The more I fly, the more I think that the secret to the best in-flight kit is to carry as little as possible. Sure, you can pack a huge backpack with loads of stuff, but when you get on the plane, you can bet any money that once you’ve stuffed it in the overhead locker and taken your seat, you won’t bother getting it all back down and unpacking it.
Recently, a very nice lady called Laura sent me an email and asked me why my blog post in which I explain how to make Bourbon biscuits at home had disappeared. Did you know that I’ve been writing English Mum for nearly TEN YEARS? I know! It’s testament to the fact that I’ve got an awful lot to say for myself that I’ve never once run out of things to write about. You’ll be pleased to know that I’m exactly the same in real life and can never shut up there either. One of the problems with this terrible affliction is the strain on poor Andy the web designer’s servers. Ten year’s worth of waffle and pictures takes up a lot of room, so recently we took the tough decision to archive the first five years.
My very first holiday as an adult, away from my family for the first time ever, was in Mallorja (or Majorca). My friend Clare and I went to Palma Nova. We chose it because it was it was supposed to be a bit quieter than its slightly noisy neighbour, Magaluf, and we had the most wonderful week of sunbathing, cocktails and lazing on the beautiful beach. One thing we didn’t do, though, was explore much, which is one of the reasons why Mallorca continues to rate quite highly on my holiday bucket list and why I was delighted with Booking Mallorca asked me to pick a few faves from their selection of lovely villas and apartments.
I’ve had SUCH a busy week. Oh, I’m absolutely not moaning - who else gets to spend their days chatting on the radio and talking to wonderful, interesting people about the job that they love? I feel like the luckiest girl in the world, especially as it’s my birthday tomorrow and the Easter long weekend! And all this lovely stuff has put me in the mood for a bit of shopping. I’m loving all the hush spring brights AND they’ve got 10% off (enter EASTER16 at the checkout) and a free bar of delicious hush chocolate if you order (over £30) over the Easter weekend. What’s not to love? Here are my picks of their most beautiful must-haves to brighten your spring wardrobe:
So recently, I’ve been telling you all about the fab Financial Personality Tool from Aviva. My financial personality came out as a ‘time dueller’ and that’s so true. I’m always busy, busy, busy, with a huge list of things to do and places to be, and anything that doesn’t catch my eye tends to get forgotten or pushed to one side in favour of something more interesting.
When Mr E got made redundant, one of our biggest realisations was that we didn’t have an emergency fund. I’ve read before that you should have something along the lines of three months’ salary set aside before you even bother about saving for anything else. We’ve started our fund now, mainly because I’ll never forget the feeling of panic that comes from receiving the phone call telling you you’re going to lose your main income.
We’ve talked SO much about skiing it’s ridiculous. Mr E went once, with friends who could already ski. They lent him the basic bits of equipment and he just kind of hurled himself down the slopes after them. I went a couple of times in my teens - not much skiing was done, as I recall, but rather a lot of apres ski.
Last week, when I was at Dunelm, there were a couple of items that really caught my eye. The first, as you know, is anything and everything copper. I’ve got to be honest, I wasn’t sure whether there was a place for copper in our kitchen, what with all the tropical colours, but it turns out that it works really well.
So my #livepeasant week has come to an end and it’s been really good fun. If you didn’t see my post on Monday, we’ve been creating some delicious, rustic one-pot dishes this week with Simpy Beef and Lamb. We’ve dined pretty well, starting with the delicious Moroccan lamb dish on Monday, a big pot of chilli, a curry, a shepherd’s pie with slow-cooked mince, and I even revisited my spring braised beef with red wine and borlotti beans.
Are you a new or aspiring blogger? If so, you might be interesting in an afternoon of friendly networking at Three’s new Discovery Store in Islington. I’ll be hosting a workshop entitled ‘Mum’s the Word’ at the store in Islington next Wednesday, 23rd March from 4.30 - 6pm.
I’ve talked about financial stuff a little bit recently - after Mr E’s redundancy, which really shook us up, we’ve been having a good, long look at our finances, and thinking harder about what we do with our money.
So when Aviva asked me to work with them to try their Financial Personality Profiler tool, designed to get us all saving smarter, I was really interested to see how I fared. After asking a few questions, the profiler allocates you one of 10 personality types, each with different spending/saving traits (a bit like a superhero), so you can determine whether you’re Captain Savvy (financially informed, but prone to self indulgence), or the Super-Stretcher (financially astute, but likely to overspend on their family).
Aviva’s financial personality profiler tool
Once you’ve worked out your financial personality, there’s some great advice for battling your financial nemesis.
You might think it’s a gimmick, but I found that as you work through the questions, you really have to stop and think about whether you’re being completely honest - are you influenced by others (the answer is yes from me)? Are you prone to splash out and ‘treat yourself’? There are some very clever questioning techniques in there too - whether you’re the kind of person that has an addictive personality, even your box set viewing habits! But it’s all designed to get to know you and work out exactly what sort of relationship you have with your cash.
I have to say, having worked through the questions, my result was spot on: I’m a ‘time dueller’ - always rushing, always overwhelmed, never enough time and generally juggling multiple tasks at once. Things get added to my to do list, but if they’re not interesting, they’ll generally get ignored until the very last minute!
The advice I got was good, as well. I need to worry less about the small spending decisions I make (like driving to the next petrol station to save a couple of pence on my petrol fill up) and concentrate on some of the bigger issues. And honestly, I know exactly what my weaknesses are: popping out when I’ve had a busy week and splurging, even if sometimes I really know I shouldn’t. It’s made me think that I need to try and find small treats to reward myself after a busy week and resist the urge to shop online for things I don’t really need but that make me feel good.
SO interesting.
Do give it a go - I guarantee it will make you really think about your own financial personality. Let me know how you get on! Watch out for the second instalment next week, when I’ll be talking about savings hacks and giving you my own tips on how to #savesmarter!
This post is sponsored by Aviva. Click here for more information on Aviva’s #SaveSmarter campaign.
See what I did there?
On Tuesday, I hot footed it to High Wycombe to attend the opening of the new Dunelm store in High Wycombe. If, like me, you’ve mostly used Dunelm in the past when you needed a new doormat or washing up bowl, you won’t believe the difference. Existing Dunelm stores are having major refurbishments done, and new ones are light, bright, modern and user-friendly.
This is the last in my series about finances in partnership with NatWest Money Clip and I’ve learned so much. It’s come at a really good time for me, since our financial crisis last year, and I’ve addressed so many issues and, hopefully, saved quite a lot of money as well. I feel much more organised, and have put into place loads of small changes so that we keep on saving money and plan ahead should it (god forbid) ever happen again.
There’s been a shift recently back towards simpler food, don’t you think? I’ve read endless articles about embracing a more uncomplicated, rustic approach to cooking, and I love the concept. I’ve been enjoying baking my own bread, leaving it to rise slowly, rather than scoffing quickly risen supermarket bread. The recipe makes two loaves at a time and it keeps really well, so we’ve always got some on the go.
The thing I like most about baking hot cross buns is the smell. That gorgeous, sweet spicy smell that fills the whole house - better than any scented candle, and so comforting. With these hot cross buns I used a packet of dried cherries that I had in the cupboard, but any dried fruit will do; I think cranberries would be delicious. Take your time, because slow rising gives the best results. I’m guilty of rushing up to the airing cupboard every five minutes to see if they’ve risen, but, like bread, they always turn out best when you’ve forgotten the dough and it’s puffed up to glorious proportions.
Regular readers will know that I’m part of the Bel Nutrition Advisory Board. I love food, so it’s basically the best job ever. We talk a lot about cheese, naturally, and a lot of other very complicated regulatory/nutrition issues, some of which go right over my head, but we also talk about lots of other stuff, like dental health (and health in general) and I’m always learning new things - in fact I wrote recently about the food facts that may really surprise you.
Ever since I watched Alex Polizzi’s Secret Italy on Channel 5 last year, I’ve wanted to visit Sicily. The little island just off the toe of Italy keeps popping up in travel magazines I read and I’m just desperate to go and visit. I think what I love about it is that it has everything: gorgeous coastline; fabulous, ancient cities; and wonderful, vibrant food markets.. It’s one of those places (along with Cuba at the moment) that’s very high on my travel bucket list.
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