Reduced stress at the supermarket

Until recently I was always the one cursing under my breath each time I parked at the supermarket and yet again FORGOT to make sure I had brought a 1 pound coin with me for the trolley deposit. Acres of trolleys waiting for me to put my two little children in and do my weekly [...]

Borrowing cookery books from the library

Because we radically downshifted three months ago we are on a long-term aim to reduce the amount of ‘stuff’in our house,to minimise the amount we spend as a family on thngs we don’t really *need* and to make sure we home cook healthy family meals twice a day I have become a frequent [...]

How to respond to an emergency:First Aid skills get put into action again

Whilst on the way to taking the kids pre-school yesterday I saw a group of three people who appeared to be looking for something on the ground at the edge of the village field by the car park. ‘Oh look’I said to the children ‘that man must have lost something very small [...]

How to recognise meningitis symptoms in children and babies

A sobering story of how deadly meningitis can be

Today I was in the supermarket checkout queue with my twins after their first ever swimming lesson. We were all tired and grumpy and my daughter was pulling her brother’s hair and wouldn’t let go. The woman in front of me said to my girl [...]

A cure for arachnophobia

I am not a big fan of spiders. In fact they paralyse me with fear or send me into a screaming loon. When the children were 18 months old I ran screaming from their room leaving them alone with a huge great big hairy one. Nice work mummy. Since moving to the country I am [...]

Routines:Morning and Evening

I have started following a lot of the good advice given out by the (US centric) FlyLady. A lot is extremely prescriptive but works well as tried and tested set of routines for those trying to keep a house running smoothly.

Morning Routine

1. Get up and weigh 2. Shower and get dressed up [...]

Amaze yourself with little jobs:Achieve loads in under 10 minutes

‘If there’s time to lean,there’s time to clean!’

2 Minute Jobs:

Load dishwasher Wash a sink Sweep a floor Tickle ceiling corners with a feather duster Wipe a toilet Empty wastepaper baskets Load washing machine Polish a mirror/picture Find a few things to donate to the charity shop (toys,clothes,unwanted gifts) Empty car [...]

An important lesson in changing bed linen

Why has no-one ever pointed out to me the importance of stripping the bed AND IMMEDIATELY making the bed up with fresh bed linen during the same 10 minutes?!

Perhaps I’m part of a small slovenly minority who didn’t know why whisking the dirty bed linen away to the washing machine without taking the time [...]

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