Category: Reviews

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What would you do with an hour back?

My kids beds have been changed more often than I’d like.

Middler is quite hard on his, and tends to use his as a trampoline, which means a slatted version of any bed is just completely out of the question for us.

I think two of my kids are now past the bouncy bouncy stage, although TV adverts showing teenagers having pillow fights on their beds really just not make for a happy mum when the kids copy it.  If the production and acting teams has to clear up the mess after a pillow fight, I’m sure there wouldn’t ever be one again – anywhere.

I remember when my kids were really little and I put them to bed.  I thought they were quiet and the rascally dog sneaked in beside them.  Deciding to open a bag full of nappy bags, cream and talc, the kids and the dog decided to throw it all over the room.

I heard the laughter and barking, only to find myself greeted at the door by a plume of white powder and mess everywhere.

This led back to reminiscing about the early days and restful sleep for us all.  There’s nothing better than a great night’s sleep, and Dreams, the bed retailer got in touch at the time of the clocks changing and asked me what I’d like to do if I had an hour of my time back.

I could have gone for a new haircut, my nails done, or a massage, but all I could think of was that I’d like to sit in peace with my kids and enjoy a film with them all sitting in the same place.

I thought I’d pick something for me, but there you go, I put the kids first – as lots of us tend to do.

Dreams sent us a fabulous pack of goodies with blankets, sweeties, popcorn and a copy of The Hobbit to watch.   I don’t have to say that my kids find it hard to sit still, but the film had enough twists and turns and slapsticky stuff that kept my kids entertained.

Movie Night 2

The man was out for the night and we sat and started to munch through the most massive bar of Dairy Milk that my kids have ever seen.   I’d said to Dreams that I like Dairy Milk, but the kids pinch it, so the bar they sent through could have fed a dozen people with chocolate.

I left it in the cupboard overnight and strangely enough, the next morning, the box was still there, but the chocolate had disappeared to where the chocolate fairies always take it.

We have very naughty chocolate fairies around here.

Dairy Milk

Thanks to Dreams for our amazing Movie Night.  We appreciate it.

Have a think to yourself and ask the question – what would you do if you could have an hour back?

 

 

 

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Do you like your chips baked or fried?

McCain Oven Chips

Waking up coughing, I looked on as the door of my bedroom opened and the most gorgeous man I have ever seen in my life walked in through the door.  Dressed all in his fireman togs, I was then completely unaware of the rancid black smoke that wafted around him.  The hero of my ten-year old future dreams always played out with a macho fireman whisking me away from my dangerous foes.

Looking back, well before the days of oven chips in their dozens stocking supermarket shelves, we used to have to fry anything that needed chip style cooking.   My mother can make a mean roast, but she’s never been an adventurous cook, so all I learned from her was the basics.

We used to have a big ordinary pan as a chip pan, 16-year-old brother managed to come home steaming drunk and fall asleep while he heated up the fat for a late night feast.  Needless to say, both occasions ended up in a visit from the fireman and a grounded teen, but only one ended up with the macho fireman at my bedroom door.

We had no chip pan from then on and even though I do have one now, and it has a thermometer and a lid, it only ever comes out for Xmas Day and the Tattie Balls that my family refuse to do without.  I even do my roasties in the oven.

McCain Oven Chips 1

The rest of the year, we make do with oven chips, or just plain old regular potatoes.  The man keeps threatening to pull out the fryer and use it more often, but that means he would also have to clean it, so it’s never actually happened despite the threats.    The kids do like chips though and we go through a fair few bags over the space of a year.

The kids current favourite is McCain Oven Chips, so I was happy when they asked us to sample some of their Healthier Chip Range and the 5% fat, straight cut oven ready chips, made with just a dash of sunflower oil.  It was a bit of a no brainer here as they’re the popular ones anyway.

With 6 people to feed, the big bags are what we need and we were happy with the level of crispness from the oven that all chips should have.  I really dislike soggy chips.   I did have to cook them for longer than it said in the instructions in my oven, but it was no big deal.

I’d like to give the 3% fat rustic chips a go, so I’ll have to keep an eye out for those next time I am in the supermarket.

Thanks McCain, the chips got the thumbs up from the kids.

 

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Review: Physics Discovery Kit, Sent By Crafts 4 Kids

Crafts4kids kindly sent us a Physics Discover Kit from Thames and Kosmos.

Turbo-Dragster 1

The Physics Discovery kit is for ages 8+ and has 17 experiments in total where kids can learn physics by making fun models to use at home.  There are a whopping 14 models that can be built with the kit we were sent and kids can learn about Mechnaical Advantage for pulleys, blocks and tackles, kinetic energy by building a rubber band powered dragster, leverage, speed and much more.

The kids being kids, they were determined to start with the rubber band powered dragster.    We duly sat down and separated out all the pieces that we needed to get it done.   Eldest started off and began threading through wheels and then got stuck.  I had a look and I just couldn’t figure out how to do it.  I wasn’t sure if the instructions were how my pieces were in front of me, or if it was reversed like a photograph.

Turbo-Dragster 2

I have to say that we found it quite challenging, although fun.   I gave up and left the car to the man when he got time to help with it.   From the time he sat down until the time the car was completely finished, it took nearly 4 hours in total for that one model alone.  My kids being my kids refused to go back and start with any other model or experiment until the one they wanted was done.  They did pick one of the hardest ones to start with though.  We’ve not managed to explore the rest of the box yet and I suspect this kit is going to last us the rest of this year for things to do on miserable days / evenings.

We’ve had some discussions around throwing contests and how to work out the ball’s trajectory, but are yet to put it into practice.  Summer will help teach how that relates to gravity.

Physics Discovery Experiment Kit

Dad ended up taking over as it was a little too challenging for my kids, and even he had to scratch his chin many many times and he struggled with the small pictures.

His suggestions were for bigger photographs or more detailed instructions.

Turbo-Dragster 3

We also struggled with the 6 washers provided and that it said was needed, but the photo seemed to show 7.  We still managed to get it to work and if you loosen the paper that makes the car body, it goes faster.  I have a video of them making it but our Internet connection isn’t letting me upload it as it is a bigger file.

It’s a fab wee kit and most kids will need adults to help them with it.  It’s a good way to bond really as I doubt eldest and his dad have spent that much time alone together working on something all year.

I did manage to upload the wee video, so, see our dragster go…..

 

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A Visit to Ullapool, Scotland – And The Seaforth Restaurant Review

We took a day trip from the East Coast Scotland at Dornoch, over to the West Coast at Ullapool for a day trip.  It took a little longer than expected to get there given that the trip really included a fair hike across some nice high hills.  With a rather big 4 x 4, hills don’t bother us as we usually have a van on the back, so unfettered, we tottered over for a trip.

The windy and single track road for much of the way seemed quite long and fairly never ending when we started off, but we really did see some lovely scenery along the way.

Deer and Sheep seemed to be the order of the day, and freaked middler out as they ran towards the car when we stopped so that  I could get a picture.  Can you see the deer standing straight up on it’s back legs as it watches for goodness knows what.  It certainly didn’t seem bothered by the Scottish Mum family and our jaloppy.  We’re used to seeing some young deer out the back of our garden, but we never, ever see a big group of them.  There must have been about 30 in total

Deer 1

Deer 2

Sheep just wander onto the road as they graze at some spots without fences.  It is a road that needs a bit of wits about you to travel along.

Ullapool Sheep

The road seems to climb and climb and climb until it seems we are in the mountains, but reaching the other side at Ullapool doesn’t seem to come with a matching downward descent so I have no idea how the sea levels work out.  I really must look that up.

In Ullapool, we had a walk around, but we’re not really into shop browsing much.  It’s a fishing port so it was nice to see a working fish house in operation and well mannered seagulls (well the ones we saw were).

Ullapool Seagulls

It was quickly a bit tedious for the kids, so we headed into the closest easting place that we could find.  It turns out that it was a good choice.

The Seaforth 2

The Seaforth 1

The Seaforth is an award winning fish restaurant that serves great food, and given that it is right next door to a fish house, I was happy to give the fish dishes a try.   We chose to go informal and go to the bar.  My healthy happy hearts schedule would be happy with me.  There was a lovely open log fire, but with people right in front of it, I didn’t like to be as forward as ask them to shift over so I could get a piccie.

The man and I had the main fish, which is the smaller portion.  There is a bigger version of what we had to eat so I dread to think how big it actually was.

The Seaforth Adults Fish

The Seaforth 3

Middler had a childs portion of fish which was bigger than it looks on this plate.

The Seaforth Kids Chicken Fish

The other two had chicken fillets which they were happy to eat.  It looks like there are only 2 on this plate, but there were 3 in total.   They also got ice cream with their meals and a drink so kids meals were really good value.

The Seaforth Kids Chicken Fillets

Once we were done at The Seaforth, it was time to head back over to Dornoch and back through the pretty views.  It’s always amazing to me how it never takes as long to go home as it does to go somewhere new.

Ullapool Road Drive Snow Hills

Ullapool Road Drive

Ullapool Road Deer 3

Ullapool 2

Ullapool

 

 

 

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Review: St Duthus Hotel Restaurant, Tain, Scotland

While up visiting Dornoch and the local area, we decided to pop in for an evening meal at the St Duthus Hotel in Tain. If I had to rate the restaurant on effort, decor and friendliness of staff, it would be a five-star all round from the Scottish Mum family.

St Duthus Exterior

As it was, the food was incredibly disappointing. I don’t know if we chose the wrong dishes or whether we were just unlucky or too fussy.

St Duthus

Given the dishes are not that cheap, I expected more and had high hopes when we entered the lovely interior.  Two kids picked from the kids menu, while middler and grown ups went for the adults choice.

The kids dishes were a disappointment, and I’d have been willing to pay more for a better quality pizza.

Two kids chose the pizza option. One with smilies and one with chips.  The pizza seemed to be a cheap pizza with a dollop or two of cheese thrown on top and grilled.

St Duthus Kids Pizza

It was a disappointment as I make fresh dough for pennies.  Littlest wouldn’t even taste more than one tiny bite.

Middler chose sweet and sour chicken which was £8.90.  Not too expensive, but nothing to sniff at either.  He asked for half and half chips and rice. The chips and rice were nice. The chicken seemed to be the reconstituted chicken in breadcrumb stuff that you buy in frozen packs.  If it wasn’t, I apologise, but that’s what it seemed to be.

St Duthus Sw Sour Sauce

All his meal looked like was chicken nuggety things with a jar of sweet and sour sauce thrown on top.

St Duthus Sweet & Sour Chicken

On to the adults. For the soup, well, what can I say. It was just like my mother in law used to make, unfortunately.  It had no taste apart from the slightly burned caramelly taste that overcooked boiled vegetables tends to give off.  With lots of salt and pepper added, I managed to eat mine and hoped for more from my main course.  The bread roll was lovely though.

St Duthus Soup

For our main course, I can’t say I was disappointed as the gravy was lovely.  The vegetables were nice and the potatoes great although I suspect the roasties were pre-made or cooked from a frozen packet.  Either way, I was much more pleased with my plate than the sweet and sour chicken middler had.

St Duthus Roast Beef 1

St Duthus Roast Beef

When I ordered, I went for roast beef with all the trimmings and in hindsight, it was obvious why the waitress was surprised when I asked how the roast beef was cooked as I don’t like mine red in the middle. She said it doesn’t come like that, and by the point of eating, with the gravy, I actually found it quite tasty, but the roast beef seemed to be from a packet or a can and not an actual roast.

St Duthus Veges

Having to send back a more than half full plate of sweet and sour chicken from a boy who usually clears a plate and asks for more of anything tells its own tale.

I did mention about the cheap pizza with cheese thrown on top and they removed it from the bill and offered littlest something else to eat which he declined.

I loved the surroundings, the staff were fabulous and it should be a lovely little gold mine of a place. It’s a pity about what came across as mostly fast food processed offerings to me.  Maybe we ordered the wrong things, but it was a disappointing visit for us.

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Review: Lego Star Wars – The Empire Strikes Out

Thanks to Twentieth Century Fox for this Special Edition review copy of Lego Star Wars -The Empire Strikes Out. 

Darth Vader LEGO® mini figure unleashes the dark side around London and its landmarks inspired by the DVD, LEGO® Star Wars™: The Empire Strikes Out. (OUT now to buy)

Child Group Shot i-jgKtWF7-L

Darth Vader has certainly been getting around London recently, but he also managed a sneak up to Aberdeen for the Scottish Mum household.

Littlest was most happy with the lego minfigure on the front of the review box, and has been very patient waiting for the time that it could be opened and let him finally get his hands on the exclusive and collectible Darth Vader LEGO minifigure for his own Lego Collection.

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It’s a 21-minute special feature with familiar territory and a completely new story for the LEGO Star Wars characters.

All the favourite characters are there and this story is actually good for us adults to watch too.  I’ve often found myself engrossed with the kids and some LEGO products.

HOLD ON TO YOUR BRICKS….FOR AN ALL-NEW ANIMATED ADVENTURE!

Your favourite characters are back to save the galaxy in LEGO® Star Wars®: The Empire Strikes Out™. The heroes of the Rebel Alliance including heroic Luke Skywalker, swaggering Han Solo and steadfast Princess Leia have no time to celebrate their victory over the Empire as a new Imperial threat arises. But as Jedi-in training Luke embarks on this next mission, he discovers that his celebrity status as a “Death-Star-Blower-Upper” can be a double-edged lightsaber when he’s constantly mobbed by crazed fans. So much for secret missions! Meanwhile, Darth Vader and Darth Maul are locked in a hilarious “Sith-ling” rivalry as they compete for the Emperor’s approval. It’s an action-packed comic adventure that’s out of this world!

What did the kids think?

“Mental, it’s brill.”

“Can we watch it again at bedtime?”  (success any time)

Mini Darth at Big Ben

Lego Star Wars DVD Launch, London, Britain - 14 Mar 2013

 TM & © 2013 Lucasfilm Ltd/Lego, The Lego Logo, the Brick and Knob Configurations, the Minifigures are trademarks of The Lego Group. ©2005-2013 The Lego Group. All Rights Reserved.

Find other posts about lego here:
Building Bonds: How lego brings Families together.

 

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Review: Argo from Warner Bros.

Thanks to Warner Bros. for the review copy of Argo.  It’s fabulous viewing if you like this sort of thing and I do.

Argo4

This movie gives a whole new meaning to the great escape stories of post war times.  Without giving away too many details that might spoil it for you, it’s set in Iran from 1979 onwards.   It’s a topic that has memories for me as I remember the news about the Embassy Attack.   It’s not the fastest moving movie off the block, but it certainly has been popular on the awards circuit due to the atmosphere and tie to real events, even if the story has a fictional element to it.

Despite that, it won plenty Oscar success, although denying the director and main actor, Ben Affleck a nomination.  He plays Tony Mendez who masterminds the process of rescuing 6 Americans who are hidden in the Canadian Embassy after fleeing from the attacked American one.

Argo1

There is a fair bit of poetic license to the story as I believe the Canadians played a very big part in the rescue in real life, but it’s an American blockbuster and has a movie plot line that was a surprise to me.   The mad scheme is to get the Americans out with fake Canadian passports and posing as film makers who are researching fictitious film “Argo.”  With the help of Hollywood, it seems crazy, but it really did happen.

Most of us over a certain age will know how the story pans out as it’s based on real life events, but if you don’t, the end could be an even more interesting watch.  I don’t think we give enough credit to the people who lay their lives on the line to help others finding themselves in danger.  If films can make a story compelling, then they deserve to be winners.

Argo3

To make the story more interesting, there are undercurrents of family life and personal angst.  It is a great watch, yet I would have liked to know more about the characters of the 6 and a bit more of how Tony Mendez gets on with his own personal life.   I’d have liked it to be a little faster paced, but that’s a personal preference and not something that should affect anyone watching it.

Argo2

It was a great wee watch, and all from the comfort of my armchair.  It also adds to my ever-growing collection of Ultraviolet movies which is a great selling point for me.  It’s 2 hours long so make sure you set aside a good chunk of time to enjoy it

The awards Argo won are:

·         BAFTA Award for Best Film

·         BAFTA Award for Best Direction

·         BAFTA Award for Best Editing

·         Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama

·         Golden Globe Award for Best Director – Motion Picture

·         Academy Award for Best Motion Picture of the Year

·         Academy Award for Best Achievement in Editing

·         Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

At the moment, you can pick it up on Amazon for £10.

Argo 1
Find on Amazon

 

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Review: Bailey & Quinn Leather Purse from Debenhams

Bailey & Quinn PurseA big thank you to Debenhams for sending me the lovely Bailey and Quinn Black Leather “Cumbria” Matinee Purse to review.

My own purse was pretty much worse for wear and was one of my mums old ones that I borrowed to tide me over until I found a new one.

For the last year, I’ve meant to get round to looking for a new one, but it just never happened.

Now that I have this lovely shiny new purse, I am feeling rather annoyed with myself for putting up with one that was falling apart.

My new Cumbria is longer, slimmer and altogether far more stylish than the one I used to hide.  I can take this one out of my bag with pride.

It also comes with that lovely new leather smell that oozes quality and style.

purse2

In the wee tag on the front, there is a little phrase that says.

“She dreams of strawberries and cream in the summer, cashmere in the winter, and a beautiful handbag all year round.”

I think I might aspire to the handbag.

There is a little care sheet in the purse telling us how to look after it, and a little pouch to keep it in if we’re not using it.

It is really rather pretty and just my kind of purse.

To be honest, it could have been made just for me with 12 credit card slots, a large coin pouch and three different areas for separating notes.

I don’t know how they knew to get it so right for me, but they did.

At £39 the purse is a fair price for such quality leather and Debenhams do have other ranges that cater for all price ranges.

purse3

Thank you again Debenhams, this is one lovely purse.

Disclaimer:The purse was provided by Debenhams for review purposes.

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Review: Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon

Thanks to Warner Bros. for the review copy of “Scooby Doo Mask of the Blue Falcon.” It’s a whole new original movie for Scooby Doo fans old and new for 2013.

Scooby Doo Mask of the Blue Falcon

The Mega Mondo Pop Cartoon-a-con is in sunny California for a mystery adventure.

There are Herculoids, frankenstein Jr. and Space Gosh with a megabucks movie premier starring Scooby-Doo and Shaggy’s all-time favourite super heroes, Blue Falcon and Dynomutt.

The movie also features Ultraviolet, the fabulous ability to download the films onto many tablets and mobile phones to take with us and amuse our kids. We are also allowed to share our move with up to 5 friends or family members.

The film is a PG as it features some scenes that may be unsuitable for very young children, buy a quick viewing by parents would make it easy to decide if it was suitable for yours or not. It’s 73 minutes of non-stop Scooby-Doo capers and includes some Bonus Vintage Cartoons as part of the package.

I don’t think anyone is too old for Scooby-Doo. Thanks again Warner Bros.

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Review – Nintendo DS Puzzler World 2013 Game

Being asked to review this game was no hardship for my boys.   The game arrived swiftly in January and my boys have rattled through the puzzles with great gusto.

They have absolutely loved the ability to have lots of things to do on it, and it’s kept them entertained for a fair while on car journeys.  I didn’t want to jump in and review too quickly as quite often the telling of a game is how quickly it is discarded in favour of other things.

Nintendo DS Puzzler 2013

All the games start off quite easily and they get more and more difficult as the game goes on.  There are hints that you can use by token to help if you are so stuck that you can’t get any further with it.  Once you complete the easier levels, you unlock more difficult ones, so you just keep getting challenged more and more.

Puzzler World 2013 is a huge collection of puzzles in one little cartridge.

– There are over 1200 puzzles and bonus games.
– There are a whopping 27 different puzzle types.
– Play is through Challenge Mode to unlock brain-bending Master Mode puzzles.

There are Crosswords, Wordsearches, Sudoku, Fitword, Codewords, Link-a-Pix, Pathfinder and new puzzles such as Loko, Number Jig and Maze-a-Pix.

The bonus games happen after each Challenge Mode and include Missing Piece, Symbols, Chain Letters and Hangman.
Puzzler World is a game for the family to enjoy, and offers a huge variety of puzzles which could well keep you entertained for months!  The games become more challenging as you progress so it’s easy for younger players to get stare, while the advanced Master mode provides renewed interest for more seasoned puzzlers.

What did we think?

I think the game is actually really good for grown ups who like puzzles.  I found myself pottering with it one morning and the time just sped past as I was determined to win a game of Sudoku.  I think very young children might struggle with it alone, so it would be a good game for kids and parents to play together.

I really like that if I only have a few minutes, the game can be picked up and played without having to worry about long drawn out puzzle sessions.  It has also saved a fortune on the word search books that my eldest insisted on buying every week to keep him busy.

I’m not sure how long the novelty will last, but it has been a good game for my boys.

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Review: The Three Stooges – Released on Blu Ray and DVD on 11th February 2013

Thank you to Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment for the review copy.  You can watch the trailer here.

We were sent a pre-release to DVD and Blu-Ray copy of the Three Stooges.  It’s a slapstick version of the version I used to watch when I was younger.   The kids were enthralled from the start as there is a lot of coshing, boshing and old-fashioned bopping on the heads.  I’ve not seen middler laugh at a film for a long time and I did worry about letting him see it, but he thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was a nice touch at the end where they showed that the hammers were soft rubber and didn’t hurt anyone at all.  I know some people will see that as pointless and irrelevant, but for my special needs boy it is something that I appreciated as it gave the slapstick a reference for being fake and not real bopping and tweaking.

Basically, it’s pretty much about three boneheads in three way comedy.   The Farrelly Brothers are the three stooges, and the film starts off with them being abandoned at the door of an orphanage.   When the home is at risk, it falls on the brothers to create a miracle to save their childhood home.  They keep getting themselves into trouble and manage to find themselves in the middle of many odd situations.

It’s not as predictable as I thought it would be, and it definitely appealed to my boys.

There are differences in the options, which are listed below.  Buying from Amazon, you can pre-order now for delivery on the 11th.

Blu-Ray from Amazon £17.50

  • Deleted / Extended Scenes
  • What’s the Big Idea? A History of The Three Stooges
  • Knuckleheads: Behind the Scenes of The Three Stooges
  • Did You Hear That? The Three Stooges Sound Effects
  • Poifect!: Casting The Three Stooges
  • The Three Stooges Mash-Up
  • Original Screen Test
  • Theatrical Trailer

DVD from Amazon – £9.99

  • Deleted / Extended Scenes
  • Knuckleheads: Behind the Scenes of The Three Stooges
  • Did You Hear That? The Three Stooges Sound Effects
  • The Three Stooges Mash-Up
  • Theatrical Trailer

 

 

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Thank you Warner Bros. for the film “Now Is Good” with Dakota Fanning

Thank you to Warner Bros. for providing me the perfect film for this weekend coming – Now Is Good.

I’ve had the disk for a wee while, and I have a night this weekend when the man is out, and I can watch it in peace when I can get a hold of the remote control.  I’m looking forward to some me time with the TV.

Now Is Good 2

It will be interesting to see Dakota Fanning act as an adult, as I’ve only ever seen her in her child roles.

The film is about seventeen year old Tessa, who is diagnosed with a terminal illness.  She decides to use every moment and compiles a catalogue of things that normal teenagers would experience.  With the help of her friend, she starts to work through her list while her family deals with fear and grief.

She explores a whole new world, falls in love which wasn’t on her list, but proves to be the most exhilarating experience of her life.

The pack includes the ever useful Ultraviolet to instantly stream and download onto our computers, tablets and smartphones.   I also suspect I’ll need a pack of handkerchiefs as it could be a real tear-jerker.

Up for sale, I’d always buy films from Amazon these days for physical versions.  Now is Good is £12 from Amazon at the moment.

Now Is Good 3