Saturday 30 November 2013

The Christmas Lights....

On Thursday it was the official Christmas lights switch on in Ashington the town where I live.....As cold as it was we decided we'd go out into the dark and give the girls a treat....

We went hunting for Pigs....
And found two of the most popular one's at the moment....hehehe


We sat and waited for our food!!...The queues were so long....I think everyone in Ashington was out....lol The girls had hot dogs Stu and I had a hot roast pork sandwiches which stuffing and loads of apple sauce....Yum!!

The girls went on a few rides....The roundabout, a bouncy castle thing and the teacups which Ellie took some convincing to go on as when she was about 3 she went on one and didn't like it one bit.....The rides were amazingly cheap...Only £1 each!! Usually they bump up the prices on events like this....


Then we tried to get near the stage.....lol Not a chance...I don't know what possessed
Ashington Town Council to put it where they did.....Right in the middle of the high street facing the shops.....About 10ft away from the shop fronts....We didn't even get to see Tim Healy who was switching the lights on....lol I don't think many people did!! 


We did see the lights come on though and the girls loved it....They really did think it was fantastic!!

On the way home we stopped at the sweet stall for candyfloss and of course some Dinky Doughnuts.... They were still warm by the time we got home....Delicious!! 

 It was a perfect end to a lovely evening out....The bonus being nobody complained about the cold once!!

The girls are getting so excited about Christmas now....They wanted to put our tree up tonight...I think I managed to convince them to wait until Sunday....lol

Friday 29 November 2013

First ever Christmas Market at The Alnwick Gardens!!


I do love a Christmas Market...The sounds, smells, tastes and atmosphere!!.....There's a new one in Northumberland at Alnwick Garden's which opened last weekend!!
Traditional Christmas markets have been a key fixture of the festive season for hundreds of years, and this year is no different....The Alnwick Garden’s first ever Christmas Market opened to the public last weekend, featuring market traders from all over Europe as well as closer to home.

The Alnwick Garden’s Christmas Market also supports local craftsmen by selling local hand-made gifts, festive stocking fillers and local crafts and produce.....


Customers will be tempted in by the wonderful smells of Gluhwein mulled wine, Baileys hot chocolates and other great festive foods on offer.....


Added attractions will bring fun and laughter as children can take to the rides or have a treasured photo taken in the Snow globe experience. 

It’s the place to be this Christmas, based underneath the Garden tree house, it is free for all to attend!!

I think we will be taking a trip here....

The Christmas Market will be open from 12-8pm every day from 23rd November until 24th December.

Entrance is FREE to the Christmas Market area with a suggested voluntary donation of £1 to support The Garden’s charitable projects....

The Alnwick Garden.
Denwick Lane
Alnwick
Northumberland
NE66 1YU

Email: info@alnwickgarden.com

10 Day You Challenge! - One picture....



Ahhh! This is the last week.....Here are the posts from the previous weeks....Ten Secrets - Nine Loves - Eight Fears - Seven Wants - Six Places - Five Foods - Four Books - Three films & Two Songs....
 
One Picture of myself.....

I don't seem to have many pictures of myself....I always seem to be the one taking the photos...lol But I do love this one....Brings back happy memories....Was a selfie taken on the day earlier in the year when I went to see Bon Jovi in Sunderland at the Stadium of Light....It was an amazing day and night and will be seeing him again when he decides to go back on tour.....


Thursday 28 November 2013

Make Christmas Magic with the Portable North Pole!!

Christmas is such a magical time and for the last few years the PNP - Portable North Pole website has added to the magic....For the last 4 or 5 years both Becky and Ellie have had a message from Santa.....This year I only made one for Ellie as Becky was so convinced Santa was most definately not real.....As soon as she saw Ellie's video she wanted one too.... For a few minutes I had my little girl back....The one who believed in Santa.....There is something magical about Santa saying your name which makes you forget he's not real and it makes you believe in the magic of Christmas all over again!!!

If you haven't used the site before and don't know what it's all about it's where you can make a custom-created video message from Santa Claus....This video explains it all!!


You can make it even more magical and personal by going for the Premium option which costs £2.99 where you get...

A completely new video twice as long (6 minutes)...
Unique video clips (not included in the standard version)...
A large variety of scenarios...
Add up to 5 personal pictures in the video....
Unlimited online views during the Christmas holidays....
Plus, a personalised bonus video sent from Santa’s sleigh for Christmas Eve....

It is so worth it.....My girls faces were fantastic!! Ellie's especially.....She nearly had a heart attack when the machine which checks the book about her broke down....She was worried she wasn't going to be on any list never mind the nice list.....hehehe


Whenever you purchase a personalised gift from Santa, PNP donates a portion to the Children’s Hospital closest to you. The one's in the UK are....

Barts and The London Charity for the Royal London Children’s Hospital, London
Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Birmingham
Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Manchester
York Hill Children's Hospital, Glasgow

I received a free portable north pole video upgrade and free call from Santa for posting this information....All thoughts and experiences are my own.

Poundshop Shopping.....

There are 'Poundshops' everywhere....More and more seem to be popping up every day...My fella works at one so I have learnt a lot from him about how they work.....


I love the 'Poundshops' this post isn't a dig at them at all....Just a bit of advice and some things to think about when you buy from them....

Stick with the brands...
The easiest way to avoid disappointment is to stick to the brands you know and love.....You’ll find a lot of recognisable brands for prices you wouldn't dream of in your local supermarket. But be careful though they sometimes have smaller sizes of products which can work out cheaper in supermarkets if you buy the bigger packs....

Check the Make up section...
They have branded products! I have seen the same nail polishes in Boots for £6.99....Poundland £1!

Toys were not built to last...
 There’s a reason these products are available for a pound......Don't be surprised if they break quickly...Some of the toys are cheaply made and won't last long with children....

Stationary & Arts and Crafts...
I have found they are great for any thing to do with Arts and Crafts as well as stationary.....This time of year they do the character gift sets of pens, pencils and stationary....One Direction, Moshi Monsters, Disney all for £1!!

Don't buy it just because it's only £1... 
A tool that allows you to poach eggs in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head or a copy of Trinny and Susannah: the survival guide will probably never come in handy, at any point, ever

Fab Dry Goods...
Stuff like tins of beans, cereal and soft drinks are great in Poundshops....Cereal is especially pricey in the supermarkets and you can get boxes for a pound. Obviously they are not the same size as the one's in supermarkets but do sometimes work out cheaper....I bought 500g of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes last week for £1 the same boxes Asda are selling for £2.68 at the moment...

If you can’t find it, keep looking! - Don’t wait until next week!!
Stock changes around all the time in pound shops.....Pound shops don’t keep a regular selection of products....Items come and go...If you’ve spotted something you need snap it up it may not be there next time you go shopping! The Poundland near me had these lovely Ham & Pickle crisps in a few months ago....They had them for two days and have not been back in since....Also Lucky Charm cereal! I think that lasted a day and hasn't been seen since....lol

You might get it for less than £1 elsewhere...
As brilliant as pound shops are sometimes you can find better quality products for less at other retailers....Don’t assume that you can’t get it for less than £1....It’s always worth doing a bit of research online to see which shops have got the cheapest products....

Compare shops...
If you’re lucky enough to have a variety of pound shops in your town have a look in all of them....Poundland, Poundworld, 99p Stores...They all have different stock and offers you could be missing out on a megadeal just down the road....

Avoid buying the batteries...
The remote’s out of power again and guess what? You’ve got no batteries. Getting a pack of 15 for a quid would solve this problem right? Wrong. Pound shop batteries are notoriously rubbish, you’ll burn through the lot before you’ve had a chance to change the channel. 

Keep your receipt. 
It's all too easy to throw away the receipt when something costs £1 but you do still have consumer rights and if something doesn't work you should be able to take it back!!

Happy Shopping!

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Decorative Wall Stickers - Review!

Ellie's room hadn't been decorated since we moved into this house and that's over two years ago.....When we had moved in everywhere got painted with boring white paint because we had so much to paint and at the time it was all we could afford....

Ellie's room was long overdue a lick of paint.....So when I was contacted by the lovely people at Bloobry and asked if I wanted to review some decorative wall art I jumped at the chance and set my fella off with the job of painting Ellie's room pink!!

Bloobry design and make unique decorative wall stickers in a range of brightly coloured and removable matt vinyl which will look as though they've been painted onto your wall. The wall stickers are fully removable and are the perfect way to brighten up any room in the home, and make wonderful presents.  

We decided on the "Large Name in the Stars"

Having their name cut out of big colourful stars that look as though they've been painted on to the wall will be sure brighten your child's room!

They're right it sure does brighten up the room!!

The wall stickers were sent in a cardboard tube along with an application squeegee and instruction sheet which is simple to understand! Well it is when you read it properly...My fella thought it was finished with the plastic still over the name....lol


He finished it off and the end result is just gorgeous!
It goes so well with Ellie's pink princess room.... Fabulous!!

There are 27 different colours to choose from....We choose Fuchsia Pink and the big stars are approximately 22cm high by approximately 20cm per star....


The prices do vary depending on the number of letters you need and each piece of artwork is made to order...

Should you wish to remove the wall art to re-decorate that is no problem the wall stickers are removable. Bloobry recommend gently warming the surface with a low temperature setting on a hair-dryer before gently peeling away from a corner keeping the removed section as close to the wall as possible as this limits wall damage...

Standard delivery, which typically takes 2-3 days, is free of charge to mainland UK destinations...

We were very impressed with everything about this product....The packaging, simple instructions, ease of use and the end result which Ellie absolutely loves!!

Take a look for yourself at Bloobry!

I was sent this wall art free of charge for the purpose of this review....This is my honest review....All thoughts and opinions are my own!!   

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Christmas is losing it's magic a little....

Over the last few weeks it's become quite obvious that Becky isn't believing in Father Christmas anymore and it's making me quite sad...It's like some of the magic has gone out of Christmas.....

Last year she had her doubts but I told her if she didn't believe she might not get any presents....I wanted to keep the magic going....Hold on to her being a child for a bit longer.....

This year she knows!! I want the magic back!!

I want to see the excitement in her eyes when she writes her Christmas list wondering if the elves are preparing her presents....The excitement of putting out mince pies for Santa & carrots for his reindeer's and going to bed on Christmas eve in her new Christmas Eve Pj's and trying to listen out for Santa....


I haven't told Becky that Santa doesn't exist....I'll let her make her own mind up.... I'm not telling her that Santa isn't real and run the risk of her saying something in front of Ellie who is still a big believer in Santa....I want to keep hold of the little bit of the magic that's left for as long as I can....

Both the girls will be receiving letters from Santa, leaving a mince pie and carrots on Christmas eve and of course sprinkling reindeer dust in the garden....

Later this week we'll be putting the Christmas tree and the decorations up....Probably Sunday....Hopefully that will bring some of that magic feeling back! 

Monday 25 November 2013

Our Weekly Meal Plan!! - #mealplanningmonday


Hello Monday!!

If this weeks weather is anything like last week our meal plan will all be about warming, filling, hearty meals.....

I am pinching a recipe of Mini Sausage & Mash Pies from the wonderful Foodie Quine they look delicious and are something I'm sure the girls will love!!

Iceland have their party food in which I love so we will be having a party tea on Saturday night....While I'm a Celebrity is on tv they have a Bushtucker Trial Game which I'm planning on getting and having some fun with the girls!!

This week on the menu we have... 

Monday - Soup with some lovely bread to dip in....
Tuesday -
Mini Sausage & Mash Pies....
Wednesday - Chicken Curry and Rice....
Thursday - Cowboy Pie....
Friday - Pizza Pinwheels...
Saturday - Picky party tea...
Sunday - Roast Chicken, Mash, Veg, Yorkshire Puddings & lots of Gravy...

As always I've joined in with the wonderful Mrs M's #mealplanningmonday linky....

Saturday 23 November 2013

Yes! I do like opera...

I was reading an article online a few days ago about how a bunch of scientists have decided that taste in music does change over a lifetime and even punk-loving teens will listen to classical music in middle age....They found that tastes in music shift in line with 'key life challenges'....You don't say....lol I could of told them that!!

When I was a tween I loved Take That and cheesy pop music...Skip a few years and it was all about hardcore/trance music...Then back to chart music and a few more years it was love songs, classic rock and power ballads......Now I will listen to just about anything...

My tastes have mellowed though....I prefer classical and opera music to hardcore dance music as well as anything inbetween.....Yes I did say Opera!

I often listen to Opera....My favourite being Carmen....The story is just so tragic but great!

The Opera is set in1820 in Seville, Spain. The lead heroine is Carmen who is passionate, gorgeous & temperamental... In no time she wins the heart, of Don José who is a corporal of the dragoons (an elite group in the army). He has a promising career, but throws it all away, goes AWOL, and joins Carmen and a band of smugglers.

Having destroyed her lover’s career she tosses him off like a child bored with a new toy, and turns her affections to a new man – A bull fighter Escamillo. Unable to accept her rejection Don José confronts Carmen outside the arena where she awaits her new lover and he stabs her. The bullfighter, victorious in the ring, victorious in love, emerges to claim the woman with the crowd shouting his praises and they all find Don José with bloody hands sobbing over the lifeless body of Carmen.


I found a clip on YouTube of the English National Opera Production of Carmen and it looks amazing!!


Who said opera was boring!!

I have a list of other operas which I would like to see....Quite a few of them currently playing at the English National Opera....

The Magic Flute.....Mozart’s beloved magical tale follows Prince Tamino and bird-catcher Papageno on an adventure to rescue Princess Pamina. On their journey they meet fantastical creatures and face unexpected trials and challenges in a light-hearted but profound examination of man’s search for love and his struggle to attain wisdom and virtue.

Rodelinda.....An epic story of love, power and mistaken identity. Bertarido has been driven from his kingdom by Grimoaldo and is presumed dead, leaving behind his grieving wife, Rodelinda. Grimoaldo will imprison Rodelinda unless she agrees to marry him, thereby allowing him to seize Bertarido's throne for himself. But then the exiled king returns in disguise…

Madam Butterfly....Puccini's tragic love story tells of Butterfly, a young Japanese girl who falls in love with American naval officer Pinkerton. Shortly after their wedding, Pinkerton returns to America: Butterfly gives birth to a son and patiently awaits her husband's return, never giving up hope.

Friday 22 November 2013

The next artist I'd like to see...

I love music and I love finding new artists to listen too...

If I asked you "Do you know who was the first act to perform at the opening ceremony at the 2012 London Olympics?" 

Would you know?


 I knew it was a man called Frank.....It wasn't until recently that I discovered who he was!!

Frank Turner!! He is an English folk/punk singer-songwriter from Hampshire. Initially the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead after they parted ways he decided to explore a different world focusing on his love of folk and country with acoustic guitar being his guiding force....I really like this type of music and find it incredibly easy to listen to....



From what I have heard from Frank Turner and his band The Sleeping Souls I would love to get some Frank Turner Tickets and see him and his band in concert....He is performing next February at the O2 Arena.....

I was just reading up about the O2 Arena....I have always wanted to visit but living up here in the North East it's difficult and could prove very costly to travel to London and then there's finding babysitters.....

Everything sounds so fabulous and glam at the O2...I love the sound of the Blueroom bar...A VIP bar exclusive to O2 customers attending events at The O2 arena....That's me in!! I didn't realise there was so much choice when it comes to Bars and Restaurants....I certainly don't think I'd go hungry or thirsty there....hehehe

10 Day You Challenge! - Two Songs...


Carrying this on from the previous weeks Ten Secrets - Nine Loves - Eight Fears - Seven Wants - Six Places - Five Foods - Four Books & Three films...

Two songs.....I have about 30 songs I love all for different reasons! It was so hard to choose just two....I haven't gone for the obvious choices of Bon Jovi or Robbie Williams songs....These are two of my lesser known favourite songs and the reasons why I love them so much!

1. Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance....

This may seem like a strange song but it's mine and Stu's song!!....When we first moved in together we had to wait a while to get the Sky tv and internet put in so I listened to the radio a lot....It was always on there and I actually bought it on CD so I could listen to it over and over....


2. Oh No You Didn't....

This was on a TV advert for the game Mercenaries 2 and it was so catchy it stuck in my head! I have never played or really seen the game....I have no idea who sung it but I love this song....So much I had it as a ringtone on my old phone until I lost it....lol It's my housework song....Every Saturday when I have a good clean it's played several times....The kids always say to me 'not that again'....lol


Thursday 21 November 2013

35 Things to do before I'm 35!!

 Happy Birthday to me!! Yay!! 34 today and no I don't feel any older then I did yesterday...It did get me thinking...Next year I'll be 35 and there are so many things I need to do & want to do....This next year will be the year I get things done!!


So here it is....35 things I want to do before I'm 35!! I think they are all do-able....

1. Have a family holiday! We've never had one...
2. Have a decent hair cut & my hair dyed in a proper hairdressers....Been too long since I had it done professionally!
3. Be debt free....
4. Sit down and watch the Twilight films....
5. Go to the doctors about my back....
6. Buy a proper cookery book and cook some meals from it....
7. Visit a castle....
8. Have a night out with just Stu & I....We're due one....We never go out just the two of us....
9. Go on a bike ride....
10. Get a Subway....Nope! I've never had one!
11. Have a manicure....Never had one of those either!
12. Go to the cinema....Last film I saw at a cinema was Titanic so that gives you an idea how long ago my last visit was....lol
13. Get a passport....
14. Take more photos....
15. Have a soak in the bath without any interruptions....
16. Decorate my bedroom....
17. Go down a dress size....
18. Walk in the rain and jump in all the puddles....
19. Sing at Karaoke....
20. Have a romantic night in with Stu....
21. Get a tattoo....
22. Try a Gin & Tonic....Nope never tried one!
23. Be all modern and get a smart phone....
24. Ride a roller coaster....
25. Have a garden that I keep things alive in....
26. Go horse riding....
27. Get served alcohol in Asda and not be asked for ID....
28. Donate blood....
29. Send out Christmas cards on time....
30. Go abroad....
31. Get a provisional driving licence & start driving lessons....
32. Dye my hair pink....
33. Take the girls swimming....
34. Get my laptop fixed or even get a new one....
35. Finish next years Christmas shopping by my birthday this time next year....

Wednesday 20 November 2013

What to buy for the man who wants nothing...

My fella Stu is one of the hardest people to buy gifts for.....He's not a big sweet/chocolate eater....He has no real hobbies apart from playing on the PC usually online games like Rift & World of Warcraft so there's not much to buy him for that....Over the years I have bought everything I could think of and this year for Christmas I have been really struggling...All I had to get him was Aftershave, bath stuff and new pj's....That was until I saw an email in my inbox from Firebox....A website I had seen before but hadn't really took much notice of.....

The email caught my attention because of the Zombie related gifts....Stu and I are both huge fans of the TV show The Walking Dead and when I saw these gifts I knew they were for him!!

 
The Zombie Survival Guide - £11.99
Zombie Slippers - £19.99
Human Snot and Brain Jam - £6.99
Zombie Shower Gel - £5.99
Zombie Cookie Cutters - £9.99
Zombie Head Decanter - £19.99

While I was on that site I also found a lot of other stuff which has given me plenty of ideas for what to buy the man who doesn't want or need anything.....


Duff Beer 24 Can Pack - £24.99
Heroes and Villains Cushion -£34.99
Grow Your Own Stir Fry - £9.99
Insectilix Lolly - £4.99
Indoor Allotment - £24.99
World's Largest Coffee Cup - £29.99

Do you think men are hard to buy for or is it just me?

Tuesday 19 November 2013

myCIGZ Disposable Cigarettes - Review!!

I started using an electronic cigarette in April and haven't looked back since....The company where I got my supplies were brilliant until recently....The prices have gone up a lot and I have had quite a few of the refills which were faulty...So it was time to find a new supplier and amazingly enough I was contacted by the lovely people at Gr8 Trading and was asked if I would like to review their electronic cigarettes the myCIGZ....


They look, feel and taste like a real cigarettes.....They are a cheaper alternative to normal cigarettes and you can smoke them anywhere....There is no tar, chemicals, ash, butts or burning tobacco..... No risk to others from passive smoking or toxins and are much safer as there is no need for lighters or matches...

Each myCIGZ disposable cigarette is equivalent to up to 70 regular cigarettes and there are 3 flavours to choose from Classic tobacco, Menthol and Energy Drink which I think sounds very interesting....

 
I tried the Menthol flavour....I am very impressed!! It has the fresh, zingy mint taste which you expect from menthol cigarettes....I think this is as close to a real cigarette you can get...

I had only ever used a rechargeable electronic cigarettes so I was keen to find out how long a disposable would really last....Again I was impressed! It lasted me from Friday lunchtime all the way through until Tuesday lunchtime.... Which I thought was great! I didn't expect it to last as long as it did...

 myCigz are available at 34,000 independent convenience stores with a Recommended retail price of £5.99 to £6.99 and you can also buy them online on the GR8 Trading website....

I was sent a myCIGZ disposable electronic cigarette free of charge for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own...

Monday 18 November 2013

The A – Z Of Me....

The lovely Gina over at Cold Tea & Smelly Nappies tagged me in this Meme....It's harder then it looks to think of 26 things about yourself! lol 


So here it is....

A is for.....Accident Prone....Yes that's me....If I can hurt myself I will....It's never anything serious like broken bones but if there's something to trip over I'll trip or something to drop I'll drop it....

B is for.....Bessie and the Zinc Buckets.....My favourite local band....A rockabilly band which sing covers of just about any song you shout up at them including Spice girls, Scooby Doo theme & Gangnam style...lol

C is for....CHUF!! A Charity close to my heart....They raise money to buy equipment, facilities, aftercare and research for the Children's Heart Unit and the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Freeman Hospital

D is for....Dad! I love my dad! He lives miles from me...I don't see him often enough but make sure to speak to him everyday....I'm so happy he's found love again!!

E is for....Eating! I love eating....Probably too much....lol 

F is for....Friends! I have 4 close girly friends...They're all crazy but I love them....

G is for....Glasses! I should wear glasses for watching the tv but I don't....I didn't like the way my eyelashes touched the lenses...It annoyed me...

H is for....Holiday! I need one....I have never been on holiday since my 18th birthday.....I'm 34 now!!

I is for....Ice! I don't like ice in my drinks.....If I am served a drink with ice in I will remove it before I drink up...

J is for....Jeremy Kyle! My guilty pleasure....9.25am each morning I watch it....If I know I'm not going to be in to watch it I will record it....The only place you'll see a six month old baby with more teeth than their parents....

K is for....Kim!! That's me! Just Kim....Not Kimberly, Kimmy, Kimbo.....Just Kim....hehehe

L is for.....Love! I love my fella, my family and my friends....
 
M is for.....Money!! Never have enough of it and when I do I seem to spend it too quickly...

N is for.....Neighbours! I cannot stand mine....They haven't lived here long but in the short time they have the man has done certain things which I haven't agreed with....It will be the topic of a blog post one day....lol

O is for.....Oranges! I hate them.....Well fresh ones the ones you peel....I don't like the texture or feel of them....I love orange juice or anything else orange....Hmmm like Terrys Chocolate Oranges! Yum!!

P is for.....Poundland! My favourite shop ever....I can't go in there without buying something....Even if I don't need it!

Q is for.....Quiet! I'm a quiet person....I'm so shy it's horrible....

R is for.....Reality TV!! I'm a sucker for it! I think I watch just about every reality show going...

S is for.....Stu! My fella, other half, my man!

T is for.....Tired! I am always tired....I never have enough sleep....My own fault there is always one more tweet to reply to one more competition to enter or one more life on Candy Crush to use....

U is for.....UGG Boots!! I have never seen the attraction....Yes they look cosy and warm but remind me too much of slippers to take them seriously as outdoor shoes....

V is for....Vanilla Ice Cream! May be boring but it is my favourite flavour....

W is for.....Wine! My alcoholic drink of choice!

X is for.....X-Rays! I've had too many to count....The joys of many horse riding accidents when I was younger....I would love to see my medical records just to see how many broken bones I've actually had!!

Y is for.....Young! I feel young and I look it....I can't buy alcohol in most supermarkets without being id'd...lol

Z is for.....Zombies! I'm a huge fan of the Walking Dead and I know I could survive a zombie apocalypse!!