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November

November saw us visit a magical wonderland with hidden surprises.

England’s most elegant 18th century landscape garden is home to a crystal grotto. Hundreds of thousands of crystals including calcite, gypsum, quartz and fluorite have been used to re-create what is an extraordinary folly.

Stalactites hung from the ceiling and the walls sparkled with crystals. It’s said on a still day ‘nature’s mirror’ can be seen inside the crystal grotto. We are back in a few weeks for POD to meet Father Christmas.

We took POD to her first firework display, a spectacular show watched by 17,000 people. The torchlight procession was an incredible sight.

We’ve really been able to appreciate Autumn this November. POD has seen conkers for the first time and she’s loved seeing leaves change colour. Her excitement has meant I’ve enjoyed it more than I ever have before and I’ve loved photographing it. Regardless of the cold, it makes such a different to how you feel getting some fresh air in your lungs!

Alongside this aura of calm and tranquility comes reflection and panic. In November 2010 I was 8 months pregnant with POD. I remember that time like it was yesterday and the anxious feeling of being a mum-to-be.

November always passes by so quickly, everyone is counting down to Christmas. If I had my way, I’d like to slow it right down. Just so I can reminisce in the period that led to our Christmas Day baby being born.

We’re linking this post up with The Gallery at Sticky Fingers, the theme is November.

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.

Little Learners Finger Puppet Books

Little Learners Five Little Monkeys and Old MacDonald Had a Farm are nursery rhyme board books with a finger puppet built into the story. We’re having so much fun with them!

POD demands Five Little Monkeys be read over and over, each time it ends following up with “again, again, again”. It’s the same for Old MacDonald Had a Farm.

Our toddler has such varied taste when it comes to stories, her range spanning from Julia Donaldson to Beatrix Potter and everything in-between. The finger puppets built into Five Little Monkeys and Old MacDonald Had a Farm have added a whole new dimension to story telling.

She loves it when Mummy wiggles her finger a lot so it looks like the monkey or cow are playing. Sometimes POD likes to try and capture them. As well as encouraging imaginative play, additional sound effects often feature too.

POD knows the words to Old MacDonald Had a Farm and she learnt Five Little Monkeys. She loves to ‘read’ both books to her dollies – something she’s started doing a lot more of recently. It’s great to see.

Five Little Monkeys especially has been repeated everywhere, even Daddy has gone in on the act! We can often be heard chanting the words in the house:

Five Little Monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell off and banged his head. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, no more monkeys jumping on the bed!

The Little Learners Finger Puppet Books are a great size and even fit in a handbag. This works particularly well if you’re waiting to see a doctor for example. POD shouted “no more monkeys jumping on the bed” at the top of her voice although everyone at the surgery seemed amused!

As you may have established, the Little Learners Finger Puppet Books encourage interactive play and hand-eye co-ordination. For younger children (babies aged 6 months up) they will also help with language development.

The Little Learners Finger Puppet Books are available from Amazon. The range also includes Mary Had a Little Lamb, Incy Wincy Spider and This Little Piggy to name a few. With prices starting at less than £3, they’re great books to have around and will make perfect stocking fillers.

Disclosure: As a Parragon Book Buddy we were sent a copy of both books for the purpose of this review. Opinions are our own.

Halloween fun

For the first time in the Dove household, we’re embracing the spirit of Halloween.

This began with the painting of ghouls – in the lounge initially as Daddy was using the kitchen table. Messy play was exactly that and it wasn’t long before blue hand prints decorated the sofa. POD loved painting her ghoul which ended up purple and yellow with an orange swirl despite appearing blue.

Back in the kitchen, next up were paper mache spiders. Again POD opted for maximum paint coverage. In the process creating an impressive army combat spider!

Thank you to The Nurture Store and Red Ted Art for providing pumpkin inspiration. This year was our first attempt at pumpkin craft so please be kind. Next time will see an improvement for sure. We created a Pinterest board with oodles of ideas so we’re not short on those!

The Mummy pumpkin originally had seventeen eyes but we decided two would be plenty. POD did have help making the hair after discovering straight pipe cleaners don’t attach themselves. We also created a Cinderella pumpkin carriage. The wheels were made with persimmons which were then decorated. It would have been fabulous to paint it white but the supplies were lacking.

For Halloween we’re having a special supper which will include ghoulish cakes with pumpkin faces. The table will be decorated with our creations and littered with glittery spiders. Not to mention the odd eyeball if I’ve not eaten them! POD will no doubt still be wearing the devil costume she went to nursery in. We have face masks to wear too. It will be fun!

We’re linking up with The Gallery at Sticky Fingers and Post Comment Love at Vevivos.

Little Learners Sleepy Puppy Pack

POD was home when a package from Parragon arrived. She was so excited when she discovered it was a book and a puppy blankie.

She loves dollies and soft toys, only recently taking an interest in a bunny blankie she’s had since she was a baby. POD took to the puppy blankie immediately and he’s been a permanent fixture in her bed since. She named him ‘Doggy’ but this is the same toddler that has dollies called Boadicea, Bob and Rice!

From the makers of ‘Snuggle Bunny’, the Little Learners Sleepy Puppy Pack is a brand new gift in the collection that’s ideal for both babies and toddlers. As well as the soft puppy blankie, the set features a soothing lullaby board board.

POD loves stories and will often demand 3+ after her bath. She’s interested in wide range too from board books through to ones that are probably too old for her. She’s also started taking an interest in reading to herself and her ‘friends’. The last book we reviewed for Parragon, Wonderful Wildlife 123, she almost knows off by heart.

The lullaby board book, entitled A Little Goodnight Book, is a soothing lullaby. So much so you find yourself almost talking in a whisper “My sleepy one, it’s time for bed, time to rest your sleepy head”. Initially she found this style of reading highly entertaining and told Mummy to “read it properly” but she soon relaxed.

The words “Close your eyes and do not cry, listen to my lullaby” are particularly apt given POD’s current refusal to sleep. Saying that she’ll get herself comfortable and this book definitely calms her. It’s not sending her to sleep but we can’t have everything can we! The Little Learners Sleepy Puppy Pack is available from Amazon currently priced £6.25 (RRP £7.68).

Disclaimer: As one of the Parragon Book Buddies, we received the Little Learners Sleepy Puppy Pack for the purposes of this review. All opinions are our own.

The Toadstool Christmas wishlist

The Toadstool is running a Big Christmas Wishlist blogger competition with the prize £300 worth of toys. They’re also offering the chance to become a Toy Toad Tester – an opportunity the Doves would relish.

POD loves pretend play and role playing so the first item on our Toadstool Christmas wishlist is the Haba pretend play doctor suitcase. POD has an Aqua Doodle she calls her ‘nurses bag’ and frequently tells her toys she’s a doctor. She’d love to take temperatures, dress wounds and give medicine.

Not only would it be a great gift for Christmas but also for her birthday. She will be three on Christmas Day this year.

She has an incredible imagination, recently I found her collecting dinosaur juice in her laundry basket! She loves dressing up and spent half of last weekend as an Eighties pumpkin witch. This Haba American Indian brave eagle costume would be perfect for role playing and adventures – no doubt her dollies would be enlisted as her tribe!

The Janod giant circus train set and playworld is superb. With acrobats that stand on each other’s heads, train carriages that carry animals and a monkey on a bike, it would add a whole new level to imaginative play. Given POD’s favourite phrase is “hello everybody welcome to my circus”, she’d be over the moon to have her own.

POD is lucky that she has a granny that makes wonderful hand-made dresses and woolens. We spotted the rather lovely Habba doll Little Scamp Mette which is a soft doll the same size as her hard faced dollies. POD’s imaginative play with her dollies includes talking to them, changing their clothes and ensuring they’re wearing a clean nappy.

Pretend play frequently includes “peoples”. At home these often end up in a bag as their fire station home has limited space. Playing with “peoples” is an interactive experience for POD as she talks to them and refers to herself in the third person. This fabulous Plan toys playhouse with furniture has 3 floors and open sides – she’d be beside herself!

She’s reached the stage where she wants to play games. The Sleepy Princess Haba game is great as it’s for all the family. It’s based on an adaptation of the Princess and The Pea – a story she loves. She already has a competitive streak so it would be interesting to see how she’d get on.

The Janod Nutty Squirrel Balancing Game is made of solid wood with the objective to pile up as many hazelnuts as possible on the squirrel without making them fall. This would be a huge help to POD’s motor skills.

POD loves the backpack she has for nursery, often wanting to wear it despite its size. The Lilliputiens Liz Ladybird back pack would be a great accessory for when we’re out. POD is fiercely independent, she’d be ecstatic to have a bag she could carry herself. Not only would she fill it, she’d play with it too. Likely it would be called “ladybird bag”.

The final choice is the rather plump but adorable Worry Eater – Sorgenfresser Schnulli. The idea behind it is that you draw or write down your worries and feed them into Schnulli’s mouth. The mouth is then zipped shut with all the worries banished by morning. POD has had dinosaurs and lions in her room before so Schnulli would be ideal to keep her feeling safe.

You can find photographs of the Doves Toadstool Christmas Wishlist on our Toadstool Pinterest board. We thoroughly enjoyed a rather longer than intended browse of The Toadstool website. They offer a wide range of pre-school toys that are good value, beautiful and kind to the environment which is exactly why we’d love to work with them.

The countdown

It’s that time of year when the countdown to Christmas begins. Everywhere you look there are seasonal gift ideas, recipe choices and shopping guides. Dedicated websites tell you how long you have to wait by day, hour, minute and second. Christmas Day is just 71 days away.

POD’s birthday is also 71 days away, she was born on 25th December 2010. The lead up to the festive period is always especially poignant as a result. Some of the Christmas tree decorations and the Rudolph we have on the door provide fond memories of that time. As does the snow, a lot fell in December that year.

This photograph was taken when POD was one hour old, she was remarkably alert given she’d just endured a 47-hour labour. She arrived to the sound of the Salvation Army singing Good King Wenceslas outside the delivery suite. Surreal yet memorable!

Now a toddler, POD has an incredible character, is fiercely independent and highly entertaining. It’s likely this will be the first birthday she’ll remember. It’s going to be amazing to see the joy on her face and be able to share her cries of excitement.

But the time between now and then will fly past too quickly, it always does. If I had my way the countdown to Christmas would be in slow motion. Especially this year. Just so I can enjoy POD being a two-year-old that little bit longer.

We’re linking this post up with What’s The Story? on PODcast. To see more photographs and read the stories behind them, click on the badge below.

Annabel Karmel’s bite-sized recipe books

Annabel Karmel has launched a collection of bite-sized recipe books in association with Sainsburys. Specifically for busy families, this series of handy recipe books are designed to inspire parents on the supermarket run.

These recipe books fit in your handbag so you don’t even need to write down what ingredients you might need. You can just take the book with you. Browsing in the supermarket is definitely not something you want to be doing – especially if you have young children with you!

Mum-of-three Annabel Karmel MBE says: “When it comes to cooking for kids, our research tells us that busy parents don’t have time to spend hours flicking through cook books, following complicated recipes and lengthy cooking times. The reality is that they want tasty, well-balanced food ideas that they can rustle up in quick time.”

There are 10 easy-to-follow recipe books in the series which cover a wide range of food milestones from First Foods and Exploring New Tastes, to Lunchboxes and Vegetarian Meals. Each book contains more than 50 delicious, time-saving ideas using nutritional ingredients you’d find in the kitchen cupboard.

The Lunchboxes book provides guidance on what to include in a healthy lunchbox and how to get your child involved. It offers quick, easy and healthy ideas to make lunchtime fun whether sandwiches, salads, savouries or treats. Our favourites include Bow-tie Pasta Salad with Chicken, Humous, Carrot & Cheese sandwiches and Jamaican banana muffins.

Kids in the Kitchen focuses on creative recipe ideas that enable you to bake together. All the recipes have been created with little ones in mind so they’re quick, simple and easy-to-follow. This book covers everything from snacks, vegetarian, fish, chicken and meat to sweet treats and special occasions.

Breaded Animals, a Bagel Snake and Mice in Jackets are just a few of the ideas on offer. With Halloween fast approaching we have our eye on the Chocolate-orange Spider Cupcakes. Or the Goulish Ghost Cakes. Our toddler will absolutely adore those!

Annabel Karmel’s Favourites (RRP £4.99) are available in Sainsbury’s stores. You can see the full range of books on the Annabel Karmel website.

Disclaimer: We received two books from the collection for the purpose of this review. Opinions are our own.

Room on the Broom Live

“How the car purred and how the witch grinned, as they sat on their broomstick and flew through the wind”. Written by Julia Donaldson MBE and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, Room on the Broom is a wonderful tale.

It’s about a witch and her cat who fly around happily on their broomstick until a stormy wind blows away the witch’s hat, bow and wand. Retrieved by a dog, a bird and a frog, each asks for a ride until the weight becomes too much and the broom snaps in two.

POD loves Room on the Broom so we were delighted to hear this fabulous picture book had been adapted for the stage.

Although she is younger than the 3+ recommended age we booked tickets as it seemed too good an opportunity. We’d missed The Gruffalo Live and heard Tall Stories received rave reviews for it. We hoped Room on the Broom would be the same.

POD was confused when her Room on the Broom flag didn’t fly but all was forgotten when we took our seats. The audience was immediately engaged by campers located around the theatre. One camper then became the witch and two the narrators with all four actors bringing amazing dog, bird and frog puppets to life.

As you’d expect there was much excitement when they whooshed through the air! And the songs used to accompany the original story just added to the magic of the show. The story was beautifully told by a hugely talented team who delivered a performance that was bursting with energy. Their improvisation and timing was exceptional.

POD was fascinated by it throughout although she did sit on Daddy’s knee when the dragon appeared. She remained in her seat for the entire 55 minutes. For a toddler that rarely stays in the same place, that’s a huge achievement. Her response when we asked if she enjoyed it was “again?”. Says it all really, just brilliant.

Room on the Broom Live is touring the UK until the end of December.

Photo Credit: Graeme Braidwood

Older Posts

Newer Posts

Lifestyle

November

Personal Planner review and giveaway

Celebrating 70 years

Little Learners Finger Puppet Books

Halloween fun

Little Learners Sleepy Puppy Pack

The Toadstool Christmas wishlist

The countdown

Annabel Karmel’s bite-sized recipe books

Room on the Broom Live

Adventures

Visiting Mayfield Lavender Field, Banstead

A wander at Frensham Little Pond, Surrey

7 reasons to love Barracudas camps

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