Here be Dragons.. Fuelsave with Shell review

Now keeping your child or teenager amused in the holidays in indeed a hard task. In this day and day when families are trying to live more frugally and you are counting every penny. Mr T  has just about forgiven me for  hiring a cleaner for the afternoon which cost wait for it £72.. I was rather gobsmacked at the cost because I thought it was £12.00 an hour but what I didn't factor in was the troop of cleaners that turned up on my doorstep (equated to 6 hours cleaning). You see there was three of them and they were here for two hours. Do you  think I  was has bamboozled? All I know that the cleaning gave me a bench mark to work from as my house is now tidy. Mr T says you live and learn , I was really tempted to get them back and clean my kitchen . Mr T has now furnished me with some more cleaning products after muttering it was half his overtime. I think he was just a bit narked because it meant he would have to wait for his new camera. He has two cameras already but this is a camera you can put in your pocket. ! And T does like his gadgets which I will now have to dust myself.

Back to family fun, my husband in his wisdom decided we all should go on a family walk get fit . Yes it was one of those let's go and walk where I walked when I was small. Don't get me wrong I enjoy a gentle walk and yes I am trying to lose weight, I'll be frank with you. With assurances that's it was a gentle walk , off we set. Stopping on the way to of course post a competition entry , well you never know do you?

Well we pull up in the car park it busy good sign , there is a tea room even better.Oh and what was this I spot an ice cream truck heaven. I am given strict instructions "We'll have one after  our gentle walk ". My heart drooped ... I needed sugar ! I did survive the walk however I DON"T do hills! And the walk I got dragged on ... no I willingly went on had huge mountains involved.


This is part of Mr T's plan to keep us fit part of a stay cation if you will. This leads me to an event I went to at  MOSI the Shell Fuel save event .  So I took the ever willing Mr T along to this vent  and J ad I entered up sitting next to Quentin Wilson. When you are faced with a famous person you should not really tell them   their name.

Quentin Wilson " My name is..."

Me interjecting "Quentin Wilson" I did a some point stop shaking his hand.

I am really sure that he did in fact know his own name!

 Thus followed a lovely conversation about family and blogging stats. After all this the wonderful Mr Wilson gave an information talk on Shell's new initiative which is all to save Fuel while you are driving.

This is just before Quentin whisked MR T off to give him some driving tips on how to save fuel. Mr Wilson gave my husabnd some vlauable driving tips which can be found on this website . I always knew my husband wore the wrong shoes while driving ( No , he doesn't wear high heels , while driving !)

The lady from Shell explaing how the new Fuel works ( Which depending how you drive Can save up to 1p per litre of Fuel)

I am so glad they have an informative website I go refresh my memory with all the facts and figures we were bomabrded with in an engaging manner.

I believe I am looking at the fuel injection part of the car!

And even the cab drivers from all over the Uk are getting in on the act. Here are the same tips that Quentin Wilson gave my husband.

A lady who featured on Dragon's Den gave us the run down on her product the Tray kit.


Thank you Shell for a fun and informative day.

Some lovely bloggers that were at the event.

Quentin Wilson again .

Moving from Reception to Year one transition help .

Working in an infant school is great , being their inspiration means the world to me, I say this because at the term received many gifts. It wasn't the wine or the chocolate that touched me but the cards, one in particular that had a sentiment from a parent. "............. comes home speaking of you fondly, thank you for making her Year 1 a magical time" I know that this child will make a happy transition into year 2 with absolutely no problems. For some children this however is not the case, so here are a few tips they make help the transition from reception to year one. pre Year one is know as EYFS ( Early Year foundation Stage) with a huge emphasis on play and free flow between the classes. There are structured activities within this but it is more relaxed.

So my top tips from moving from  Reception to year one are:

1. Remind them that when they moved from nursery to reception they had less play than when they did at nursery.


2. If they have siblings explain that will will leaning things to teach them and even yourself as parents. We all like to learn new things don't we?

3. Factor in treats and rewards to counteract the fact that there will be less playing, This doesn't have to cost you any money even a trip to the park can help.

4. If its of real concern have a word with the new class teacher before they start, sometimes they may have be split up from their friends. This is less likely to happen in year 1 but nether less it might, this is more of an issue in the transition from Infants to Juniors.


4. Don't forget they have just had  six weeks off, that is enough to confuse and disorientate the adults let alone the children.

5. Remind them that their Play times will be an opportunity to let off steam. I know that at my school time we have 'Golden Time ' where some sort of treat comes into play.


6. Routine is key try and keep to a routine during the holidays. They may go to bed later during the holidays, but week by week gradually bring this make to their usual bed time that they have when they are at school. Also always  make sure that they have had breakfast before they go to school, and not on the way to school. it is hard sometimes when you have a line line of children behind you making you look like ' The Old woman who lived in a shoe'

6. Encourage their development of characters they are keen to  be individuals , but need the safety nerd of the herd of the classroom!

7. Any child can find it hard to make the transition , I am not going to say its just boys that have these problems. It is the step up in concentrating that can also before an issue, So play games that help with with this situation again from snap - junior monopoly. Perhaps have a toy that will help them  go to school and be waiting for them when you pick them up.

8. Accept it is going to me a little tough for the first few weeks and don't forget the teacher/ teacher assistant is just as likely to be stressed ( despite it being their job)

9. Make them part of the process I can stress how important this is. Let them within reason choose their school shoes, bag etc. It really does make them feel grown up, though at the same time it has to be fun they are only children after all.

10.  Don't mourn them going into year one , I know its hard seeing them grow up. Try and focus on what joys and achievements this next stage will bring.

Also my school each class has its own bear which you can take on holiday or for the weekend . This teddy bear follows the class through their time at the Infant school, I think this is very sweet and another nice touch that makes the transition from school year to another school year that much easier.

Silent Sunday 07/08/2011

Let @LoveZoflora into your lives . A Zoflora hamper giveaway.

Zoflora has given me the opportunity to giveaway one of their super hamper.  I shall of course not be entering this and neither will Mr T though it would have saved me the £72 I spent on three cleaners for two hours !!!


Another cleaning disaster for me was when I spilt that brand of white paint that turns form pink to white onto a beige carpet . I also managed to spill the paint on to Mr T's computer ! I was not popular. You see I had not put the paint lid on properly after using the paint from the other day. I tripped as I was carrying it up the stairs , paint went everywhere and onto Mr 's computer that was on the landing . I had put his computer and other things on the landing out of the room I was painting. And I also broke my IPhone that was in my pocket as I tripped up the stairs and crushed it !


This is one of my cleaning horror stories! What's yours?.  Tell me and you can win this fabulous cleaning hamper below to aid your on your way to domestic heaven!

Zoflora are also running a  brilliant competition themselves such as this one to win £250 worth of garden centre vouchers.


You can find Zoflora on Facebook  and also on Twitter so please visit them.This fabulous hamper will include

Zoflora Luxury home making hamper

The luxury homemaker hamper will include:

·      A years supply of Zoflora products as follows:

o     Concentrated Antibacterial Disinfectant Liquid:

·      12 x 56ml bottles (including Lilac, Sweetpea, Rose and Hyacinth)

·      24 x 120ml bottles (including Bouquet, Lavender, Springtime, Cool & Fresh and Hyacinth)

·       4 x 250 ml bottles Citrus Fresh

·      4 x 250 ml bottles Lily Fresh

·      2 x Zoflora Solutions Bin Fresh sprays

·     4 x Ready to Use Disinfectant sprays. 

·     Complementary products including:

·       Vileda (dish cloth, multi purpose cloth and two types of scourers)

·       Addis (tile and grout brush, hand brush and flexible duster)

·      Sarah Smith (fair trade tea towel, cloths and flower power scourer)

·      Dishmatic (fill and clean dish brush and pack of refills)

·      Plenty ( kitchen towels)

·      Bentley Brushware (hourglass range dish brush and dustpan and brush)

·      Crabtree and Evelyn ( Hand therapy treatment kit)

·      Stylish colourful rubber gloves and apron.  

So the rules are as follow.

1. You must subscribe to my blog.

2. You must Leave a comment below with details of your cleaning horror story, with your Twitter name or an email address 

3. For an extra entry, comment on another of my blog posts, and leave a separate comment to tell me which one

4. For another extra entry ,tweet about this competition and a link to this page. Leave a separate comment with your twitter name to let me know you've done this. 

Competition Rules

1. This is open to UK residents only.

2. Only three entries per person. Multiple, automated or bulk entries will be disqualified.

3. An independent judge will choose the cleaning horror story from the random entries.

4. The judge's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

5. The winner's name will be published on this blog and I will contact the winner via Twitter or email. 

6. The competition will end on the 6th September 11.59pm

Mr Stink a day at the Lowry a Dirt Devil review

I was lucky enough to be chosen by Dirt Devil to go and have a play with their new vacuum cleaners as well as go and See Mr Stink at the Lowey along with J. Boys and stink just go together now don't they!. Myself and J were happy to go anything to avoid the brain drain of the summer holidays... this was very handy for me as I have a very fluffy cat that well fluffs everywhere. It would to have to be a high quality hand held vacuum so Mr T didn't have to go to work looking like a fluffy Om pa Lumpa.  I wouldn't want that  now? (Mr T is quite short think Richard Hammond and you've got it!)

Getting to Manchester was easy enough and then there was the Metro link, well after asking the lady at the coffee shop( She sounded like a James Bond villain, The gentleman at the information desk who had no Information what so ever and finally the other railway gentleman who was scurrying to go on his break who finally did help us.

I have never been one for that feng shui stuff. You'd probably look at my house and think I've got six feral children running around . You'd probably think I run a zoo , I only actually own one child, a husband and two cats.( One of which did try and kill me). I admit I should spend less time on the computer, I am going to do that this summer,balance family life with blogging etc. My mantle piece did  look like a freaky stalking duck shrine sadly no picture you get the idea). Well it does no longer look like that after I sneaked those three cleaners in!.


So here we have the Dirt Devil blogging event .

The talk given by the informative gentleman from Dirt devil  about their company background,  also their new products with Mircoban.

So after  Mr T saying  I really can't hire another cleaner( Boo Mr T) I was jolly glad that Dirt Devil let me take home to keep (and to lovingly caress )  a handheld vacuum cleaner.

We are a firm believer in this household if you make the mess you clean it up. So I got Rollie to clean up all his cat fluff and I think he made a superb job of it , don't you?

The hand held Devil Devil DRC001 

• It is Wall mounted so you can keep it charged for optimum performance.

• It is Dirt Devil's most powerful handheld.

• The attachments that are included are the Motorised Intense Turbo Brush ( be sure to keep long hair tied up if you are using this attachment) Also a dusting attachment and crevice tool.

• The Motorised Intense Turbo Brush is particularly useful for picking up pet hair as Rollie the cat can vouch for.

• It is the only handheld vacuum in the UK that comes with Mircoban to help kill harmful bacteria in the dust canister and boasts an easy disposal system with a one-press canister removal.

• Coat £59.99 available at Argos, Tesco and all good retailers.

I think the only thing I would love to see added to this product is the crevice tool to have a dusting brush you can slide down (like on other vacuum products I have seen)

So far so good with hoovering up the cat fluff. The next mission was to hoover out the car where no man/woman or cat dares to go IE no one can be bothered to lug the heavy vacuum out to it. So this was the ideal candidate to battle the mud and dust left by the rugby,football and cricket season. Not to mention having to eat on the go because of these events. This is ideal for using in your car for keeping on top of your cleaning.

Mr Stink is based on the popular Children's book by David  Wallaims, the Little Britain Star) and is touring the UK during 2011.


Mr Stink is a wonderful heartfelt interactive fun show  ( through the scratch and sniff book you scratch at various points doing the show). Suitable for ages six and up , this show has enough  going on with it to hold an older child's interest. Full of life lessons, it would suitably fit into the class room within a teaching capacity for Junior school children. The show is engaging and beguiling full of pongy glory, the star turn came from Peter Edbrook  as 'Mr Stink ' .

There are going to be some fabulous Christmas shows coming to the Lowry such as The Snowman ( which I believe is part of a child's Christmas , it was for me ) also Scrooge. I had never been to the Lowry before this and after this exquisite show I shall be taking J and Mr T along to a show.


So go visit Dirt Devil they really are nice and have lots of tips ( sadly no fashion tips ) to match  you with the appropriate cleaning appliance for the job. 


It was an extremely well run bloggers event where you were listened too not only by the PR people but other fellow bloggers who I was honoured to meet.. The children were taken care off no request was too small.

Disclosure (Dirt Devil invited me to the event where I got to see products reviewed, see Mr Stink, have some sandwiches and a glass of wine  and oh heck I forgot to have the Fruit cake . Also I got to take home a handheld vacuum to test and review. I was also given £40 pounds towards travel costs.)

I just remembered I did have cake which I bought before the show and it was rather delicious too.


Please check out this Dirt Devil competition below if you are a blogger.

Tots100 Dirt Devil Competition