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Personal Planner review and giveaway

If you’re looking to get yourself organised, a Personal Planner is perfect. I’m thrilled with mine and it was so easy to create. If you fancy winning your own Personal Planner or notebook (of any size), there’s a giveaway below the review. Just leave a comment to be in with a chance.

Personal Planner review

First you choose the size of your personal planner or notebook. I opted for A5 as it’s a great handbag size. Next you decide on your front and back covers. I uploaded photographs but there are a variety of patterns and themes available too. You can then select your text type, colour and where you want it positioned.

There are plenty of writing space options to choose from regardless of whether you want a diary or a notebook. If you go with one of the diary layouts, when it starts is up to you. Mine runs from December 2013 to November 2014 as next month is especially hectic for us. Needless to say my Personal Planner is chockablock with pre-printed reminders in December!

You can add any personal dates to your diary. These might be one-off appointments for the coming year or recurring dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. There are lots of design options for your spread theme and there’s space to add ‘to do’ or ‘ideas’ at the bottom of the page too.

After my diary, I’ve selected overviews for 2014 and 2015 which are always handy. Other options available include ruled or blank pages, an address list, maps or a colouring book although there are many more. As well as the 2014/2015 overviews, my planner includes a brilliant colouring book plus those all important lined pages!

Fancy winning your own personalised planner?

If you’re a UK resident and you’d like to win your own Personal Planner, you can enter the competition below. All you need to do is add a comment. The prize is a gift voucher for any size personal planner or notebook. Full terms and conditions are in the Rafflecopter widget. Best of luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more information about Personal Planner, have a look at their website. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter. The sizes available are small (11x14cm), medium (16x14cm), large (22x14cm) and A5 (16x21cm). Prices range from £14.99 to £21.95.

Disclaimer: We received a gift card for the purpose of reviewing Personal Planner. Opinions are our own.

Celebrating 70 years

Today sees my father-in-law turn 70 years old. To celebrate a surprise get together was organised over the weekend for family and friends. This mainly involved eating record breaking quantities of sandwiches and cake!

My husband said a few words to mark the occasion. Using photographs to accompany his speech, he told a story that began way back in 1943.

My father-in-law shares his 70th birthday year with Mick Jagger, Robert de Niro and John Nettles – all very similar! In 1943 petrol cost 2½p per litre, a loaf of bread was 3½p and a pint of beer 5p.

In 1961 he joined the RAF. Having completed his training, his first posting was to Cyprus. He soon bought his pride and joy an Austin Healy Sprite 1100. As well as posing with his new car, he showed off his sporting prowess and hosted a radio show.

It was in Cyprus in 1963 that he met his shy and retiring wife! After a whirlwind romance, they got married in 1967.

In March the following year, my husband arrived while his Dad was on HMS Eagle. A tour which saw the first of a number of firsts in the Air Force. He was in the first group of RAF Aircrew to fly the Buccaneer on loan to the Navy. HMS Eagle’s role was an important one as an aircraft carrier patrolling the World seas during the Cold War.

It also provided those on board with a good excuse to dress up, grow facial hair and eat cat with chips in Karachi!

During his time with the Navy he was one of the first to participate in the bombing of the Torrey Canyon Supertanker than ran aground off the Scilly Isles in 1967. Back in the UK, with a new family came responsibilities and sacrifice. The sports car giving way to a Ford Anglia Estate.

In 1970, on my husband’s birthday, my sister-in-law was born. Then came a decade of more dubious facial hair – and strange fashion choices.

Another first came in 1982 when my father-in-law became the first Navigator OC Taceval at Ramstein, before returning to the UK and being awarded the Air Force Cross which was presented by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. In 1983 another first saw him take command of XV Squadron the first Tornado Squadron in RAF Germany.

His real claim to fame came in 1984 when he featured on the back of Warlord Comic “Quiet Cool and Comfortable” was how he described the Tornado. In 1991 he had tea with the then Prime Minister John Major as a personal thank you for his work at the MOD during the Gulf War.

In 1999 he took on a new and exciting role as Grandad – a second Grandson arrived in 2001. On Christmas Day 2010 he became a Grandad once again when POD was born.

She’s already looking forward to hearing him; say it twice (I had to say it twice!), being told to stop acting the giddy goat, no horseplay in the sitting room and everyone’s favourite – no elbows on the table!

We’re linking up with What’s The Story? here on PODcast. To see other people’s photographs and read the fabulous stories behind them, click on the badge below.

What’s The Story? | 25th November 2013

Hello lovely people, welcome to What’s The Story? for w/c 25th November 2013.

Thank you to everyone that joined in last week, so many incredible posts. Favourites includes Father Daughter, Family History, The Last Leg, Brotherly Love and Guardian Angel.

If you’re new to What’s The Story? and you’d like to join in, all you have to do is share a photograph and describe the story behind it. You can say as little or much as you like in your post and your photo can be taken at any time. It might be one you took recently or a real oldie. New posts are always best but you can also link up a previously published post if it’s relevant.

What’s The Story? is open from 6.30am every Monday until the following Sunday. Do take the time to comment on some of your fellow bloggers posts when you can. The What’s The Story? badge is below, I’m happy to share your post if it’s displayed in your post or sidebar.

Thank you again for joining in, have a fabulous week.

First photography award

Earlier this year Loseley Park and Surrey Life magazine launched a photographic competition. The idea being it to find the finest photographers who could capture the beauty and atmosphere of Loseley’s ancient walled garden and grounds.

The competition was open to all ages of amateur photographer with the categories including landscape, the walled garden, flowers, wildlife and people in nature.

Loseley Park is a historic manor house and acquired by the direct ancestors of the More-Molyneaux family at the beginning of the 16th century. Incredibly the 500 year story of the family and their home continues with visitors still finding it fascinating.

We were initially attracted to Loseley Park by its incredible gardens. The rose garden for example is planted with over one thousand Old English Rose Bushes and framed by long, low and precisely clipped box hedges.

The herb garden provides seasonal flavours and essential ingredients to the kitchen on a daily basis. It is an important part of daily life at Loseley Park and has been for hundreds of years.

The flower garden offers a combination of traditional herbaceous plants and mixed shrubs set off with annuals and bulbs to build a bold and fiery display. Think subtle reds and burnt oranges complimenting vibrant yellows and blues.

A contrast to the white garden which provides a tranquil oasis of white, cream and silver around a central water feature. The kitchen garden has adopted organic methods gardeners have used through the years, including companion planting, and also houses a collection of Garden Organic Heritage Seed Library plants.

We were invited by Loseley Park to attend the prize giving of the photography competition which took place this week. The house looked spectacular in the dark and we received the most wonderful welcome from the More-Molyneaux family.

There we were able to browse other entries in the photography competition whilst we took in what is a truly magnificent house. This was the first time we’d been inside and it was an incredible sight.

It was a special evening thanks to the More-Molyneaux’s hospitality.

What topped it off was winning the best flower category with a Foxglove photograph. A huge surprise but as the first photography competition I’ve entered, one I will most certainly relish.

Nature’s Autumnal wonderland

The signs of Autumn were first evident on a woodland walk in the Surrey Hills. The ground was damp underfoot and the change in season could be smelt in the air. Trees displayed lush green leaves and perfectly formed fungi clung to the trunks.

POD was ecstatic at the first sight of muddy puddles and took great delight in jumping in all those we saw.

There’s nothing better than seeing Autumn through a toddler’s eyes. Everywhere we’ve explored has provided POD with the opportunity to see, hear, touch and smell her surroundings. She’s taken everything in her stride and loved it.

The expression on POD’s face when she saw conkers for the first time was one of joy and utter excitement. She was fascinated by those shiny gems that are encased in spikey shells and fall from the trees. Over these past weeks, she’s collected sticks, acorns and pine cones. She’s climbed wet logs and she’s examined moss.

POD’s taken to kicking leaves with aplomb and she’s treasured her favourites. She’s seen the change in leaves from green to hues of red, orange and gold.

We’ve been lucky to see some incredible Autumn sights during the last month or so. Taking the time out to appreciate this season really does make you appreciate how wonderful mother nature is.

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

Hole in the wall

This photograph was taken c.2006 in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik. Nestled in the thick city walls of the old town and hidden down an alley was this hole in the wall.

There was nothing to say where the secret bar was located so we had to know roughly where we were going. We realised we were close when we spotted a sign that said ‘cold drinks with the most beautiful view’. A simple yet effective approach given we were sweltering in the heat!

After going through this doorway, we were greeted with the most amazing sight – spectacular panoramic views across the Adriatic. Stone steps cut into the rocks took us to the Buza bar which is nuzzled in a cliff top.

Once seated at a table facing seaward, we could take in the incredible surroundings whilst we sipped an ice cold beer. Music by the likes of James Brown and Elvis was playing in the background, creating a wonderful atmosphere.

Sunbathers could be seen relaxing in the sun on nearby rocks with swimmers enjoying themselves down in the sea. On occasions locals could be seen jumping off the cliffs into the sea. Extreme fun for the thrill seekers.

There were two Buza bars positioned around 200m away from each other. Being in the better known Buza II we had a perfect view of what was an eventful Buza I. Metal steps fixed to the vertical rock face allowed swimmers to access the bar directly from the sea. Watching them scale up these steps as such a speed was quite a sight. As was seeing them hurl themselves off the rocks once they’d had a drink.

The Buza bar was without doubt the most beautiful bar in Dubrovnik. A truly unique location and the perfect place to watch the sun go down.

We’re linking this post up with What’s The Story? here on PODcast. To join in, click on the badge below.

What’s in a name?

Choosing a suitable name is a challenge for any parent to be. The Doves were no different. I can remember we had a few baby name books and I browsed all of them from cover to cover on several occasions!

It’s impossible to select the ideal name for a child you’ve not yet met but we put a lot of thought into it. Ruled out from the outset were names beginning with A to avoid the inevitable “It’s A Dove”. Also excluded were initials such as VD, LSD and STD.

Names beginning with D were appealing at first but we quickly realised DD might cause problems if it matched a bra size. Such a short surname did allow us to consider first names with 3 or 4 syllables. Although we knew these would be abbreviated, we thought it would be quite cool at the time to have options. It really wasn’t.

Although I was convinced we were having a boy, we were much lighter on the choices for boys. This was because the traditional names such as James, William, Thomas and George had already been taken by family members or friends.

It took some time to pull together a list of boys names and a list of girls names. Once we’d finished we had 16 boys names and 29 girls names. There was a pattern in that the boys names mostly began with H, J or S and the girls names with E and J. We were yet to choose any middle names.

Once at the hospital, we narrowed it down and pulled together a shortlist of our Top 5. Although these were forgotten when POD took 47 hours to appear, something rather wonderful happened instead. The midwife asked what we were going to call POD and without hesitation we both said Poppy. We didn’t even need to think about it, right there and then the name just felt right.

I’ve always wondered where the name Poppy was on our list. It was on the long list but neither of us could remember whether it made our Top 5. The piece of paper that listed all the names, and the scribbles we added in the hospital, was never found.

This week I discovered a blogging book at home and when I picked it up a piece of paper fell out of it. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I unfolded it. It was the list of names we’ve not seen since POD was born on 25th December 2010. It may have taken nearly 3 years to find out but Poppy was in our Top 5.

What’s The Story? | 18th November 2013

Hello lovely people, welcome to What’s The Story? for w/c 18th November 2013.

Thank you to everyone that joined in last week, so many incredible posts. You made it impossible to pick a few favourites!

Thank you again for so many wonderful posts, have a superb week.

Silent Sunday

The follies of Painshill Park: Part two

We returned to the follies at Painshill Park last Sunday as Daddy had missed out on seeing the Crystal Grotto.

Historically its been recognised as the finest stalactite Grotto in Europe and was officially opened this year following extensive restoration. Lady Lucinda Lambton, a crusader for England’s forgotten architectural heritage, placed the last crystal in the Grotto describing it as rare and extraordinary.

We’re looking forward to visiting Father Christmas there. Elves will guide us from the Wishing Tent to the Crystal Grotto. It will be POD’s first experience of sharing a wish with Father Christmas so it will be interesting to see what happens!

Located in Cobham, Painshill Park is Grade 1 listed and has been awarded the rare Europa Nostra Medal for its exemplary restoration. Having taken the accessible route on our last visit, this time we opted for the longer historic route.

This route took us past the Gothic Temple with its pillared arches and down to the serpentine lake. It was the most glorious of days. Much to POD’s delight there were ducks everywhere and the Five Arch Bridge looked wonderful.

After admiring the Turkish Tent close-up, we *unintentionally* ended up on the wrong path for a short time. That said POD was more than happy jumping in muddy puddles!

Next stop was the fabulous Gothic Tower where you can climb 99 steps and enjoy views across four counties. We then enjoyed a wander through the Alpine Valley until POD decided she would walk no longer. Instead she’d lay down midst the trees having a tantrum in a way only a toddler can. Within reason too, she’d outgrown her wellies in less than a week!

POD cheered up at the beautiful Hermitage nestled in the woods. The Honourable Charles Hamilton had created Painshill Park as a romantic landscape to stimulate the senses and emotions of visitors. He had advertised for a hermit to live as a recluse for seven years in the Hermitage. Legend has it the hermit was found worse for wear in the local watering hole less than three weeks later!

Built in the 1830’s and restored in 1987, the Waterwheel is one of the largest working wheels in the UK. It was a fabulous sight, its red wheel gleaming in the sunshine. We then passed the Cascade and Mausoleum before arriving at Grotto Island and the Crystal Grotto. It almost takes your breath away with its shimmering features.

With POD on Daddy’s back, we took the route along the River Mole past the Ruined Abbey, Vineyard and Bastion. En route seeing geese, swans and more ducks. Then it was back home for a well deserved hot drink and coffee cake.

We’re linking this post up with How Does Your Garden Grow? at Mammasaurus and Country Kids at Coombe Mill.

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

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