Those that live in an older house can sometimes marvel at the warmth of modern houses. The double glazing and extra insulation they come with can certainly make a difference on a cold winter’s day. The standards for building houses have changed radically over the last two centuries. These days, energy efficiency is a top […]
Roald Dahl’s Tremendous Adventures at Tatton Park
“A little magic can take you a long way” (CHARLIE AND THE GREAT GLASS ELEVATOR). No childhood is complete in my view without a large dose of Roald Dahl. Do you agree? His stories were a huge part of my childhood and they continue to feature strongly in the lives of my children. My all […]
Making a mini beast habitat
After a good run around outside and a visit to a local playground today the children were keen to come in from the cold, have a few snacks and a compulsory hot chocolate and do some craft. We’ve found rather a lot of mini beasts in the garden this week so that was on their […]
Cheese hacks
Cheese – so many of us love cheese don’t we? I grew up in a house where one parent loved cheese, one hated it and I was probably in the middle. My dad has always been a big cheese lover and will pretty much each any cheese (as long as he considers it proper cheese […]
Making decluttering manageable
Decluttering is something I find incredibly therapeutic. I probably have about three sessions of this a year but there is certainly something about the spring that sparks this in a big way. I always manage to find things we can recycle, giveaway, sell and bin during each of these sessions and for a while at […]
Being productive with small units of time
I wrote recently about time management issues and how although I don’t have much spare time to achieve things I am creative about how I use my time, so MOST of the time manage to achieve quite a lot everyday. It never feels like enough of course, so I am constantly trying to think of ways […]
Nurturing talent
As a parent it can be so exciting when you see your child developing a particular skill or an obvious talent. I’ve spoken to lots of parents over the years who I’d describe as your classic pushy parent, and in most cases the children have lost interest in whatever it was they showed real promise […]
Keeping toys clean
Trying to keep children’s toys clean can be really hard work. The toys I find the hardest to clean tend to be bath toys as they get grubby really quickly and the squirty toys are especially hard to keep clean, as they can quickly get full of black, gungy grime. Making sure that you squirt […]