making


Winston’s wish – Father’s day 1

I received an email from a local charity which I am sharing with you all today. The following is written by Liam at Winston’s wish. They are a specialist support charity for children that have lost one or both parents. With Father’s Day approaching this weekend, Winston’s Wish knows that for children and young people coping with life after the death of their father, this time of year can be particularly poignant. Winston’s Wish, the leading childhood bereavement charity in the UK, supports bereaved children and families, helping them to rebuild their lives after the death of a loved one. This enables them to face the future with confidence and hope.


Money saving for your car 2

Good afternoon readers, today I am posting in partnership with Debt Free Direct and the making money go further blog. They were kind enough to spend me a “car money saving kit”, a black and decker car vacuum, jump leads, spare light bulbs and an electronic tyre inflator. Jump leads are boring to be honest, and I hope I never need these but they are likely to come in extremely handy when camping. For some reason we always seem to get approached by camping “neighbours” asking for jump leads and help. Maybe we look all sensible or something? The bulbs are a cheap way to save a few quid – if you are driving with a blown bulb you could get a nasty fine and it would also fail on the MOT test. In fact the only point Custard had on the MOT was a wrong bulb. One tiny bulb cost […]


Thoughtful Valentine’s gift 6

I am not keen on overly commercial, over priced cards, or flowers. Instead I am making Blokey a gift. Its no secret that I can’t cook, in fact I go to basic cookery lessons. So I am making chocolates. I have some super strong Co-op fairtrade 85% cocoa dark chocolate, and some Cadbury DM fruit and nut. They are like the opposites, the Co-op being a coniseurs type, where you feel sick if you eat too much as its so rich. The DM is like comfort, its not too posh, not to cheap and its easy to eat all of it. I figure a mixture of these makes perfection. Like sweetness and bitterness, too posh versus normal.


How to Make Handmade Heart Decorations

This evening I’ve been making heart decorations similar to the ones I learnt how to make at the Shloer blogger “crafternoon tea” event with The Makery. Clearly I’ve been inspired! I wanted cheap fabric so I chose two 3 packs of tea towels, one set in green one in red. Festive of course. These were from a pound shop, so was the 5 pack of glittery silver ribbon, and the packet of bells. The coloured ribbons and buttons came from my local market at a marvelous £1.50. The stuffing is free, it’s a lumpy unusable pillow (washed and dried in advance) chopped open.


Letters From Santa by the NSPCC 1

I like to help charities, particularly ones I have experience of, and more so at Christmas! As a teen the NSPCC were my legal guardians, so rather than writing a letter from “Santa” for my boys I get a lovely one from the NSPCC website in return for a donation. The suggested donation is £5 and you can choose more or less if you wish. Every year online I see people selling “letters from Santa” where people are just printing out their own scripted letters and changing the names and ages – not very personalised really and that money goes straight to that seller. With the NSPCC letters to Santa the actual letters are awesome AND it’s not money to someone’s pocket, this helps real kids. (Trust me!) The Letters from Santa section on the NSPCC site lets you make your letter. You tell them some basics, first name, surname, favourite things, and a […]


Woof Woof 2

Yesterday I had the “Home Visit” from dogs trust. The final step to adopting Freya, my lovely and friendly but underweight and nervous girlie. She either ran away or was dumped, abandoned, discarded like rubbish. My opinion is she was abandoned. Her personality is sweet and caring, but she’s so afraid and cries her little heart out if she’s alone. If utterly alone she chews furniture and dogs trust phoned me to request a meeting a few days ago as she had chewed a large plastic dog bed, apparently it was merely a brightly coloured mangled mess and no longer a bed. I can’t see a runaway being bothered like that about being alone. The staff call it separation anxiety, and as I hate being alone, and also worry about being abandoned, I understand her a little. Me and Freya woof just suit each other. She is a Saluki which […]


Making Wildlife at Home in Your Garden 3

I love wildlife, and around here we get rather a variety if you are looking. Birds, badgers, foxes, hedgehogs, wild rabbits, mice, owls and bats are common here. I encourage it all, except the foxes. I like foxes from a distance, but as I have pet chickens and bunnies I don’t like them too close. Bats.org.uk has some handy tips on gardening for bats and making bat boxes. For attracting the cute fluffy wildlife you need shelter and food! Ideally hedges for something to hide in/under, and grass with native wild flowers as this is what they munch outside of your garden after all. You can buy lawn seed premixed with wild flower seeds, talk about easy peasy! I put this in my garden today. Mainly in my fruit and flower bed and then patched the lawn. The RSPB is also great for information on encouraging wildlife, it’s not just […]


Bedwetting Myths

Explore ‘Fact From Fiction’ With B-Sensible. Myths and truths about bedwetting by the waterproof bedding experts Although bedwetting can be an upsetting and frustrating time for many parents, you should not worry as it is very common in children under the age of five. Such issues can cause many a sleepless night for both you and your toddler, but B-Sensible is here to reassure you with the following myths and truths surrounding bedwetting: • MYTH: If your toddler wets the bed, it is down to laziness. • TRUTH: The issue of bedwetting can be a trying time for all involved, but your child is not doing it purposefully. Patience and reassurance is key. • MYTH: Bedwetting is uncommon. • TRUTH: Do not worry; bedwetting is actually very common in young children.


Phota Your Mota 2

Righty, another one of theses Moneysupermarket blogger challenges, love them! Can you tell readers? This one is called “Phota your Mota” {Photo your Car} 😛 Click that banner if you want to read all about it at MSM. Why do I love this car? Well because it’s MINE all MINE! My “mota” is called Custard, and it is a “she”. I have photo blinds courtesy of a TravelSupermarket blogger challenge I took part in a while back. I like that Custard is yellow, and easier to find when I forget where I’ve parked. On that theme I love that pushing the “lock” button twice on my key makes Custard’s horn squeak briefly, again great for locating her! I like most of all that I can FIT in this car. I’m not the tallest person in the world, but I’m certainly not short either, and I have a problem with veins […]


Vertigo, No The Other One

For the last fortnight I’ve been a bit wobbly. I had told myself was nothing, just nerves about going to London, about Blokey being in Canada and about the driving test. I was wrong. It’s been getting worse, so I begged for a doctors appointment. I get Labyrinthitus a few times a year but this didn’t feel quite like that. The doctor said its BPPV or benign p-something positional vertigo. Different types of vertigo on NHS choices site explains the differences medically. How it feels to me… It’s like being stood on a boat, rocking and swaying constantly in the tide. I sway even when sat down. To be honest I still feel I am moving now, as I type this in from my bed. It is unpleasant, very. I feel sea sick and on dry land. Walking is a challenge as it really steals your balance, I would definitely […]