And all this on our doorstep.

I live on the coast between the New Forest and the Jurassic Coast. I am surrounded by beautiful countryside, historic buildings, award winning blue flag beaches and quaint villages. So why do I spend money taking the kids to indoor play areas, extortionately priced 'tourist' attractions and places of that ilk.

When my sister and I were little my dad and stepmum used to take us out with a picnic on sundays for walks in the forest or to hidden coves with rock pools and caves to explore. We collected fir cones and shells and didn't mind a bit of rain or wind. I have such fond memories of those sundays. When I think about it they were such simple daytrips that didn't cost dad much except maybe the odd ice cream or two yet we loved it till about the teenage years that is.

If it were New Year I would make it my resolution to teach my kids to appreciate and value the natural beauty around them by taking them out to see it.

Yay, I won £50

In the words of Victor Meldrew 'I don't believe it' but in a nice way. I never win anything!
A few weeks ago I emailed some green tips to this site http://mumandworking.co.uk/share-it-may I'd forgotten all about it and when I sent the suggestions I didn't really register that it was a competition so I was over the moon to get an email today telling me that I'd won! Yippeee!
So now I have a dillema, should I donate it to a worthy cause or selfishly blow it on things for myself? As it's money that I wouldn't have had I feel that I should donate it but another part of me thinks that doing that would be unfair to hubby as he is the breadwinner and he might be cross if I just donate £50 and then ask him for money for new shoes etc.
Help!!

Should I pee on my athletes foot?

On my relentless quest (see previous posts) to find a natural cure for my troublesome athletes foot I stumbled (excuse pun) across this rather bizarre and I think hilarious suggestion:
Treat Athlete's Foot with Urine: Human urine contains urea which is a main ingredient in many athlete's foot medications/treatments. Urinating on your feet in the shower should kill the fungus.
So aside from the weirdness of the idea, I'd like to know being a girl and all, how am I supposed to urinate on my feet in the shower? Impossible I think. So that would mean I would have to collect my wee in a suitable receptacle and then put my foot in!
I'm sorry but that's a step too far (another pun, see I'm getting good at this now) in the 'real home remedies' department.
Mind you that's exactly what I used to say about the mooncup so watch this space! ; )

This is the site I visited with the advice. Actually it's a pretty cool site so don't be put off by the urine advice. http://www.realhomeremedies.com/

The Virtues of Caravanning

Now camping or caravanning is either something you love or hate. I don't think there is anything in the middle. And as you can probably guess, I love it, caravvanning as opposed to camping which I haven't tried since i was a child but I do have fond memories.

Hubby and I made a conscious decision a few years ago that we would not take foreign family holidays but would instead have any holidays in the UK. Firstly we bought ourselves a cheap little two berth caravan that took me a whole weekend to clean to see if the lifestyle suited us. Our first mini break was in two nights in November in the New Forest (only up the road for us). Our middle boy was only 2months at the time and slept between us in his carrycot in the big king size bed that you had to make up each night. It was snowing outside so the heating was tested to it's limits. It was so cosy inside and we played board games, drank red wine and ate chocolate in the evenings. Bliss! We were pretty much hooked after that and did the little caravan up with new carpet and curtains and sold it on for twice what we'd payed!

Taking into account the money would save by not going abroad again we decided to really go for it and buy a brand new four berth van which was a real luxury.

A few years after that and with another baby and all the accompanying paraphinalea we went for a six berth which we have now.

We go away for regular weekends from March to October and usually have a week away somewhere further afeild at Easter and in August so we get our monies worth.

We manage to go away cheaply by going to the camping and caravanning club ralleys most of the time.

the weather has been so fab this year we can't understand why people would want to go to all the hassle of taking the kids abroad.

http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/

Mooncup

So for those of you who are in the know which would be all my family, friends and truly green people, if I tell you that I spent most of yesterday in the local student union common room telling people about the mooncup you will sympathise with my mission. and when I say poeople I mean young, old, male and female. Duncan (who runs the student union) took great joy in sending people in to ask me what a mooncup was to which I then had to start explaining the virtues of a menstrual cup to some very grossed out people who I'd never met before (cheers Duncan!)

Quite bizzarely the people over thirty and the young lads weren't too bothered, in fact I'd go so far as to say some were positively interested and thought the mooncup was a fab idea. The strangest thing was that the young girls looked at me as if I was from another planet or worse! They really just didn't get it at all. They weren't interested in the environmental damage that sanitory protection cause at all nor the huge monetry saving to be had after investing in a mooncup. As soon as I explained what it was they would start to pull faces and turn visibly paler. Perhaps I'm just a bit too full on and descriptive for most people (I'm not known for being the shy easily embarrased type) Or maybe young girls aren't as comfortable with their bodies as I'd like to think. Perhaps it's only after you've given birth that you loose those sort of inhibitions about normal bodily functions.

Thankfully I wasn't just there to promote mooncups and I actually did manage to sell a few bits and bobs (though sadly no mooncups) and chat to people about easy changes they can make to become 'greener'.

So it's fair to say that the mooncup is not an easy thing to talk about but especially to young girls!

www.mooncup.co.uk or www.flossybots.co.uk

Working and Being Mum, Wife, Housekeeper, Cheif Cook etc.

Now here's a subject close to womens hearts and highly emotive.

Now I'm a pretty old fashioned kind of gal and have always enjoyed staying at home looking after the kids and generally keeping house. I appreciate that I am in a very enviable position to be a ble to afford to. Before hubby and I married we discussed and agreed that my role would be as homemaker and his would be breadwinner. That's not to say that he is against me working but only as long as it isn't to the deteriment of the home, the kids and his self. He runs his own very busy business and works ridiculously long hours so he can't be expected to come home and start looking after the kids and doing housework. Seeing it written down here makes it sound very out dated but maybe I'm not very good at describing it. Any way it works for us though I appreciate it would be a lot of womens worst nightmare.

I've loved being at home with the kids and doing the mum and toddler circuit making new friends and doing all things 'mummy' Of course that's not to say I haven't had moments when I've wanted to run for the hills. In fact I have those moments about, hmmm lets see, once a month! But on the whole I wouldn't have it any other way.

So here lies the problem. I started my little business venture www.flossybots.co.uk more as a hobby than anything else just over a year ago. All that was involved to start with was going to peoples (mainly friends to start with) homes for a couple of hours once a week to show them some eco friendly, natural products that were generally little known ie mooncups, eco balls and crystal deodorants(see below) and that sort of thing and then take orders. It meant it got me out of the house for a bit and if I made a bit of pin money then that was a bonus. Well it grew from there really and I have gained a reputation as the local 'eco lady'. In response to customer feedback I launched a website (with hubbys help and money) to make reordering simple, though in truth most people still ring or text me with orders, and I expanded my range and invested some money into keeping many products as stock. I also have a couple of good friends who share my passion for greener households who do parties as well. I've been shown talking about mooncups at an eco party on the series 'It's not easy bein green' albeit fleetingly and do at least one party a week. All in all it's all become very time consuming and as a consequence my youngest is with a childminder for 4hrs on tuesdays and preschool two afternoons a week which makes me feel guilty and when I am with the kids I'm often trying to do too many things at the same time which makes me distracted and bad tempered with them (more guilt). I've been foul to my hubby lately (but that's another story). So basically I'm doing too much but don't know how to manage my time more effectively so that my time with the kids is enjoyable and less stressfull. A big part of me wishes I hadn't started the business till they were all school age. I love the fact that the business has taken off but also a bit resentful that it's success is at a cost to my kids happiness (probably a bit overdramatic but you get my point)

So in summing up I really don't know how working mums cope and they have my utmost admiration. The mums I feel desperately sorry for are the ones who have to go to work either because they are on their own or because their partners don't earn enouth to keep the family. My friend who is mentioned regulary on here (I do have more than just one friend, honest) has just returned to her job as a dental hygienist and relt so guilty after her first day back that the next day she treated all the kids to pancackes and chocolate sauce and Mc Donalds!

Freecycle Hamster

This is the hamster we got from freecycle. He came to us as 'Dillon' but has been renamed 'Shufflebum Nibbles'. Wow a hamster with a double baralled name, posh or what?
He has to be my best thing from freecycle ever!! The kids adore him and he is so tame. You'll have to tilt your head sideways to get the full effect. I couldn't rotate the photo!

Technology - Blessing or Curse?

My blasted computer has a virus that hubby just can't get rid of (yes we have virus checkers etc) but this virus appears to be indestructable. He's been trying to kill it on and off for the whole of the bank holiday weekend. So I can't go onto my bank account details or paypal etc whilst it's coursing it's way through my pc. Grrrr!
Over the weekend I added a youtube thingy to my home page and now I can't get rid of it despite hours of trying and I've also tried to change it to a different clip that involves kids or animals doing funny things rather than CARS but I can't do that either.
I consider myself to be moderately computer literate but sometimes I wonder why I bother trying to do these things.
I'm on a bit of a downer lately which I'm sure shows in my posts but just be thankful you don't live with me at the moment. In the midst of my self indulgent and completely unjustified misery I heard of a lady who's just found out her 14yr old daughter has cancer. It certainly bought my own grumps into perspective.

And all this on our doorstep.

I live on the coast between the New Forest and the Jurassic Coast. I am surrounded by beautiful countryside, historic buildings, award winning blue flag beaches and quaint villages. So why do I spend money taking the kids to indoor play areas, extortionately priced 'tourist' attractions and the like?

My younger kids are at the age where they love a walk in the countryside as much as a play area.

When I was a child (if I can remember back that far) my dad and stepmum used to take my sister and I out for the day with a picnic. They always took us for great walks in the forest or to little coves with rock pools. We'd collect fircones or shells and that sort of thing. I remember how I loved those sunday walks and they never cost my dad a penny, except maybe an ice cream or two.

I really wish I could recreate those days with my own kids if that makes sense.

So if this were New Year my resolution would be to make the most of the natural beauty around me and teach my children to appreciate and value the natural beauty on their doorstep.

Ethical Spring Clean

Yesterday I had a mega spring clean and was mega ruthless. We simply have too much 'stuff' and it's impossible to keep the place tidy and presentable. I have a friend who even though she has three kids manages to have a minimalist home and it always looks tidy (you know who you are ; ) friend!)

So I bagged two binbags up for the charity shop and two huge bags were put on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/poole-freecycle/

I love the freecycle sites. I used to sell the kids clothes on ebay when they'd grown out of them especially my little girls outfits which were always so pretty but now it all goes on freecycle. There is also another group just for kids stuff at http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Playitagainsam/?yguid=217013630

It really makes me feel good to be a part of these groups and to give stuff away on it. It's also worth mentioning that we have received some pretty cool stuff in the past including a sofa bed, large Ikea rug, huge rotary washing line, windbreaker and kids clothes.

Changing Times

Just lately I've been feeling a bit sad that our fab group of mums and babies that have been meeting at least once a week (at one stage three times a week) for the last four nearly five years is gradually disbanding. It started when our little ones who we met through started school in September. Even though most of us still have little ones home with us in the day you just find yourself less inclined to submerge yourself in the mum and toddler group circuit and the day gets filled up so quickly between the time you drop off at school until you pick up.
I know it's a natural progression and part of me enjoys having a life away from total babydom and of course I'm pleased that the business is steadly growing and yet another part of me hankers for the days filled with baby groups, swing parks, coffee mornings, endless rounds of nursery rhymes, lounging around in my dressing gown till lunchtime and watching trashy daytime tv. I miss nursing a little baby and having to sit down and rest to do it while enjoying a cup of tea and biscuit or ten! It feels so sad that I'll never have those days back. At the time you think it will go on forever and curse the sleepless nights, endless feeds, baby sick down your back and not being able to hold a onversation that doesn't involve the contents of your babys nappy or suitable first weaning foods.
I remember crying when my eldest who's almost 16yrs started school because it was the end of an era and I had no other kids at home with me to take my mind off the void I felt. How on earth will I cope when my smallest and last baby starts school.
I wonder if other mums feel the same way or if they can't wait to get out of the 'baby days'.
Maybe I should buy a puppy.