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30 July 2012

Olympics Opening Ceremony Part 2 - The Action

My Silent Sunday picture seemed to go down really well, so I promised I would post more of my pictures from the Olympic Opening Ceremony Rehearsal that I was lucky enough to go to last Wednesday.

The English Countryside
The blue waves were great fun!
The giant clouds were great for the kids!
The man himself, the fabulously talented Mr Danny Boyle
We all live in a yellow submarine.

The amazing Olympic Rings
This wasn't picked up on the BBC but the eye's were utterly amazing, they moved and blinked and left us open mouthed!
Proud of the Red, White and Blue
One of my favourite songs of all time, Firestarter by The Prodigy
The graphic equalizer was truly awesome.

I really hope you all enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed taking them, it was an honour to be there and it is a moment I will remember forever.


29 July 2012

Silent Sunday


26 July 2012

Today I feel rather patriotic!

Last night I was honoured to be one of about 60,000 people who got to watch the technical rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony for the Olympic Games.

Until last night I was sceptical and not excited, now I am full of patriotism and super thrilled to have been given such an amazing opportunity I will never forget.

Danny Boyle has done us proud and I will be watching tomorrow night for the extra bits we didn't get to see.

I really hope that the world see's this for what it really is, a celebration of all things British and the wonderful, talented and hard working athletes from around the world that will be taking part in the games.

I cannot show you any more pictures than this for now because we were asked not to spoil the surprise.

If you have the chance to watch it tomorrow then I can totally recommend it!







24 July 2012

How would you spend yours?

As my husband checked the lottery ticket upstairs I wondered what he would say if we'd won?

How does that conversation go? He said he'd probably pack his bags and leave quietly. This was a joke (I hope) , instead he'd tell me to grab my jacket we were going shopping!

We only won £18, but this weekend the national lottery are making 100 people millionaires!

I mean what would we buy first? A new bed probably, as ours is rubbish!!! Then a new house near a better school for our son! All the debts paid off and then back to work for an easier life!

Oh to have no mortgage or bills looming over us, it's every persons dream!

So fingers crossed, I'm sure we won't win anything but as hubby always says you gotta be in it to win it!

22 July 2012

Silent Sunday



18 July 2012

How happy are you on a scale of 1 to 10?

Was the question asked to me by the Office of National Statistics today as part of their Labour Force Survey.

I am an uber busy mum of two, we have had to put our child in our 5th choice of school, our bills keep going up and yet our wages don't and a friend has just died, I'm also at work tomorrow.

Now some of these things are just life and they don't make me unhappy as such but this question is pointless and subjective!!!

How can a mother with two beautiful, chatty and funny children say I am unhappy?

I mean I'm not, not about them anyway, but I am with the rising cost of everything, the poor choice of schools in our area, the list goes on.

I certainly hope my answer makes Mr Cameron happy, because if it was a question about the government and how happy I was with them on a scale of 1-10, well it wouldn't be anywhere near the double digits!

How happy are you with your life on a scale of 1-10?

17 July 2012

Tune on Tuesday

I was listening to this song today and the lyrics are very apt for how I am feeling at the moment!

Complete lyrics: http://www.directlyrics.com/katy-perry-firework-lyrics.html 'Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep?
Six feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there's still a chance for you
'Cause there's a spark in you?'

I love listening to the lyrics in music, sometimes so inspiring, helpful and sometimes just what you need on the bad days!


15 July 2012

Silent Sunday

11 July 2012

School Dinners, what to do?

So, we are currently filling in the forms for our son who is starting school in September and one of the questions is what will he be having for lunch? Will he be having a hot meal or taking a packed lunch.

Now for me I always took a packed lunch, whereas my husband who went to a private school had a hot school meal.

There is a lot of chatter about school dinners and the sometimes poor quality and offerings, but how do we know for sure? We will never see them?

My son is a pretty good eater, but given a choice I worry that he might just choose chips and fish fingers every day!

At nursery I know they have a varied meal schedule with everything from lentils to fish and meat. In the afternoon they make their own sandwiches and someone keeps a good eye on them to ensure they choose veg as well.

At £1.60 a day it will cost considerably less to make a lunch than pay for it but hubby thinks not, what does he know though!

I would love to hear some other experiences of this, asking my son, he wants to take sandwiches however my husband says 'he's four what does he know!'

Does the drama of starting school ever end?!?


10 July 2012

Getting out into the Countryside

Me and hubby have decided we would really like to get out into the country side and back to nature, not only for ourselves but for the children too.

I think to start this will just be walking in the peak district and local areas but hopefully as we get braver we might buy a tent and some equipment.

I have been looking at what we need and here is what I have found so far:

I am thinking a pair of cargo type trousers for me:

Along with some hiking shoes:


And a nice waterproof coat:


Hubby already has some hiking boots so he just needs some trousers and a waterproof jacket:

They don't currently have any kids stuff on the Decathlon website but I know they do have them so I will be getting my son some hiking boots and waterproof clothes and my daughter will be in her buggy whilst she is still unable to walk.

I have found a great site to start us off with walks where we can take the pushchair http://www.walkswithbuggies.com so will be looking on here and then probably set up a new blog to document our journey into finding nature.

If anyone has any other good buys for hiking, walking etc then I would love to hear them, we are all new to this and just want to get out there!

9 July 2012

Our Holiday Safari Adventure

Ok, ok so we didn't really go on a safari, but we did visit the Cerza Safari Park in Normandy.

For one day my son got to pretend to be Steve Backshall or Steve from the Deadly 60 as he is known in our house.

Telling us all about the different animals and their pray, as well as getting us to pretend to be his camera man!

Love the colours of this gorgeous Macaw!

Look at that face!
Love the eyes!
Gorgeous Tapir
A rather nosey baby bear
It just started raining as we got to the Giraffes
Why anyone would want to kill a Rhino I don't know!
Trying to hide behind the leaves!
Loved these fellas!
 And finally, probably the highlight of my sons day was this amazing Alligator Snapping Turtle, we have seen them on the Deadly 60 and to see one in real life was amazing. Can you see the little pink bit of skin in his mouth? Well he uses this as a lure to attract fish and then snap and the fish is dinner! Totally amazing!

My son was delighted when we saw this Alligator Snapping Turtle

8 July 2012

Silent Sunday


7 July 2012

End of the Road

This week has been emotional, I breastfed my daughter for the last time.

After many long days debating the pros and cons of stopping, it was clear what I had to do.

I feel very sad, almost heartbroken about stopping but my body has had enough and needs to be on the pill.

Each month my periods get worse and I know deep down my endometriosis is coming back.

The familiar pains with some added symptoms, my acne has been a sticking point too. Getting to the point I can't face seeing people.

And finally my PMT, if my family can have a slightly saner me then I think that stopping and going on the pill is the way forward.

To my precious daughter, we had 17 months of breastfeeding bliss. I have loved looking into your beautiful eyes whilst you lay against me. But being a happy, healthy mummy is probably what you need more than one feed before bedtime.

5 July 2012

Deluxe LED Fogless Shower Mirror Review

My husband always struggles to have a shave with the shower running because the mirror steams up, so when I was offered the Deluxe LED Fogless Shower Mirror from ToiletTree to review I jumped at the chance.


It attaches to the wall with silicone adhesive, which so far has kept it firmly fastened (we were a little sceptical at first).

You then fill the reservoir in the back with hot water, this stops the mirror from steaming up! A simple and ingenious idea that works.

The lights on the mirror although bright, don't really help that much with them being LED they kind of just give your face a funny glow! However we haven't been using them as we always have the light on in the bathroom anyway.

The mirror can be tilted and removed to fill with water, it also comes with a squeegee so you can wipe any water off of it.

There is a handy shelf to store a razor, tweezers etc. It is a really well thought out mirror that isn't too big or too small

The silicone means it can be stuck anywhere without requiring any DIY skills, something we are lacking in our house. It also means that if you need to remove for any reason it shouldn't leave a mark (please note we haven't removed it so I cannot guarantee this).

What the box says:
  • Patented water chamber design keeps mirror fogless.
  • GUARANTEED to be fogless for life. Requires no annoying fog free sprays EVER!
  • Easy mounting with removable silicone adhesive. No more unreliable suction cups!
  • New and improved built in squeegee to clean off mirror.
  • Convenient shelf to place your razor, sponge or tweezers so they are always accessible.
  • Measures 9.5in x 7.5in x 1.5in.
If you are looking for a new shaving mirror then I can definitely recommend this one, it does exactly what it say's on the box, ooh and it looks like a computer monitor so perfect for the modern home.

Sorry for the rubbish picture, it's difficult to take one without being in it myself!
We were given this mirror for review purposes, all opinions are honest and my own.

2 July 2012

A Very Real History Lesson

Whilst on holiday we visited the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach, a little morbid I admit but I do love WWII.

Thousands upon thousands of white crosses with a few stars stand in rows, it's hard to imagine what it would look like if each one was actually a man!




There are no dates of birth just the day on which their lives were cut short. Many mown down by machine gun fire or blown to pieces by the heavy shelling that awful day and those that followed. 


 The beach is now peaceful, in fact it is a gorgeous beach but because of it's history isn't used as much as maybe it would be, there is no beach bar or bucket and spade stalls.





The monuments at Omaha beach are a beautiful symbol of the tragedy that happened on the beach that misty June morning.






I have been to the WW1 memorial to the missing at Theipval which has 73,367 names engraved on it. The American Cemetery only has about 9,500 crosses, but to see the them stood up in lines like that seems more real than names upon a wall. It is almost possible to visualise the great loss.

The museum which holds some interesting pieces of history was well worth the visit (once you got past the metal detectors and bag searches anyway).



Films and items from the time help you to envisage what it was like, the full scale of the D-Day Landings.

I am forever fascinated by the beaches, every time I go back I am in awe of what happened on that day, the day's running up to it and the days after it.

I have visited the Pointe Du Hoc, an utterly breathtaking place which I shall never forget and still bears the scars from the days leading up to June 6th.

And then Arromanches, where the remains of the Mulberry Harbour still sit, I will write a post about this another time.

Finally, I saw a flag fluttering against one of the stones, a fabulously named man and as the flag blew in the wind it said everything that needed to be said.

1 July 2012

Silent Sunday