THE WILD YEAR – the family who lived in a tent for a year

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The Wild Year immediately caught my attention for it’s originality. This memoir by Jen Benson, who lived with her family for a year in a tent, is a brave book about triumph over hardship. This book is awash with nature and atmosphere. It is inspirational and will fill you with both joy and hope. It will also make you angry about the financial hardships so many are under. Jen writes about struggle with flair and complete honesty. Her talent as a writer is vast, and her love for her family and the world around her is so beautiful. I cannot recommend this book enough. I think everyone should read it for it’s insights into poverty, financial hardship, and the beautiful outdoors. Awash with love, nature and bravery.
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This is an utterly delightful, eye-opening read, bathed in the natural world. Reminiscent of The Salt Path by Raynor Winn and Homesick by Catriona Davies. Jen and her husband Sim have written a whole host of walking and running guides, and this is her first memoir. You can find out more about their previous books on their website — https://jenandsimbenson.co.uk/books/

The Wild Year is all about Jen and her young family’s decision to live in a tent for a year after suffering severe financial hardship and needing a way to live that retains their freedom but doesn’t cost a lot. Think cooking over fire in the dead of winter in stormy weather with a 3 year old and a 6 month old! Out now with Aurum (Quarto Group).

The Wild Year tells the uplifting true story of a family who left their old life behind to spend a year living wild in a tent around Britain.

With a baby and a toddler, mounting debt, work demands and stress trampling over their desire to spend time together as a family in nature, Jen and Sim Benson move out of their rented accommodation, sell up their possessions and decide to live in a tent for a year as nomads around rural Britain. This is the story of that year – the highs and the lows – the doubts, epiphanies and the weather.

Detailing one family’s search for a life in the wild, away from the screens and stresses of modern life, this captivating memoir is a must read for nature lovers or anyone who has dreamed of a life outdoors. It’s nature writ large with the joys and challenges of each season experienced under canvas, a story of ultimate freedom in the beautiful landscapes of Britain. This is a book that gently steals up on you and captures your heart.

Jen Benson has a passion for wild places and sustainable adventures. A lifelong runner, she is a writer, photographer and part-time PhD researcher exploring the philosophy of running. Jen and her husband Sim live in Wiltshire with their two young children. They have co-written several books including Wild Running, Short Walks in Beautiful Places, Amazing Family Adventures and 100 Great Walks with Kids. Jen writes regularly for the national press. Twitter/Instagram @jenandsim

Did You Miss Me? by Sophia Money-Coutts Book Review

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I have read all of  Sophia Money-Coutts’s books and I am a huge fan of her witty, entertaining novels. She writes wonderful, sparkling characters and I always enjoy the story. As usual, Did You Miss Me?, is clever and funny. Sophia has taken a great premise and executed it with flair. Another wonderful novel. Heartily recommended.

Did You Miss Me? is Sophia’s 4th novel and explores whether you really can rekindle your first love, and is of course written with Sophia’s trademark humour, wit and gloriously steamy romance scenes. Nell, the main character, is effortlessly likeable and features alongside her barmy mother (who falls for an eccentric Italian barista), the divine Arthur Drummond and Wilma the wolfhound.

You never forget the one that got away, do you?

Nell Mason is extremely happy with her life – or at least, that’s what she tells herself. She’s lucky to have a high-powered job as a lawyer, even if it does come with an eccentric set of billionaire divorce clients. And she’s absolutely fine living with her sweet, if slightly dull, boyfriend Gus in their London flat where they have very sensible sex once (OK, sometimes twice) a week. She’s definitely not stuck in a rut.

But when Nell bumps into childhood friend and first love Arthur Drummond who broke her heart fifteen years ago, she’s more than a little shaken. The seemingly perfect life she’s worked so hard for starts to feel, well, less perfect. Maybe Nell’s been kidding herself all these years. Can she ever get over her first love?

Sophia Money-Coutts is a journalist and author who spent five years studying the British aristocracy while working as Features Director at Tatler. Prior to that she worked as a writer and an editor for the Evening Standard and the Daily Mail in London, and The National in Abu Dhabi. She writes a column for The Sunday Telegraph called Modern Manners and often appears on radio and television channels talking about important topics such as Prince Harry’s wedding and the etiquette of the threesome.

The stylish, must-have essential for parents – Stokke Limas Carriers

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Getting around as a parent can be hard, if not impossible. In fact, even doing things around your house can be hard with a baby. This is why I could not live without a baby sling. I have tried many over the years so I thought I would review the Stokke Limas Carriers.

Stokke® Limas™ Carrier,

Stokke® Limas™ Carrier, Espresso Brown.

Featuring three hero products, Stokke® Limas™ Carrier, Stokke® Limas™ Carrier Plus and Stokke® Limas™ Carrier Flex, the range delivers stylish, must-have essentials that allow parents and caregivers to go completely hands-free when on the go or at home with their baby. Helping to facilitate closeness and bonding as well as providing optimal comfort and support from birth and beyond, the carriers enable both parent and child to grow confident together, every step of the way.

Not only does the new collection adjust to accommodate infants, but it supports the child’s physical and physiological development along the way. The carrier expands as your baby grows, to support the growth of the hips, spinal column and muscles; as well as providing them with a whole new sensory experience, helping to stimulate the brain.

I found the Stokke Limas Carrier to be comfortable and stylish. It looks great and is easy-to-use. Highly recommended. 

Strategies for Growing Your Business

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Every business owner would like to be in a situation where they are overwhelmed by demand for their product or services. In this scenario, the growth of your business is organic. You don’t have to do anything to make it happen. Unfortunately, growth is something that may need to be pushed by you to some extent. The strategies below can help you make it happen.

Have the Resources You Need

Growth can actually be a negative thing if you can’t keep up. In fact, a lack of preparation for the expansion can sink what would otherwise be a successful expansion. This can be tricky in terms of timing and predictions. You don’t want to hire a lot of staff that you won’t need, but you also don’t want to miss out because you don’t have the necessary people and equipment to keep up with customer expectations. This is also a good time to look at your processes and consider what you may need. If you are going to be selling more products and you have a fleet, you may need to expand that fleet. You also need to make sure it is running as efficiently as possible. GPS fleet tracking software can use real-time data to track your fleet and can be an excellent solution to issues that may arise as your fleet grows.

Find a Niche or Diversify

Two strategies you could employ are actually opposite in nature, but depending on the type of business you run and your circumstances, each of them could be the right direction. It might sound strange to say that you can expand your business by shrinking what it is you do, but if you identify the right nicheand there aren’t many other organizations who offer who you do, this can be much more lucrative than a more generalist approach. Alternately, you could diversify, expanding the products and services that you offer. A common example of this is a bookstore that adds a coffee shop.

Market to More Customers

You could also try marketing to a wider base of customers. If you have a retail storefront, you could consider setting up an online shop as well or vice versa. If you offer services instead of products, think about what similar services or add-ons you could offer. You could try to find a different demographic from the one that commonly uses your products or services and figure out a new marketing strategy that would appeal to them. Attending a trade show is another way to potentially expand your market. If it doesn’t do so directly, it can help you make connections that may facilitate that expansion.

Follow the Money

It may sound like a contradiction, but getting rid of some of your products and services–even if you are not going the niche route–could also lead to growth. Take a hard look at your revenue and see what is not earning its keep. Freeing up the resources that you are putting toward products or services that are not particularly profitable allows you to make better use of those resources.

JANE CABLE REVIEWS THREE VERY DIFFERENT SECOND WORLD WAR NOVELS

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Hope for the Railway Girls by Maisie Thomas

I rarely follow a whole series, but the Railway Girls’ Second World War novels gripped me from the very first one. The characters are fresh and stand out from the page, there is tension, pathos and heartbreak, but more than that, there is joy – and that is important.

So often I find sagas descend into what I call ‘it’s grim up north’ where the heroines’ hardships and battles become so impossibly dark the book is no longer a pleasure to read. What is so clever about Maisie Thomas’s work (both in this series and The Surplus Girls, which she writes as Polly Heron) is that the moments of high tension – and frankly apparently insoluble conundrums – are balanced by humour and happiness. And of course, they’re so very beautifully written.

In this fifth book we follow Alison as her new romance develops, Joan as she approaches motherhood, and a relatively new viewpoint character Margaret, who I found the most interesting of all. If you haven’t read the other books these names will mean nothing to you, but I urge you to go back and start at the beginning of the series. You have an absolute treat in store.

 

The Helsingor Sewing Club by Ella Gyland

I love an unusual Second World War story and when I heard this one was set in Denmark I really wanted to read it. In part my choice was influenced by having loved Elizabeth Buchan’s I Can’t Begin To Tell You so much, but The Helsingor Sewing Club deals with a completely different aspect of Danish resistance.

I didn’t know that, thanks to the Danish (albeit puppet) government, Jews were safe from persecution until 1943. Or that when the wrath of the Nazis descended on them the vast majority of Danes were prepared to help them to escape. This book provides a fascinating glimpse into that tiny slice of the country’s history and I loved it.

But no novel is ever a history lesson and Ella Gyland creates wonderful characters, not always brave, sometimes full of fear and even despair, but you love them all the more for it and root for them all the way. The whole story is fraught with tension and there are some truly heart-stopping moments too. My only slight reservation is that I thought the book was strong enough to stand without a contemporary narrative running alongside it, although I do appreciate most readers will have loved it exactly the way it is.

 

The Frequency of Us by Keith Stuart

I’m a sucker for a great premise: in 1942 radio engineer Will regains consciousness after a bombing and realises the love of his life, Elsa, is missing. But he is told there was no one else living with him, and no records of her seem to exist.

Seventy years later Will is struggling to cope and is refusing care, but he sees a kindred spark of loss in Laura and lets her in. It’s a prickly, difficult, unlikely yet beautiful relationship which evolves as strange things happen in the house compelling Laura to try to uncover what happened.

The flashbacks to Will’s wartime romance with Elsa provide relief from the unremitting greyness of Laura’s battle with mental illness and Will’s with old age. Whose mind is playing the most tricks? Clues are revealed, but none of them fit; indeed some of them seem completely contradictory.

Every thread is drawn together in the end, and although I found the ultimate answer deeply unsatisfying, I have to say I enjoyed the journey.

 

 

Frost Loves Annabelle Minerals Makeup Brushes

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Annabelle Minerals makeup brushes are made of the highest quality materials. They consist of a comfortable handle and light, synthetic bristles. Brushes are super soft, durable and pleasant to use. These are beautifully made accessories for every type of makeup: everyday, amateur and professional. You can fall in love with the art of applying foundation with a brush if you have the right tools.

One of those tools is a flat top brush. Like every Annabelle Minerals brush, the flat top has dense, flexible bristles due to which application of foundation is smudge free. It helps to achieve a perfect base for any makeup and in addition provides a better skin coverage than a kabuki brush.

These brushes are beautiful and a joy to use. They are well made and so soft on your skin. Definitely recommended.

Helen Flanagan and Emily Norris sing and play with Baby Shark

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Helen Flanagan and Emily Norris love these Baby Shark toys and were seen playing with them on Instagram and Tiktok.

Helen Flanagan makes her daughter laugh as she sings Baby Shark to her with the Mummy Shark hand puppet and Delilah joins in with Daddy Shark, with lots of cuddles to follow. Emily Norris and her 2 youngest boys sing with the Baby Shark microphone and plush toys. Her son kindly wants to gift the Baby Shark toys to a friend’s Baby.


The Baby Shark toys are available from Smyths toys and other retailers.

Baby Shark Singing Puppet with Tempo Control, £16.99srp, 3+ 
Your favourite Baby Shark is now available as an interactive puppet! Move the mouth of your Baby Shark puppet to hear the entire Baby Shark song. Change the speed of the Baby Shark song by moving the mouth faster or slower! Produced by WowWee for Pinkfong, official creator of the global hit song Baby Shark! Move the mouth of the puppet to start playing the entire hit Baby Shark song! (English Version). Control the beat! Move the shark’s mouth faster or slower to change the speed of the song!

Baby Shark Sound Cubes, £5.99srp, 3+
Baby Shark super soft plush toys are here! Meet our stackable, collectible Shark Family cube dolls! Squeeze them to hear the Baby Shark song. Collect all 3 of your favourite characters: Baby Shark, Mommy Shark and Daddy Shark!

Baby Shark Microphone, £9.99srp, 3+
Be the star of your own show with the new Baby Shark Microphone toy. This kids’ microphone toy is perfect for little ones who love to sing their hearts out. Your child can lip sync along to the hit Baby Shark song. The Baby Shark Microphone toy has 2 silly voice-changing modes. Have fun changing your voice with the voice amplification filter or the funny underwater voice filter.

Children love Baby Shark and these toys give hours of enjoyment.

Solid Beauty Bars The Ultimate Travel Essentials

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I adore beauty bars. None of the guilt of plastic, and all of the beauty benefits. They are perfect for traveling because they can’t explode in your bag or leak. Hurray!

Solid Beauty Bars – The Ultimate Travel Essentials

When it comes to travelling, the struggle to streamline and squeeze in all of our beauty essentials can make packing feel like a mean feat – especially with carry-on restrictions and tight luggage allowances. Hack your summer holiday packing and forgo the liquid hassle altogether with solid beauty bars from Eco Warrior.

These compact, job-specific, plastic-free, solid cleansing bars are not only kind to your skin, hair and the planet, but also help to take the stress out of packing – replacing bulky and heavy liquid bottles, you can simply pop your Eco Warrior bars in your hand luggage, without the risk of any leaking or spilling. From washing and exfoliating, to shaving and shampooing Eco Warrior has all your cleansing needs covered…in solid form. It’s time to hit the bar this summer!

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Mini-Bars with Bottle for Everyday Cleansing
Eco Warrior Mini Cube – £8/ 4 x 30g
your essential face, hair and body cleansing routine in mini form – pocket sized perfection for cleansing away from home.

Shampoo Bar – with a blend of Orange & Ginger essential oils to stimulate the scalp and Pink Clay to deeply cleanse and hydrate, this solid shampoo cleans, conditions and moisturises hair. Why take two bottles into the shower when one mini-bar will do?
Sensitive Facial Bar – with a Chamomile & Calendula essential oil blend, this nourishing facial bar is gentle enough to use on sensitive skin and good to use all over the body.

Exfoliating Bar – Fragranced with a pure Citrus essential oil blend, this solid, moisturising body scrub is made with oatmeal – a natural, soothing exfoliant to help gently buff away dead, dull skin cells, for soft, smooth, supple skin.

Shaving Bar – a luxurious, naturally lathering bar with Coconut Oil and Shea Butter, fragranced with a pure blend of Bergamot and Lime essential oils to moisture, and soothe the skin pre, post and during your shave.

Targeted Cleansing Bars
Eco Warrior Clear Skin Bar – £4.50/100g
for those with oily, acne-prone skin this clarifying and richly moisturising black cleansing bar contains Charcoal to reduce excessive sebum, Grapeseed Oil to nourish and soothe dry, sensitive skin, with an antibacterial Tea Tree essential oil blend.

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Eco Warrior Sensitive Scalp Shampoo Bar – £5.50/100g
for a uber-gentle, scalp sensitive cleanse this shampoo bar contains a blend of White Clay and Clary Sage Oil to gently and naturally cleanse and moisturise your hair and scalp.
fragranced with a clearing, pure essential oil blend of Mint and Eucalyptus to help keep the scalp happy and heathy.

Vegan, cruelty-free, sustainable, biodegradable, recyclable and plastic-free – Eco Warrior bars have major impact on cleansing, minimum impact on the environment. And as you’ve come to expect from this certified B Corporation collection – totally from detergents, SLS, sulphates, alcohol, parabens, sorbates, silicones, and synthetic preservatives.
littlesoapcompany.co.uk

Eco Warrior bars are available from Ocado, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and littlesoapcompany.co.uk
@eco_warrior_soap | @little_soap_co