Flashback Friday - The Spooks of Bottle Bay

The Spooks of Bottle Bay was shown on CITV between 1993 and 1995.  It was created by Ian Allen.

The show features Sidney Sludge and his horrible brother and sister Sybil and Cedric Sludge, as well as his faithful dog Maxwell.   At nighttime the Bottle Bay Spooks come out to tease poor Sid.

There are a number of Spooks who live in the Bay who put on their sheets and come to life, the main ones being Sally, Fred and Baby Spook.

Freshly harvested fruit and veg make the perfect .... dessert

If you were reading my blog the other week you'll have read all about how Tesco are passionate about bringing us seasonal flavours to enhance our meals.  Not only this but they like to ensure all their harvested fruit and vegetables is fresh and of the highest quality.  

You will already know that if you see the Red Tractor logo on their products you can be assured they are working with suppliers who have passed rigorous production standards to bring you the best possible food.  It's no secret where Red Tractor food comes from, you can trace it all back to the farm it originated on.

And of course you will already have seen that Tesco set some of their Orchard Club members a challenge, to use their freshly harvested products and let everyone know about them. 

The Thread of Life. Project & Exhibition

While on Twitter the other day I came across a lovely project by a local resident artist Sharon Mossbeck that I thought others would love to know about (especially my friends new and old in the )..
MSE Cross Stitch Cafe

The project is based on the mythological Greek figures of the Fates, or Moirai and called "The thread of Life" and is in 2 parts.

Trick or Treat (part 2)

This year sees the first ever Swizzels Trick Or Treat Trail at all three Gulliver’s theme parks in Warrington, Matlock Bath and Milton Keynes throughout October half term through to Halloween weekend and we've been invited to go along and experience the spooky magic.  So the boys faces painted (Noah wanted to be a yellow angry bird and Ben was apparently "Batman Fake" we set off to Matlock Bath to experience the Swizzels Trick or Treat Trail.I refrained from doing my own make up given that it was a 2-hour journey on Public Transport!

  

Christmas Planning - Week 8 and 9: Guest Room and public spaces.

sorry sorry sorry, I may be having an organised Christmas but the rest of my life is completely disorganised.  It also doesn't help that the site I base my posts on (Organized Home) has a glitch or a virus or something and constantly throws me to an 'update Adobe Flash" page with an instant download.  Please delete this download as I am concerned it's a virus as I've gone thro the proper adobe site and should be up to date yet it's still showing up all the time.

Anyways I battled round it and thankfully (as I'm soo behind) there's not a lot to add to my list.  I'd like to say check the website for the full lists but.......

Of course weeks 8 and 9 are also Halloween prep so they have some great ideas for getting you organised there too.  We don't do Halloween massively here so I'll not be covering it in this post.

I have sorted out the boys letters from Santa already though thanks to Offiical Lapland, check out my post and competition here.

If Halloween and sweets are more your thing then I have a Spooky competition from Swizzles live too, here.

Don't forget to turn your clocks back.............

Heroes in a Half Shell........ Turtle Power.

I promised you I'd let you know how Ben's birthday and his party went... so here's a round up for you (I'm going to get round to the "how to's" I promise).

The decorations I mentioned a few posts ago from Kids-Partyshop.co.uk look absolutly fantastic.

  

Groupon Goods - if fulfilled by "Delux Homebrands"avoid.

You've probably read my tweets about how my omelette maker has become non-stick so guess how excited I was for it a Groupon goods to appear so I could order a new one for £15.98 (with free delivery.



The fine print said to allow up to 7 working days for delivery, so you would expect (having ordered on the 10th October) that I would be able to tell you all how fantastic it was.

Sadly not.

Trick or Treat?

I was young .... once

We love Halloween, we don't go trick or treating ourselves (I was never allowed as a child) but that
doesn't stop me and the boys dressing up, eating junk food and having a fab time and this year it'll taste even better as Swizzels have teamed up with Gulliver Theme's parks.

This year sees the first ever Swizzels Trick Or Treat Trail at all three Gulliver’s theme parks in Warrington, Matlock Bath and Milton Keynes throughout October half term through to Halloween weekend and we've been invited to go along and experience the spooky magic (I am already planning the outfit) on Monday.  I cannot wait to tell you all about it when we get back.

So then Santa said to me......

I know what you're thinking... Santa doesn't exist.... except I know a secret ..... he does and we've recently been talking about Christmas, after all it's his specialist conversation and I may be a teeny bit excited already... Ben taking after me has started going to bed listening to the Christmas CD.

He introduced me to a delightful website where he works hard with Mrs Claus to write lovely personalised letters for children in time for Christmas.

Tuneful Tuesday - Glasses - Chris jarvis

Like many mums when my boys were a bit smaller hours were sent watching Chris and Poi on Cbeebies.  Hmmm I thought, I recognise him .... surly after all this years it is not the Chris I remember from my childhood?  So ... like most people..... I turned to Wikipedia.

It was indeed THAT Chris Jarvis..... the one who in the early 1990s appeared on Children's BBC, presenting in The Broom Cupboard alongside Zoë Ball and Josie d'Arby.  THE Chris Jarvis who presented Playdays. In 1997,   THE same Chris Jarvis who hosted Fully Booked with Tim Vincent and Gail Porter.

In 1997 Chris was part of The Friday Zone, which was broadcast on Friday afternoons on BBC One.  Alongside Debra Stephenson (Bad Girls/ Coronation Street), Peter Simon (Run the Risk/ Going Live), Dominic Wood (one half of Dick and Dom), Steve Rock and Emma Lee. As a spin-off to tgis show they released a single called "Glasses" to raise money for Comic Relief. Sadly, perhaps due to the fact it was up against the official song by the Spice Girls "Mama" not many people, other then me, bought it (it was cd's and tapes back then)

Did you buy or not??

Freshly harvested fruit and veg make the perfect ... ... accompaniment to any Sunday dinner.

It's really Autummy out there now, I don't know if you'd noticed, and Tesco are passionate about
bringing us seasonal flavours to enhance our meals.  Not only this but they like to ensure all their harvested fruit and vegetables is fresh and of the highest quality.  If you see the Red Tractor logo on their products you can be assured they are working with suppliers who have passed rigorous production standards to bring you the best possible food.  It's no secret where Red Tractor food comes from, you can trace it all back to the farm it originated on.

Confident of their products Tesco set some of their Orchard Club members a challenge, to use their freshly harvested products and let everyone know about them.

Party planning - the perils of RSVP

Ohh I am sooo angry.

Last year Ben had 10 friends to his party but (due to a communication error) I thought one mum hadn't RSVP'd, didn't after a reminder so he invited someone else ....... and we ended up with 11.

Every party this year had the same idea as me "text me to say you are coming".  I must admit, bad forgetful mum that I am I only replied a week before but mums were fine (after all they were catering for around 30).

This year Ben has invited 4 friends (twins and 2 others).  We hand-made and hand-wrote the invitations, as it's at our house I am sure there is no uncertainty we've not invited the whole class!
one mum hasn't RSVP'd (and it's the Saturday).  It's now far too late to invite someone else if she replies with no without that child's parents knowing they were a drop-out extra.   We have tried to catch her before and after school all week and seen her once but as soon as went to approach her she'd vanished.

I've tried to get her number from a couple of mums but none have it, besides they'd probably not pass it on.

It just makes me so cross when he's had to be selective that the parents can't even be bothered to let me know.

How do you manage party replies?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Party Supplies

Mummy...... can I have a party??

Those words every mummy/ daddy/ carer dreads hearing, and yet every year without fail (normally 6 months before their birthday) those words are uttered.  Depending on what sort of person you are you either go into a mad panic mode, or you book the tortuorous soft play party or, like me, you simply say "maybe, we'll discuss it nearer the time" (hoping they may have forgotton/ lowered their expectations) ........ until 2 months before their birthday when they again ask and you think "ohh pants, I guess I'd better get this party planning hat on then".

Last year I took the easy option, the fail safe option and booked a party at Pizza Hut for Ben and some friends.  Ouch that was an epic fail in itself.  From the 5year olds that "don't eat Pizza" (seriously!!) to the lack of planning and from the place itself..... but I won't go into that - you can read all about it here. 

A year was spent where most weekends we were at one party or another, it was so much fun (for the kids)... not quite as enjyable for the parents who had to endure soft play hell or the party hall of doom.... 30 screaming hyperactive kids ... no thank you.  

     Then you had the element of "who can outdo who"..... one had a bouncy castle ... so the next had a ball pool and a bouncy castle.  

      One did the party games all by themselves (very brave).... anther hired Elsa from Frozen to run the show for them.   

      There were facepainters, dj's, The Hulk, foam pies in faces, balloons.... balloons and oh did I mentin balloons?  

      There were the parents who provided a nice slow cooker curry (YUCK) for the parents while their kids ate semi-stale sandwiches and those whose family own the local Chinese (YUCK) takeaway and provided a complete buffet for the grown ups (while kids ate cold nuggets and smily faces) .... and then you have the parents who thought they were feeding the entire school and were probably eating cold party food for weeks to follow (my personal favourite -I think I ate my weight in strawberries at that one).

Christmas Planning - Week 7: Guest Room (AKAcatch-up week for me)

Oh my gosh the weeks are going far to quickly (10 Sundays left).  It's Ben's birthday on Friday so I've been a little pre-occupied and my organised Friday was once again taken up with yet another trip to Meadowhell!

On the plus side while I was queuing in the Lego Shop for one of his presents the people in front let me have their points.... it wasn't like they were spending much .... only £150 (that's £15 in Lego points)!  Someone will be having a fantastic birthday/ Christmas I said... and they explained it was for a 28 year old :)  Just shows kids don't grow up they just get older.

Cbeebies Panto 2014: Peter Pan

Tag-lined:  Fab show, shame about the 'organisation'.

We loved the Panto last year, it was filmed in Sheffield where we live but sadly we didn't win the public ballot to get tickets, this year it was at The Lowry in Manchester so we applied again (alongside a few thousand other hopefuls).  Once again we didn't get tickets.  But having learnt last year of the "stand-by list" we went along in hope.

Far from the well organised 'gig' of last year this year both internal and external events at The Lowry were chaos.  I wish this post could be as positive as last years, and I wish the message could be as fantastic as the one I was giving out this year to encourage people to go .... but sadly.......... 

  

Pink Parcel ... something to look forward to every month.

If you happen to be a man reading my blog then this post probably won't interest you, unless you

have a temperamental woman once a month who needs cheering up.

Have you guessed what Pink Parcel specialises in yet?........Yup making your 'monthlies' so much more bearable.

Christmas Planning - Week 6: Kids Rooms

Pfft just got back from Tesco.  Where they did, eventually have in the green Rowntree sweetie boxes ... back up to £5.   Needless to say we didn't buy any as when we looked you could fill it with an assortment of various jelly's for the same price (same quantity, if not more).  So instead I will be utilising a spare tub I have and in the next few weeks stocking up on various goodies to fill it.


What have I accomplished this week,....  I've made a start on the boys Christmas gifts.  I was frantically racking my brain to try and remember what it was they wanted.  I'd like to avoid more toys... then I remembered they were after Tablets.  Which I was quite happy with as it may mean I reclaim some TV and Ben would not be constantly asking for my laptop.   Annoyingly the really great deal I had seen is no more (typical) - I don't want to spend more than £50 so it's going to be one on offer, a 7" screen is fine.     I am reluctant to buy online as I bought one from amazon at the beginning of the year and it was faulty.... it was replaced (after a fuss) with another faulty one and I e eventually got my money back.
   I am now considering getting them 1 to share (and of course then mummy can borrow it when we go on holiday).  :)   So if you see any great offers please let me know.

300 picture book challenge - September Update

September

We are still plowing through The Enchanted Wood trilogy, book 3 now.  With school starting again I must get back into the habit of school books and bedtime books again after we let ourselves down massively over the Summer.

122 days left in 2014 and 81 books to read.  We CAN do this.

12 players ........... 1 world ..... who will survive? who will loose? #EndgameIsComing

Endgame is real. Endgame is now. Endgame has begun.

My first impressions of this youtube clip that has been going around the internet was WOW.  My 2nd was just how much it reminded me of Murder Game, a little remembered programme from 2002/3 in BBC.   But it (sadly) wasn't documenting the return of this epic but a new book adventure coming on the 7th October from James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton.