New Geomag Supercolor | Toy Reviews

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I am as much of a fan of Geomag as my children are. I am super excited that they have brought out two new products. The brand new Geomag Supercolor, which is made from 100% recycled plastic, is fantastic for learning in so many ways. It has limitless construction and a handy booklet to give you ideas for play. It offers hours of fun.

geomag shapes

Play with magnets and let creativity and imagination take over with the fun Geomag toy that works like pure magic. Thanks to the simple Geomag elements and the magic of magnetism, you can build endless 3D constructions with creativity and imagination. The elongated magnetic rods, steel balls and the various panel shapes make up the building system, which stimulates play and learning.

The Geomag 337 Supercolor Panels 35 Piece set costs £26 from Coolshop.co.uk

magicubes, magnetic toys, animals. , geomag magicubes, magnetic toys, animals, geomag

 

Next up is the gloriously fun Magicube. They are shapes you can make numerous animals out of. My daughter absolutely loves these. They are great for imaginative play and developing motor skills. They are also made from 100% recycled plastic. Highly recommended for your little one. Fab and fun.

 

Excellent offers from Joffe Books again – shortlisted for Independent Publisher of the Year Award 2021 (The British Book Awards)

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SEVEN bestselling mysteries in one box set today. The Eric Ward Mysteries Books 8 – 14 by Roy Lewis for only 99p / 99c.   Praise for the Eric Ward series:

“Tightly written, well-paced and relentlessly accurate.” Oxford Times

“Lewis is at his well-rooted best in this drama of bent solicitors and corrupt businessmen living high. Well worked-out investigation, excellent characterisation and a tense climax. Highly recommended.” Sunday Telegraph

“Lewis is a master of his craft and pilots Ward through the shoal waters of business chicanery and physical violence with a sure hand.” Somerset Express

So, a good read is just a click away. More information: Joffe Books

Now, for more goodies,  have a look:

The Sisters Twin by Jane Adams  99p/99c

Lily Spencer asks Ray Flowers to investigate the death of her twin sister. The only problem being that she’s not dead yet — her death has only been foretold by a tarot reader.  Ray refuses to believe her, until a woman is stabbed to death, with a tarot card left at the scene.

“Takes the psychological suspense novel into new realms of mystery.” Val McDermid, Manchester Evening News

Constable over the Stile by Nicholas Rhea   £1.99/$1.99

The Yorkshire Moors are full of secrets.   Constable Nick thinks he knows his patch like the back of his hand. But events are about to prove him wrong. At Frost Magazine we love cosy entertaining books and this is at the top of the list, what’s more,  it is the series that inspired the ever popular 90s TV series Heartbeat

“It’s original, it’s funny . . . one of life’s little pleasures.” Yorkshire Post  

Read it, while drinking tea, and eating a cake. Make it a really good spoiling session.

The Searcher by Tessa Morris Suzuki   FREE UNTIL APRIL 4TH

Meet Adah Flint and discover the untold story of THE SEARCHER . . .  A young girl is found dead and Adah Flint must examine the child’s body to determine the cause of death.   Adah’s search for the truth takes her through the cosmopolitan backstreets of early 19th-century London, with its inns and prisons, street markets and prostitution, cruelty and compassion.

For more information on the books available, go to  Joffe Books
Now for something a bit different but so so interesting, just as Joffe has told Frost Magazine  if you want to know what criminal investigation is like in real life, then get ready for a podcast that puts YOU at the crime scene.

This series will look at the latest developments, the famous cases and how the forensic scientists are meeting the challenge laid down by a criminal who is forensically aware.

Lynda La Plante has always been fascinated by criminality and the people that solve crime. Her books are celebrated for their authentic depictions of crime scenes and police procedures – something she achieves through meticulous research with her colleague, CSI Cass Sutherland.

Over six episodes, Lynda and Cass will investigate six branches of forensics — discussing their own experiences, talking with experts, hearing how real life crime scenes are worked, exploring the latest innovations and demonstrating how CSI fact is just as thrilling as CSI fiction.

 

JANE CABLE INTRODUCES ANGELA PETCH AND THE IDEAS BEHIND THE TUSCAN HOUSE

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I have known Angela since we were both indie authors in Chichester, so the success of her gripping World War Two novels with Bookouture has delighted me more than most.

Every summer she moves to Tuscany for six months where she and her husband own a renovated watermill which they let out to friends and family. When not exploring their unspoilt corner of the Apennines, she disappears to her writing desk at the top of a converted stable. In her Italian handbag or hiking rucksack she always makes sure to store notebook and pen to jot down ideas.

The winter months are spent in Sussex where most of her family live. When Angela’s not helping out with grandchildren, she catches up with writer friends. Obviously we haven’t been able to do so this year, but I am still hoping.

Now, over to Angela.

It’s interesting how new ideas for novels germinate. I love that moment when I am grabbed by an event or a person and the desire to write a story is born. It can come from a newspaper article, an obituary, a photo or from somebody’s memories.

A few years ago, I cut out a magazine article with the title Swatched at birth. When babies were left at the Foundling Hospital in the 18th century, the only things identifying them were tiny scraps of fabric. The details on these swatches spoke to me: “A girl, about one day old, admitted 4 March 1759”. A piece of fabric pinned to her dress with a pattern of blue and burgundy flowers was the only link with this child’s past.

I’ve had this article for more than six years, but it gave rise to a detail in my new novel, to be published April 7th by Bookouture: The Tuscan House.

Similarly, on a shopping trip in Tuscany to our nearest town, I came across a simple exhibition of one family’s possessions. There were several outfits on mannequins and a wide-skirted 1950s dress was perfect for one of my characters. Click, click went my phone. And then I caught sight of a pair of slightly grubby booties. Click, click.  My characters come alive for me through such props and I hope to transmit the same through my words.

Maurice and I were persuaded in September 2013 to take a parish coach trip down to the Maremmana Tuscan coast. Most of the passengers were elderly and this annual Sunday had become a kind of pilgrimage to the past. Up until the 1950s, the men and boys of their families trekked down from our mountains to the sea to find better pastures for their sheep and cattle. I had never heard of the transumanza before (transhumance) and found myself scribbling down their stories. How could families bear to be separated for five long months every year? How did the women cope? What did the men get up to? My imagination went into overdrive. This led to my husband and I planning our own twenty-seven mile walk along part of the route and then another book was written. Originally, I self-published, but Bookouture acquired the rights. A Tuscan Memory  is a bit niche but a book I felt compelled to write.

We have to be in love with the stories we write and hope that our readers love them too.

 

Find out more about Angela and her writing on her blog: https://angelapetchsblogsite.wordpress.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lizi’s Belgian Chocolate Granola – Satisfy Your Chocolate Cravings Guilt-free – by Award Winning Author Dr Kathleen Thompson

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Easter’s here with those egg-shaped temptations poised to derail our post-lockdown healthy resolutions. What to do?

Fortunately Lizi’s have a healthy option for chocolate indulgence.

Frost has featured Lizi’s fabulous mueslis before. Lizi and Mick Shaw create wholesome foods with low Glycaemic Loads (GL), meaning they release sugars into your blood slowly. This is important because large blood sugar spikes after eating sweet foods and junk foods (even savoury ones) can trigger inflammation. This (unhelpful) inflammation has been implicated in heart disease, cancer and type II diabetes. The sugar spikes also make your body overreact and lower blood sugar too quickly – causing you to feel hungry again an hour later. So eating whole foods with low GLs is important to keep you healthy and slim.

The great news is whole foods don’t have to be boring – let me introduce Lizi’s new Belgian Chocolate Granola – it’s positively sinful. Dark, sumptuous real Belgian chocolate pieces paired with cocoa powder, vanilla, toasted oats, and a range of nuts and seeds.

But isn’t granola full of sugar? And what about the Belgian chocolate?

You’re absolutely right, as a doctor, I’m very interested in healthy diets, and normally I give granola a wide birth – but not this one.

It’s made from the best quality ingredients and is packed with flavanols. One 50g serving contains 249 calories, 14.4g healthy fats (from nuts and seeds mainly), just over a tea-spoon of sugars, 5.4g protein and 6.5g fibre. Served with 60g of milk, it has a healthy, low GL of 6.6. Unsurprisingly it’s vegan too.

So we’ve established it’s a healthy breakfast, which will keep you full until lunch due to the slow-release carbohydrate, protein and natural fats. But (important question) does it taste good?

Having road-tested (rather too much) I can reassure you unreservedly – it tastes amazing. The 5% Belgian chocolate is just enough to provide that smooth, decadent richness of a bar of the good stuff – and it turns the milk into choc-au-lait, which is a super bonus. Never has eating healthily been such a pleasure.

Where can you buy this heaven in a bowl? Lizi’s Belgian Chocolate Granola is available in convenient resealable packs from Ocado and from Lizi’s Website RRP £3.70.

If you want an Easter treat without the guilt, I highly recommend it.

By Dr K Thompson, award-winning author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q

http://faitobooks.co.uk

Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice.

Michael Rowan lets daylight in on magic as he sips Noctails by moonlight as the Sexton Malt Irish Whiskey launches the world’s first nocturnal cocktail kit, made of ingredients that thrive in the night-time, designed to be enjoyed entirely in the dark. 

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Unusually, I feel that I should begin this review with something of an apology, as I am about to tell you how good they are without explaining exactly where or how you can acquire them.

Noctails, are cocktails that are made for the night, but to be honest, they will taste pretty good at any time.

The Nocturnal Cocktail Kit only available in their sporadic competitions but when you see it advertised, I advise you to act quickly as they are well worth winning.

This is the best advice I can give you is that these Noctails will be popping up throughout the year, so make a note and you can thank me later.

The full-bodied Sexton, Irish Single Malt Whiskey is definitely worth seeking out and is available from Amazon as well as Waitrose and other selected outlets):  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sexton-Single-Malt-Irish-Whiskey/dp/B07L15WVCS , and even if you can’t get hold of the kit, you can always get the constituents to make some seriously delicious cocktails.

Unconventional and edgy, The Sexton Whiskey satisfies even the most restless of spirits. A single malt to be drunk however you like…even in the dark.

 

I can thoroughly recommend the Rhubarb Sour, which was a clever balance of sweet and sour, but beware I found it to be addictively moreish, even the Maraschino cherry, (words that I thought that I would never write.)

The Noctail mixologists have really mixed things up (see what I did there?) so if you manage to get hold of the cocktail kit it contains all the ingredients that you need to make two exclusive cocktails made from ingredients that thrive in the darkness scientifically -proven to be sweeter than those grown in the daylight.

From forced rhubarb to dried mushroom, each ‘Noctail’ kit contains all the nocturnal ingredients needed to create two signature ‘Noctails’ – The Rhubarb Sour and the Umami Old Fashioned

The Umami Old Fashioned, a revision of the classic Old Fashioned, containing mushrooms, maple syrup, Angostura bitters and of course, The Sexton Single Malt Whiskey

The Rhubarb Sour, a midnight-take on The Whiskey Sour, featuring forced rhubarb, organic cinnamon, maraschino cherries and apple cider vinegar.

Hopefully, you know me better than to think that I would just tease you about Noctails so here is a link to the recipe for the Rhubarb Sour. https://www.instagram.com/p/CMUu_HTF9di/

 

Women can’t catch men’s earnings, even after any children have left home

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  • In 2018/19, women earned an average of £22,200 and men £27,400 (median).
  • Men earned more than women at every age. At 20-24, men averaged £19,100 and women £17,700.
  • On average, income before tax peaked at age 40-44 at £30,200. However, it peaked for men between the ages of 45-49, at an average of £34,100, and for women at age 40-44 at £26,000.

Now is the time for us ladies to take charge of our finances. Check your state pension entitlement and make sure there are no gaps in National Insurance contributions. Also consider taking out a LISA.

 

HMRC has issued a range of tax and income statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-income-by-tax-year

Sarah Coles, personal finance analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown:

“Women are out-earned by men at every stage of their career, so if women are waiting for a better time to get started with their financial plans, they could be in for a very long wait.

Despite the fact that on average female students get better results at school, are more likely to go to university, and get more first class and upper second degrees, when they emerge from the education system, men are paid more. Between the ages of 20 and 24, women earn 7% less.

The official pay gap – which measures people doing the same work – is close to zero below the age of 40, so the difference is likely to owe much to the careers dominated by women being lower paid than those dominated by men, and how we value particular skills as a society. It’s also influenced by more women working part time from the outset, and some starting families at younger ages.

The gap between the average pay of women and men widens dramatically when people reach the age when they typically start a family. By their early 30s the gap is 13%, and by their early 40s it’s 22%. This is partly because women are overwhelmingly more likely to take career breaks in their children’s early lives, and make compromises over working hours and commutes in order to have more flexibility during their children’s school years.

There’s no time to catch up afterwards either, because not only are women paid far less later in their career, but they reach their peak earning years well before men too – at the age of 40-44 rather than 45-50. This owes something to the fact that senior management roles tend to have a later pay peak, so women continue to pay for missing out on promotions during key childcare years.

Women are also paid less later in their careers partly because once they have taken a financial hit relatively early on, they’re in the frame for any caring responsibilities that come along – including caring for elderly parents. This may mean they have to move into working part-time once again.

A solution to unequal pay requires a combination of an awful lot of things – from changing the way different skills are rewarded, to altering the balance of caring responsibilities in the home, and building workplaces that allow equality of flexibility. The pandemic may help accelerate some of this change, by revealing just how many jobs can be effectively completed with a much higher degree of flexibly, but this kind of societal change tends to be slow and incremental.

It means women can’t afford to wait for pay to equalise, they need to protect themselves now. These figures show the risk of putting off saving and investing, or building up your pension, until you’re in a better place financially. If you postpone it because you’re on a starting salary, or going on maternity leave or working part-time, then you could find yourself putting it off forever.”

 

Look What You Made Me Do by Nikki Smith

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I love getting my teeth into a good psychological thriller and Look What You Made Me Do did not disappoint. The story is based around two sisters and what happens after their father dies and there is an inheritance up for grabs. But all is not as it seems and this books leads you through a gripping plot while your feet never touch the ground. The characters are all fabulously written. This book is outstanding and entertaining, what more could anyone want?

Two people can keep a secret . . . if one of them is dead.

Sisters Jo and Caroline are used to hiding things from each other. They’ve never been close – taking it in turns to feel on the outside of their family unit, playing an endless game of favourites.

Jo envies Caroline’s life – things have always come so easy to her. Then a family inheritance falls entirely to Jo, and suddenly now Caroline wants what Jo has. Needs it, even.

But just how far will she go to get it?

It’s All About The Eyes – Important Tips From Essilor – by Award Winning Author Dr Kathleen Thompson

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Our eyes are incredible, aren’t they? Just close them for two minutes and try to walk around your house, or read, or work on the computer or even make a cup of tea … I rest my case.

Yet, often, we don’t treat these irreplaceable beauties with the care they deserve, so these sunglasses tips from eye expert Dr Andy Hepworth from www.essilor.co.uk  are essential.

Thinking of buying new sunnies for this great weather? What influences your choice? How much you’ll resemble an A-lister, or best protection for your eyes? Be honest.

I see? So, over to Dr Hepworth I think:

As well as a fashion accessory, sunglasses should protect eyes from excess UV light that can lead to premature ageing, cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. It’s also been linked to corneal sunburn and retinal tissue damage, plus eye strain and headaches. For optimum eye health you should be wearing sunglasses all year round.

Check UV protection of your sunglasses

  1. Check the label and paperwork. Look for a minimum UV 400 protection, with both UVA and UVB protection. A sticker on the lenses saying ‘blocks UV’ is not good enough.
  2. An eye care professional or optician can measure the UV filters.
  3. UV light may filter through scratched lenses so chuck damaged glasses.  
  4. Price doesn’t always indicate quality and UV protection.
  5. All sunglasses sold in the UK should have a CE mark to indicate compliance with regulatory standards, blocking out 95% of all UV rays below 380 nanometres.

Your Vision

  1. Get an eye test if you may need prescription sunglass lenses or specialist coatings.
  2. Larger frames and wrap-arounds can provide better UV protection.
  3. Glare can be distracting and dangerous and aggravates light sensitivity (photophobia). Xperio Polarised technology can help by only allowing vertical light through the lens – making safer driving and providing a high level of UV protection.
  4. Maintain clarity, contrast and colour perception with tinted lenses. For example, Essicolour Tints will reduce distortion to give good clarity. Graduated tint can give a trendy finish.
  5. Just because lenses are ‘dark’ doesn’t automatically mean they offer the right protection.
  6. Photochromic lenses adapt to changing light conditions, whether you’re indoors or out.

Remember, your eyes are extremely valuable and some damage can be irreversible so consider visiting your optician for your next pair of shades. If you’ve any eyesight worries the Essilor website has great information and advice too.

By Dr K Thompson, award-winning author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q

http://faitobooks.co.uk


Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice.