An American in Wales
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A View of Hay
My brain is reeling with so much going on here in town, so I thought I’d post a few pictures of Hay dressed up for the Festival and Jubilee, as well as a few random shots of the Festival itself, taken quickly between the kidlings tired whinges. THIS way! It was a busy day on the Festival site. Plenty of things to explore. The High Street is crowded and all decked out. There is always something going on in the Memorial car park. Thankfully, the less than sunny weather hasn’t kept visitors away! I really do love life in Hay! (Except, perhaps, for the tourists walking IN the street. Back…
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Leave your Diet At the Door.
I will confess – I am a long time WeightWatchers member. I had some success with it after the birth of my second child. And again when we moved to the UK and I discovered NEW comfort foods like sausage rolls and lemon madeira cake as I settled in. But always….something happens – a holiday, followed by one of the kids falling ill, and I fall off the wagon. It’s a great program so long as you track. But when you stop….*sighs* Look, I’m generally a healthy eater. I maintained a healthy weight right up until the birth of my kids. I know what is good for me, how I…
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No Separation Anxiety Here
One of our local pubs has had this sign posted outside their front patio. I think it is brilliant. I’d say it is a marketing #win.
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If Only Someone Had Told Me
Yesterday was the second time in not so many weeks that my daughter threw up on me/the wall/the carpeting. Coincidentally, I also recently was told “I’m not really into kids, so I can’t even imagine dealing with them when they are throwing up.” And it struck me…. There are many things they (doctors, nurses, books) prepare you for (in having kids), but there is so much more that they don’t… …Like how eagerly you will find yourself diving to catch vomit before it hits your rug/sofa/dog. I mean – when else in your LIFE would you do this? (However, once it occurs, pretty much EVERY mom will tell you her…
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About the Time Pea Got Carsick….and a Giveaway
Well, I’m sure that got your attention. My daughter is a fantastic car-traveller – or, at least she was until we moved to the UK. In the US, she could handle a 14 hour car ride without any sign of illness, but where we live in Wales, much of the roads are hilly or windy – or both. This does not bode well for “she who now gets carsick going to Saturday morning ballet”. Yes, I became the mom who didn’t venture further than the school car park without a change of clothes, a pack of wipes, a roll of paper towels, and a..um…bucket in the back seat. And a…
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Snakes and Ladders on the Go.
I am very possessive of my iPad. It’s mine, and I’ll be honest, I hate sharing it with my kids. Because of this, I am very selective of which apps I add for the kids (lest I spend all my time coming up with excuses as to why they cannot use Mummy’s iPad); in particular, I like apps that we can use together. One such app is iPieces Snakes and Ladders by Jumbo Games. The iPieces games cleverly combine the fun of old-fashioned board games with the technology of the iPad touch-screen. The Snakes and Ladder set comes with four pawns and two “ladders”, each covered on the bottom with…
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A Pin…and A Dream
It takes a lot of trust and more than a pinch of faith to rent your home to strangers. You can only hope that you will find someone who will love and treat your house as if it were their own (and pray that they take good care of their own things.) Unfortunately, our last tenants were pretty much schmucks, and only treated the house as if it were there own when it came to installing things and making changes (all of which required permission that was not requested). Other than that, they pretty much trashed it. It took a lot of elbow grease (and a dedicated handyman) to get…
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Bring on the New Year!
I had the best of intentions to write a round up of 2011, but really? I was off at Center Parcs, having fun with my family, and so New Years Eve day had me tied up with unpacking, sorting out the dog from the kennel, laundry…you know where this is headed… I ran out of time. And that’s all good. Overall, it was a pretty good year. Oh, it had its moments to be sure…quite a few posts in the first quake porter of the year revolve around the hazards of NHS dentistry. (Please don’t get me started on the NHS medical care, either…). I’ve had some…
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Mom Flu
image via tumblr “things we all hate“ The Hubs and I are made from relatively hearty stuff. It is a rare occasion that either of us get sick – well, at least, not sick enough to ground us. We usually take some meds and muddle through. Last week, however, a bug hit the Hubs. A nasty (blessedly 24-hour only) bug that sent him crawling back to bed first thing in the morning, and basically kept him there for most of the next 24 hours. I washed and Dettol-ed the house – light switches, door knobs, phones, surfaces – in the hopes at keeping the germs at bay. I’ve never seen…
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A Review: MASH Junior clothes for kids
I’m currently wrapping up my Christmas shopping for the kids, and I have to admit, while toys were easy to pick out, I’ve been a bit disappointed in clothes choices for my kids. In general, I’ve found the selection for boys limited to branded clothing (and there is only so much Star Wars I can put on my boy), flannel shirts (so not Boo), clothing that make him look a little too hip-hop or bad dress shirts with skinny ties. And for the girls? Is it me, or is it impossible to find clothes in the 6-12 year old range that don’t look like they were meant for 20 year…
