Wilko Advent Calendar Review

This advent calendar review may seem a bit early, but there is a very good reason for that. All the best advent calendars sell out REALLY quick and this one is amazing value, so you don't want to miss out. We were sent one to have a look at and I have to say, it is incredible value for money. The rise in non-food gift advent calendars has really taken off in the last couple of years and now you can buy all kinds of different types, in every kind of price range. This elegant offering from Wilko offers a wide selection of cosmetics, that are a small, but useable, size and contain something for everyone. The best bit about this advent calendar is that because it is so varied in its contents, by December 24th, the lucky recipient will have an entire range to create a wealth of new make up looks for the new year. 

My Sunday Photo: Horsing Around

Tips for Coping with Working Nights

With jobs getting scarcer, contracts being flakier and the cost of living becoming an ever-growing struggle to meet, people are having to find smarter ways to make the most of their time. The stay-at-home parent is becoming less common as more and more people are having to juggle work and family to make ends meet. One way to hold down a job, manage a family, and earn a bit more, is to work nights. Night workers are not limited to public service professions and you don't always need to be skilled. You can often earn a premium, though, and there are benefits to your family life too. Here are my top tips for coping with working nights. 

Win a Minions Single Duvet Set

How I Halved the Cost of a School Packed Lunch

Everyone begins the school year with the best of intentions. Get up earlier, put clothes out the night before, locate all the shoes in good time, remember to read the newsletter, etc, etc. Not all of them will last the term, but there was one aspect of the school day that I really wanted to change this year. The lunch box. My initial thought was to try to reduce the amount of packaging we were using, but there was also an unexpected benefit too. The amount we spent drastically reduced. Happily, even a slightly fussy eater is tucking in just as enthusiastically as he was before and it really doesn't take much longer to prepare, either.

Cooking the Perfect Steak

My husband and I disagree on many things, mainly because he is often wrong. The one thing he is most wrong about though, is steak. He is a total fillet-philistine. He likes his steak ridiculously well done and can't understand how I can eat it any other way. When he cooks a steak for himself (he's a little kinder to mine!), there is no way of knowing what type of steak it once was. By the time he's finished cooking it, it has all the taste and texture of something you would buy in Clarks and I have spent many years trying to convince him that there is another way. A tastier way. So far though, it has fallen on deaf ears, so I have enlisted the help of an expert. Steve Pooley is Chef Director at Jamie Oliver Barbecoa and knows a thing or two about food. Proving that I am right again, here is the expert's guide to cooking the perfect steak. 

My Sunday Photo: View from The Grange

Tips for Helping with Memory

I don't really know why I have such a bad memory. I know it started around the time I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, so I guess it could be to do with that. It's a real problem, not least because no one gets it. When you say you forget things, the answer you will most often get is; 'Oh yes, me too! I have to write things down, I'd be lost without my notebook/ calendar/ organiser.'  This is a different kind of memory loss, though. The kind of memory issue I have can't be solved by writing things down, because when I forget something, I forget it ever happened. I forget I had the conversation when it was arranged. I forget the arrangement even needed to be made in the first place, and I would certainly forget if, and where, I wrote it down. If this is you, you will know how infuriating it is, but I have found some tips for helping with memory that have made things easier over the years.