Red Nose Day - My Couch Coins Challenge to you

Unless you've been under a rock, you can't have failed to notice that Red Nose Day will soon be upon us.  You must also know that this year Comic Relief are celebrating their 25th anniversary.

A quarter of a century of raising money for causes here and abroad.  Now that deserves celebrating doesn't it?

We've set ourselves a challenge in our house, and to honour the Red Nose Birthday, we're going to raise £25.

I know times are tough, and I suspect that along with other charities, Comic Relief will have to work extra hard this year to persuade people to part with their cash.  That's why I'm not asking for sponsorship.  I'm not asking you to take money out of your purse or write out a cheque.

Instead, I'm asking you to have a hunt about, and donate any money you didn't realise you had.

Genius huh?

Myself and Ruby have been turning the house upside down.  We've hunted down the backs of sofas; upturned forgotten old handbags in the bottom of wardrobes, rifled through coat pockets and checked in lining for sneaky coins that have slipped through holes.  We've even been in the drawer of doom in the kitchen dresser.

It's been a bit of an eye opener really.  In a few weeks we've already beaten our target and currently have £27.99 waiting to be bagged up and taken to the bank.

We've sorted and stacked, counted and checked. It even turned into a bit of a maths lesson!

OK, I admit, we do pounce on Daddy when he comes home from work and empties his pocket change out, and that has been quite lucrative.  But on the whole, we've found an awful lot of cash just lying around.

I asked Ruby whether she thought it was better to have a pound languishing about down the back of the sofa...or would it be better to give it to Comic Relief so it could buy school books for a child in Ghana for a whole year?  Seeing the money in her hands, and realising what it could buy for someone else, made the desicion easy.

£5 will buy a mosquito net and help protect someone from deadly Maleria.  It's a no-brainer isn't it?

So please, have a hunt about.  Check your coat pockets and the bottom of handbags.  Gather what you find - you won't miss it - and please add it to my total here.  Just £1 really does make a difference.

Check out what the rest of the blogging community - AKA #TeamHonk are up to on their website.

Magpie Monday - Looking Glass

Morning lovelies.  I hope you all had fun playing over at Lucy's last week, I need to grab a coffee and sit down to read all the link ups.

I'm back from my holiday all refreshed and raring to go (she says through gritted teeth and piles of laundry).

This morning's find for your viewing pleasure is this art deco beveled over mantle mirror.

Apologies for the photo, but it is languishing, unhung waiting for it's playmates.

There was a small chip to the corner so I was able to grab it for less than a tenner.  Luckily the people in the charity shop had saved the chip and sellotaped it on, so I was able to glue it back in place and it's barely noticeable.

I is a proper hanging mirror unlike lots I seem to see which are converted dressing table mirrors - not that that bothers me.

I have a beveled circular one and a rectangular one already, so this angular shaped on will make a lovely addition to my collection.

This has been a long-term plan.  To collect up old mirrors and display them grouped together on a wall.

The trouble is, where to hang them?  I'm not one for excessive housework and polishing, so they need to be away from grubby hands.  My wide shouldered clumsy man has pretty much ruled out hanging them up the staircase and I suspect in the bathroom they'd get constantly splashed from the shower.

At the moment the favourite location seems to be at the top of the stairs, opposite the stair banister so they can be seen from the landing, but am I asking for 35 years bad luck if they all come tumbling down?

I need a few more before my plan is complete, I fear I shall be heading to Baycrazy sometime soon...

What glorious second-hand finds have you rescued lately?

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Magpie Monday - Flown the Nest

I'm on my holibobs this week, so the gorgeous Lucy is looking after Magpie Monday for me.

Hop over to her place to check out her stunning furniture makeovers, get some serious life envy, and link up your second-hand finds.

See you when I get back.

x

The Warburton's Breakfast Challenge

Mums have to juggle twice as many tasks as business owners, directors and decision makers during the breakfast rush hour, according to new research.

The findings from family baker, Warburtons, reveal that between 7.17am and 8.30am each weekday morning, coined the ‘Breakfast Rush Hour’, busy mums face a constant series of domestic tasks and chores - from tactical strategies to get their children and partners up and helping children brush their teeth and hair, to orchestrating the family breakfast, getting outfits ready and managing the school run.

And while the scope of tasks and outcomes may differ, mums have to tackle an average of 9.8 challenges during this busy 73-minute window - compared to an average of just 4.2 tasks, which senior business people (men and women) face in their first hour and a quarter at work.

Phew!  It's no wonder I feel like I'm on the verge of a heart attack every morning.  I don't know what breakfast time in your house looks like but mine is pretty damned manic.

The Other Half is always long gone, left for work at about 6am, so the hellish morning routine of getting ready for school falls to me.  I've never been able to stomach breakfast first thing, so Ruby eats hers on her own, usually while I'm screaming around the house trying to get dressed/feed the dog/empty the dishwasher/check my emails/drag a brush through my hair.

My breakfast of choice on a school day would probably be a large gin and a bottle of Valium - or is that the other way round?  But apparently this is frowned upon by Foundation Year teachers and school gate mums, so I make do instead with a cup of builder's tea accompanied by screams of "hurry up, we're late" and "where are is your other school shoe/book bag/PE kit/lunch box/wellie boot?

I tell you, by 8:45 I'm ready to go back to bed again.

At least Ruby manages to have a slice of toast or a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice, oblivious to the chaos going on around her.  To be honest, she's usually too engrossed in Nick Jr to notice that we should have left 10 minutes ago.

Next week is half term, and we're going away.  We'll be on a canal boat holiday, forcing us to slow down to a snail's pace and one of the things I'm most looking forward to is a relaxing breakfast each morning.  Luxuriously relaxing breakfasts of scrambled eggs on muffins with smoked salmon, bacon sandwiches on toasted wholemeal with brown sauce, hot buttered crumpets...

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day - what people usually fail to mention is that it's also the most stressful.

What does breakfast look like in your house?  Are you super-organised?  How do you cope with the morning rush?

Warburton's are compiling a book of tips and advice on how to cope with the stresses of family breakfasts, and if you submit a tip on their Facebook page before Monday 18th February 2013, you might even win a prize.

Head over there now.

Me?  I'll be waiting to read the book when it comes out in April!

Disclosure: Warburton's sent me a hamper of products to promote this campaign.

Get Alex Home

On Saturday I attended a charity ball for the Making Waves for Alex Fund.

It was an incredible night, full of emotion; tears and optimism.

It was the coming together of hundreds of people - many of whom had never met Alex Wood or his wife Tamsyn, but who had been touched by their story.

The story of a young husband and father, who's world has been shattered by a brain injury he suffered during a rugby game.  The story of how he has defied the odds, survived life-threatening injuries and operations, woken from a lengthy coma, how he is fighting every day to get stronger and more able.

A video montage was shown at the ball, and this explains it all better than I ever could. Please spare a couple of minutes to watch it here.

But this story is not only about what's happened so far.  It's about how Alex and Tamsyn and their four children are constantly kicked in the teeth by a failing system.

It's about what happens next.

Alex lives full time in a residential care home.  His injuries have left him blind, unable to walk and totally dependent on full-time care.  His family desperately want him home.  Alex desperately wants to be at home.

Nobody's disputing the excellent care he receives from the health service and the nursing staff.  But they don't love him like Tamsyn and the kids love him.  They can't light up that spark in his eye like I've seen Tamsyn does, simply by being there.

Is he going to get the encouragement and inspiration to get up and try and re-learn how to walk, left in his room for most of the day, or do you think it more likely he'd battle to get up from his chair to dance with his beautiful wife?  What do you reckon?

Is his management plan going to push him sufficiently, or is he more likely to achieve with a cheeky smile and a wicked glint in his eye that he got when Tamsyn unthinkingly used the expression: get him back 'up and running'?  He absolutely took that as a challenge!

He needs the care and love and support of his friends and family and he needs it now.  Research has shown that to make an impact, intensive rehabilitation and re-learning of basic skills needs to happen in the first two years.  What won't help him is to say in a residential institution where his day-to-day routine is punctuated merely by being fed his meals, being washed and dressed and meeting his basic needs.

Tamsyn is fighting tooth and nail to get her husband home, but their home is not suitable and needs to be adapted.

This is where it all falls down.  The family are living in rented accommodation.  They cannot afford anywhere else.  The system will not pay for adaptations to rented homes.  Yet they say they don't have anything else suitable.

Here's where this situation needs some common sense.  The government are constantly talking about budget cuts, spending smarter and austerity measures.  Well, this is a situation that makes no financial sense whatsoever.

It is costing a fortune to keep Alex in the residential home.  A place where he doesn't want to be.  His wife wants to care for him.  And guess what, she wants to do it full-time, unpaid, with no annual leave, no pension, no sick pay, no uniform, no training courses... How does this make any sense?

This wife and mother is doing what any one of us would do.  She is fighting for her family, for what's best for her husband.  At the moment he is only allowed minimal home visits.  At the very least, she would like him home every weekend until a more sustainable solution is found - even though their hearts break a little bit more every time he has to leave.

Are we going to let this mother fight on her own?  Or are we going to raise the bloody roof, make some noise, lobby politicians, raise funds and stand shoulder to shoulder with her until someone sees sense?

Please:

If you can, make a donation to the Making Waves for Alex Fund or buy a T Shirt to promote the message.
Share this and any other post you see labelled #getalexhome or #makingwavesforalex
Follow Tamsyn on Twitter and via her blog and let her know she's not alone.

Please. Let's make some waves.


Thanks to Sophie for permission to use her photos.

New Look for Spring

OK, so we currently have snow on the ground again, but there are signs of life in the garden.  The daffodils and snowdrops are peeping out, heralding the imminent arrival of spring and hopefully warmer days to come.

It will soon be time to shed off the chunky jumpers, the layers and the hats and scarves.

My mind is turning to spring clothes, and I'm currently loving the romantic cream and lace on offer at New Look.

Perhaps before I go wildly shedding layers, I should ease myself into spring gently.  This lace trimmed jumper is perfect.

Lace Hem Jumper - £22.99

Team it with a cute denim mini skirt and cable knit tights, for those days when it's still a bit chilly.

Denim Rip Raw Edge Skirt - £14.99

For nights out with the girls, or maybe a date night, I love this cute cream lace belted playsuit.  Dress it up with metallic gold heels and a clutch.

Cream Lace Parisian Playsuit £24.99

If you're not brave enough to do the full-on lace look, there's plenty of clothes with just a hint, like this blue polka dot skirt, trimmed with lace.

Tokyo Doll Lace Trimmed Skirt - £16.99

Or for an even more subtle introduction to lace, how about this weekend shirt, trimmed on the shoulders.  I love how it taps into the handmade vibe and the fashion for embellishing clothes with crochet and lace - perfect if you haven't got the time or skill to do it yourself!

Lace embellished shirt £19.99

What are your favourite trends for this spring?  Are you looking forward to finally getting your pins out again?

Disclaimer: Featured post

How to make Seed Bomb Easter Eggs

If you're looking for a non-chocolate gift to give this Easter, then this may be just the ticket.

It's not difficult to make, you just need a little patience, so older children should easily be able to make them.

I think it's such a great present to give.  Imagine the fun the recipient will have stealthily seeking out areas of urban wasteland to brighten up, indulging in a bit of guerrilla gardening, and smiling that secret smile when the flowers start to bloom.  And frankly, who doesn't want an excuse to throw eggs?

Seed bombs, if you've not heard of them are a method of populating areas with plants.  The term as first coined back in the seventies when the Green Guerrilla movement first started.

For this make, you will need:

A carton of eggs
Some wild flower seed
Transfer letters (or if you have pretty handwriting, a non-toxic pen)
A large needle (darning type)
A candle

Start off by giving yourself a hernia blowing your eggs.  I did mine over a period of a week, saving the shells, otherwise I fear I would have blown some blood vessels also.  You basically need to prick a hole at each end of the egg and blow like billio.  Red Ted Art is braver than I and shows pictures of how to do it.

One tip, make sure you remove your lipstick first, because that just looks WRONG.

I chose white eggs from the Posh Hen company, and if you can get them fresh from the farm that's even better because they won't have a date stamp on.

If you wish, you can dye them pretty colours and this site has some great instructions for using natural, food based dyes.  However, I was quite taken with the pure whiteness.

Once your egg shells are empty, make sure you rinse them out thoroughly with warm water, and leave to dry both inside and out.  This might take overnight.

Next you need to seal up the top hole (pointy end of the egg).  Do this by dripping a drop of hot wax from a candle onto the top of the egg.  Once the wax has cooled and hardened you can neaten it up by scraping with your fingernail over the surface, and the hole should remain sealed.

At the rounded end, this will be where you fill with seeds.  You may want to make the hole a little bigger by carefully working your needle around the hole.

Next comes the part which takes a little patience.  You can use plain wild flower seeds straight from the packet (be sure to use indigenous ones), or like I have use this shake and rake stuff.  It's pre-mixed with a 'spreading medium' - that's sawdust to me and you.  It will help the seeds stretch further though.

This part takes a little trial and error.  You might find rolling some paper up into a little funnel helps, or pouring the seed mix onto a piece of paper and folding it up to pour (like how you clear up spilled glitter). But generally I just sprinkled pinches over the hole and poked it down!

Finally, when you have enough seed inside (you don't need to fill them completely, that would take you forever!) you need to seal the hole again with wax like before.

Then, you can leave as they are, or add mottos and words on.  I used one word motto which acts as the instructions for use too.  You can hand write this on, or if your writing is appalling like mine, use transfers.

I peeled off the label from the original egg box and added a Happy Easter label, ready for gifting.

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