then I thought for a bit. “So you thought there was a burglar and you were coming downstairs to confront me?”

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Did you win the Yeo Valley goodies?

Well goodness me, I was so busy pottering around in Ethiopia and what not, that I totally forgot until today that I was in the middle of running a competition to win a load of Yeo Valley goodies! Good timing though, as I had cleverly set the closing date for yesterday, the day I got back. I surprise myself sometimes with my genius.* Anyway, drum roll please, I’ve picked a winner! *bangs hands against side of desk in lieu of drum kit* (I did actually do that. You have to do something to brighten the day when you work at home on your own.) The winner is…

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Ben Fogle’s Sarawak Adventures – orangutan conservation

Today I wanted to share the second of Ben Fogle’s Sarawak adventure videos. I’m flying out to Ethiopia this weekend, and in the run up to trip I’ve been forced to think a lot about stuff that’s going on outside my cosy little comfort zone. This video is so easy to watch and think ‘Ahhh, that’s nice, cute orangutans wrestling with each other…’ without really getting your head around the idea that this is actually A Thing, happening right now. Animals and their habitats are being threatened or destroyed every day, all over the world, and it’s only because there are people who are prepared to take that reality on board and do something about it that our world is still as rich and diverse as it is.*

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