The children have been waiting a long time for a garden to play in and now that we have one I want to make it a lovely place for them to be. They asked and asked for a swing and I just thought, oh why not! They’ve waited so long that they shouldn’t have to wait any longer and though I know it’s not actually a birthday or anything I thought a special treat was on the cards; so we ordered the […]

I love having friends over for (as Worzel gummidge would say) ‘a cup of tea and a slice of cake’. But why be boring when you can be totally crazy AND at the same time not even turn the oven on! Today I made my usual chocolate tiffin refrigerator cake but added to my regular recipe some bashed up pieces of Cruncie Bar and Malteasers. I looked at the back of the cupboard, which usually houses tins of anchovies which […]

Well, it’s been three months since we moved to Norfolk and although sometimes it feels like we’ve done nothing and need to do everything, looking at photographs I took of the house today I can see we’ve brought the place on a fair amount. There’s still loads to do and enormous work that’s about to happen with our loft conversion (think walk in dressing room, en suite and loads of light) and a new kitchen but we’re getting there slowly! […]

Do you remember back in the day when Crocs first hit our streets? They were, probably, not the most fashionable of items for grown ups but something about them made me buy a pair and I remember LOVING them! People took the mickey out of me, I remember it well! Much like my Uggs, my friends told me they were ugly and I shouldn’t be wearing them! This only made me wear them even more and oh look… What became […]

As she lay on her sun longer listening to the gentle crashes of waves on the beach just behind her, Ruthie knew she’d made the right decision to come on this holiday. To say she was relaxed was an understatement and as that’s what holidays are supposed to be about she felt rather pleased with herself indeed. They’d been away as a family before of course but with children in tow the chill levels had never managed to quite achieve what […]

Everyone loves a bit of fancy dress but when it comes to the art I find we usually fall into two camps. There’s those of us who embrace it in every way, make our own costumes and don’t mind looking like a bit of a wally and there’s those of us (me) who prefer to buy their costumes and absolutely make sure that they still look as nice as possible when wearing them. I’ve gone to Halloween parties dressed as […]

Have you heard about the new #PampersLittleChampions Campaign? Jessica Ennis-Hill is the face of it and it’s all about getting our babies wearing the right kit (or nappies rather) for all the moving and shaking they do – as much as an athlete would you believe which is why Jessica is the perfect person to front it with Pampers! A couple of weeks ago I went to the launch of the #ThankYouMum campaign, something else that Olympian Jessica Ennis-Hill is […]

As a kid I was pretty lucky when it came to toys. My Mum was very kind and at Christmas and birthdays I remember always being given wonderful gifts. I don’t think I was overly indulged but my Mum knew which toys were important and did her very best to make sure I had the ones I was really hankering after. She somehow just knew (probably after looking at the Argos catalogue pages with the most thumb prints after I’d poured over […]

I used to love danger Mouse as a kid, it was SO funny and I was really pleased to note he’d made a screen comeback for the next generation to enjoy too. Of course with over 3.6 million viewers in its first six weeks on CBBC, the all-new TV series of Danger Mouse has been a ratings triumph and it was no surprise at all that he’s subsequently hit the toy shelves! Ready to replicate this on-screen success, Jazwares is set […]