Our Weekend Wanderings, Week Three and Four!

I decided at the start of the year, that I would like to write this weekly segment as a way to remember things we get up to, to combat my memory issues, and as a way to write something fun, just for me. However, it's January, so we are not doing a lot, apart from being battered by various colds and viruses, so this is week three and four, as I didn't get a chance to write one last week, and this week we have mostly stayed in and moaned about the weather! I've made it sound really boring now, so if you are still with me, I hope I've managed to liven it up, with tales of epic bargains and a 10 metre rope light! Also this week, the first foray with my new camera and decluttering my nemesis!

Our Weekend Wanderings, Week Two!

This weekend was considerably quieter than the last one, mainly because the car is still sulking and flashing various warning lights at us every time we start the engine. It's running like a dream though, stupid car. The weather has been disappointingly dull and L was furious that we weren't even slightly snowed in! The Bristol sky offered us about half a centimetre, for a couple of hours in the morning and that was it! Despite the grumpy car, we did manage a few short trips out and this is a round up of everything we got up to. It's entirely unsponsored, but does mention some really lovely places we went to in our region... 

Our Weekend Wanderings, Week One!

This post is a bit later than planned, in fact a lot later, but we're ignoring that. It's January, so everyone gets a dispensation to be late for everything as they recover from the perrenial pandemonium that is Christmas, and the aftermath of chaotic schedule-sabotage and tinsel-vacuuming that ensues every year. This is a new post I want to try and do every week, so we'll see how that works out, but I'm hoping it might be fun. Towards the end of last year, I ended up writing a lot of review-type posts, which is really fun to do, and I hope useful too, but I felt I lost a bit of my identity in there, so this is my attempt at getting back to writing for me. I hope you are still here and humouring me for now. You are? Fab, then I'll begin...

Our Year in Pictures 2016

I really have no idea where the year went, they seem to pass by quicker, the older I get! This year saw us finally take the plunge and do something we'd been threatening to do for years, go properly camping! I was very nervous about this, so in 2015 we had a 'practice' by going glamping on the Isle of Wight, and this was the next step. Just like the previous year, everybody loved it and it was just one of many highlights of another whirlwind year. Once again, thanks to all who support the blog by reading, sharing and commenting, it's really so much fun to be able to write and share our adventures, and we hope to have lots more fun posts for you in the coming year. 

Eenie Meenie Miney Moe - The Walking Dead Returns

I have been given the responsibility of looking after Lucy's beautiful blog whilst she is at home currently attacking her router with a hammer (or more likely waiting for an engineer) and subsequently internet-less. So I have a little Zombie or should I say Walker related post for you to get your infected bite into: Not for years have I witnessed a show being so popular in such a varied demographic fanbase.

Concentrix - What Now? An Update and Thank You!

After all the excitement of Lynn's appearance on The Victoria Derbyshire show yesterday, great news has been announced with the decision not to renew Concentrix's current contract. After all the support that Lynn has received from readers of this blog, we would both like to thank everyone for all the signatures on the petition and the tweets and comments that helped with this very important cause. A lot of people have been asking about the next steps, as it doesn't end here. Lynn, and many people like her, are still without essential funds and there is a bigger fight to be won.

The Kindness of Strangers, an Unexpected Outcome

A couple of days ago I invited a good friend of mine to guest post about a subject that has affected her and her son very badly, when Concentrix put another family into poverty. I wanted her to have her say, because she was at her wits' end. It was yet another HMRC out-sourced agency that caused the immeasurable distress that she found herself immersed in. She, we, wanted to talk about how that pans out at the bottom. After the leaf has made its way through all the beaurocratic branches, all the facts, figures, number crunching, forms, tick boxes, etc, what does it actually mean to have nothing to live on? 

Dear Mr Thompson #ConcentrixFamilyPoverty

A Guest Post by Lynn.

I have hosted a guest post before on the realities faced by individuals who are dealing with our broken and inefficient benefits system. There are so many stories in the press. Many, highlighting the poverty and distress that the cuts, austerity and mistakes have caused. There are some pretty horrifying statistics out there. Including people taking their own lives through the stress and fear that these departments cause. Once again, I have witnessed first hand the catastrophic affects these decisions, made in an office somewhere, usually based on a series of ticks on a list, are continuing to have on people I care about.

What's Important on Father's Day

Father's Day is fast approaching and there have been many suggestions in the media about what gifts would suit certain types of fathers on this happy occasion. SHEilds asked me what tips did I have for the perfect Father's Day. That's actually really easy for me to answer, and it follows on from a post I wrote about The Importance of Time last year. It really doesn't matter how much money you spend, it's all about the time you put into it that makes the difference. An expensive gift delivered by courier is nothing compared to a surprise visit in person. Equally, nothing beats a handmade card.

Blogs I am Loving Right Now

You know when you have a job, and all of a sudden you become really interested in that profession and other people who do a similar job? Or when you get a new car, and you start noticing the same cars everywhere you go? It's a bit like that with blogging. Since I started, I have collected an assortment of friends who blog, as well as discovering some brilliant blogs that I read myself. So, I thought I would share with you some of my favourites, as I figured; if you like my blog... What? You don't?! You were googling parent blame and you fell in accidentally?! Oh, ok then, as you were. Moving on...

How Direct Line Made my Daughter's Day!

It's often said that it isn't the value of the gift that's important, but the thought and time that went into it. I am a great believer in this. It's not that I don't appreciate extravagant gifts, but my best presents will always be the ones that mean somebody was thinking about me. The trinkets my daughter used to find at car boot sales or charity shops, because she knew I would really love them, the cards and gifts the children have made me over the years, and not forgetting the card with a recording of my son saying 'Happy Birthday Mummy' when he had not long learned to talk. For my birthday this year, it made me so ridiculously happy that my nephews, aged two and four, took time out of their day to draw me lovely pictures, I could have exploded with joy! So, that's me, a great believer in; 'It's the thought that counts'.

The Importance of Learning Digital Marketing for Bloggers

There are many different reasons why people blog. Many do it to share a passion, or as an outlet for their thoughts and ideas. I meet so many people who began blogging for a variety of reasons but are now finding they can make money from it. I don't think, as a blogger, making money should ever be your primary objective. If you can make money from it, brilliant, but I believe, it's much harder to keep readers interested when you don't have an 'organic' base for your blog.

It's a Blogger Thing; Five Unique Bloggerisms!

Bloggers will photograph anything. A lamppost, a streetsign, a really ugly fleece on a stranger (from behind, obviously). Bloggers have even occasionally been spotted staking out the sausages in the local supermarket. Nothing is off limits, because who knows when you will need a colourful picture of a milkshake or a man's hat. Many a perfect post has been ruined for the lack of an ideal photo, and it is also secretly kind of fun. Along with some of the crazy photographs I've collected over the years, I've also listed some other strange things that are perfectly normal, if you're a blogger.

Best Blogging Practice

Since I first started blogging, three years ago, I always wanted to be a good blogger. I wanted people to actually read my blog and enjoy it. Not necessarily a lot of people, but those that did, I hoped would come because they liked what I wrote. During my time as a blogger, I have made mistakes and learned along the way. I thought I would share some observations and ideas I have come across during that time, in the hopes it might help someone else avoid the same pitfalls. Some people blog for profit, some just for fun and others a mix of the two. So not all of this applies to everyone. They are not rules, or rights and wrongs, just suggestions, based on my own experience.

Julie is Raising Money for Matilda Mae!

I have a good friend, named Julie Roo
She's jumping out of a plane, what a fun thing to do!
But it's not just for fun, it's an important day,
Because she's raising money for Matilda Mae.

Fixing Fifi. A Pelham Tale.

Memories are funny things. My husband gets very frustrated when I can belt out all the words to I Am The One And Only, by Chesney Hawkes, but have forgotten to buy orange juice for the third time this week. What?! You don't find old Chesney Hawkes songs strangely uplifting?! Is that just me??!! Oh. Ok then. Anyway, I've found many times over the years, that the senses play their part in evoking different memories. Like, the smell of fresh tarmac always makes me think of hot summer days playing out in the street as a little girl, the smell of hairspray always reminds me of my mother, getting ready for a night out, because people seemed to wear a whole lotta hairspray when I was small!

For the Love of Matilda Mae

On February 2nd this year a tiny light went out in the world. A light that burned with the love of devoted parents, who worshipped her. The little light was Matilda Mae and at just nine months old she passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in her sleep. A victim of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Praying for Kerry #Healing4Kerry

I have recently heard about an amazing lady, who is fighting serious illness. Multiple Mummy is a blogger, a mother and a fighter. Like any mother, she is fighting with everything she has to beat her illness and go back to doing what she loves best, being a mum to her three children. She needs our help and our prayers. From one parent to another, lets send all our strength to Multiple Mummy and her lovely family. A two minute silence will be held at 10pm and supporters and well wishers can make some noise on twitter, with the hashtag #Healing4Kerry. But the healing process is a long one, so please keep Kerry in your thoughts and prayers and lets bring her home. Xx