I know. It's hardly picnic weather. But it will be soon, surely?
Last summer I mean, last weekend we had a lovely picnic at the top of West Keal hill (yes, there are hills in Lincolnshire) with spectacular views over half the county and across to Norfolk. And we had the weather, too. Remember? Sun and warmth and on Bank Holiday Monday. We had some delicious food washed down with a bottle of Belvoir sparkling presse. Lovely.
On the basis that summer must be only just around the corner Belvoir is offering you the chance to win one of their picnic hampers today. In case you don't know, Belvoir makes the most delicious cordials, presses and fruit crushes using 100% natural ingredients (including flowers and fruit from the farm) and all mixed with water from the local spring. Mary Manners began making cordials in her kitchen in the 1970s, infusing elderflowers and pressing the fruit grown on the family farm and the business has gone from strength to strength ever since.
Anyway, if you fancy having a luxury picnic courtesy of Belvoir all you have to do is leave me a quick comment between now and next Wednesday telling me where you'd like to have the picnic. I'll pick one winner at random (I won't judge your choice of venue, honest!) and then it'll be over to you.
Today's post is a guest contribution in association with Oral B tackling the tricky subject of routine within a family.
Having routines can be essential for families. Routines enable us to complete chores and can free up more time for having fun. Some sort of routine helps to ensure everybody gets ready in the morning, housework gets done and meals are made at the appropriate times throughout the day.
But there's more to adhering to than practical convenience. Routines are a way of educating your children and allowing them to understand what’s important and why. Something as straightforward as a regular get-together with relatives can become established as a family ritual that helps to build a sense of belonging and familial cohesion.
Although children's individual propensity for routine varies it has been suggested that a certain amount can benefit a child in a variety of ways. Consistency encourages healthy habits in young children. Boring tasks such as brushing teeth can become an automatic response to being in the bathroom as a child reaches for their best toothpaste and brush.
And a predictable home environment can help a child feel safe and secure. Routines often prove to be particularly helpful for children with certain disabilities especially those which result in them finding it difficult to cope with change and feeling insecure in unfamiliar surroundings.
Not only do routines help to develop certain life skills, such as a sense of responsibility or time management, they can also create sacred time for spending with loved ones. A ritual revolving around shared enjoyment, such as reading a book together before bedtime can strengthen family bonds and become an important time of togetherness that helps to build family relationships.
It’s helpful too to bear in mind that routines shouldn’t be set in stone. Children will naturally challenge some rituals or simply outgrow them and family structures can also alter. Flexible family time and being open to adapting existing routines can avoid many unnecessary altercations. Reluctance to relinquish some rituals purely because of parental preference can fracture familial relationships. There’s little point in forcing a family tradition that has long been outgrown by a teenage child. Build stronger bonds instead with compromise and mutual respect.
There are no set rules about what routines you should have. Every family is different and functions in its own unique way. What works well for one family could prove to be too prohibitive for another. So choose your own unique and evolving rituals that work for your particular family unit.
It's a while since we've posted a Sunday Supplement round-up of the kind of events, reviews and incidents that might not make a full-length post but are certainly worthy of a mention. This week we've been leading the way with a couple of clever new charging leads, learning to count with Lego Duplo, growing our own tomato ketchup (sort of), planning to make all sorts of other stuff, having fun at the fair and opening our own eBay store. (Well, listing a few 'Father's Day' themed objects, anyway!)
So, about those leads. They're not dog leads or any ordinary kind of leads but two, frankly, ingenious little twists on something that we're too all familiar with - charger leads. First, The Snugg Live Wire Flowing light charging cable for the iPhone 5. It looks like this. You can 'see' the electricity flowing from the mains to your phone. It's great. Just don't use it if you charge your phone at night at your bedside!
The drawback with most leads is that they only fit specific devices. So, if you've got lots of different things in need of charging you'll need lots and lots of leads. Or you'll need the Innergie 3-in-1 USB cable with three different attachments built-in, thus potentially eliminating at least two extra wires as well as the distinct possibility of losing the attachments. Very clever.
The long overdue arrival of some warmer weather this week gave us the chance to get out in the garden, and to plant our very own tomato ketchup tree, sent courtesy of Heinz. (Well, tomato seeds anyway.) They're in a lovely little branded pot, watered with a lovely little branded watering can and will - we hope - grow into some lovely little non-branded tomatoes we can enjoy during the summer. If we get one, that is. Watch this space, both for tomatoes and for summer.
You know how easily you can miss the postman when he comes knocking with a parcel? Sometimes you don't even hear him knocking. Sometimes the first time you realise you've been sent a parcel is when that little red card lands on your mat. It helps if the parcel - when you collect it from the sorting office - is something special like this wonderful Lego Duplo counting train. Here it is in action. It's great when you have a big brother on hand to help you...
Finally, that eBay store. Well, I say 'store' - themed listing, more like. And the theme is 'Father's Day'. Not long to go now, you know. So, why not take a look? Being a dad myself, y'see, I know a bit about dad stuff and - being a dad - I'm also a dispenser of pocket money, often in large quantities when it comes to birthdays, anniversaries and things like Father's Day. So I thought, why not lost a few things dads might like - a cut-throat razor, a shaving brush, luxury shaving cream, a smart Automate coat hanger you attach to the back of your car seat to hang your jacket on, that sort of thing. They all start at 99p - so pocket money prices - and they're all new. There's some other stuff on there as well, like a dining room table and chairs but I don't anticipate that being a 'must buy' for Father's Day (although if dad wants one it's a bargain at just £25!). So, happy Father's Day (when it happens). Happy bidding (should you wish to). And Happy Sunday (what's left of it).
There aren't many things I'm sent to try out that I'd seriously part with my own meagre earnings to buy, but this is one of them: the Panasonic NN-CT579 Slimline Combination Microwave. Why? Well, apart from the obvious combination of microwave, grill and convection oven, apart from the 1000 watt power output, 27 litre interior capacity and 34cm diameter rotating turntable the simple truth (and it has to be simple for me, in the kitchen) is this: The Panasonic NN-CT579S (or 'James' as I'm going to call it) has an amazingly simple, effective and comprehensive range of auto start/cook settings which basically allows you (ok, me - I'm sure you'd read the manual carefully and follow the recipe) to press a button marked 'chicken' (or pizza, or pasta, or fish or veg.) enter the weight, press a button and then pout yourself another glass of wine (other beverages are available). Look. It's this simple... Take a chicken. (Add a few other ingredients if you'd like to make it even tastier... I'm going to roughly chop an onion, one lemon and a couple of cloves of garlic and insert them into the, erm... 'cavity')
Turn said chicken upside down. (It cooks 'breast down' for the first two-thirds of its incredibly short time in the miracle microwave). Place in microwave. Press button marked 'chicken'. Enter weight (don't worry - it will prompt you to do this and even ask you whether you'd prefer to do it in lbs and ozs or grams).
Press 'start'. You'll notice that the cooking time seems dangerously short. But fear not.
Here's what the bird looks like when it's finished:
Does that look cooked to you? That's because it IS cooked - wonderful, thoroughly cooked with a lovely, crispy skin (I drizzled a little olive oil on mine, as is my wont, and scattered some mixed herbs). Serve with a little salad and there you have it - a quick, tasty and delicious supper in less than an hour. But ah, me. The model they loaned has got to go back on Monday and the RRP is £239.99 (gulp!). (Panasonic, incidentally, has not paid me a penny to put down these words in this order - not that I'd ever say anything different about any product I had been paid to write about - I just tell you that to try and gain a little sympathy... ) I've found it cheaper at Argos - £219.99 or, if I can wait for to have it delivered (and stomach supporting a bit of tax dodging) an price-busting (and rather irregular) £156.68 on Amazon. I know, it's still a lot of money for a microwave. But I want one. Look, the kids even watch it in the morning instead of asking for CBeebies!
I came across this clip on YouTube and - following my post on Staithes and Old Jack's Boat the other week - couldn't resist sharing it. The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra rehearsing and then recording the theme music to this nautical, salty new incarnation of the children's television fifteen minute story slot. In other words, Jackanory. With wet feet. And sea air.
In my callow youth I wrote a letter to the late, great Robert Robinson who'd been rather sniffy (with his Saturday evening 'Stop the Week' chums) about some new Dickens adaptation on TV. My point was valid (he said so himself, in a note back) even if the pomposity of expression wasn't. It was this. Music - so often overlooked, sometimes hardly even noticed - is integral to the success of so many otherwise visual or verbal productions whether as a mood-setting theme or atmosphere-inducing background. Here are the men and women who make it...
