20/04/201606/11/2017 by jo

Girls’ Football Week 2016

Girls’ Football Week 2016 is back – starting next week, Monday 25th April to Sunday 1st May.

Girls’ Football Week 2016 comes from the FA, and is set up to encourage girls to get involved with the beautiful game. There was a similar event last year which we covered here.

We’ve had a quiet start to the year, our Saturdays no longer at Carshalton – not because we’re stopping but because H has been exhausted with school. But soon we’ll be back for her Saturday morning kickabouts. Even though we haven’t been for a while, we’re still watching games on tv. It’s an exciting time to be a football supporter at the moment – from us as Tottenham supporters (what on EARTH is going on? Fantastic season), to York supporters (hanging on by a thread to the Football League) – and of course all the Women’s games that are on at the moment – which can be watched on BT Sport so are accessible to loads of people.

Add to that the Women’s FA Cup final (Arsenal v Chelsea) is happening next month at Wembley. Children under 18 can go for free, and it’s a fantastic time to be involved. I love that women’s games are super-affordable and we can take H along, and she enjoys it.

Now we have Girls’ Football Week 2016, which starts next week. It aims to increase the participation of girls within the game – and you can sign up here. There was a week of events last October, which didn’t filter down to Carshalton Athletic. I’ll be sending them the link to make sure they get involved. I’ll be making sure WE get involved again!

There’s a great ticket initiative, on a strict first come first served basis, if your school or club signs up, then you can apply for some free tickets for women’s games – for more information head here.

Football Mum of the Year, girls' football week

I love that we can watch the women’s game and not have the same feelings towards the teams as we do with the men’s. Her favourite player is still Fran Kirby. She has her England shirt with Casey Stoney’s name on the back – still going strong.

I’ve always loved football, and my love of the game has been passed on to H. She’s a lucky girl getting to see the England Men’s team next month. We’re hoping Harry Kane gets to play, then we can all watch him at a game rather than on tv!

If you have a love of football, help spread the word! Girls’ Football Week 2016 starts next week, so you don’t have long!

04/04/201616/03/2022 by jo

When Your Gas Boiler Leaks.

Anyone who knows me knows how I’ll often blog about most things, but I’ve struggled with this one – mainly because everything is still processing in my head. This is what happens when your gas boiler leaks.

Gas boiler leaks aren’t something that ever crossed our minds. We have a Carbon Monoxide detector next to the boiler, that’s enough, right?

We rent, and in doing so receive an annual Gas Safety Check, to make sure everything is safe. Ours was the Saturday morning – the man came really early, earlier than he’d planned and yet again I got up to deal with it, feeling groggy and a bit dizzy as the virus I’ve had since January didn’t seem to want to shift.

He asked to have a look in the loft. Shaun let him up there, and he came back down pretty quickly. This got placed on our boiler.

When your gas boiler is switched off for safety reasons, Leaky Flue Safety Warning Gas Boiler, Gas boiler leaks

Apparently the flue which links the boiler pipes from inside the house to outside have come away – rusted or rotted or something, but away. Fumes have been living in our loft, being inhaled by Shaun, H and I.

This is what happens when your gas boiler leaks.

Which explains a lot about my dizziness I’ve felt every single morning. Some mornings I’d stagger to the train feeling like I was drunk, not understanding why the virus wasn’t shifting as I’d definitely had nothing to drink so couldn’t blame that. The idea that it could be carbon monoxide didn’t even occur to me. I had no idea that such a thing was in the loft anyway. You know when you’re ignorant to things, not because you choose to be, but because it’s not the kind of thing you’d think about. That’s me. I mean, it makes perfect sense the fumes have to leave the house somewhere. But it’s not the kind of thing I’d think about.

Because I was too busy, too dizzy with work and life to go to the doctor to get checked out. H kept saying she felt sick without actually being sick. Because Shaun was tired a lot. It was “the virus that wouldn’t shift”. Right?

Now, I don’t think things were at a critical level, but I do believe we’ve been affected by it. Fortunately we get out of the house and open the windows, and with this winter being so mild, there has been plenty of air circulating around the house. (I even had washing out on the line in January)

Had it been colder, it doesn’t bear thinking what could have happened. I’m trying not to think what could have happened – but the reality is in that Sliding Doors other universe it really could have happened and we didn’t realise.

We have a Carbon Monoxide detector downstairs next to the heater (and it’s an awful hot air style heater – with air vents upstairs and downstairs) which didn’t react – obviously because it’s all going on up in the loft. So we’re lucky in that respect. We’re getting another Carbon Monoxide detector in the loft as a matter of priority.

But yet again, I hadn’t thought about it and just assumed you’d need a detector near the boiler, which makes sense.

Since our gas got turned off I haven’t felt dizzy once. H hasn’t felt sick, although Shaun is still sleepy – then again, he’s always been a bit sleepy! Which is when the penny dropped really, that and thanks to Facebook friends pointing it out.

So now we have to wait for our landlady to decide what she’s going to do. After our £230 monthly increase last year, I’m pretty sure we’ll get another whopping great big rise this year to pay for this; the joys of renting privately.

I have the clearest head I’ve had in a long time (I started feeling ill in January), and I’m not sure what to do next. Thank goodness we don’t spend a lot of time at home and get out quite a lot. That the weather was good. Thank goodness it was in the loft and not in the house. Thank goodness we had a Carbon Monoxide detector downstairs.

I am relieved we get an annual Gas Safety Check. If you’re reading please make sure you do. Please don’t put it off. My friends who own their place pay for British Gas to check theirs – and I’m sure plenty of other companies offer this service.

30/03/2016 by jo

Our Easter Weekend

Good Friday was a trip to Emmett’s Gardens and Chartwell, Winston Churchill’s home. We did the National Trust Easter Egg hunt at Emmett’s Gardens, somewhere we haven’t been before. It was a gloriously sunny day too, and the perfect weather for being outside and relaxing. I felt like my break had started! We’ve been to Chartwell before, so just wandered around the grounds. H was three when we last went so didn’t remember anything about it, whereas I remembered a lot more than Shaun!

Emmetts Gardens and Chartwell

I did stare at the house, wondering how people with so much money could justify living in such gigantic houses, but reading the Chartwell Wikipedia page, Winston Churchill couldn’t afford to live there as it was too big, so a friend bought it, he lived there for a nominal rent until his death when it was given to the National Trust. It’s a huge house…

Ebb and Flow Sutton Afternoon Tea

Saturday was a trip to the cinema to see the excellent Zootropolis in 3D – and it didn’t disappoint. Shaun spotted the Breaking Bad reference (these things always go over my head), and we all enjoyed it a lot. H enjoyed it so much she went to see it again today with Holiday Club! We popped to Ebb and Flow in Sutton afterwards for Afternoon Tea – at £10 each (and we only needed two for the three of us) it was a bargain, although I was high on sugar for ages afterwards!

H Easter Eggs 2016

Easter Sunday came, and H got WAY too many Easter Eggs – the lucky girl won one at school, and got two from her childminders! The day itself was a bit wet, and in fact, there were hailstones, so what better an idea than to go to Legoland? It’s just over an hour for us to get there, and we always seem to time it on a rainy day that brightens up, making the most of the short queues. We did loads! H got on rides she wouldn’t have dared go on a year ago – and we ended up on Mia’s Riding Adventure three times (I couldn’t do it any more after that – it is amazing though!). When we’d parked up and got into the park the sun came out – and we got a decent day of sun, with some rainy patches. We were dressed for a cold, wet day so ended up having plenty of fun!

Legoland Easter 2016

Easter Monday was a horrible weather day. H decided she was going to be sick (she wasn’t), and it was so rotten, and we had been so busy that we stayed at home and had a lazy day. I think we deserve it!

04/11/2015 by jo

An Important Topsy & Tim Update

This was posted on the Topsy & Tim Facebook page this morning – in case you missed it, and it’s relevant for the episode next week (October 11th) ‘Lovely Mossy’

Mossy Storyline
(Plot Spoiler Alert!)

We can see there has been some speculation about Mossy on the Topsy and Tim facebook page over the past few weeks, therefore we are now confirming, for parents who would like to be forewarned, that we will be covering the death of Mossy in Episode 9 of the current series of Topsy and Tim. Episode 9 titled ‘Lovely Mossy’ is to transmit on Wednesday 11th November at 5pm (and again on Saturday 14th November at 10.45am and 3.40pm).

Also, at the end of Episode 8 titled ‘New Glasses’, Topsy and Tim see Dad head off to the vets to visit Grandma, who’s very worried about Mossy. Episode 8 is to transmit on Wednesday 4th November at 5pm (and again on Saturday 7th November at 10.45am and 3.40pm)

A great deal of consideration has gone into this particular story strand of Topsy and Tim. The current series sets out to reflect a time for the twins when there are many new emotional challenges to overcome as they grow up and settle into Year One at school. Topsy’s visit to hospital and Tim’s poor eyesight and subsequent visit to the optometrist reflect the sorts of challenges children of this age might face. We have been careful to handle these topics, and of course the big challenge of the death of a much loved pet, sensitively and we hope parents and carers will find these episodes useful as their children grow. In particular we hope parents/carers will find the episode Lovely Mossy valuable in helping their children experience, indirectly, the emotions involved in losing a much-loved pet. So if you do have any concerns about your child’s response to this storyline, we recommend you watch or record the episode or watch it on playback first and then watch it together with your child when you feel prepared for any questions they may ask.

This article may also be a useful guide – it’s written by the Blue Cross to help support a child at the time of losing a pet… (https://www.bluecross.org.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/Children%20and%20pet%20loss.pdf)

After Episode 9 ‘Lovely Mossy’, Episode 10 ‘All Change’ (due to transmit on Wednesday 18th November at 5pm, then again Saturday 21st November at 10.45am and 3.40pm) concludes the series with a story, some months later, about other changes in the twins’ lives. There is mention that Mossy has died during this episode.

We hope this information helps.

Source – Mossy Storyline (Plot Spoiler Alert!) We can see there has been some speculation about Mossy on the Topsy and Tim… Posted by Topsy and Tim on Wednesday, 4 November 2015

12/10/201501/01/2019 by jo

The Dyson V6 and How I Learned About Good Vacuum Cleaners

The Dyson v6 seems to be one of those cordless vacuum cleaners people swear by. Yesterday I visited their showroom to try one out.

The Dyson v6 is Dyson’s cordless vacuum cleaner – and I was invited to an event at the Dyson Showrooms, to watch a demonstration of how good it is. Now, this may not seem exciting to a lot of people, but it was for me. We’ve had a Dyson DC04 for over twelve years now, we bought it as a wedding present, and on getting it home, started using it straight away. We were impressed – our hallway carpet had a clean white stripe down it, as years of dust were whisked away from our lives. Embarrassing how dusty our flat was, but happy as it wasn’t any more!

So what makes a good vacuum cleaner? In my world, having perennial rhinitis (a year-round dust allergy, so I have to keep everywhere as dust-free as possible) means a good dust busting cleaner is needed. Our bedroom has laminate floors, however this attracts a lot of dust, and our house is a dusty one. We end up using wet floor cleaners in our room as our current vacuum cleaner (Dyson DC04) is a bit too big for our room and the little corners.

On arriving at the showrooms I grabbed a seat and found myself with various Dyson parts, including this interesting looking cleaner head. I had a good look at it, it felt heavy. That’s because the Dyson v6 has its motor in the head – something which makes perfect sense when explained. After all, when you’re using a cleaner the last thing you want is to be lugging the heavy bit around while keeping the light bit in front of you – it doesn’t make sense. This piece of Dyson technology was in front of me, and we couldn’t work out what it was from. A robot vacuum maybe?

We were called over for a demonstration by a Dyson engineer who explained lots about the Dyson v6. At home, we have a mixture of laminate and carpet floors, and some things are awful to get out – my biggest problem is glitter from the carpet, although dust within the gaps in the laminate is also a pain. This is where the v6 comes in – as it has an extender which appears to be in lots of colours depending on the model you have so you don’t bend down, but get the full benefit of the powerful engine. It’s kind of useful when you feel a bit Star Wars and want to pretend it’s a lightsaber. Fortunately another lovely blogger also wanted to… (photo credit – Helen at Kiddycharts)

A photo posted by Helen Neale ~ Kids / Travel (@kiddycharts) on Oct 10, 2015 at 9:55am PDT

Practical stuff: the Dyson v6 takes 3.5 hours to charge, and you’re likely to get 20 minutes of vacuum time. It has a capacity of 0.4 metres.

The Dyson v6 also has a Max Mode option – up to six minutes of extra vacuum power for more difficult tasks. I had a race with another blogger on a multi surfaces area, and found that it has a good overall pickup rate, but that for edges you need to go back over it, which is fine, as that’s the same as with any other vaccum. But yes, going into the Dyson Showroom and racing with another blogger to clean things up. My mum would be proud!

Dyson say “Other cordless vacuum manufacturers compromise on either weight or suction, because they have to choose between motors that are either bulky or weak.”

We got to clean up many different kinds of things from the floor – cereals, rice, coffee and the aforementioned most hated of mine, glitter! The Dyson v6 did the trick every time, and with the Max Mode for additional suction, I was sold. It cleared the lot! Here’s a little video of me doing a spot of hoovering – this is coffee.

The best thing about the Dyson v6 was how you can use it on most surfaces and change the attachments easily. There’s also a handy docking station where you can charge the machine, as well as store all the attachments. Otherwise you can just plug it in to charge.

Things we learnt – the Dyson engineers print off 3D plastic models for their new designs so that they can try them out and make any modifications before it goes into production.

As for emptying the contents, there’s a button you press (which isn’t easy, so you can’t do it by mistake) – making sure you have it over the bin of course – and it’s a simple straightforward disposal.

Then there’s the filters. They can be washed, left to dry and used forever. This is why I love Dyson, because the only thing we’ve ever had to buy since owning one was a new filter (because I keep forgetting to wash it from time to time – it’s a cotton one). If you look on the picture below, the v6 filter is the blue circular shape on the top of the machine – the extra filter is the one pointed out.

The machine itself fits together easily and logically. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t bother reading instructions unless I absolutely have to, and didn’t have any problem with the Dyson v6.

We were also shown the impressive Dyson v6 Absolute, which has an extra filter to help people with allergies (like me!) – the air it filters out is cleaner than the air we breathe. If I had the money to buy one I’d definitely consider this with my allergies, and H is a sneezy child too. All the Dyson v6 have twice the amount of suction of any other handheld vacuums out there. We tried so many different surfaces and I’m impressed. The fact you don’t need to change heads for different surfaces and it still works is a good thing, especially with a bad back like mine!

What sells the Dyson v6 for me is that I can use it as an upright cleaner or a handheld. While it will never replace our old Dyson, I’m impressed with how easily it picks up everything. The extra tools make it a very adaptable vacuum cleaner.

I was invited to the Dyson Showrooms to view the vacuums, all opinions are my own. If you want to find other posts from bloggers at the event, search for the hashtag #NoCordsAttached – thank you to Joe Bloggs Network and Currys for the invite. You can buy the Dyson v6 at Currys via this link.

05/10/201526/03/2018 by jo

The FA Launches Girls Football Week 2015

Today the FA has launched Girls Football Week 2015 – running until the 11th October 2015.

Girls Football Week 2015 is an initiative to encourage schools to create more female football training sessions.

It is being delivered in partnership with Independent Schools FA, English Schools FA, Association of Colleges Sport and British Universities and Colleges Sport.

This year the programme has been extended to Primary and Secondary schools, colleges and universities as well as clubs and community groups.

Last year more than 2000 people took part in Girls Football Week over 80 groups – and this year the FA are hoping Girls Football Week 2015 will encourage over 5000 girls to take part.

The FA has some free resources to help schools set up sessions, and more information can be found here.

You can find more information here for each relevant group about Girls Football Week 2015.

Primary schools: www.TheFA.com/Skills
Secondary schools: www.TheFA.com/Schools
Colleges: www.ecfa.org.uk/development/womens-football.aspx
Universities: www.bucs.org.uk/womensfootballoffer

H plays football every weekend at Carshalton Athletic, who are now talking about setting up an Under 8’s team, which H hopes to be involved in. I’ve offered my social media services with the Women’s team, in the hope it will help spread the word (as I have no idea when they’re playing and would love to help). H loves football now – she enjoys playing and has decided she wants to be a goalkeeper these days – and seems to be getting better at saving goals too.

None of this could be possible, were it not for the way girls are accepted in football training sessions. At Carshalton Athletic girls go free which I think is a wonderful scheme and one which keeps us going back. I really hope that H gets to represent her local team as I know she’d be so proud. She gets opportunities I never had, and I love that she loves the game as much as I do.

Do you have a girl who plays football? Don’t forget the FA’s ‘We Can Play’ campaign, tag your photos with the hashtag – and help spread the word! After the wonderful Women’s World Cup this year, there’s a real momentum and I hope it continues. We won’t talk about the last England Euro qualifier which didn’t make it onto tv, mind. H’s favourites are still Casey Stoney and Fran Kirby. She loves Harry Kane just as much. It’s all good.

30/09/201502/10/2015 by jo

Holidays vs The Classroom

There is a lot of talk about the fines you get for taking your child out of school when the absence is unauthorised – once they’re over 5, it’s £60 per parent, per day – which is a lot of money. Book FHR have a campaign at the moment, Is Travel Education? which covers the difference between taking your child out of school or not. Is there a solution? They’ve asked some of us bloggers to share our experiences, and this is ours.

We’ve only taken H out of school once, although she was still four – so we didn’t get fined. (it was when she watched Topsy & Tim being filmed). I agonised over the decision – it was a fantastic opportunity, and one we would never get again. The educational element of it was something I knew she’d find interesting (as she thinks Topsy & Tim are her friends – or at least, did two years ago). Of course, as expected it was unauthorised at school despite her teacher and teaching assistant both thinking it was a fabulous opportunity and telling us to have fun – but it’s not their decision.

Fast forward, we’re in Year 2 and she’s at the age she could be fined, and I can’t imagine taking her out of school. I’ve turned down so many fabulous blogging opportunities because it would involve taking time out of school. (I’d also need to use annual leave which is a big factor)

Amsterdam

Which takes us to this summer. Somehow, after careful planning, we managed to find holidays in school holiday time which have been affordable – breaks in Cornwall and The Netherlands. Would I book a holiday during school time? No. But people do. That’s their choice, and indeed, there have been times when H’s classmates have all said “noo, she’s gone on holiday!” when the teacher has said the child is poorly at registration. I can’t lie. I’d rather have the absence marked as unauthorised, as I feel it sets a bad example by lying – but I can understand why people do it.

This summer we’ve done plenty of educational activities while we’ve been away. In Cornwall we visited the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, Pendennis Castle, the Eden Project which all had educational aspects. When we went to The Netherlands we visited the Dutch Resistance Museum Junior which was very interesting and educational, as well as wandering around the streets, H discovering what it was like in mainland Europe.

Stroking a wombat at Caversham Wildlife Park, Australia

When we’ve visited Australia, we’ve had to do it over the summer holidays, which also happens to be Australia’s winter – so the schools are back and it’s quiet. We even found cheap flights which helped a lot via a flight tracker. Last year the weather was warmer in Australia than London!

Pendennis Castle, Cornwall

So what has H learnt this summer? She has learnt that seals can be looked after well when they’re found poorly. Castles can be really awkward to climb up, but interesting to pretend you’re really living in (and it’s her topic at school this term). She learnt that children were affected by the war in the Netherlands in different ways, and remembers facts about the children – not quite getting her head around the fact they don’t have chocolate just like that, like she does – that they’re hidden in the floorboards for Christmas.

Dutch Resistance Museum - hidden Chocolate

Dutch Resistance Museum Junior – hidden Chocolate in the floorboards

She has learnt that in the Netherlands they speak a different language, and has some new words she has been taught (yes, no, thankyou). She knows bees are important. She has learnt how to bodyboard at the beach. She has crossed on a causeway to an island to explore around it (St. Michaels Mount). She has visited Stonehenge again and enjoyed it this time.

She has travelled by car, boat, plane, train, tram, bus, on foot.

Utrecht canal boat trip

Now I know that school holidays are at a different time in mainland Europe, I’m thinking about more European breaks – if only for things being quieter. That or you find the places people don’t go to, and make the most of them (there were some fabulous National Trust beaches in Cornwall which were so quiet). So while I’m not a fan of being fined for taking time out of school, careful planning can mean you get a cheap break anyway.

This post has been written in collaboration with Book FHR

23/09/201526/03/2018 by jo

We Saw the Miffy Art Parade!

A month ago we spent three days in The Netherlands, timing our visit so H could see some of the Miffy Statues around Amsterdam and Utrecht. We’ve mentioned the Miffy Art Parade on here already, but this was our chance to see them properly.

We landed in Schiphol Airport mid-morning, knowing there was a Miffy Statue before and after passport control [note – the one after passport control had been moved] – and found a Miffy Pop Up Store as we exited Passport Control. Happily, our first one was in there, as well as a map of Amsterdam showing us locations of the statues – phew!

So the aim was, find as many statues from the Miffy Art Parade while going to areas we’d be going to anyway. That seemed an easy enough task – we met Steven whose house we stayed in, and headed off on the tram towards the museumplein where we knew several statues would be. As it was we missed loads by a matter of days, as they had been removed, but still found two statues at the Rijksmuseum – who have recently opened a Dick Bruna exhibition which is showing until the 15th November 2015, and has borrowed work from the Centraal Museum in Utrecht as well as some of Dick Bruna’s own personal collection. More info here. Most places around here no longer had statues (check the website for up to date information) so we moved on.

We walked to the Miffy Store (de winkel von Nijntje) via the Hotel Okura (which had another statue inside), and were left baffled why the store didn’t have a statue (but you can look inside the store on Google Maps which was fun). We still managed to spend money on essentials like a nice dutch Nijntje, a pack of plasters, several postcards of the statues (picking out the ones we’d seen), and a keyring, money box… so much stuff, but enough we could still carry it all home in our hand luggage.

The following day was the big one – our trip to Utrecht. The home of Dick Bruna, somewhere I’ve always wanted to go, and the home of the Dick Bruna Huis (currently being refurbished until December 2015), and over the road the Centraal Museum which has a large Miffy exhibition.

On arriving at Utrecht we wandered around the streets, relying on our data on our phones to find some statues – and stumbling across another Miffy Pop Up Store which was closing on the day we went. Inside was a statue, and there were many more to follow. Knowing there was a map for Amsterdam, I found out that Utrecht also had them, so headed to the tourist information building, where of course there was another statue, so our total spotted was growing!

When in Utrecht, and you have a map of all the Miffy things, the one place you need to visit is the Nijntje Pleintje (Miffy Place). In reality just a square with a permanent little Miffy in there, but the name was the first time I’d got the pronunciation of Nijntje correct (nine-tche is the closest I can say).

It was wet on our Utrecht day, and we were getting cold, and had been wandering around a while now. It was decided we needed food – in H’s case she decided she needed ice cream. So we headed back into the main shopping area, where we found the wonderful Njintje crossing – it’s a Dick Bruna fan’s Abbey Road, basically. We may have crossed over it several times, much to H’s delight. Lesser so, the drivers… oops.

By now we’d eaten and had to head over to the other side of Utrecht, so took a boat on the canal. What a lovely way to get to know the city – and seeing all the shops canal-side was a great perspective to look at the areas we’d walked. We were soon at the Centraal Museum, where we continued our trip, visiting the Miffy exhibition. In the first room you can see two statues from the Miffy Art Parade.

These were followed by many more – plus some we couldn’t find. With it being towards the end of the exhibition a lot of the statues were being moved into the Rijksmuseum for an auction on the 8th October (which I’m guessing will tie in with what’s going on there now), but there were still plenty to see!

H had a wonderful time in the museum, doing some crafts and colouring in while I wandered around, my childhood in giant books I could hide inside. We stopped in the cafe for a Miffy pancake which I shared with H.

We decided to wander back and see which other statues we could find. As it was, there was just the one – in Winkel van Sinkel (which we had walked past several times that morning).

Plus we also spotted some of the Miffy statues that were on cars when the Tour de France came through Utrecht, on display in a window at the central Council offices. That was it, we were Miffy-d out for another day, and caught our train back to Leiden!

Our final day, we were back in Amsterdam. The sun was shining and it was a glorious day. A day for wandering around, and if we happened to be near anywhere that had a statue, we’d pop in. We spent most of the day at the Dutch Resistance Museum Junior, before wandering around and finding ourselves where another three statues lived – in the Hortus Botanicus – who let me in at a reduced rate and H in for free – so we found our final two statues which were inside the grounds, including the one by Madelon Bruna, Dick Bruna’s daughter [far right].

I would imagine all the Miffy Art Parade statues have gone, as the exhibition is due to finish around now, but the celebrations are continuing this year – Miffy is 60, and I’m so happy we had a chance to visit and celebrate too!

The Miffy Art Parade website is here where you can check the status of which Miffy’s are still on show. There’s also a webstore, and I really wish I had bought this Design-Your-Own Miffy – at €39.95 it isn’t cheap, so you’d need to know what you wanted your Miffy to be!

The Miffy Art Parade is still on show in Japan in various cities. Again, check the website for which are still viewable for up to date information.

19/09/2015 by jo

The Dutch Resistance Museum Junior, Amsterdam.

Recently we went to Amsterdam. We always like to try a museum while we’re there, and with the help of Steven, our host, we decided on the Dutch Resistance Museum Junior. They have opened a section of the museum for younger visitors, and while we weren’t sure what to expect, we knew it would be more age-appropriate for H.

The Dutch Resistance Museum Junior has stories from four children who lived through the war. They all have different perspectives – you enter into each of their houses and experience their lives when they were younger.

Henk likes the war. He collects things like shrapnel.

Eva is a jew. She’s from Austria and escaped from there when the Nazi’s took over the country. Unfortunately the Nazi’s are about to take over the Netherlands.

Jan hardly sees his father. He’s a Resistance fighter, and often disappears.

Nelly’s father is involved with the Nazi’s. She can’t see a problem, and enjoys the lifestyle it brings.

Each child’s account of the war is from the perspective of how they were back then – and there’s an English Language version available. In some sections you have interactive parts where you can decide what to do.

Dutch Resistance Museum Junior Eva Schloss house

The story which has stuck with me is Eva’s. In her house Christmas presents are hidden under the floorboards (see middle picture). You sit around their kitchen table (end picture), and you’re given a choice. The Nazi’s have sent a letter demanding her (jewish) brother goes to a camp. Their only option is to go into hiding, or go to the camp – so which do you choose. We had a few chances to decide, and opinions from the characters, but ultimately you go into hiding. So you move into the next room, a narrow room where Eva and her mother hide (the father and brother hide in a different property). But then they’re caught, and moved to a concentration camp and finally Auschwitz.

It was something of a relief to find that Eva is still alive, living in London and has written books about her experience (which I have since bought) – we also found out she is Anne Frank’s stepsister, her mother having married Anne Frank’s dad after the war (her father and brother did not survive). Her brother’s artwork is on display in the main part of the Dutch Resistance Museum.

All four children are still alive, and you get to watch a video afterwards, with them speaking about their feelings and experiences and how they feel now, sixty years later. This bit really got to me, and I was in tears. As Henk said on his video, “we haven’t learned much because it still happens”. I couldn’t go to the rest of the museum for fear of crying too much. People did this to other people. The museum is full of people’s personal accounts of what happened to them during the war.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Aug 28, 2015 at 7:01am PDT

It’s a very educational hands-on museum with a lot of interactive areas, and H remembers a lot about it, though lesser so the context. She remembers that Nelly’s father was the mayor, and remembers that Eva was sent away somewhere after hiding, but no more than that – she’s still young.

Many reviews online say this is a great accompaniment to Anne Frank’s house which explains what happened back in wartime. We couldn’t get into Anne Frank’s house as the queues were too long, whereas the Dutch Resistance Museum Junior was quite empty (children were back at school in the Netherlands when we visited). I would agree with this, for being somewhere that keeps that part of history alive and isn’t scared to visit the darker side. It’s spelt out plainly, and if H was a little bit older I’m sure she would be asking many more questions. I would highly recommend. Next time we go to Amsterdam we will get to Anne Frank’s house.

The Dutch Resistance Museum Junior is inside the Dutch Resistance Museum, and is just over the road from Amsterdam Zoo, and is easy to get to. Their website is here, adults pay €10 and under 7’s go free. The site gives you a good idea of the museum too. You get a free English audio guide, and to activate it you hold it near the sensor.

25/08/2015 by jo

Cornwall on a Budget

So we had a week in Cornwall last week, and had to watch our money – and typically a few things happened which meant we had to be even stricter with our pennies – Shaun broke a tooth (which will cost over £500 to fix). Car insurance was due, and our National Trust membership. Luckily we’d booked our holiday back in February or March and paid in full at the time!

The good thing about Cornwall is how much you can do being a member of an organisation, so you really only end up buying food and mementoes.

On our journey down we stopped at Moto Service Stations – with a Merlin Pass you get a discount at some stores – it all helps!

The National Trust own several beaches and properties – and you can save a lot of money on car parking this way. The two beaches we visited were Kynance Cove and Gunwalloe Church Cove and both were wonderful. Kynance Cove has a busy cafe, and plenty of areas for kids to explore, plus great tides for bodyboarding. Gunwalloe is an open beach, perfect for flying a kite and again great for bodyboarding. There’s a cash-only cafe there.

Cash – now there’s something. I’m used to paying by card and carrying minimal cash with me, but found in Cornwall you need to carry some cash with you, as you will get caught out. Our nearest cashpoint was often in Helston (a good 10 miles away) so I made sure to have some handy, mainly to pay for car parking – as don’t expect an app to work on your phone to pay it, there’s no phone signal around a lot of the beaches!

We also have English Heritage membership via Shaun’s CSSC card, and found we also got a discount in their stores – a good excuse to buy a bit more! This covered Pendennis Castle near Falmouth, which was a good morning out – try to get there for midday as they fire a gun out towards the sea, which H enjoyed. We didn’t make it to Tintagel Castle which I want to visit, so that’ll be one for next time.

The night before we were due to check in to our caravan, we decided to stay in a wooden wigwam near Chepstow – it was well placed for the M5 and an early start. We beat the bad traffic, but be aware there are long-term roadworks near Bodmin, which delayed things by 40 minutes. I got a Wowcher deal, and it was warm, comfortable and quiet – bedding was included too. There was a good cafe there too, very child-friendly. We paid £50.

As well as the beaches, the National Trust have several properties around the area we stayed – we visited Trellisick Garden as we had arrived in Cornwall four hours before our check-in time. It was good to stretch our legs and discover a new area – plus the weather was gloriously sunny! We also visited Glendurgan (which had a fabulous maze and beach you could skim pebbles on), and of course St Michael’s Mount.

St Michael’s Mount is National Trust owned, but your parking costs extra. It’s an easy walk over (as long as the tide is out) – a lot of the causeway was swept away with the bad storms, so is being rebuilt – so they ask that you get back before the tide comes in. They’re obviously not going to stop you walking over it when the sea covers it, but I guess if everyone did there’d be a problem. It was a good 4-5 hours of wandering around the rock, listening to storytellers and H had a special trail to follow which she enjoyed and got a medal at the end for completing. The views too – and the glorious weather! If you don’t make it back before the tide, you can still get back by boat which costs a reasonable amount. There are food places on the rock, but expect queues. We went to the Sail Loft which had good priced food. Be aware, while everywhere takes cards, the boat rides back don’t – so make sure you have cash! The National Trust gift shop offers cashback as long as you spend £5 – there are no cashpoints there.

We didn’t just have glorious weather though, the rain really made its presence known. We headed out to the Seal Sanctuary in Gweek on one of those days, assuming there’d be cover – but it’s all outdoors. Fortunately we were wrapped up well so didn’t feel it (it was a warm but wet day), and gained free entry with our Merlin Passes as it’s a Sea Life Attraction. It’s a wonderful day out – a place where all the sick seals go – and they have the freedom to move around in large areas, some of them likely to live the rest of their life there. Each area has a story about its inhabitants and where they came from, and it’s fascinating. H really enjoyed it, and again, they had a trail which she completed and got a medal. There’s a Lego City quiz on at the moment which she enjoyed doing, you get a nice folder with stickers and things inside. There were areas you could shelter from the rain, so when it got really bad we stopped for food, expect to spend a good 3-4 hours there – there’s lots of walking to do!

We popped into Roskilly’s Ice Cream Parlour on more than one occasion. We also stopped by the area where the cows are milked – having read a lot about it lately, it was reassuring to see the cows graze on pastures which are farmed in a sustainable way on their organic farm. While I still feel uncomfortable seeing cows milked (it’s the being taken away from their babies bit I don’t like), it was interesting for H to see.

We visited other beaches too – Poldhu was great, and we found had lost all its sand in one of the severe storms over the last few years. Fortunately it came back after another severe storm, and was a good place to pitch our chairs and relax (and for H to bodyboard of course). The Poldhu Beach Cafe sells lots of t-shirts and essentials – slightly more expensive for the beach essentials but a good cafe nonetheless.

On our first night we went to Praa Sands, unfortunately just as the tide was coming in but it was good to be by the sea again – a place I always feel calm. There’s cafe’s there as well, and shops too. We also visited Gunwalloe – be aware, this is different to Gunwalloe Church Cove. Pebbles! It’s the fishing side of the bay, although I did get a laugh when a giant wave completely soaked H – I probably laughed a bit too much….

A trip to that part of Cornwall (Helston) isn’t complete without a trip to St Ives – at less than ten miles away, we used the shuttle bus service, going into the main village and wandering around the shops before heading towards the Tate and getting the shuttle bus back. It cost £5 to park our car, and a £5 return for the three of us. Wandering around the shops was great, and I finally got into a branch of Seasalt where I treated myself to a new skirt in their sale! I’d been looking for a book of Cornish stories for H after she heard ‘Jack the Giant Killer’ at St Michael’s Mount – and found the perfect book in the St Ives Bookseller – it’s a small independent bookshop and has a great selection in there. We ate at the Seafood Cafe which caters for vegetarians and was really reasonably priced too.

Our journey home involved a stop at the Eden Project, which had so much to do we need to go back to get it done – there’ll be a more in-depth review to follow. We bought tickets heavily discounted with the CSSC membership.

At the very end of our break we made the most of a trip to Stonehenge, the half-way mark on the way home – and free of course as we’re English Heritage AND National Trust members. Phew!

Mum Friendly

the things we do, the things we like

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