September 17th 2015 - Dinosaur Spikes

September 17th 2015 - Dinosaur spikes

Last week lil man picked up aa pair of monster feet in a charity shop.  He said he wanted to wear them for school halloween day at end of term.  When I asked with what he said a monster outfit!  YEA OK, you dont have one!!!

So after a hunt of the net I found a "dog onesie" in grey and brown that matched the grey and brown in the monster feet, and hoped I won it.  Well I did.  Once I knew I had won it I asked lil man how he wanted to make it more "monstery" and he said he wanted dinosaur spikes from top of his head down his back. 

I had this pin in a board from ages ago as I liked the jumper with it on.  BUT I didn't think that making each spike individually was the best idea so I started thinking.  I took a pair of dark blue trackie bottoms out of charity shop bag

I turned them inside out as it was more fluffy, then I decided that the fluffy side needed to be the finished outside bit as the "dog onesie" is fluffy, so I turned them back the right way.  Using 1 of the leg seams as the base for the spikes I started to cut through both layers of trousers to get spike shapes, which I then pinned together.

I have since stitched the points, I tried with my machine but as its only small it wouldn't go through the thick tracksuit bottoms so I have had to do it by hand.  I am in the process of starting the second set of spikes and I think I may need do more from the other leg.

September 16th 2015 - Smoking couldron

September 16th 2015 - Smoking Couldron

I have wanted a smoking cauldron for a few years to use at halloween,but they are always very expensive.  Last year I picked up a plasticcauldron that was being sol as a plant pot and hoped we could turn it into a smoking couldron but we never got that far.

Today whilst shopping I came across a smoking cauldron that isn't actually smoke but water mist.  It looks really good an will look better in the dark.  It doesn't get hot or use chemicals which is better with pets and children about.

September 15th 2015 - Bullying

September 15th 2015 - Bullying

Something I absolutely hate!  Bullying!  I was bullied at school to the extent I had to swap schools because of how bad it got.  I will not stand for it in any way.

My eldest son came home from school on the 2nd day of the new term with a huge bruise on his knee from where a lad (kid X) had tripped him over and he hit the floor.  I didn't think much to it until he rang me on monday of this week at 9am saying he could hardly walk as his knee hurt.  I asked why and he said that kid X had tripped him over again and he had hurt the same knee as last week where he hit the floor again!

I was not pleased and told him to go and tell his teacher and ask the first aider/nurse for an ice-pack and to ring me if he needed to come home.  The teacher said that they couldn't do anything about it and the school nurse wasn't in, so he couldn't get an ice pack.  He spent the day hobbling around and being laughed at by kid X.  I rang the doctors but they had no appointments left.

He was still struggling to walk today, his knee is still swollen and bruised so I rang the doctors and we went down.  The doctor said that he thought it was just bruised and muscle hurt but as he can't see through skin he cant say there isn't a chip to bone but its too swollen for them to do an xray.  He has been advised to rest, no sports for a week and to document anything and everything that kid X says and does incase we need to get the police involved.

Kid X is nothing but a bully, him and my son have had conflicts for nearly 3years now.  My son will only take so much before he hits back.  Kid X is known for picking on people and being nasty.  He was banned from the school bus last year due to fighting and picking on people.

I have spoken to the vice principal of the school and filled him in fully on what is happening etc.  He has assured me that it will be delt with as he doesn't want bullying in his school.  He has told my son that if kid X says or does anything then my son needs to go and find him to report it.

Bullies are horrible people and they do it because it makes them feel better.  Having been a victim of it I am not having my kids go through it and if it looks like i'm a grass then so be it!

September 14th 2015 - Countdown

September 14th 2015 - Countdown

So it has come to my attention today that there is only 46 days untiil Halloween.  Where has the time gone?  It doesn't seem that long ago that I posted this quote:

(29th January 2015 - When I started my spell book, which still isn't finished).

I am none the wiser as to whether Halloween is happening at my friends house like arranged last year or if it is happening at my house as she has had a few personal problems and doesn't know if she wants to face lots of people.  It's not a problem if it is at mine as I have loads of Halloween stuff in my loft.

However the fact Halloween is just around the corner is a big problem.  I still have LOTS to do for wherever it is happening.  I have no white shoes to go with my nurses outfit, and I need to cover them in red paint to look like blood splatters.  The shorts I had bought to go under my very short dress are about 3 sizes too big (even for my big bum!)  The trousers I bought for lil man to go with his Wizard outfit are a different shade of blue BUT lil man wants them and wants ribbon added to match his robe and jumper.  The middle son wants to go as a devil and we cant find the outfit we had so i'm hoping I win  the 1 i'm bidding on, on ebay.  The eldest son's knife still looks like a cheap plastic £1 item so I need to sort that out and hubby's outfit has not arrived yet.

Not to mention the fact my friend wants the food labels printed (if it happens at her house), as well as me to organise the party bags for the kids (12 of) an games to keep them amused!

Aaaaarrrgggghhhh where has the time gone???

September 13th 2015 - Potion bottles

September 13th 2015 - Potion bottles

It's not that long until Halloween now.  At the beginning of the year I started making some potion bottles for my friend.  I had loads more empty bottles to use but just hadn't got round to doing them.  I  have spent today making some more bottles and finishing off a few of the others.

I'm really pleased with how they are looking, once they are dry they will be moved up to the box in the loft with the rest as i'm not sure if halloween is happening at my house or my friends where it is meant to be.

All bottles and jars have had medicine, herbs, air freshner  or something in  and have not been bought to use.

September 12th 2015 - Save a Life September

September 12th 2015 - Save a Life September

As a member of St John Ambulance I am helping to promote SJA and our "save a life september campaign".  This is the 4th year it has been run wiith various activities taking place - from first ai demonstrations in shopping centers to the nationwide guerrilla style bandaging stunt.  

I have taken part in the bandaging stunt to try and raise awareness of SJA in my area.  My taking part consisted of Bandaging a Lamp post outside my house (on a main road):

 Bandaging a statue at Whitehaven harbour:

and Bandaging the railings down by the beach with Whitehaven Light house in the distance:

Whilst I in the process of bandaging the statue a man passing by asked me what I was doing - so I told him "bandaging a statue".  He then asked me why with a very puzzled look.  I explianed to him that St John Ambulance are doing their Save a Life September campaign again and they have asked unit members all over the UK to place bandages an stickers on things like lamp posts, post boxes and statues in and around their town to raise awareness.  He smiled (probably thinking i'm a total loony) and said he didn't know that Whitehaven had a St John Ambulance Unit.  He walked off and kept looking back me!

So it has worked, it has made my unit more aware to at least 1 person.  There were a few other people who walked past but didn't say anything, and I did notice after I had left they had gone to look at the bandage.  I really wanted to place 1 in the center of town somewhere but being a Saturday and market day it's really busy so I wasn't brave enough to do it.

I really hope that the campaign helps raise awareness of SJA across the UK.

September 11th 2015 - Android Tablet

September 11th 2015 - Android Talet

Just over a week ago on the Martin Lewis Website there was a freebie come up for a free Alldaymall 7" Android Tablet in pink.  You entered the money off code and selected free shipping on Amazon and the order went through. It turns out that this was a BIG mistake on the comapnies part, and the code shouldn't have been to get the item free.

Sadly I didn't know this until after I had ordered it, received it and allowed my children to use the free tablet that I got.  Well i'm not a cruel mother and was not prepared to take it away from my children.  I do feel sorry for the company as a lot of people took advantage of the freebie, but I will give it an honest review and write up here.

The item was packed very well and was protected and it arrived a day earlier than I was told it would arrive.   The package contained everything that it should it would.  If this tablet had to have been bought it would have been £29.99 plus shipping.

The device had no power to start with so we put it on charge for an hour and then turned it on, my first thought was how loud and clear the sound was, not bad for a cheap tablet.  It took you through a start up menu of which you could customise to suit yourself.  The colours and display were very bright and clear, the only thing was the screen didn't go fully edge to edge.

Once set up the tablet was actually quick to load and run pages, it worked well unless my children tried to open too many things which slowed it down (but this happens on all devices).  The screen is great for looking straight at but if turned or angled slightly you can't fully see what is on the screen.

It has both forward and rear facing cameras, I can't comment on the quality of pictures it takes as we have not tried this yet.  It also has room for a memory card to be inserted, again we haven't done this but probably will.

It is small and light weight and ideal size to fit in a bag.  It will be used a lot at hospital appointments as wont take up much room to take with us but is enough to keep the children amused whilst waiting.  It has a hard plastic shell around the tablet which i'm sure is strong enough to protect it but I plan on buying a rubber one just encase it does get dropped.  It is a well built little machine.

The tablet is able to connect to wi-fi which is great an it is also bluetooth enabled.  It runs on Android which is what myself and children are used to (they have use my mobile phone for games etc).  Apps install on it quickly, but as it has low memory I wouldn't advise you to add too many, unless you plan on adding a memory card to boost it.

It can be charged via mains plug or the mini usb cable.  My youngest son is happy to play on it whilst on charge from my laptop so that he can sit and snuggle with me before bed.  The battery life isn't the best and is about 2-3hrs depending on what you are using the tablet for, but I really don't want my children glued to a device for this amount of time let alone longer!

For the price the tablet is (and even better for me as was free) I can safely say it is a great little device, it does what you would hope a small tablet could do etc.  It is ideal size etc for children and slipping into a bag for waiting rooms or even whilst shopping.

I would recommend this product to family and friends.  Thank you for sending it to me an i'm sorry that I wasn't aware of the mix up and that it shouldn't have been free.  I hope that you accept my apology and review as fair exchange.