Reviews...............

Well today I was accepted for my first product reviewing job :-) 

I will be helping AO.com to review their compact wireless stick hoovers and I cant wait. The hoover I am being sent usually retails at £119 and I am being it sent free and am able to keep it free of charge once I have used and written the review and I cannot wait. 

It got me thinking though - I really would like to write more reviews for companies for their products, or about services, general reviews for places I have visited, so I will be from now on givin ghonest reviews of places I have been and seen, as well as hoping to get a few more items and products to review with an honest opinion of a working mum

If you are a business, or company and you have a product you would like me to review please get in touch........ skr170784@yahoo.co.uk ............and we can talk about it :-) 

Zany Zebras........

So we recently got back from a family holiday to Southampton to see my grandparents. 

We had an amazing time and enjoyed the usual delight of going to the local zoo which is Marwell Zoological Park. I have been going here since I was about 3/4 years old with my grandmother and so it has become a tradition to go there every time. Even my sister asks to go to the zoo and she is 29. Taking our own children has now become a delight and I have some fond memories of the place......helping Santa wrap presents in Marwell Houses Kitchen for the Santa's Grotto, feeding a giraffe called Biffa and watching my sister bottle feed a baby Giraffe called Ben......its a beautiful place and I would highly recommend it. Also the conservation that they do is incredible as well as supporting so many endangered species as well. Their incredible breeding programme also means they are sustaining species for future generations and whilst the park has a lot of animals - it is not uncomfortably large so is easy going for old and very young alike with plenty of benches, grassed areas and refreshment stands available. 

Anyway as a charity fundraiser and to raise awareness they often have special events on and this time around they had Zany Zebras .......

Now Ill explain - These Zebras are big. You cant miss them! They are given to local businesses etc to decorate any way they please, they are then put on display all over the town of Southampton as kind of a treasure hunt....which means you can walk the whole city looking for these decorated Zebras, 

2013 Go Rhino Event

Back in 2003 they did the same event with Rhino's in the Go Rhino! event, and this time was no different.......

Now at the end of the event they are all taken to the local zoo and put on a final display, then a big charity night is held and the Zebras are auctioned off to raise money for Conservation projects....this time was to raise money to conserve endangered Grevy’s zebras and other wildlife, and to support communities living in the arid range lands of northern Kenya. 

You can buy a souvenir guide/ map that shows you where all the zebras are. Alternatively you can download an App but please also know that if you buy them the money also goes to the charity as well. 

 I think in total there is 47 large Zebras and 50 smaller ones (the smaller ones are placed in shop windows or various places like civic centres etc).......we managed to find 45/47 as sadly two had been vandalised. It is a fantastic free event and well worth doing to see the sites of the city as well as fun for the kids. We had a slight ulterior motive as my cousin Daniel had won a competition with a local radio station and his design was put onto their zebra so we HAD to find that one especially.......

Zeffe

If anyone does take up the challenge and posts a picture with Zeffe the Zebra I WILL send you a prize...... 

Anyway here's a few more picture of some of the beautiful zebras we managed to find ......

Also note that there is a Zany Zebras shop opened in the Margate Centre where you can see all the designs and some of the figures. 

After you have walked around the town, if you head to the zoo the next day for example, they have a mini hunt all over the zoo. The children can get a little leaflet at the gate which gives them clues and riddles to find the zebras. If they find and solve the puzzles at the end if they go to the gift shop they get a special prize. (I think it is a special sticker) but its an added little bonus to enjoy at the zoo with the kids.

I really would highly recommend packing a picnic, and hunting them. We thoroughly enjoyed and are looking forward to the next one! 

Comping, comping and more comping...........

So something I may have neglected to share was that I absolutely love entering competitions

I mean when I am in the mood I can enter enter at least 200 a day.......and nearer to Christmas it gets even more with advent calendar posts.

I've done quite well with it too. I have won household things, books, jewellery, food, animal products, tickets, children's toys, clothes etc......my biggest win though was one for a UK TV show called Family Fortunes...... I was their main prize winner and managed to nab myself 

• A 37" Flat screen TV
• An Xbox 360
• 2 games for the Xbox Kinect
• A Kinect
• A Nintendo DS
• A game for the DS
• £5,000 cash

It arrived literally the week before Christmas and really made our year. We got debt free for the New Year and gave our son the DS as his Christmas present. That was back in 2009 and I have continued to competition on and off since. I mainly enter ones from a well known site but will pretty much enter anything. 

I even have sold prizes - like I won two tickets to see Dolly Parton and sold those on to friends for £80......oh and Rugby tickets - I sold those for £100......I have also donated a lot of prizes as well - mainly to animal charities and some of the clothes have gone to charity shops like the British Heart Foundation and Oxfam if they are not things I will wear.

Here's my latest win from last week 

a doormat

The prize was to pick your favourite design so I chose the camper as my husband likes VWs.

So does anyone else competition? Would anyone like me to run a competition? Let me know in the comments below. 

Until then, good luck and Ill speak to you soon 

The Minx's Monkey Bread

So its a rainy miserable day in South Wales, there is nothing of interest majorly on the TV and the kids are bored.....so we have decided to clear out the fridge and come across some bananas that are past best but still perfectly edible so we are making....... The Minx's Monkey Bread  which translates to Banana Bread to me and you. 

Now Im a fan of it cold but my house like it either cold with a hot drink, or hot with lots of custard. To eat their own but it is delicious either way.  Also because I am aware that there is plenty of people looking at my site from the United States and Canada (hello all! Feel free to comment! or follow!) I have changed the recipe not only from Metric, but also into Imperial AND American Cups so everyone can enjoy it.  - Also note I will try to do this with all the recipes I post on here as to not leave anyone out and to save unnecessary hassle for you because Im nice like that. 

So coding

Blue is Metric

Red is Imperial 

Pink is American Cups

285g - 10oz - 2 cups ~ Plain (All purpose) Flour

1 tsp  ~ Bicarbonate Of Soda

Half a tsp  ~ Salt

110g - 4oz - 1/2 Cup   ~ Butter

225g - 8oz - 1 Cup ~ Sugar

2  ~ Eggs

4  ~ Bananas

85ml - 3fl oz - 3/8ths Cup  ~ Milk 

Heat the oven to 180C - 350F - GM4.

Sift the flour, salt, and bicarb into a bowl.

In a separate bowl cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and light.

To the butter mix add the eggs, bananas and milk and mix thoroughly.

Fold the flour mixture into the butter mix.

Grease a 20cm x 12.5cm - 8in x 5in loaf tin and pour in the mixture.

Bake for approximately an hour or until well risen and golden brown. Check the centre is cooked by inserting a toothpick - if it comes out clean the cake is baked through.

Turn out of the tin and leave to cool before serving. 

I will also add that whilst I have written on this recipe to put it all into a loaf tin, I usually put half of it in a loaf tin and then use some in cupcake cases to make mini muffins ready for the kids lunchboxes. If you use this method you will get a smaller loaf and approximately 12 cupcake/muffins. Obviously take into account that these do not need to cook as long ( I tend to check them after 15 minutes) and you can still use a tooth pick to check the centre is cooked. 

If you do make the recipe please feel free to share some photos with me and I will make sure to add them to the post....there may even be a little prize in it for the best looking ones :-) 

Enjoy all! 

But why a Friday?

So here in the UK the kiddiwinks have started returning to school. 

The Minx went back today, she saw some friends she has been missing and got to meet her new teacher - but it got me wondering - why would you send them back on a Friday to then have 2 days off for the weekend? Surely it would make more sense for them to go back Monday and have the full week to settle in?  

Either way - she has had a fab day.....and I suspect it will be getting to her soon and she will be ready for her bed. 

The Boy has been out playing all day - enjoying his last few days of freedom.....He goes back Monday and has to get up at 6.30 to be on his bus at 7.30......that should be fun considering hes 12 and hasn't surfaced most days until gone at least 9.30am for the entire summer holidays. The fact I informed him that hes going to be packed lunch for half the week went down much better than I anticipated.....his school uses a swipe card that the parents can top up weekly or monthly. The minimum top up is £10 but I figure over the month thats £40 I would give him to just eat pizza slices and muffins.....the school thankfully is crafty and ir records what the children eat so you can check their diet.......my son is basically a walking cheese roll/pizza/muffin/ginger bread man and crappy junk filled milkshakes kind of child..........this will not be repeated this year.

As for me, I have been in work - housework this morning (although why I don't know since I had to leave the clean house in the hands of my son and husband) but I was only in a short shift so its not too bad. We went away recently to visit my grandparents and therefore some things in the fridge are getting ready (if not slightly past needing!) to be used. So tomorrow I will be making Banana Bread and finding a use for runner beans......a lovely friend of mine FiFi grows a lot of veg and every time I go to see her for a cuppa and a catch up I inevitably leave with something.........cucamelon recipe anyone? ....... so I need to use those too. I've already palmed off a bunch to my Mother In Law and I think there is only so many one person can eat. So if you have any recipes or ideas - Im all ears! 

Also today whilst listening to workmates talking about unwinding and relaxing - that I don't. I mean I don't really have many hobbies that connect me with the outside world.....or anywhere or anything I like to do that lets me relax and be 'Just Sam' for a bit.....sometimes the mum, wife and the employee side of me needs to switch off and I've been mulling that over all day.

So I was wondering what do you do to unwind? Do you have hobbies that let you escape? What is your favourite 'unwinding' technique? 

I seriously think Im going to sit and think about this tonight and I will let you know what I come up with tomorrow but for now the kids are calling and the husband is wasting away.......

Headlice.....

These little blighters are the bane of my existence as a mother I think....

Headlice.....

Everything about them weirds me out, the unnecessary sympathy itch when someone mentions the word is enough to have me tearing at my scalp....

Well you guessed it folks - my daughter has picked the little darlings up from her cousin.........oh the joys!

So since I was a loyal fan of the First Marks Lotion, until I noticed that it doesn't actually seem to be very effective now........

and yes I have invested in a Nitty Gritty comb and conditioner by the gallon but trying to keep a 6 year old with waist length hair still whilst you split and comb every section is hard work even on the most cooperative days and my daughter has hair to just above her waist........... (yes this is my minx) 

So I decided yesterday was the day I tried a new tactic.........

 

So this is fairly simple.

You shake the bottle.

You coat the hair in the mousse (it does come out fairly quick)

You brush through the hair.

Let the hair dry or blow dry it.

You send the kids to bed.

In the morning, comb through with a lice comb to remove any bodies/eggs

Wash their hair.

There is no whinging, no whining, no mess, simple and the kids arent made to sit still whilst it takes effect because the mousse dries really quickly. 

You can even put it on in the morning, send the kids to school and wash their hair that night.

Ok, so in theory thats what happens......

My experience of this is......

After convincing the minx that it was painless and would be so much easier than having to brush through her hair for hours,.....I eventually gave in and bribed her with Sofia The First and a bag of sweets.

The mousse shot out of the bottle quicker than I expected and coated not only my foot but also the dog. 

There is no horrid smell to the mousse, in fact it smells quite pleasant. 

It went on really easily and doesn't at all feel or look greasy which is a change.

My daughter also seemed happy with it because it didn't run down her face/neck/into her ears etc making for a much happier treatment from the start.

She went to bed with no qualms or worries and without a sore head from the brush.

I brushed her hair through with the Nitty Gritty Comb when she got up as instructed and washed it out.

It took one good wash and condition and we found no signs of lice at all. 

She even commented herself that her head didn't feel itchy.

We will be retreating in 7 days as instructed on the bottle 

I should also add that this Hedrin Treat & Go Mousse is currently in Tesco for £9.50 (which sounds expensive) but this does 4 applications......or treats two children for two applications

I would highly recommend it if you have a child who is prone to head-lice - it was so fuss/drama free and was worth every penny. 

And Nitty Gritty Combs are available in most chemists.....I got mine in Boots for £10 I believe but they come with a lifetime guarantee and are amazing at not only removing lice and nits but work really well on eggs as well as the spines of the comb have special grooves on them. Also its metal so is not flimsy and bend like cheaper combs do. Again I would recommend one.

Has anyone else been having the battle with Head-lice? I have heard some weird home remedies? What is your favourite method?