Celebrity Cutout Giveaway and Review

Last year for her birthday DD craved a lifesize Jessie J cardboard cutout. I searched ebay and while they had a million Justin Biebers and several thousand One Direction members (ooh er!!) and even a few hundred Cheryl Coles, getting a Jessie J proved elusive.

Luckily just in the knickers of time I found that Celebrity cutouts had one! and so on her birthday DD was surprised (there was even a terrified shriek) to awaken to a full size (5'9") Jessie J at the end of her bed.

Recently Celebrity Cutouts asked if I'd like to do a review and a giveaway! So I leapt at the chance. We chose to take another  'The Voice' judge, Danny (from The Script). So Flat Danny (as he quickly became known) accompanied us to the Wilderness Festival.

The Cutouts are sent folded into 3 so they are easy to send and they fold out in seconds to the actual full size of the celebrity of your choice. The photos are sharp and crisp and from some angles can give you quite a turn they look so real! They are priced at £32.97 but if you can't bear the thought of a life sized Boris Johnson (or similar) in your house they do a mini cut out at £12.97 (at that price you could fling darts at the person of your choice! you know you want to)
Celebrity Cutouts are available for film stars, pop stars, politicians, comedians, sports personalities, Royalty, in fact if you really love yourself you can get ANY person (even yourself) as a life sized cardboard cut out!! (extra charge but probably worth it). Also available are masks, canvases etc

Danny caused quite a stir and many people came over to ask either who he was, or why we had him at the festival! I really think next festival we might take one of the people that will be performing, it would be fun to see if we could get a Celebrity Cutout signed by the celebrity.

Here is Danny at Wilderness with DD - about to go on stage?

And of course here I am with Danny (yes he did sleep beside me in the tent)

In which I invent an unusual way to review books

So here's the thing. I love reading and I love books. I love paper books best even though I read on a Kobo (and have the Kindle app on my tablet - though the app is currently broken...don't get me started) I prefer to read paper.

Paper doesn't need electricity, it doesn't need to be charged up before a holiday, no worries that I might lose a paperback (it's usually only a few pounds to replace) . You can easily see where you are in a book. A book can be signed by the author (though then you DO worry about losing it!) Books can fill a room with their bright spines on show, their words a secret mutter on the shelves. A paperback can become bent and dog-eared and loved..

E-readers have their place of course, self publishing can be quick and easy (sometimes too quick and easy...you may want to proof read that....) you can carry a library on an e-reader in case you get bored. An e-reader is lighter that some huge paperbacks (more of this soon). You can thus carry all the boks you could ever need around with you..

I like it when peple ask me to review a book. I don't mind if it's in digital or paper format - a free book is a free book, but paper is the best - we all know that really, deep down. And paper is the best for a very special reason.

You can't light a Kelly Kettle with an e-book.

Now I hear you all shriek in horror. Burning books! What is she thinking! But I love to camp and when you camp you can get into a tight spot sometimes. Alone in a field with a tea bag and no kindling....what's a girl to do? And to be honest here, which of us hasn't read a book and thought 'goodness that was dreadful, poorly written, no plot, shallow chararcters (etc etc) That's 4 hours of my life I'll never see again'....and why, when we think that, did we donate the book to a charity shop to inflict those woes on another unsuspecting soul. No gentle reader, this poor specimen of literature can yet bring light (and heat) into a life. It can die gloriously in the production of a cup of tea.

And discovering this has led me to invent the 'Kelly Kettle' review system. From now on when I review a book I shall give it not only stars (up to 5 for it's readability and enjoyment factor) but also a 'Kelly Kettle Number' which will indicate the number of 1.3L Kelly Kettles can be boiled from burning the book alone.

And don't think I'm making all this up. A very thick book I purchased last week from a charity shop (and I shall spare the author's blushes by not mentioning the book) scored a simply fantastic 6 KKs (Kelly Kettles) when were short of kindling. As a read it scored a disappointing 2 stars.

I admit there are many books that truely are too wonderful to burn and these I will guess at a KK number based on past books size, page number and paper quality. (this will be the assumed Kelly Kettle Number or aKK)

So if you have a book you need reviewing, and if you NEED a KK score for the blurb on the back, send me a paper copy. I'll get reading (and, possibly, burning)

I may start here

My 99p Fashion Designer

The summer is nearly at an end but amazingly I am still having fun with those initial 10 things I bought at the 99p Stores! My 99p Summer has turned out to be more crafty than I imagined! 

We are still building tracks and tunnels for the Whizzy Bugs (99p each)

and next week we hope to be camping and playing with the bag of tiny water ball bombs, and the pack of frisbees and boomerangs! (a mixed pack for 99p!). I also hope we'll need to 99p sun protection milk!

 

We have a pipe cleaner animal creation set in reserve in case of bad weather

But today we launched 'operation T shirt' using a 99p T shirt (what else!) and a pack of 99p permanent markers.

Careful to place a piece of card inside the T shirt so the pen didn't mark through to the back, DD began planning her design. She went for a simple but colourful 'Live, Laugh, Love' theme and set to work.

f

After some snipping at the bottom, removing the hem and cutting strips up the T shirt she was left with a funky fringed T shirt she is rather proud of, for the princely sum of £1.98 and of course we still have the pens for another project.

Thanks again to the 99p stores for the chance to have fun this summer and I hope the posts have given you some ideas for some bargain value fun of your own!

Visiting Marwell Zoo - Top Tips for the perfect day out

We visit Marwell once a year or so, we love it but it's a fair drive from our house and until recently we had dogs that couldn't be left for too long so trips took a fair bit of planning. Since becoming 'dogless' we could plan a longer day and we had an excellent time yesterday on a perfect summers day.

It's a zoo primarily but does have other attractions for children, with some playgrounds scattered about, a mini train (£2 extra on top of the entry fee) and a 'Road Train' (tractor pulling trailers with seats) , which is free.

The zoo is huge, great for the animals and for making it feel spacious and not too crowded but not such fun for tiny legs. You can take picnics and there are designated picnic areas (including one undercover in case of rain) tea and coffee is not too expensive. There are cafes serving meals but they can have long queues at 'people feeding time'. You can leave picnic things in the car and go back to get them but it's a fair walk! Might be better to pack the buggy or wheeled trolley and take it all first time.

So, top tips

• Buy your tickets online before you go. You will avoid the queues.
• If you plan to visit more than a few times a year buy a season ticket.
• If you have small children consider planning only visiting a few 'favourite' animals and going directly to them.
• The 'start' of the zoo can be busy, we went around the zoo in reverse, starting with the pygmy hippos, we avoided any crush and the end of the zoo is shadier so we were still cool at halfway around! The kiosks and toilets at that end of the zoo were quieter in the morning too.
• There are playgrounds and children will want to play. Let them! Try to plan it into the trip - maybe while you have a cup of tea! But trying to argue you came to see animals will spoil the day and cause upset in lots of kids (speaking from what we saw!) 15 minutes on the climbing frame won't.
• Take your time. If you (or the children) are getting tired have a trip on the road train. It's free but can get busy so you may have to wait. It's a great way to see the whole zoo, either to plan your day or to catch things you missed before you leave. Also use it to get to the far end of the zoo and walk back.
• The cafes get busy at lunch time and can be expensive, consider taking a picnic. You can leave the zoo to collect things from the car so you don't have to carry your picnic around all day.
• Take a sheet of things to do to keep the kids interested in the animals. Quizzes about animal facts for the older children, simple spotter sheets for the younger ones. (I've made one here) Why not get them to look at the website, see what is there and draw their own spotter sheet! Marwell has free downloads here.

We had a great day. I hope you do too! Have you been? Let me know what you thought!

White Rhinos

Sticky Gecko type thingy (!)

Leaf Cutter ants hard at work

Fossa - Best Animal in the zoo!

Green Snake

Snake skeleton

DD demonstrates her wingspan

Hornbill in the walk through aviary

Somali Wild Ass and foal - most endangered animal that the zoo keeps

Serval

Crows lurking by the cafe

Giraffe

Meerkat on patrol

Meerkat ...

Wilderness Festival 2013 - a review in poetry

Come with me to the wild wild wood

 And see where pixies roam

 Where sprites and fairies late have stood

 Their bare feet on the loam

Come and look in the wild wild wood

Where any attire ‘goes’

Flowers, feathers, golden masks

And even spandex hose!

 

Come and write in the wild wild wood

 And tell tall tales of tails

Smile and tell your fairy myths

Of gardens, spas and snails

 

Come and eat in the wild wild wood

 More soup, or cake, or chips

But now it seems it’s pizza time

Tomorrow veg and dips

 

Come and drink in the wild wild wood

Vodka, by the glass

And cider, beer and cocktails too

Until you sleep at last

 

Come and skate in the wild wild wood

Whooshing through the trees

Slipping, sliding down the slopes

Landing on your knees

 

Come and shop in the wild wild wood

Vintage, bags and hats

Bubbles, jewellery and drums

The tails and ears of cats!

 

Come and play in the wild wild wood

Nude cricket or ping pong

Drink, and practice circus skills

Maybe sing a song

 

Come and swim in the wild wild wood

Or lay and watch the fun

Splashing lazy like a dream

Under the warming sun

 

Come and rest in the wild wild wood

Sleeping by the lake

Or lay on the grass all soft and cool

And in sun, gently bake

 

Come with me to the wild wild wood

The best festival to roam

Experience the sights and sounds

And wish it was your home…. 

 

You might have guessed I adored this festival. It really was gorgeous, filled with beautiful people in beautiful costumes, doing beautiful things while eating beautiful food and listening to beautiful music in a beautiful place.  

My 'must do' festival for next year. (even a kids field so no excuses for parents not to go)

11/10 on my fabulous festival scale

Camp Bestival - what we did - with pictures

The first festival we ever went to was Eastern Haze. it was billed as 'family friendly' but in reality was a festival for music lovers with some fun kids activities thrown in. Camp Bestival on the other hand is a fab kids festival with some music thrown in.

As DD and I often prefer the events on the periphery to the actual music this suits us just fine. And like the previous 3 years we had great fun at Camp Bestival.


There were some changes though and we tried to embrace the new, but couldn't help missing the comedy, (thought the comedy for kids was fun) and the Sunday morning review of the papers in the Big Top which had always been one of our highlights. The talks at the literary tent really failed to fill the tent, unlike when it was comedians and the tent was bursting! So we are not alone in preferring a laugh to a cookery or a business talk!

We enjoyed the crafts and took part in several, we also lounged about and ate a lot. I enjoyed the chance to camp and to dress up. DD enjoyed the crazy bikes and the circus skills as usual.

 
The music this year didn't really 'grab' either of us and so we didn't rush to see much of it.We did have a wee boogie to Kid Creole and the coconuts, and a little listen to Labrinth. DD is far too old for Mr Tumble and while Dick and Dom were on the bill we had preferred seeing them in the relative intimacy of the literary tent in 2012 while they were on the main stage only this year. (and doing a spot of DJing later)

Many of the plays and shows (such as Erth's Dinosaur Zoo) were excellent though.



The sports we watched were scarily brilliant as usual, but we didn't visit the Wall of Death as we'd seen it last year.

The variety of foods was great and the Surplus Supper club enabled us to have a roast dinner in a field!



While at Camp Bestival we met up with some awesome bloggers/tweeters. Many of whom had adorable babies in tow so Dd was happy to coo.

The final night's fireworks were awesome as always.

On the whole I enjoyed Camp Bestival slightly less this year that previous years, I'd give it 8/10

Created with flickr slideshow.

so, so far Glastonbury - too huge for me to want to attend again, but amazing and great value for money 7/10

Camp Bestival - Fantastic for kids (especially small ones) beautiful site and loads to do. I fear we have now outgrown it. 8/10

next ...Wilderness Festival....

Camping, joys of camping, camping with kids..a plan

So back from Camp Bestival and with only a day or two until Wilderness I read a fab article on the BBC website confirming my (and Stornoway's) belief that we are Free Range Humans and need to camp more!!

While at Camp Bestival (full details and blog post to follow) I met some rather delightful and scrumptious 'mummy bloggers' (and ladies that tweet) and many of them had small children with them, even babes in arms! And when I tweeted about it I had a few parents show interest in camping but who were also nervous novices to the whole 'life under the stars' thing. So I thought I'd compile a few top tips.

I have camped with DD since she was 8, we go to several festivals a year and camp in between. We have camped from March to November and have met and talked to many parents camping with young'uns. (We listen out for parenting/camping tips too when we camp...nylon and canvas are thin...)

• Camping is not scary. Any one can do it. You don't need lots of stuff. Too much stuff can be a hindrance (and expensive.)
• If you want to give it a try but don't want to buy a load of equipment try asking around your friends, lots of keen campers have more than one tent and are happy to loan you some kit.
• Ebay and Freecycle are both great places to find camping bargains. And look in the sales at the end of the summer.
• Camp for the first time in your garden! (or a friend's garden) That way you can experience the joys without the risk of forgetting anything. Kids will love it.
• Children sleep better in the open air. Let then run about. Give them 'jobs' to do. Even washing up can be fun in a field.
• Don't expect children to 'help' unless you are specific, even teens! Don't say "can you help!" say "please pump up the beds" "please tidy the tent pegs away" etc
• Don't set bedtimes, just play it by ear. As the children get sleepy suggest a story in the tent, or colouring while laying in their sleeping bags
• Take plenty of toys but don't feel you need to fill every minute, kids can amuse themselves with very little. Let them learn to make their own fun. Or suggest a scavenger hunt.
• Toy ideas - bubbles, a Frisbee, colouring books, a quiz book, a ball, wooden/plastic swords and dress up things. Encourage the children to put on a play for you in the evening!
• Don't worry about mess. If you eat out doors dropping food doesn't matter. Assume you will wash all clothes (and children!) when you return and just let them have fun. Take wellies, children have a habit or finding water anywhere.
• Many campsites these days have toilet/shower blocks. It is not primitive. (some even have hairdryers)
• You don't need electric hookup. No, really, you don't.
• Festival toilets can look 'nasty' - talk to your children before you go about poo! you may see it - it doesn't bite.
• Carry wetwipes and hand gel so you can eat without panic over germs.
• Don't panic about germs.
• Take a woolly hat and socks to wear in bed.
• Take wine (unless you don't drink then take lashings of ginger beer)
• Don't wear a watch.
• Sleep when it's dark, get up when it's light.
• Relax. Try not to plan too much.
• Camping will create memories that kids will remember forever, keep your temper, smile, make the memories lovely ones.
• But...do have a few rainy day activities up your sleeve. Visits to museums, quiz games in the tent, making plasticine people etc

Have an awesome time. Let me know if you are inspired to try camping, or add some tips if you already camp with small folk.