Ideas for Keeping Kids Learning Through Play at Home

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Catherine Balavage

It is fair to say that keeping little ones entertained can be a tough job. The best of both worlds is when you can entertain them while they learn. So we have two fantastic recommendations for you.

VTech Musical Cuddle Bug | 6 – 36 months | £21.99

As learning toys go the Cuddle Bug has a lot going for it. It is cute and fun and it can teach children everything from colours to songs. This was a huge hit with my little ones and I cannot recommend it enough.

This soft, friendly and cuddly fabric bug features many colours and patterns to stimulate the curiosity of your little one! Including 15 melodies and 3 sing-along songs, this cutie will have fun with your baby in day mode and soothe them in night mode. The 8 soft buttons on the bug’s feet teach Do-Re-Mis, colours and shapes, and the colour changing star button plays fun phrases, sounds and music.

The Cuddle Bug is available here.

LeapFrog Yum – 2 – 3 Toaster | 12+ months | £17.99

The Leapfrog Yum Toaster is great for pretend play. The toaster pops up the toast and it also sings and helps children learn their colours and count. This was another hit with my little ones. It is perfect to spark childrens imagination. I love that it comes with plates, cutlery and food. I find toy food is great for helping children eat.

This friendly toaster will help your little one cook up and serve a delicious breakfast. There’s nine different foods and utensils to choose from, so your little one can make egg and bacon sandwiches, or some tasty toast with jam. Popping the toast up and down introduces opposites while the dial lets kids choose how toasted they’d like their bread. The buttons encourage learning numbers, colours and foods.

The Leapfrog Yum Toaster is available here.

Don’t Let Lockdown Stop You Getting Quality Meals

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Catherine Balavage

I have had to use my initiative to get food during the COVID-19 pandemic. March saw shelf stripping and even now online food delivery is (for me at least) impossible.

So the people at Love Yourself sent us some food to try. They make gourmet food which is delivered to you daily. They have different diets so you will find the right one for you. We tried the Keto diet.

The food arrives in trays and has the calorie count and nutritional value on it. You can heat things up in the microwave or some things can be eaten cold. So far so easy, but how does it taste?

Amazing. My husband is notoriously hard to please and even he said he had never eaten so well. I have reviewed hundreds of restaurants and this food is restaurant-quality. It is expensive with a starting price of £21 but I would recommend it if you have the money.

The sight of bare shelves in your local supermarkets is something we are all becoming familiar with, we want to avoid these busy shops and overcrowded public transport at all costs. So while your continuing to find your feet with home-work life and new ways to get some exercise into your day it can be a challenge to think of nutritional balanced meals daily. Take the weight off your shoulder and allow your meals to come right to your door with Love Yourself. Dedicated to the health, happiness and well-being of their customers all the hard work is done for you. No cooking is required simply place in the microwave to heat up following the instructions provided then your free to reap the rewards of these delicious yet nutritious meals. To help strengthen those motivation levels and achieve those daily goals rather than giving in to the temptation to sit on the sofa and binge watch a box set.

As restrictions mean we are spending much more time at home, with such uncertainty it is so important to maintain the attitude ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ that way you can face the day well-nourished with a sense of positivity and motivation whatever comes our way. LoveYourself provide the most immune boosting meals safely, straight to your door. Calorie-controlled premium diets freshly prepared, using an exciting array of seasonal ingredients containing no processed meats, additives or preservatives. If you’re wondering what is beef jerky and whether it fits into a healthy lifestyle, LoveYourself focuses on meals that offer nourishing, whole food options instead of processed snacks.

While day to day live may become monotonous for the creators at Love Yourself it continues to be of paramount importance to keep things exciting in the kitchen, changing diet menus on a weekly basis so you’ll never get bored, which encourages weight loss and an improvement to your overall health.

No time to go to the shops? Shops run out of stock? Love Yourself has you covered catering to your dietary requirements whether that be vegetarian, gluten free, keto or pescatarian. All food is prepared in a clean, sanitized facility with strict hygiene procedures in place. All food is packaged in sterile, food-grade containers, with an airtight seal to ensure its freshness and uncompromised hygiene until it is opened and enjoyed in your own home.

Looking for recommendations to help boost your immune system, read in full at; https://www.loveyourself.co.uk/blogs/news/immune-boosting-foods-that-ll-help-fight-off-the-coronavirus-and-more

The Love Yourself Meal Box, is available to buy online from £21.00 (daily) at LoveYourself.

Book of The Week: The Variety Girls By Tracy Baines

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Catherine Balavage

Our Book of The Week is this stunning novel from Tracy Baines. You can read our review here. Get your copy now.

This heart warming saga is set on the brink of the 2nd World War, and circumstances have dictated that Jessie Delaney, her mum, Grace, and young brother Eddie, up sticks and move in with Jessie’s aunt and uncle. To call these relatives the sober-sides, the ‘sucked a lemon’ brigade is to understate the case. Life is toxic, and miserable, but our Jessie is aspirational, she determines to escape onto the stage in her father’s footsteps.

Can she pull it off, especially as it means leaving her mum and brother, and what about Harry the boyfriend?

If she does leave, how can she rescue her mother and brother? Will she be the successful singer she craves to be? Will she still see Harry? Where will she live? Will she make friends?

So many questions, and to find the answers, and enter this razzmatazz world, you will have to read this well-researched song and dance of a novel in great gulps as I did, all the while so wanting Jessie to pull it off, just as the author most certainly has: an evocative, busy, entertaining read, which has well balanced touches of humour, vying with angst, and of course, more than a dollop of tension. Bravo, bravo.

But be warned, you’ll end up buying sparkly knickers, and dancing to the big band sound around the kitchen – oh yes you will.

The Variety Girls by Tracy Baines. pb, ebook and audio. Available from Amazon.co.uk WH Smith, and ASDA

STEP ASIDE GU – THERE’S A NEW DESSERT DON IN TOWN

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Sophia Mead

Every once in a while a sweet treat lands in our lap that changes EVERYTHING. Pati & Coco’s multi-layered, multi-textured chocolate desserts have done just that.

Picture this, you start by cracking through the signature layer of fine tempered dark chocolate. Once through, experience patisserie folds of luscious ganache and delicate sheets of chocolate underneath before ending with a satisfyingly crunchy biscuit layer at the base. Swoon.

Available in packs of 2, these 80g pots come in four intense and luxurious flavours. Disclaimer, our favourite was the caramel & choc pots, giving decadent, millionaire’s shortbread vibes!

Ganache & Choc
Praline & Choc
Caramel & Choc
Pistachio & Choc

Available to buy at Sainsburys

The Butterfly Lion: Review

Posted on October 15, 2019 by Vicky Edwards

The Butterfly Lion
Minerva Theatre, Chichester
Until 15 November
www.cft.org.uk

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

Theatrical storytelling at its finest, the importance of treasuring memories is a central theme in this superb adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s book – a theme that is perfectly reflected in Simon Higlett’s dreamy set. Enhanced by a crack creative team (lighting by Johanna Town, sound by Gregory Clarke and video by Simon Wainright), the play’s journey, which traverses the wilds of South Africa to rural England and the battlefields of France, is a collective design triumph.

Jonathan Dryden Taylor as Michael Morpurgo himself is the story’s guide. Meandering down memory lane, his narration melts seamlessly into the action, sweeping you along for the ride and inspiring a sense of old snapshots coming to life.

All the performances are accomplished. With skill beyond their years the youngsters playing the junior versions of the adult characters don’t miss so much as the subtlest nuance.

The adult cast, many of whom play multiple roles, are equally adept. Effortlessly slipping from character to character, the scenes at the watering hole, in which they take on animal personas, are especially impressive.

Director Dale Rooks has invested such care that not even the smallest detail falls short. Making it feel as if you are watching a labour of love rather than simply an extremely polished production; her Butterfly Lion has palpable heart and soul. It makes the heart sing.

Complemented by Tom Brady’s atmospheric music, Anna Ledwich’s adaption is sensitively and elegantly done. Clearly meeting with the approval of the book’s author, who on Press Night was in the audience, Mr Morpurgo looked proud fit to burst. He deserved to.

The Things We Left Unsaid: An unforgettable story of love and family by Emma Kennedy

Posted on August 22, 2019 by Catherine Balavage

The Things We Left Unsaid reads like an off-beat romantic comedy. It certainly has all of the ingredients: drama, complicated characters, conflict and resolution.

It has real, and sometimes unlikeable characters. The setting of the family country home is gorgeous and works well. The Things We Left Unsaid also talks a a lot about the human condition and how we are always searching for who we are and trying to find out the truth of the past. A good read.

Rachel’s relationship with her mother, Eleanor, has always been far from perfect. Eleanor is a renowned artist born from the swinging sixties, and Rachel has forever lived in the shadow of her success.
When Rachel is left by her fiancé on the morning of their wedding she has no choice but to move back into her family home and spend an unbearably hot summer with a mother she feels distant from – in the presence of many painful memories.

It will take another turn of events before Rachel realises that sometimes the past holds exactly the comfort we need. And that behind the words left unsaid are untold stories that have the power to define us.

Imbued with warmth and full of characters who will steal your heart, THE THINGS WE LEFT UNSAID is a radiant novel in which past and present collide with life-affirming consequences.

Available here.

Gtech HyLite Review

Posted on July 21, 2019 by Catherine Balavage

I have children so I hoover a lot. Or my husband does at least. With the hoovers we have at the moment this is a huge amount of hassle. They are bulky and heavy. Getting them out of the cupboard is an effort in itself. We had a handheld but it gave up. I also hate clutter and in London space is a premium. So being sent the new Gtech HyLite felt like Christmas had come early. I do not even care how old this makes me sound. I need small and convenient things in my life.

When the box arrived with the GTech I found it hard to believe there was a hoover in there, and yet there was. Gtech have launched a brand new vacuum that is super small and super lightweight.

It is easy to assemble. Even for someone as undomestic as me. It is light and even has some charge in it. Regardless I plug it on before giving it a go. It would be easy to believe that its convenience and size would mean a compromise on performance but not so: it is an excellent hoover. You can retract and extend the handle easily. The handle also reclines easily. It is also a literal handheld. You just take the handle off! When you are done it is so small it fits into a drawer. It has 20 minutes of running time and takes 2 hours to charge fully.

I love the Gtech HyLite. It is so convenient it is life-changing. It is a great piece of technology and for that it get the Frost Gold Standard accolade.

The Gtech HyLite is ideal for modern homes and is packed with design and technology features that make usage and storage simple and environmentally friendly. It weighs just 1.5kg, has 20 minutes running time* and the handle extends and retracts instantly, transforming the HyLite from an upright to a handheld vacuum in seconds.

The HyLite uses bags for a more hygienic cleaning solution. Breathable bags are more environmentally friendly. There is no dust cloud when you empty and no need to use a plastic bag each time. Also, with the HyLite the bag is the filter – each time you change the bag you get a new filter. The triple layered bags can hold up to three times their volume of dirt due to cleverly designed compression levels, so that each 0.3L bag can hold 1L of dirt resulting in less frequent disposal.

The HyLite uses just 90 watts of power, but packs a punch when it comes to its cleaning capacity, making its power and resource consumption extremely low. It’s also been designed and made to last … its modular construction means that if you break a bit it’s easily replaceable (new parts can be delivered to your home the next day) and, as it has no tubes or inner workings, there is less likelihood of debris accumulating and blocking up the path the dirt takes from floor to bag.

The HyLite adapts effortlessly to all floor surfaces, upholstery and stairs and the cordless technology means no plugs or sockets either, so cleaning your home couldn’t be simpler, especially as the reclining handle allows you to reach under sofas and beds without having to move heavy furniture.

Storage is easy … the HyLite is so compact it can be kept in a kitchen drawer but is ready to use in seconds which makes it perfect for homes where space is limited.

The Gtech Hylite is available now at www.gtech.co.uk RRP £199.99

*run times may vary depending on surfaces being cleaned

My Sh*t Therapist: and Other Mental Health Stories by Michelle Thomas

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Catherine Balavage

Michelle Thomas is a stunning writer. She is brave and has such an original voice. Her writing is like being talked to by an articulate friend. I am lucky I do not have a mental health problem but this book was still a great read. It should be prescribed to everyone with a mental illness, and is even an essential read for this who want to understand more about mental health, or has a person in their life who needs help. Searingly honest and beautifully written. I loved it.

A shocking, heart-rending and blisteringly funny account of what it’s like to live with mental illness, by a powerful new comic voice.

When Michelle Thomas suffered her first major depressive episode six years ago, she read and watched and listened to everything about mental health she could get her hands on in an effort to fix herself. God, it was tedious, boring and, quite frankly, depressing.

Which is the last thing she needed.

What she did need was a therapist who would listen and offer a wellness strategy catered to her specific needs. What she got was advice to watch a few YouTube videos and a cheerful reminder that ‘It could be worse’.

An honest, hilarious and heart-rending account of living with mental illness, My Sh*t Therapist will help you navigate the world, care for your mind and get through sh*t diagnoses, jobs, medications, boyfriends, habits, homes and therapists.

With no miraculous scented candles, herbal teas or ‘cures’ for mental illness in sight, learn instead how a modern woman and her friends and followers are learning to make the most of brilliant but unpredictably sh*t brains.

Having a crappy mental health day? I’ve got you.
Want to chat antidepressants and mental breakdowns?
Pull up a pew and let’s get into it.