Currently Browsing: HOME LIFE
Posted by
English Mum |
May 11th, 2012
The great bathroom purge of 2012
And so it came to pass that I dropped a contact lens in the bathroom. Ick. Said contact lens was instantly too fluffy to use (pink fluff – it’s our towels) and had to be thrown away. Ew, I thought. I’d better wash the floor.
And so it also came to pass that I learned one of life’s truer lessons: if the water in the mop bucket smells vaguely of ponds, it’s too long since...
Posted by
English Mum |
Apr 26th, 2012
The Mad Professor’s birthday and the four tier jammy creamy birthday cake
As birthdays go, I think the Mad Professor has probably had better ones (at least the start, anyway). We all overslept and there was loads of shouting, jostling for bathroom space, yelling at the cat and stuffing down of toast (I did manage to write ’17′ in jam on his, at least…), with no time for pressie opening or even a quick round of the happy birthday song (we like the Disney version,...
Posted by
English Mum |
Apr 23rd, 2012
Trolls, perverts and tagging: a parent’s guide to Facebook
Let’s face it: EVERYONE’S on Facebook. Legally, you’re supposed to be 13, but recently, when I found myself wishing my teenager a happy 22nd birthday, it dawned on me that most kids will have/want an account.
So as a parent, what can we do to allow our children a bit of freedom AND keep them safe? Here are my top tips – mostly stuff I’ve learned the hard way. But hey, even...
Posted by
English Mum |
Apr 19th, 2012
In which our hero attends the launch of Gatwick’s business plan to 2020 (and suffers a handbag malfunction)
So my lovely chums at Gatwick rang me a couple of weeks ago asking if I’d be prepared to attend the meeting to launch their new business plan. Basically, Gatwick are in the process of investing over a £1 billion (yes, BILLION) on improvements to the airports (not just for passengers but for their other customers, the airlines, too) and this was the first time that the great and the good of the airline...
Posted by
English Mum |
Apr 16th, 2012
The ultimate chocolate cake with coconut ganache frosting for the Death Wish Dude’s birthday,
It’s been an odd weekend. First of all we watched ourselves on the telly (it’s a very weird experience, I can tell you). We took part in a Channel 5 programme being made about Disneyland Paris’ 20th birthday celebrations when were out there a couple of weeks ago – it aired yesterday. I actually managed to take a picture of the Death Wish Dude being interviewed – here...
Posted by
English Mum |
Apr 8th, 2012
You can keep perfect. I’m happy with good enough.
So big changes are afoot at English Towers. English Dad has been offered the job of his dreams. A job that he’s wanted for years. A job that he’s worked his butt off to qualify for. The perfect job, in fact? Well, no, because the job is based a long way away. This ‘perfect’ job will take him away from his family for long periods of time, and will be challenging and dangerous. Perfect? ...
Posted by
English Mum |
Mar 5th, 2012
‘I don’t know what happened… it just fell off!’ The Spontaneous Unexplained Incident.
‘Teenagers’. To quote Sebastian from The Little Mermaid: ‘they think they know everything. Give them an inch, they swim all over you’.
Mine are relatively tame… apart from the odd bout of scariness and the odd error of judgement (which would make your hair curl) they’re quite polite… do as they’re told and are good fun. One of the things I HATE, though,...
Posted by
English Mum |
Feb 29th, 2012
Bloggers on Tour: the West Yorkshire leg
I am very lucky. I have wonderful friends. We’ve met through various press trips and blogger events and have become so close. We share endless laughs, long emails and silly Twitter conversations. Less lucky, though, is that fact that we are spread out across the British Isles, so every so often, we get together – it’s become known as ‘Bloggers on Tour’ or BOT for short....
Posted by
English Mum |
Feb 18th, 2012
Half term hell, flicky hair, skating and crashing
So that’s it, then. Half term is officially over. The thing with teenagers is that you seem to miss most of half term as they’re asleep. By 11.30 I take to banging and crashing around, and if they’re still not up by noon, the hoover comes out (they know this is a ploy, I never hoover usually).
Then there’s the work. The Prof’s A levels are worrying me. Seriously, if I...
Posted by
English Mum |
Feb 11th, 2012
Review: ‘Sweet Peas for Summer: how to create a garden in a year’ by Laetitia Maklouf
As you know, I’m a bit of a Twitter addict. And yes, I know a lot of people just don’t get Twitter, but I’ve made some amazing connections on there (I hesitate to say friendships, as I suppose that’s not possible with someone you’ve never actually met). One such person is the utterly gorgeous and adorable Laetitia Maklouf. We discovered a shared love of garden-pottering and...
