Category: Views & Ramblings

1. Scottish Book Trust - Chae Strathie Signed Book Competition

   Posted on 3:37pm Saturday 16th Aug 2014

   If you have been on our Facebook or Twitter feed recently, you will have seen that we are big fans of reading, so when we were asked to host a competition for the Scottish Book Trust, we couldn't resist sharing these adorable titles with you.

   You may or may not be aware but the 2014 Scottish Friendly Children's Book Tour kicked off with award winning Jonathan Meres in January. During June the tour travelled to hot beaches Brighton and Hove with award-winning Scottish picture book author Chae Strathie.

       

   The book tour (organised by Scottish Book Trust) takes the very best UK and international authors directly into schools across Scotland and the UK to inspire a love of reading, writing and illustration. Up next is the fantastic zoologist and children's author Nicola Davies and she will be visiting Argyll & Bute this September to inspire and excite pupils!

   So would you like to win a signed copy of one of these gorgeous books? We are giving you the chance to win Bedtime for Tiny Mouse, a charming tale is ideal for sharing with little ones - and is the perfect addition to a soothing bedtime routine which will help them sleep soundly.

   All you need to do is simply enter below;

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

   You can find out more about each of the tours above by reading the daily blogs written by the authors on the road as well as seeing photos and videos from each tour on Scottish Friendly’s Facebook page and Twitter account @BooksOnTour.

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   The prize was provided by Scottish Book Trust in association with :

   Scottish Friendly

2. Life .... with teenagers

   Posted on 10:08am Friday 15th Aug 2014

   I am delighted to share this guest post from one of my beautiful friends who is contemplating life with teenagers.
   
   Life.....
   
   I am the mother of two wonderful children (most of the time they are wonderful but sometimes......). My daughter is 14 going on 21 and my son is 12 with the attitude of a 13 year old as he is nearly a teenager, so he keeps telling me!!!!
   
   Life can be a struggle for all of us most of the time. My son was off school poorly a few days ago with a bad tummy. I am lucky that my husband and I own our business and I have amazing people that can look after my job when I'm not there, but not everyone is fortunate. I remember a time when I would have had to ring in sick(but then you lose money for being off sick!!!) or use a day of their holiday which we usually save to spend time as a family.
   
   Life.....
   
   Having two children in their teens (well nearly!!), can also be a struggle, they both want to be somewhere different at the same time. Our weekends are never our own these days, with one of us dropping one child somewhere and the other dropping the other child. Then, of course there's the picking back up of the children who always want to stay at their friends for that extra 10 minutes!! 
   
   I do miss my children on a weekend (although I have to admit I do enjoy the peace and quiet of no arguing), and my hubby & I are now able to spend more time together although most of our conversations are still about the kids. 
   
   It's a wonderful but trying time watching your little babies turning into adolescents (all hormones aside). But my advice, for what it is worth ....
   
   Relish them whilst they are young and can't answer you back, spend time with them, enjoy walks in the sunshine and splashing in the rain. As your babies grow up, they do mature and hopefully become the adults you wish them to be.
   
   
   

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3. Things that go bump in the night

   Posted on 6:28pm Monday 11th Aug 2014

   Things that go bump in the night!

   It is a phrase more commonly associated with frightening but imagined supernatural events and  at one time it was even incorporated into a prayer ....

   From goulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties
   And things that go bump in the night
   Good Lord, deliver us!

   Fortunately I am not actually talking about paranormal activity or supernatural events, I am talking about the creatures that suddenly seem to have taken up residence in our bedroom (and I am not talking about my other half this time).

   The warm weather has brought dodgy tan lines, questionable fashion sense, regular BBQ's and much needed outdoor fun but it has also brought an influx of creatures too. Until quite recently I had never heard of a bug called a "Bob Howler"  but the urban dictionary tells me that it is actually a slang term from the Midlands for a very large moth. Given that I am a Midlands lass at heart, I clearly should hang my head in shame at not knowing such things, but anyway I digress.

   

   Only last week, said Bob Howler made an appearance in our bedroom. They never seem to arrive in the day time, oh no, always just as you are about to go to bed, are a little sleepy (and clearly don't want your shrieking to wake the children). This Bob Howler was MASSIVE. No exaggeration. It was HUGE (or in the words of my tween, it was MAHOOSIVE) and after much shrieking and flapping around (me, not the Bob Howler), it decided to fly behind our headboard.

   It flapped and banged and bumped and fluttered against the headboard and the wall so much that I was worried it was going to wake the neighbours, let alone the children. Obviously the bed gets pulled out and we start chasing it around the bedroom. The scene was a little reminicent of a strange black and white comedy sketch

   Unfortunately there was not a happy ending for the Bob Howler (I won't share that particularly gruesome part of the story) and we were finally settling down for the night, when out of the corner of my eye I saw something move .........

   I may never actually sleep again!

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   Disclaimer : This post is in association with Carpetright but all Bob Howler fiasco's are our own!

4. Country Kids : Finding a blackberry bush

   Posted on 9:24pm Sunday 3rd Aug 2014

   We went visiting my Nan today to give the man on the Lilypad some well deserved "blue" time as it all gets a little bit too pink and girly in our house sometimes. My girls love to see their Great Grandmother and sit playing with toys that I am quite sure have been in that toybox since I was a child but today with the weather being so lovely, they ventured out into her garden to go exploring.

   Soon I heard squeals of "we found a blackberry bush" and they were determined they were going to pick some!

   

   My Nan couldn't walk as far as the blackberry bush but she was giving them strict instructions to only pick the ripe ones and there little fingers were sneaking their way through the leaves to find them.

   

   Unfortunately for me, the only time I tried to get involved I managed to get caught in the thorns so I left them and their little hands to it. (note to self: Blackberry bushes can be dangerous if not careful or have tiny hands)

   

   

   They absolutely loved it and I am not sure if they were more excited about finding them in their Great Grandmothers own garden or wanting to have them for dessert!

   Sometimes it is just the little things that make your day!