Retail Royalty Challenge

You wait a lifetime just to be grown up.

You throw away your childish toys and momentos.

Or so you think.

I pick them up and store them.

For when you leave home.

Your dad says fly away far.

I say "NO"

Stay close.

Childhood is precious you see and that's why when I agreed to take part in Money Supermarket Retail Royalty there were many charities that sprung to mind. But I decided upon the children department at my local Derby hospital where I and my family have spent many a long hour. The budget given to us was £30 for us to spend on the charity of our choice.

Working in EYFS (Reception) my focus is always on value added play especially those that encourage sensory and fine motor skills, which are very much one of the building blocks of education.

Now the challenge is to buy as much as you can for £30 and as it's a hospital I really wanted a child there to have the pleasure and joy of unwrapping a new toy. You 'll be surprised to see that I have only 2 items in fact now you might very well be scratching your head. 

You see the value is in the play itself there is NO shortage to a child's imagination and the adventures that these and other toys can take them on. The Rainbow sound blocks are brilliant for teaching focus and interaction and will delight many children.

The other toy that I decided to go for was Duplo's first zoo , Duplo is always a firm favourite and you pay for its quality but it's a quality that will last countless generations.

I spent my entire budget of £30 but I think I did well don't you ?

This is my entry for Retail royalty challenge, from MoneySuperMarket. 

Win A Limited Edition Jason Munro Art Cat Print From Artfinder

Cat by Jason Munro

I love art , art on walls , art on canvas art in many mediums , pictures bring words alive such as the quirky and funny  illustrations of Quentin Blake will encapsulates  the fine humorous writings of Roald Dahl who went to the local private boys school which is near which me called Repton the book that is personified in this is "Boy" His art is described as fidgety and joyful phrases I wholeheartedly agree with. And you can find special edition of his art work at Artfinder.

Art finder is an ideal place well to find art the clues in the name really and as Art finder says "because buying art doesn't have to break the bank" it has over 6,000 artworks with prints starting form £15 and oil paintings from £75.

So with thanks to Artfinder I have an very apt print as a competition prize I rather like it myself especially owning cats who have very much their own agenda. I have quite a few spare spaces on my wall that could do with a jolly up and seeing as my art skills at that of a cave man or woman then I think I shall be looking at their website.

The cat is a limited edition print from Brighton based illustrator Jason Munro, this prize was only made available to a few bloggers as part of the Britmums blogging event.

So for the cat to win this delightful cat print tell me where you might put this picture for me I might put in the kitchen as that's thier domain .. well the whole house is really.

Follow the easy instructions on rafflecopter, additional entries are available be sure to tell me in the comments which one and finally "Good Luck"

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top 5 tips for blogging

Bloggers are like a coffee shop they are popping up every where , why alone as I am typing this a blog is popping about about some genre or other. I have been blogging 2 years now and I still don't understand it all, bloggers are always swapping tips as is natural. Blogging can be confusing especially to an outsider it need not be; so what advice would I give to a newbie blogger so here are my five tops tips though I can see it being longer than 5 tips.

1. Know what you are going to write about, don't blog angry or cross and if you do feel like doing that write the blog post in draft and read it back another day when you are calm. And if you have no idea what to write about just take the most common of things and perhaps blog about that the weather, time , messy rooms when you get thinking there is no shortage of ideas.

Just go crazy with your ideas.

2. Find a platform you are happy on with me, it's Blogger I am know what I am doing , I think and yet when I have problems I said to me " abandon it" and go to wordpress. Though if I had persevered with Wordpress those people would have been saying abandon Wordpress and go to Blogger. Find what platform you want to blog with and stick with it unless it becomes so annoying then change , whatever you do you will find no shortage of people wanting to help.


3. Mix it up I can not stress this enough mix up it up don't have a string of review after review ( that said there are such blogs than are excellent with this as they come at the topic with a truly personal and unique perspective.)


4. Don't get bogged down in stats and comments , though I bet a penny to a pound in a hour I'll be lamenting woo is me no one has commented. Seriously though as much as comments feel like you are being appreciated for what you do, some where someone. Make your blog post sticky with keywords so say if its about tea then perhaps extend it to the best tea to drink in the morning etc , etc.


5 DON"T worry about about fusion of  ideas for either a title,a theme or blog posts etc  just look at mine its cat, food, parenting reviews etc you might think the fusion idea won't work it will. Though having said that I have since discovered that Hoison duck on a pizza with slices of cucumber and Soy sauce is more CONfusion than my little tummy can handle.

Britmums I came , I saw I conquered

Britmums I went with anticipation despite having gone before , I really was scared witless at the event it's a melting pot of people , personalities not everyone will necessarily like each other for what ever reason. But even if you end up being next to someone you ( or they )don't see eye to eye with (yourself )or if you see someone from afar being at Britmums forces you into being together.

And it's a real testament to yourself and other people to be polite not a false politeness but a professional what I say blogging attitude. After all don't worry about what you can't change, concentrate on what you can.

Some sessions those perhaps of the keynotes will and do take you out of your comfort zone upsetting yes but without social and personal challenge sometimes we will not grow ourselves.and there is no shortage of blogging friends that will offer you a shoulder to cry or just a hug. Now I am not a huggy person but I seem to have been hugged left right and centre, now usually I would recoil from such a situation but not this time as it was a social solidarity.

I have fears

Of course I do ..

After all I am only human

And I was Ill at Britmums (I really was) 

I hope no one reads anything into this.

I try my best and always will.

I'm marmite to some people I really am.

But Britmums friends become like family.

"Death by social media " I'm trying my very best not to.

Coming to grips with situations I cannot change.

I want to live my life not fight against it!

Britmums for me pulls these threads together as thoughts are very much like threads jumbled in a mess quite a lot of the time and it's a social situation like Britmums that weaves them together.

I hope this makes sense.

And I'll see you next year.

Butlin's holiday memories

I remember when my son was four and he was a small speck of a child ! we took him to Butlin's at Skegness for the day and he had such fun ,I remember going on the Noddy rides that were there. Noddy was a favourite of his at the time though, if I was to mention this to him now he would no doubt cringe with embarrassment. We had only gone there as day visitors and I remember thinking on what was a practically hot scorching August day as we saw families laughing and smiling on their way to the pool. How I wish that we had book ourselves into Butlin's, as everyones faces were a picture of happiness , the day was magical and no request was to big or to small for the Butlins staff. 

My husband is from a large family, he is the youngest of seven children ( he 's now 43 but don't tell I told you his age !) , six boys and one girl so his parents had a very busy time with that large brood and when they took their holidays their place of choice was Butlin's . The reason for this was cost and satisfaction guaranteed,and with a great variety of activities no one was ever bored.

Butlin's Skegness in the 1960s.

Four of my husbands siblings at Butlin's Skegness.

Husbands twin brothers at Butlin's!

Ballroom dancing at Butlin's Skegness 1960s.

Dancing competition at Butlin's Skegness 1960s with a fairground in the background.

Butlin's Skegness accomodation 1960s.

My husbands late mother at Skegness Butlin's.

In those days there such competitions as lovely legs! but nowadays the competitions are much more suitable! 

The range of activities at Butlin's these days is mind blowing there's nothing that you can not do there , from live entertainment. a traditional fairground and even luxury spa treatments. Butlin's really does, span the generations from young to old everyone will feel right at home. Unlike the 1960s the traditional fairground is now a permanent feature.

There is a choice of accommodation to meet peoples different tastes from comfy rooms, well equipped apartments or one of their contemporary hotels.




So you see the Butlin's aim is still the same as it was all those years ago in the Billy Butlins era to make sure you get your sparkle back as a family.




Disclosure Sponsered post I was not told what to write, all thoughts words and opinions are my own.