by jo

Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren

I still can’t believe my little girl is 8. But being that bit older means she’s enjoying reading books which are a bit older in tone too. We are reviewing Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren, and are taking part in a blog tour.

Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren is a book for older readers. H is 8, and I wasn’t sure if this would be age-appropriate for her. Then I realised she had stolen all my Harry Potter books. In addition she has read them way more times than I had, so actually, she would be absolutely fine. Silly me!

Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren

Once H started reading Prisoner of Ice and Snow she would switch off from what was going on around her – completely engrossed!

No one has escaped from Demidova in over three hundred years, and if Valor is to succeed she will need all of her strength, courage and love. If the plan fails, she faces a chilling fate worse than any prison …

I asked H for her opinion about Prisoner of Ice and Snow.

“I liked it, it’s a good book. Valor, the main character, does something bad and is put in prison. She tries to help her sister escape. It’s an adventure story, I think it’s a good book for 8-12 year olds. It was good as it had two main characters that were girls.

I liked that Prisoner of Ice and Snow had more girls in it that boys. It was an exciting story too! It had a happy ending. I didn’t want to put the book down when sad things were happening in case something went wrong. 

“Valor is a bit older than me – she’s 13. It always snows and is cold where she lives. Both her parents are still alive and well. They’re outside the prison, but her twin sister Sasha is inside. Sasha is accused of stealing a magic box. If you haven’t read the book it seems like is a little thing to be imprisoned for. However, the music box belongs to the royal family!

Valor goes to prison for attempted murder on the prince. She wanted to get into Demidova to help her sister escape. Valor didn’t want to murder the prince, it was all about getting her sister. She tries to shoot the prince with her crossbow but misses him on purpose. 

At the start I struggled a bit, though once I got into the book it was very exciting and a good read. I couldn’t put it down sometimes!”

So there speaks H. She has really enjoyed the books – check out the other blogs on this tour, and big thank you’s to Faye Rogers for organising it!

Ruth Lauren’s site is here. You can buy the book at Amazon here (Affiliate link).

Prisoner of Ice and Snow Blog Tour

by jo

PPI Claims – It’s the Final Countdown

We’re into the two year countdown before you can no longer make any PPI Claims.

PPI Claims are in the news a lot these days, mainly due to insurance companies mis-selling them. It might have happened to you. I like to think I’m sensible with money, especially these days but can’t guarantee I was when I was nineteen.

PPI Claims - do it yourself

Fortunately, I’m a bit of a hoarder. I keep anything which is relevant even when it isn’t any more. We were sorting out old paperwork and I found some old Endsleigh life and house insurance policies – along with PPI Certificates.

The whole process of PPI claims felt really long-winded. Lots of forms to fill out and I couldn’t set aside the time to do it, I didn’t have the time. I didn’t really want to fill out forms either, it felt like a lot of hassle. I looked at companies to do it for me but having spoke to one they took 50%.

Then I read on MoneySavingExpert about a site which is really easy to use – Resolver. They offer a free service which allows you to contact providers about potential PPI Claims. Sometimes it’s quick and straightforward, other times it takes longer.

It is REALLY EASY to do it yourself.

I opened a case with Endsleigh, making sure to include my policy numbers. A cheque arrived six days later! I’m impressed – but then I had proof so it would be easy for them to work on.

Other policies with other providers will take longer, especially when I don’t have account numbers, but fortunately I remember all our old addresses.

The whole process took me half an hour generating emails and remembering the policies I’ve taken out. Since then we’ve found more things with PPI on them, which is encouraging.

Doing PPI Claims has got me thinking a lot more about what I’ve taken out in the past. So actually, it’s a good thing I’m a bit of a hoarder. Keeping all the old receipts is a good thing (Marie Kondo would say otherwise). Each provider should be able to search and find you in their systems.

I recommend trying it out – I’m pleased with the results!

by jo

Osterley Park and House – and Our First Time in a Canoe

It was a sunny day so I suggested we travel to West London to try Osterley Park and House – our National Trust membership has just renewed for an eighth year so I wanted to use it as quickly as possible.

Osterley Park and House is over in West London, around an hour for us in the car. You arrive and you wouldn’t feel like you’re in London at all, apart from being underneath the Heathrow flight path, so you see a plane every minute or so.

Osterley Park and House

Osterley House dates back to Tudor times – we ran out of time to investigate so we’ll have to go back. We were going to combine a trip with Syon House but ran out of time – there was way more to do than we thought.

The National Trust website mentions sports activities in Osterley Park, so we headed there as it sounded like something fun to do. Little did we know it would be a LOT of fun. H has played badminton twice now, so any excuse to find some space to have a proper game, right? (and they provide racquets too)

Osterley Park and House badminton

 

In conjunction with the National Trust, a local canoeing club offer you a 30-45 minute canoe around the pond there. At £6 per person we thought it was pretty reasonable – the main issue for me was how deep was the lake?

It isn’t that deep at all, probably up to H’s shoulders, so we could have stood comfortably in there had we fallen out. Nonetheless, we wore life jackets and I instantly wondered what on earth I was getting myself into.

Canoeing at Osterley Park and House

The canoe sessions are running until October, and are definitely worth doing! For the more experienced canoeist you could take one on your own. If there are just the two of you, there are plenty of two man canoes. Ours holds three people so we didn’t get wet (you do in the canoes for two). My feet still ended up soaked but oh my, it was GREAT fun! We went around the lake twice, and ended up exhausted – it took a short while to get our rhythm as well as making sure none of us shuffled around too much.

But that’s not all, because Osterley Park has a trail – a natural play trail. How cool is that? If you head for the long walk around the grounds you’ll find it. There are plenty of bits of wood marked like this

Osterley Park and House arrow

You come across wooden features like this

Osterley Park and House wooden climbing natural play

and this

Osterley Park and House natural play 2

or this

Osterley Park rope swing

and even this

Osterley Park and House Rope Swing 2

until you reach the really big natural play area with this

Osterley Park and House giant swing

and a tree you can climb which is a really good tree for climbing, with a ‘climb chime’ half way up.

Osterley Park and House Chime Climb

and this – but of course who needs an invitation when it comes to building dens?

Osterley Park and House den arena

We could have spent far longer at Osterley Park and House, which means we’ll just have to go back. Next time we’ll combine it with that trip to Syon Park we didn’t manage to get to.

Here’s their website.

Country Kids

by jo

Gel-a-Peel Fun, Getting Back to School Creative

We have been sent a Gel-a-Peel kit, something I hadn’t heard of but was curious to try. Now H is 8 this is an ideal craft activity for her, she just needs to learn to be patient!

Gel-a-Peel is a simple concept. We received three tubes of different coloured gels, three nozzles for the gels, plus two additional nozzles. You also get a scraper and a tool to help get the aforementioned gel out of the nozzles. As well as this there are some metal attachments if you want to make earrings.

You also receive a tray which has various moulded shapes on it, including the alphabet. There’s a clear sheet which you create your designs on , copying from the templates you can place underneath, and then leave to try.

That’s where Gel-a-Peel tested H’s patience! She’s generally a patient child, but often you have to leave it for up to five hours (or overnight) to dry. I found that taking the letters and shapes out of the mould after a few hours and leaving to try on the clear sheet helps too.

Gel-a-Peel fun

Gel-a-Peel is loads of fun! It’s quite easy to get through a tube though, so we’re already looking at buying some refills.

We received a textbook to decorate. I was curious – how would they stick on? This is the fun bit – you just get a tiny drop of the gel and stick it on that way. I’ll report back how long they’ll stay on for as right now we have only just done it.

If you look at the Gel-a-Peel website there are some SERIOUSLY impressive things on there – something to get stuck into in the future, I reckon!

H also decided to make her BFF a bracelet (drying time approx 4-5 hours). That was another Gel-a-Peel fun activity. It was also another patience test – doing one colour at a time then leaving it to dry for a little bit before doing the next bit. This morning the bracelet looks pretty cool – she just needs to make some BFF initials now (drying time approx 4-5 hours).

Gel-a-Peel bracelet

Gel-a-Peel is a fun, affordable activity.  You can buy several different kits – head over here to have a look.

If you want a quick activity, make one of these fun bands – they’re a good starter project and get you used to how thick the gel needs to be. We’ve had two that have snapped, so H is spotting where the weaker bits are and improving every time!

Gel-a-peel glow in the dark

The big thing for us came a couple of days later. This will teach me for not reading the packaging. Our Gel-a-Peel kit is GLOW IN THE DARK!! Therefore, everything H has made has become even more awesome – we may have spent far too long in the under-stairs cupboard looking at our creations. It’s really cool anyway, and I think H might keep that bracelet for herself now!

We received the Gel-a-Peel kit for the purpose of review. All opinions are our own. You can buy kits from Amazon over here.

by jo

Banstead Woods Narnia Trail

South London into Surrey can feel like an area where it’s difficult to breathe. We’re so lucky having open space nearby. As it’s a gloriously sunny day we headed to the Banstead Woods Narnia Trail.

Banstead Woods Narnia Trail has been in the woods for a couple of months now. For now it’s a pleasant enough walk without any tricky bits. I’d even stick my neck out and say it’s buggy-friendly too. As long as you’re happy dealing with mud.

Banstead Woods Narnia Trail

Banstead Woods has many different routes around it, but you can’t miss Lucy Pevensie and the lamp post if you enter the woods from the Holly Lane car park. Keep walking and you’ll get there.

You’ll also spot some cute wooden carved signs which point out things that could be spotted around the woods, and are apparently good for nature rubbing (we’ll do that next time).

There are only three carvings at the moment on the Banstead Woods Narnia Trail. Let me try and describe the route we took…

After getting to the Lucy Lamppost, walk down the track to the side of the woods, out in the fields. In August the main thing to do here is foraging. We headed through the gate at the end of this field, through the bluebell woods (the bluebells long-gone).  We walked up to the area I call the ‘train track’. In my head, it probably has never ever been a train track, it’s just very straight, defined and disused train track-like.

We walked along there back to the big slope which leads back to the car park. Turning right there we headed to the top of the hill and made our way as far as the little pond.

Once there, we turned back towards the bluebell woods, or at least in a direction that felt like it was. Eventually we made it back to the train track, when lo and behold! There was the wardrobe complete with wooden clothes inside. You can walk through it and it’s fabulous!

H was being pretty grumpy around now as she moans if she walks too much. Having said that, we found plenty of sticks which double up as Harry Potter wands so she just expelliarmus’d us a few times.

After walking through the bluebell woods we hit a single track, a bit more foraging and a giant great big Aslan at the end! By then we were near the car park again on the big slope.

So that’s the long way to do it. The short(er) way would be to walk up the slope a fraction and turn at Aslan. Walk through the bluebell woods and follow the track which goes diagonally across them, then train track and down.

The Banstead Woods Narnia Trail is fun. I’m hoping we’ll get more of these wooden sculptures, after all, the woods need a Mr Tumnus.

The wood carvings are by Ella Tree Pirate. To visit Banstead Woods costs nothing, with free parking on Holly Lane in the big car park. Rumour has it that Anne Boleyn once owned Banstead Woods. Maybe one day she’ll make an appearance? (in wood, of course)

Banstead Woods wood carvings
[additional note – there is now a Witch wood carving not far from the wardrobe, and the Lucy Lamppost carving was rotting so is being repaired]

by jo

Our Short Essex Family Break in August 2017

Short Essex Family Break Woodpecker Yurt, Essex
Last weekend we had a few days off work and holiday club, so headed away for a few days. We had a short Essex family break – getting away from it all.

A short Essex family break isn’t the first thing you’d think of when planning a few days away. Initially we were looking around Europe for something within the £500 range, but soon gave up.

Hands up, who has never been to Essex properly ever? Me. I don’t know why. There are lots of places in this country I have never visited properly, and Essex is one. It’s also one of the closest to where we live, M25 traffic permitting.

To celebrate Shaun’s birthday (as his is two days before H’s), we headed to Mount Hall Woodpecker Yurt as a little getaway for the three of us. After our previous brilliant but noisy Yurt experience, I was hoping for something a little more quieter and we got it.

Short Essex Family Break Woodpecker Yurt, Essex

Mount Hall is just outside Colchester, again another place I had never visited. I mean, without knowing anything, the name Colchester doesn’t sound like somewhere you would actively visit, right? But oh, so wrong. The history!

H’s first topic in Year 4 is the romans, and as we couldn’t make it back to York, Colchester is as good a place for some proper Roman history. Colchester Castle is really interesting and worth visiting too.

Fancy a half hour drive? Then you have Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze, both have piers you can walk along. The Walton Pier is massive, and a quite decent long walk out to sea whereas Clacton’s Pier is full of amusements. Both are good places to use up your spare 2p’s on the machines in the arcades.

clacton on sea wind farm

Out to sea is a windfarm which covers the skyline. I think we’ve seen it when coming in on flights as you line up with the Thames Estuary – you can’t miss it.

Walton-on-the-Naze has an entire hill full of beach huts all beautifully coloured which you can see from the pier.

Beach huts at walton on the naze

The best part of our short Essex family break was the location. You’re not far from the A12, there are shops nearby for supplies but it’s still quiet. You are under the Stansted flight path which doesn’t make it completely quiet, but it’s still quieter than our previous stay.

Short Essex Family Break Woodpecker Yurt shower block and kitchen

Woodpecker Yurt has its own shower and kitchen block, as well as games for the private garden area. We could also borrow cycles. H enjoyed having a go on an adult bike while I fear she’ll need another bike already as it only felt like yesterday that she got her last one… she grows too quickly.

bike riding Woodpecker Yurt, Essex

Around the Woodpecker yurt are apple and pear trees, with grapes growing on a side wall. We didn’t hear the woodpecker, but could still hear the chickens and horses just over the wall. H’s new found love of animals since she went to Coombe Mill meant she went to feed the horses some grass every day we were there.

Short Essex Family Break H feeding horses at Mount Hall, Essex

Every night we had a BBQ. It’s quick and easy, in fact, the most difficult thing was finding somewhere that had vegetarian food. The local Co-Op had run out so we had to drive to a Tesco in Colchester. The joys of arriving on a Sunday when the shops had closed. On the second night we toasted marshmallows at the fire pit.

Toasting Marshmallows on an open fire

It was a lovely relaxing stay, and I feel like I want to discover more of Essex. I don’t know why we’ve never ventured out there. It’s so pretty!

Mount Hall Apple tree

I found our yurt for our short Essex family break via Canopy and Stars.

Of course, what this now means is we’re going to look into getting camping gear, and get into the camping lark properly while the weather is still good. This may be a bonkers idea, but right now it feels like a REALLY good idea!

We’re linking up to Country Kids this week, it has been a while – it seems only fair as H and Shaun are in the Coombe Mill blog this week!

Country Kids

by jo

SSE Women’s FA Cup Final Tickets Are on Sale

H at Wembley
The SSE Women’s FA Cup Final Tickets are on sale now!

On May 5th 2018 two teams will head to Wembley to battle it out for the SSE Women’s FA Cup Final again. Cup Final Tickets are on sale NOW!

We always buy tickets around this time of year – it’s an affordable way to go and watch a game of football, it’s always entertaining and it’s a great atmosphere to take kids. There are always goodies handed out to help make the atmosphere great too!

Wembley Stadium Women's FA Cup Final 2016 seats

Prices start at £15 for adults. Kids go free, and if you’re a Student/concessions then the price is only £5.

The kick off time hasn’t been announced yet, and has varied over the last few years. We’ve had anything from 2pm to 4pm, but every time we’ve gone it has been lovely and sunny.

Wembley has good transport links with trains from Marylebone the closest. There’s also Metropolitan and Jubilee lines at Wembley Park, with the longest walk on the Bakerloo Line from Wembley Central.

Manchester City Women and the FA Cup

The Women’s Super League will commence on September 23rd. We’ll be cheering on Tottenham as they make their WSL2 debut! It’s going to be an interesting season – lots of big name players have moved clubs, as well as some big names coming to the WSL. We’re looking forward to it.

I’m happy as for the first time in two years the FA Cup final isn’t on the same day as Eurovision!

Tickets usually come in at £20 for us, we choose a good area to sit and then wait until around March-time when our tickets arrive. We always go as neutrals and it’s a fantastic day out. The Wembley Designer Outlet is next door so there’s loads of affordable food options too.

Wembley Stadium Instagram Selfie, football, FA Cup Final 2016

Don’t delay – FA Cup Final tickets are on sale today! Buy your tickets here.

Here’s our writeups from 2015, 2016 and 2017.

It’s also worth pointing out, Women’s football isn’t just for girls. It’s for everyone. As a parent, I’ve found the men’s game has all manner of potty mouthed language going on. I’ve felt far more comfortable H being at the women’s game.

H at Wembley

by jo

Mayfield Lavender – Our Local Place of Calm

Mayfield Lavender

Lavender has wonderful, calming properties; I wish our local fields, Mayfield Lavender, were open all year. If only our climate allowed it! It’s sunny right now, and the perfect weather for a wander in the fields.

Mayfield Lavender is pretty easy to find. It is several acres of fields with several varieties of lavender. The fields are full of tourists taking selfies or movies, though fortunately there’s still room for everyone – even the casual local daytrippers like us.

Mayfield Lavender collecting rosemary beetles

Our other favourite thing to do at Mayfield Lavender is to check the creatures you will find. Often it’s the rosemary beetles on the lavender (we always bring a jam jar from home to collect them and hand in to the main shop), but today for example, we found some grasshoppers!

You will find many bees too, including ones which look pretty sick. Fortunately if you pick them up carefully and place them onto the lavender they seem to come back to life.

Mayfield Lavender bees

It’s scary to think something so important is suffering right next to an important food source. We rescued five bees today alone.

As well as the acres of lavender, Mayfield Lavender also offers a cafe, shop and food area. You can also find random things like a phone box in the middle of the field (we’ve still not worked out why) as well as a couple of shelters you can hire out for parties.

The food is reasonably priced and is all the usual standard stuff, with many lavender-related treats thrown in. Such is my rediscovered love of cider, that to find a Lavender Cider was a delight!

Mayfield Lavender fields 1

If you want an afternoon out in a field of lavender, then Mayfield Lavender is the place. It costs £1 per adult, children go free, and once you’ve paid parking is free inside (and there’s a lot more parking in there these days with more available up the road).

We tend to park over the road at The Oaks. There’s a pedestrian crossing which gets you safely to the fields.

Mayfield Lavender Fields

Check their website to find out when they’re open, plus they now also have a store in Epsom which I’ll be visiting after payday!

by jo

*Giveaway* Brownie Lottie Doll

So you may have read recently that we’re part of the Lottie Brownie Blogger Pack – and with that comes the opportunity to give a Brownie Lottie Doll away!
Brownie Lottie Giveaway

The Brownie Lottie Doll has been travelling with us. We’re back from Cornwall where she had a great time. She came with us to a few places, though there were some times it was best to leave her at home.

What can I say about the Brownie Lottie Doll? She’s pocket-sized, (although on more than one occasion we’d hear “is this your daughter’s dolly?” when she had fallen out) so maybe front pouch sized!

Brownie Lottie outdoors

She comes with a hoody, a scarf and elasticated woggle and there’s a load of accessories available too which we don’t yet have. One thing I really like is that Lottie’s shoes stay on. Brownie Lottie’s shoes don’t come off easily too, which is definitely worth pointing out.

The Brownie Lottie has a cool trefoil print on her t-shirt too. Lottie has knees that bend and arms that can be posed. If you’re good at balance you can get her to stand on her own too, which H enjoys doing. She also has hair you can plait!

Brownie Lottie box WAGGGS

Brownie Lottie is a Branksea Island Brownie, and is Girl Guide Association approved.

Here are some of the adventures she has been having…

Our holiday was at Coombe Mill. We decided it was probably for the best that Brownie Lottie didn’t help feed the animals!

Brownie Lottie at Coombe Mill

We did some exploring outside. She was pretty good at that.

Brownie Lottie Map reading

You can see her tucked into H’s pocket as she practises flying at Dyrham Park. Amazingly, this is one of the times she didn’t fall out! (I would insist your child holds on to Lottie at all times because of this)

Lottie in pocket

Doing some of the trails at Dyrham Park as well – you can see beautiful carved wood trees that you had to find. We also took her to Hidden Valley.

Brownie Lottie Sherlock Holmes Trail at Hidden Valley

So after sharing all these adventures Lottie has had (she is now safely back at home and hanging out with our football Lottie again), we thought you’d like to try and win one for yourself. So here’s our first giveaway in a while. We love Lottie Dolls. We love there is now a Brownie Lottie doll.

You can buy the Brownie Lottie Doll here.

The winner will receive a Brownie Lottie Doll.  The giveaway finishes on the 28th August. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

by jo

Perfectly Norman by Tom Percival – Our Review.

Perfectly Norman by Tom Percival

We’re part of a book blog tour for Perfectly Norman by Tom Percival, a wonderful book which is out now!

Perfectly Norman by Tom Percival celebrates individuality in a really lovely way. Norman has always been perfectly normal until one day he grows a pair of wings. He has a wonderful time flying around, but doesn’t want anyone to know about his wings.

So he keeps a large coat on all the time. But that then stops him from having fun. He’s too hot to play in the park, and it’s very impractical when you’re having a bath too.

Eventually one day he decides to remove his coat. So do a lot of other people at the same time, and they all have wings too which they’ve been hiding. “the sky was filled with flying people! Norman had never felt so happy!”

Which in turn makes Norman realise there is no such thing as perfectly normal – just Perfectly Norman!

We’ve reviewed one of Tom Percival’s books on here which we also loved – he gets the message across to young readers really well.

Perfectly Norman is a lovely book, which has a great message in there too. There is no such thing as being normal like everyone else, because everyone is their own kind of normal.

As the back of the book says, ‘A bold and uplifting book about daring to be different and having the courage to dance to your own tune. Perfect for soothing even the biggest worries.”. I think it sums the book up perfectly.

We’re back from our holiday, where we did loads of fun stuff, including a National Trust trail at Dyrham Park which set a challenge of trying to fly like an eagle. It had a beautiful carved pair of wings in a tree trunk and while I didn’t quite get a photo of H mid-flight, she loves the idea of recreating a bird in flight and wishes she had wings of her own.

H flying at Dyrham Park

You can buy Perfectly Norman now, available in a softcover version from all good booksellers and of course places like Amazon too (affiliate link).

Perfectly Norman Banner

We received a copy of Perfectly Norman for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own.