Us Time!

Well it was long overdue! We have finally had some us time after a long while.

The Stig Plays A Dangerous Game ~ Children's Book Review

About the Book

The first in a fast-paced, funny series featuring The Stig: Top Gear's legendary racing driver.

Book Review: Blood of the Red Rose by P.J.Grey

About the Book

Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, finds himself exiled in France when Warwick the Kingmaker puts Edward IV on the throne of England. Desperate to return the throne to the rightful King Henry VI, Beaufort finds himself caught between Henry's bitter wife Marguerite of Anjou and the French 'Spider' King Louis until Edward and Warwick fall out in spectacular style and, at Louis' urging, Warwick becomes their unlikely ally. Set on the rich stage of the Wars of the Roses, this is a tale of intrigue, love and war that can only end in tragedy.

Information about the Book

Title: Blood of the Red Rose
Author: P. J. Gray
Release Date: 14th August 2018
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Clink Street Publishing

Goodreads Link 

Amazon Link

What did I think?

If you know me then you know historic fiction is my favourite genre, I read a lot of books from Phillipa Gregory and I would say she is my top author for this genre. I am, however, always keen to read many books and was super excited to see how Blood of the Red Rose would go down.

I'm totally adding it to my book shelf and if you're a fan of historical fiction then I really recommend giving this book a read. There's lots of characters to get to know, plenty of love and war but you will get completely sucked in to the 14th Century to follow Beaufort, his allies and his enemies in this wonderful novel. 

About the author

Philippa was born in Chichester and developed a passion for history whilst growing up in Cyprus and then North Yorkshire. She began writing when she was at junior school, winning the school prize for English, and wrote and illustrated her own stories which she read to her long-suffering friends.

 She started her first novel, Blood of the Red Rose, when her elder daughter was a baby and finally completed it twenty-eight years later.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/bloodoftheredrose

Blog Tour

This is a blog tour so please do have a good look at these fellow writers to see what they thought of Phillipas Blood of the Red Rose.

My Sunday Photo ~ Boats and Blue Skies

We had a lovely walk this week at a place called Riverside, one of Mr K's favourite spots. It was wonderful for me to smell some salt and seaweed in the air. I loved the abandoned boat and the clouds so thought I'd take a snap to share.

Letting Lily Fly

Sometimes you have to let children fly.

When Midge was born I have to admit that I didn’t bond with her like I did years later with A. I saw lots of people connect with their new born and yet I struggled. When A came along the connection was there and it felt completely different; that didn’t mean that I didn’t try to give her every opportunity that I could!

As A grew up, and was later diagnosed with SPD, L took a slight backseat because his behaviour and difficulties were quite demanding on both my time and attention.

Of course, over the years, things have balanced out and I manage to get to spend time with them both equally but I do have some lingering mum guilt when it concerns L.  

Our Growing Garden!

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram then you would know that our garden is something I have been very pleased about this year!

I've always done some kind of home grown thing in every place I've lived in but living with Mr K is the first time I have grown this much at the same time. I usually had a trough of strawberries and a box growing potatoes and nothing more but it's so different now and I really have loved sharing my photos of our growing veg! 

The first veggies we planted were tomatoes, cucucumbers, potatoes, courgettes and runner beans.

When our tomatoes were small they looked fairly spaced...

Now they are crazy wonderful but a little too close together maybe!

Potato flowers are so pretty 

We have some very different plans for our vegetable garden next summer. We had no idea courgettes needed so much room and because they have been planted so close together I'm sure that's why we have seen less crop. I'm still over the moon with what we have had! 

Cucumbers also go completely over the top but we haven't done bad in controlling them. The most hilariously wonderful vegetable to go bonkers has been our runner beans which as you can see below have taken over my washing line and are also invading our neighbours garden (he's totally okay with this and finds it quite funny) 

We've had 3 of these big courgettes! 

Crazy runner beans!

We've picked so much from our garden. Nearly 100 runner beans, handfuls of strawberries, lavender, 3 large courgettes and 3 cucumbers. We cannot wait to pick more of these veggies and grow more strawberry plants from their new shoots. 

Now we have some idea of what these plants do we can plan better for next year. We built 3 raised beds but ran out of money to fill them and couldn't find any free soil so these will be better used from autumn. 

I wish I could have a bigger space to plant a lovely apple tree (picture below is my father in laws tree, he has 3!) I'd also like to do something outside the front of our house.

 We have a nice little area outside our bedroom where we could take up the horrible stones and use artificial grass which the children would love to sit on and play on out there. We could use pots under the windows which I think we'd plant some sort of pea in, that's our current must grow (I also want to try corn and Mr K wants to try carrots!) 

Have you had any success with your garden this year? Perhaps you've given it an overhaul or dipped your toes in like us with growing your own? I'd love to see your posts or photos because I really have got the green fingers bug! 

*This post was written entirely by me but has 1 paid link inserted 

GeekFest 4.0 and First Time Cosplaying!

I've finally recovered from the awesome event that was Geekfest 4.0. This is Cornwalls very own answer to comicon and it is getting bigger and better every single year. I went last year with Mr K and we went as ourselves to really get a feel of the event, enjoy the stalls and cosplay on show. We were going to do the same again when Mr K suggested WE go in cosplay!

Reasons to be Cheerful

Flowers

There have been so many lovely flowers popping up here there and everywhere. In our garden the cucumber, courgette and runner beans have started to flower, the roses and poppies in Martyns dads garden are blooming and I'm seeing so many wild flowers and weeds it is so nice to see them not strimmed down.

 

Book Review: Into the Summerland By Julian Cundy

About the Book:

The eternal question - what happens when we die? Is there a consequence from how we lived? Is there a reckoning?
Henry Ashton's turbulent life is at an end. As he moves on from this world, he discovers how elusive the final peace can be.

The English Heritage Festival Kent 2018

We recently went to The English Heritage Festival in Kent and were blessed with lovely sunshine and 4 happy children to spend the day with. The festival is hosted every year and features stalls, homemade food, crafts, activities for all ages, singing, music, characters and so much more.

Book Review: The Adventures of Eric The Spider

About The Book

Eric may only be a little spider, but that doesn't stop him from having some big adventures! 

When a spider, with big, long, spider legs, is spotted behind a curtain he seems a little scary. Luckily, he is quickly caught in a box full of socks and named Eric. 

Mr Snuffles Birthday: Children's Book Review

About the Book

Title: Mr Snuffles’ Birthday

Author: David Greaves

Illustrator: Emily Wallis

Release Date: 1st May 2018

Genre: Picture Book

 mPublisher: Clink Street Publishing

Format: Paperback

Goodreads

Amazon

What Did We Think?

Goodbye Cornwall

Today I leave Cornwall.

If you had said to me several years ago that I would be leaving this part of the world, I would've laughed in your face and shook my head (and probably apologise for being rude because you know, it's me). The point is, I would never have believed anyone. I always believed I would grow old here and I certainly didn't think I could leave my parents, my aunt and my Gran down here without me.

Our Easter

The Easter holidays are now over and whilst we have been away in Kent we have been doing some home school bits as well as taking advantage of a more lax routine.

From 2 to 4...

Children. 

It's never going to be easy raising children. Just when I think with my 2 that I've sussed a load of stuff out they chuck something new at me.

Our Plans to Home School

On the 29th March it's the last day of school for many children up and down the country as they all break up for the Easter holidays. For L and A it's also the last day but with a bit of a difference: they won't be going back...

Alfie Turns 7 and a Sketchers Shoes Review!

It's hard enough to believe that just 2 months ago I wrote that my Midge had turned 10. Now I am writing a post all about A's birthday which was last month; he turned 7! It's madness. 

Rare Disease Day 2018 with The FSH Society

Today is Rare Disease Day.

A day to raise more awareness and hopefully more money to fund research into finding cures for all those who are affected by rare diseases. The European union has so far recorded that there are approximately 7,000 rare diseases.

Adidas Sport Performance trainers from Footway ~ Review

Like most parents, I like to get my children to write me a list of gift ideas for their birthdays so I have some idea of what I can buy them and a few ideas to float around to family who ask me "Please tell me what I can get them I have no idea!"

Turning 10 (Both Mother and Daughter!)

My beautiful girl turned 10 on the 17th January and as far as birthdays go this was indeed a milestone. Not only did Midge turn 10 but it marked 10 years for me as a mother to this gorgeous girl. As she was born into this world as was I, as a mother. What a journey it has been. 

Book Review: I Swapped My Brother by Jo Simmons

The Blurb:

'I can get a new brother? On the internet?' Jonny muttered. 'Oh sweet mangoes of heaven!'

Everyone has dreamed of being able to get rid of their brother or sister at one time or another - but for Jonny, the dream is about to become a reality with SiblingSwap.com! What could be better than someone awesome to replace Ted, Jonny's obnoxious older brother.

But finding the perfect brother isn't easy, as Jonny discovers when Sibling Swap sends him a line of increasingly bizarre replacements: first a merboy, then a brother raised by meerkats, and then the ghost of Henry the Eighth! What's coming next?! Suddenly old Ted isn't looking so bad. But can Jonny ever get him back?

What we thought:

Our Year: 2017 A Look Back

Hello! Happy New Year to all my lovely readers, I hope January is treating you well. It's well known for being the toughest month in the year so if you're having a rough time; I do hope the future is looking brighter.

I wanted to share a little re-cap of my families year.