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5 Tips to help the school run go smoother! It’s all in the planning!

So, it’s morning, even though it feels like the middle of the night because surely you have only had a nano second of sleep and the bloomin alarm is shrieking at the top of its voice that you should wake up. If you are anything like me then now is the time that the skill of juggling really comes into its own. Breakfast for the family, just a cuppa for me, after all it’s still the middle of the night in my head *note to self to be a good role model and eat well* it’s on my to-do list!

So before I get side tracked then – here are my top 5 things to help the school run go better!!

The key is, to start from the beginning……

1. Change the ring-tone of your alarm! For years I had the cutest sound of my boys saying for me to wake up, I couldn’t bear to take it off for ages but as the years wore on it was so loud and high-pitched that it wasn’t waking me up the right way. So I’ve saved it to be used for other things and now gone onto a lovely gently undulating tone that lets me wake up in a more gentle way as opposed to heart thumping shock to the system! Try it, even if it’s just for a week.

2. Breakfast, aside from the fact that I am a hypocrite and can’t stomach breakfast in the morning, make sure that the kids have it and digest it properly. In our house that would mean, trying to control their urges to practice dance, gym, football, karate moves while spooning in shreddies to their mouths, jumpers, hamsters and the floor.

3. Teeth! You might have got this one sorted. I have 50% success here, one boy is glued to the bathroom doing his hair, pearly white smile and generally grooming to perfection his appearance while the other one is, well lets just say…not quite there yet. You would have seen from one of my previous posts about motherhood that I have a little trick up my sleeve for how we are currently making sure his teeth are getting cleaned.

4. Everything has been lined up the night before, so we have; uniform, school bag, shoes, coat, drink and whichever activity they have (that they’ve told you about!) The 5 P’s are in operation here; Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. I’ll leave the 6th one out, after all it’s a family blog:0

5. Then it’s in the car with a double and triple check, a final grilling of have they got everything and off to school we go. 9 times out of ten this can work, on the odd occasion for us then this will be the point that one of them tells me that it’s World Book, Children in Need, day of the peach, environment, woman, man or child day! It’s at those times when I have to whistle a happy tune, turn the radio up and think happy thoughts!

How do your days go first thing in the morning? Have you got it sussed? Have you got any tips to share?

Let see if we are alone in the dreaded prep for the school run. Tweet to share.Click To Tweet

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10 Ingenious Ways to Entertain Kids on Holiday

I’ve been taking my children away on holiday since they were both tiny. I even remember very clearly taking my 2-year-old abroad while I was pregnant and I did that alone whilst potty training the 2-year-old. Now I know lots of parents, single or not have had to do this but I just wanted to set the groundwork that I have some experience of juggling traveling with kids and having to find ways of keeping them entertained! A happy mummy is a happy child in my book. So, I thought that I would share some of my own tips with you which you can add to your own tried and tested methods.

1. Food! Kids love to eat, so whatever is their favourite snack – pack! Remember to pop a small pack of wet wipes in your bag for those sticky fingers!

2. Soothing toy – when mine were tiny my eldest had a small blue bear that went on each and every travel. Even now at 8 and 11 there is always something special that they like to have close to them. I let them decide and *whispers* it’s usually a soft toy!

3. Magazines – whatever the age and whatever the gender there are so many different types of magazines out there to suit almost everyone. It’s a good way to get some reading going on for the kids besides their electronic devices – we’ll get into those later!

4. Colouring books – again, a bit like the magazines there are so many that really cross the different age ranges and the children can be really creative. Colouring books theses days don’t just satisfy the 2-5 year olds thankfully.

5. Textiles – crochet, knitting, teddy bear making, all of these activities can easily be taken on holiday with very little fuss. I remember learning to knit from both of my mans when I was little and it would keep me amused and occupied for hours. It’s also such a great skill to learn for boys and girls.

6. Writing a diary of the holiday is a great way of getting the kids involved in the whole process of the holiday. As you are planning the holiday they can start jotting down what is happening and sticking in pictures from brochures etc. While away they can collect different flyers and leaflets to do with where you are staying and stick and paste.

7. Kids Club – I always book something that has a kids club of some description. Holidays are for all the family and you need some downtime as well. There are baby crèche, mini club, maxi clubs and all sorts to suit all different ages. All you have to do is look for them. It doesn’t mean that they have to go to the club all the time but it’s there as an option. Leave the guilt at home and pop them in there so you can have a couple of hours by the pool without any worry. You’ll be surprised how good it feels if you haven’t tried it.

8. Take your mum or another family member if you can. I’ve been having a holiday with my mum and my children ever since they were born. It’s amazing and for us it adds a very positive dynamic to our holidays. We noticed this year that there are so many grandparents holidaying with family now. I don’t know if I just didn’t notice it before or that it’s become so much more popular. A few years ago we had fun in Alcudia and it was mainly down to my mum being there with us.

9. Take one of their friends….No I’ve not lost the plot. If they are a certain age, around 9 and above then this is a genius idea. Your child will have their buddy and not need anywhere near as much attention (in a good way) as if they were on their own. They will be happy and feel a bit of independence as they will have their mate to explore the venue or even just the kids club where you are staying. Plus and this is a bonus….your child might even get invited away with them next time. It could be time to get out the Romantic weekend away brochures. I bet you thought that would never happen again!

10. Photography – this year my son started wanting to take photos. Whether this is on your phone if you dare trust them or on a disposable camera it’s a great way for them to feel part of it all and take some photos that they can then show around when they get home. It doesn’t really matter if it’s just the tops of heads or random sky photos, it’s theirs and can form part of lots of craft projects when you get home.

Bonus one – If you really need to and if it makes everyone happy then take the kindle, ipad, or whatever it is away with you too. Remember, everything in moderation and “a happy mummy or daddy is a happy child”.

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Please share with me what other ideas work for you and your family. The more the merrier to help make the holidays go as stress free as possible.

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5 Ways To Nail That Promotion

New year, new job? It can be easier than you think to take the next step in your career.

Here are my 5 Ways To Nail That Promotion that will give you a super boost to getting where you want quicker.

1. Blow your own trumpet! Working hard and expecting your line managers to understand or know about all the amazing things you are doing just doesn’t happen. You have to tell them and make it known. Of course you don’t just have a me me me conversation with them, but certainly make them aware of your successes.

2. Ask for opportunities that will demonstrate your skills in the areas that should gain more customers for your business. Your bosses will love to put projects your way that will ultimately benefit them.

3. Keep attendance high. If you fancy that duvet day, plan it! If you’re feeling worn out and need that long weekend there’s no reason why you can’t have it and enjoy it guilt free! That’s what your holiday days are there for, use them wisely and you’ll always have something to look forward to. Bonus Tip: My post time manage your way to happiness may also help;)

4. Let your manager know that when an opportunity for promotion appears, you would like to be considered. Not everyone wants to progress so it’s up to you to tell your senior managers know that you do. They are not mind readers and you don’t want to get overlooked just because you thought they knew. You never know when a good progression opportunity might come along.

5. Don’t get involved in gossip! It’s good to have an idea of what’s going on and it’s human nature to listen to the odd tit bit. However, you don’t want to get a reputation as the gossip spreader, it never goes down well. Keep a healthy distance from it and don’t be afraid to challenge a person if they are being an outrageous liar about a colleague. You’ll gain respect from your peer which will also do you good if you find yourself managing them in the future.

Here are my 5 Ways To Nail That Promotion that will give you a super boost to getting where you want quicker. — make it your own….you can do it!

How to time manage your way back to happiness

Sounds like a bold statement doesn’t it, surely time management will be a tricky creature to tame!? Well it is, but there is some hope to be able to achieve this……

I started blogging to have an escape and hobby away from my job and the normal stresses that having my chosen career brought my way. Never in a million years did I realise how time-consuming blogging would be. However, for me at least, it is not stressful at all and thankfully it is amazingly relaxing and enjoyable. So even though it’s a great relaxer, it does mean that there are even more things on my plate.

Whether you’re a parent, blogger, career person, stay at home parent, student, none, or a mixture of all of those labels, I bet you all have times when you’ve been juggling loads of tasks and you feel at bursting point.

I have been on quite a few time management workshops over the years to glean a basic understanding of what I should be doing to ease things up with my workload. That doesn’t mean that I always get it right but I do have a couple of tips that you may well find useful.

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Plan Plan Plan – then when the unexpected jumps out at you, which it normally does, you’ve got some idea of where you were in the day before it all went crazy.

Have ‘thinking’ time – time taken at any point during the day that you can just think about what needs to be done and try to put it into some sort of order. Write in a journal if it helps, or on your phone, whatever you use for jotting things down.

When people offer help, say yes! It can be a big hurdle to overcome but generally when people offer then they mean it. Say yes once in a while and feel the difference it can have on you.

My favourite and the one which has the biggest positive effect on me is….Whether it’s bills, kids letters home from school, letters at home…..touch them only once! Try and carry out all the necessary action with it. It may be to book the dentist appointment or phone in the electric reading. Get it sorted out, then file or bin it. This is by far my biggest time saver and also the one that needs the most willpower to succeed.

Finally, remember – You’re not superhuman, you can rest! Ease up on yourself and celebrate what you have achieved.

There is always tomorrow….

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A walk at Kingston Lacy National Trust

The Summer has been brilliant so far and it’s good to be out and about enjoying the fresh air. I love the area that I live as it’s 5 minutes to the sea and even less to our local river. A few months ago I had a really special trip when my dad and I visited Kingston Lacy in Dorset.

It’s around half an hour from us and armed with a snack and a drink, off we set. The road which leads down to the great house reminded me of visiting Longleat when we popped in during our center parcs stay with my OH and the kids. The long path with green fields either side, it’s a really spectacular lead up to the whole place.

I wanted to share some photos of the day which I think show off the colours of the plants brilliantly. This is not a collaboration post, purely a good day out with my dad.

A walk at Kingston Lacy National Trust — You can always find a shady spot

Where there are lawns they look immaculate, the grass looks and feels springy when you walk on it. Such a far cry from my lawn at home that’s been run ragged by the boys playing football every day.

We were lucky that it was a gorgeous sunny day, one of those days that’s crisp and bright. We had an early start so there was pretty drops of dew all over the grass.

The Japanese gardens looked amazing at that time of year, lots of bronze and gold coloured leaves glinting in the sun.

I packed a flask of coffee for our trip and there are plenty of benches dotted around so there is always somewhere to sit down and enjoy the views.

There are also the expected hidden gems and surprises dotted around.

Click to share these photos and my fab day out with dadClick To Tweet

Have you been to Kingston Lacy? Maybe other National Trust places, I’d love you to share links of your posts below or experiences of some of their estates.

Here’s where it is:-

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Summer Linky #mainylovessummer

What a summer we have been having so far! Here on the south coast it has been so hot and we have been making the most of living so close to the beach. Every day seems to be a swim day after school and work.

I love the summer and regular readers will know that every now and then I love to hold a linky party to have a get together and share lots of our posts.

Something that always stays the same is that there is no badge to display!

It’s all about sharing, reading and enjoying each others writing. Feel free to add up to 3 of any type of blogging post old or new.

Reviews, giveaways, recipes, parenting, lifestyle, poetry all manner of posts are welcome here.

Just let common sense prevail and refrain from anything outrageously offensive:)

My favourite forum is twitter so please also tweet as many posts as possible using the hash tag #mainylovessummer @myrealfairy and I will tweet away for days and days both your posts and all those you tweet from the link up.

I will also pin all posts to the #mainylovessummer pinterest board. Have a look and follow along too.

Let’s make this a real summer sizzler for 2018 and get everyone reading and talking about your posts.

Suggested guidance for participating:

I’d love it if you commented on the host post and at least one more for every post you link up.
Tweet using the hashtag #mainylovessummer @myrealfairy when you link up and you’re away!
Tweet, pin, talk about it on instagram and share using all the wonderful ways you wish and let the blogger know when you comment how you have shared their post.
Use the hashtag #mainylovessummer when you comment please.
Enjoy and read something you wouldn’t normally click on.
Have fun!

Love Mainy

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Twitter: #mainylovessummer @myrealfairy

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Why I choose not to make money from my blog

My little blog is well over 2 years old and it’s amazing how far it’s come in that time and also how much it’s changed.

When I started my blog it all happened quite fast, it flowed and I was consumed with starting it up and learning all the new jargon. I had wanted something to channel a creative side that was stifled with the normality of having my job and family and just functioning.

What struck me quite early on was that so many people were talking about how to make money from your blog. At first it baffled me as I had no idea that writing about the random thoughts in my head would have any relationship with earning money, yet there it was, everyone was doing it. I started reading about ads that you insert into your sidebar or posts, you know the sort I’m sure. They advertise different products depending on your audience and sit there quite happily trying to blend in. I normally end up clicking on them by accident as I think they are part of what I’m reading. Clever really!

There are so many pins with amazing statements such as ‘how I make thousands per month’ or ‘make money now from your blog, let me show you how’, I even saw one recently that said how they were making $50,000 per month! Wow, are you kidding me, that’s incredible. So, you can imagine, I was pretty much sidelined by this and pound signs started flashing in my eyes, luring me in their direction. Now the daft thing is that the whole reason I started my blog was to have a hobby that would help with a bit of relaxation-not to earn money-yet there I found myself applying for affiliated links and google ads and all manner of ad companies hoping they would accept me. I’d check my emails frantically to see what news there would be of my requests. Most of them didn’t even reply as I hadn’t really published anything and had no value to them at all, well doh that was pretty easy to see had I taken the time to think about it. The thing is that I still really didn’t want my blog to look like it was advertising anything as I wanted it to represent me and the things that I like, I was still finding my feet with what I was creating. I didn’t want to be a follower, surely to work for google ads is to be a very small fish in a massive shoal. The blog is for me to stretch myself not to stand rigid and conform quite so much.

I remember posting my first piece and including the one advert I had managed to install, I then sat back and expected people to suddenly flock to the blog clapping that I had appeared, read my stuff, click on the ads and general revel in the fact that I was here…..funnily enough, that didn’t happen.

I gradually came to realise that content is key to keep a blog going and to keep my interest in it. I left my little ad on that post and left it at that. I want people to read what I have to say and not get taken away by the ads and lose interest in me. That said, I love reviewing products and I certainly wouldn’t turn my nose up at a lovely big commission to work with someone. I’m not against making money in general, after all it’s how I help keep a roof over my head.

I’m now having fun with my blog, I run giveaways which is great, talk about my family, write poetry and cook, it’s a wonderful outlet. For the time being the ads will not have a home here – not now, not yet, but maybe sometime.

What do you think of ads on blogs, do they make you stay, shop or click away?

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Free Pallet Patio Garden

Easy Step by Step Guide

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Fancy growing your own fruit and veg? I thought the same and am now managing just that! Here’s how to build your own free pallet patio garden.

Last year I had a new patio and it’s a great area to sit out in as it captures a lot of sun. The boys use our garden to play football and I learnt the hard way that football and plant borders don’t mix well! I actually get upset when I see the ball thud into the plants and race over to see whats happened. The boys then scurry away waiting to see if yet another tomato plant has bitten the dust.

So when the patio was laid I started thinking of ways that I could enjoy growing some fruit and vegetables on the patio.

I wanted a way to use recycled products and make something that really made the most of the small compact space we had.

Here’s a step by step guide to how I made this brilliant pallet patio garden out of mainly recycled bits and bobs, for free!

Free Pallet Patio Garden — Our blank canvas!

We put a base down so that the structure wouldnt sit directly on the slabs and cause too much discolouration.

Here is my other half fixing a free pallet that we picked up onto the back of the crate used to deliver the patio slabs in. If you can get hold of more pallets then use them to make a crate. You can find them on free sites or even in skips.

We had some weed suppressor mat in the shed and if you havent got anything like that hanging around then they are easy to pick up very cheaply. I just wanted something lining the inside that would help with keeping the pots contained and not having the water running straight out onto the ground.

The you are all ready to go and start putting in the pots that you wish to have there. What I found useful was that on the sunny days I can move the pots onto the top of the back pallet and they can make use of the sunshine. When it’s a windy day they can nestle back into the base and be a bit more protected.

You can see by these photos how the plants are coming along. The potatoes are growing well and the carrots on the right hand side in the base are showing nicely. I’ve planted onions next to them as apparently they fend off one of the mites that would eat the carrot tops.

Come back soon for an update and more than likely a recipe made out of some of the home grown veg. It will be great to see you again.

Have you got any tips on growing veg in small spaces? You might be a seasoned pro or just starting out. I’d love to hear.

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First written by me in the summer of 2017 and as I’ve started putting my new seedlings in it again this year I just had to share it with you again.

Best Baba Ganoush

I have been growing Eggplant or Aubergine as I know it better in my garden during the summer. I’ve loved growing them but they are quite labour intensive and the plants are really large. There are easier plants to grow but the results are so delicious that it is well worth the effort in the end.

I have managed to harvest these cute fruits. Yes they are fruits but are commonly used and eaten as a vegetable. Whatever they are classed as, these little gems are beautiful and sweet when roasted.

I wanted to make the Best Baba Ganoush dip that I could and have the perfect recipe that show off their sweet flavour.

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5 from 1 vote

Baba Ganoush

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

40 mins

Total Time

50 mins

A Silky Egg Plant Dip ideal for all occassions

Course: Snack

Servings: 6

Author: mainy - myrealfairy

Ingredients

1 Egg Plant (Aubergine)
2 tbsp Tahini Paste
1 whole Garlic Clove
Salt and Pepper
1 pinch Ground Cumin
1 tbsp Olive Oil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200 oc
Wipe clean the skin of the eggplant.
Place the eggplant halves, flesh side down, on a lightly oiled baking sheet then drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the eggplant fully softens through.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
When it is cooled, scoop out the flesh out and transfer to a food processor.
Do not use the skins in the dip, just the flesh.
Add the garlic, lemon juice, ground cumin, olive oil and tahini paste.
Process until you achieve a puree consistency.
Add salt and pepper to your personal taste.

Recipe Notes

Top with a little olive oil and fresh coriander for garnish and aroma.

Let me know what you think to this and have you tried to grow your own?