Tag: scottish mum blog

Posted on by — 10 Comments

The A-Z of Me

Thank you to the lovely Mummy Musings for tagging me in this meme.

This meme originated from Lauren of The Real Housewife of Suffolk County.

So here is the A-Z of me!

ANORAK…Do you have a sad side?

I remember what people tell me and I seem to be able to tell when they are telling white lies.  It means I get a red face when I know that someone is standing in front of me telling me a lie about why they have changed their mind about something or are making excuses and then they think I have something to hide.

BODY…What physical attribute would you most like to change? 

My size and weight battle.  It’s been a life long issue for me.  I am a sugar and carb addict.

CELEBRITY…Which one would you most like to date and why? 

I agree with Mummy Musings – Robbie Williams.   What’s not to like there.

DEBUT …Tell us about your first ever blog post. What made you start blogging?

I can’t remember my first blog post, as I lost my first blog, but I remember I began blogging as a way of venting, and then found the fantastic community out there who blog and talk to each other.

ERROR …What’s been your biggest regret? 

I have a few.  I think most of us have them by the time they get to 40 +.   One of them would be the fact that I didn’t stand up to a bully when I was 25.   Every so often, I think about what I could have done or said, but hey ho, that’s life.

FUNNY – who’s making you laugh?

My lovely blind dog makes me laugh a lot.  She still does silly things to get attention.   I don’t know how the boys are going to cope when she goes.

GRAND…If we gave you one right now what would you spend it on? 

Easy – I’d get my eldest son some help at school.

HOLIDAY… What’s your favourite destination?  

I am going to be a bit boring here.  Anywhere that my family is.

IRRITATE… What’s your most annoying habit? 

My bad habit of repeating what I say.  It drives me nuts, so I don’t know what it does to other people who have to listen to it.  I can’t stop.

JOKER…Whats your favourite joke {the one that makes you laugh everytime you hear it}?

I can’t think of anything that isn’t a joke my kids have told and some are not printable, so I’ll keep those to myself.

KENNEL… Do you have any pets? 

1 lovely blind lab, and 1 needy and haughty ex wild cat

LOVE…Are you single, married, engaged, living with a long term partner? 

Married 16 or 17 years.  Can’t remember which year we got married, I never can.

MEAL… Whats your ultimate starter, main and dessert?

Starter – Melon and Grapes or Breaded Garlic Mushrooms with Mayo (depending on the diet), Main – Anything that has no meat or peppers in it.  Dessert – Easy, cheesecake anything.

NOW…If you could be anywhere right now where would you be and who with? 

In a relaxing spa retreat on my own with a kindle full of books……….

OFF DUTY…What do you do in your spare time? 

Blog, tweet, read & the odd day out.  Hmmm, I think that is common among blogger, tweeter, readers.

PROUD MOMENTS …What are you most proud of? 

My Degree.

QUEASY …What turns your stomach?

The smell when people or animals pass wind or vomit.  “you did ask”

 RELAX…How do you relax? 

Tweeting, Reading, Blogging

SONG…Whats your favourite song of all time? 

Robbie Williams – Angels

TIME …If you could go back in time and relive it again, when would you choose? 

From age 24, as long as I know what I know now.

UNKNOWN…Tell us something about yourself that no one else knows? 

My weight.  You didn’t think I was going to tell you, did you.  I don’t even know.

VOCAL…. Who is your favourite artist? 

Robbie Williams tho I think Matt Cardle is coming a close second if he could get some better songs to sing.

WORK….. What is your dream job, and are you doing it now? 

Not doing it just now.  What I do for free would be nice to get paid for though.

XRAY…Any broken bones?

Arm, Leg and Nose.   All as a child and nothing as an adult (yet)  *touch wood*

YIKES…What’s been your most embarrassing moment? 

I can’t tell you that, it’s too embarrassing.

ZOO…. If you were an animal, which one would you be? 

A contented, well loved and well looked after dog.  I treasure loyalty.

And now I have to tag some other victims bloggers to take part in this meme.

@helpfulmum
@glasgow_mummy
@welshmumwales
@cazbattweets
@julesey10
@seasiderclaire
@mi_shmash

A very similar post I did is here.

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Winner Princes Breakfast Box Giveaway

Hi everyone, thanks for the huge response to this competition.

The winner of one of these fab boxes is :

@beachpebble

I have followed you on twitter, could you follow me back and DM me your name and address so that we can get your details out and deliver your box of goodies to you.

 

Thanks
Scottish Mum

Posted on by — 5 Comments

FREE – Blogging Basics – Tips & Tricks E-Course

Get some FREE TIPS AND TRICKS advice.

You will receive your Tips and Tricks via E-mail every 5 days over the course of ten emails. Enjoy your journey along the new road you are taking.  Even if you are not a total novice, but are not sure of some of the terms that are used, you might learn something from the course.

———————————————————————————————————————

SIGN UP

Name:
Email:

Your email address goes in the bottom box.

———————————————————————————————————————

  • Feel free to share the course among your friends who are just getting started.
  • Have fun, and make sure to send me some feedback.
  • If you have any suggestions or think there should be more topics to add to the course, I’d be happy to hear them.
  • If you have any hiccups, make sure to let me know so that I can fix it.
  • This is not a commercial venture and I will not send you emails to try to sell something at a later date.
  • The course runs over 10 emails,  with one emails every 5 days.  If you would prefer the emails more frequently, let me know and I will see what I can do.
Disclaimer:  This course is for fun and to provide you with information only.  I am not in any way responsible for any actions that you take as a result of anything I have implied, said, or intimated.  Your blogging and social media is your responsibility and it is up  to you to research and be happy with however you decide to blog.
Best Regards and Happy Reading
Posted on by — 16 Comments

A Lovely Bunch of Flowers for a Lovely Lady

My mother deserves much much more than she gets.  At 76 years old, and with diabetes, arthritis, an underactive thyroid, and as a 7 year breast cancer survivor, she never stops.

She drives my adult nephew about almost daily, she helps me with my boys, and she has to put up with more than any 76 year old ever should.    Families like ours spend years waiting for help to come along, and if my mother had not been around after I adopted the boys, and they grew older, I don’t know what I would have done.

I did a post for Interflora earlier in the year, and when they offered me the chance to let someone choose a bunch of flowers from them last week, I debated on who I would send them to.

I considered a blogger, and online special needs mum, and then I realised that it was a chance to give my mother something that she would like.  She loves flowers, and she does like orchids and  roses more than any other flower, so I chose the lovely Rose Vase.

She was highly delighted to receive her roses, and I was very surprised at how quickly they arrived.  The flower delivery service was efficient and they arrived in their vase with plenty of water to keep them fresh.   The vase is nice, but it seems to be painted, and I suspect it would need careful handling in the washing to make sure the paint doesn’t chip off, but it doesn’t affect how lovely the flowers are when they arrive.

Thank you very much Interflora
You made two people very happy.

 

Posted on by — 5 Comments

Fabulous Food Find – HUGE Watermelon from Costco

Fabulous food find today was a HUGE – SEEDLESS watermelon from Costo in Aberdeen at £2.99.       Absolutely fabulous and the kids are hugely impressed with how much there is in the bowl after I sliced it all up to put it in the fridge for nibbles.

Watermelon works out at about 30 calories per 100g (according to my iphone diet calorie checker).    A whole kg worth of water melon would only set me back 300 calories.  Now that is a stomach filling prospect.

  

 

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Quick and Easy Chocolate Fudge

This is the easy recipe for chocolate fudge that I got off of a tin of Nestle Condensed milk.  I don’t usually do much in the way of  potted recipes and this one is VERY sweet, but I thought I would share the results of how it came out.

Ingredients

400g chocolate
397g tin condensed milk
25g butter
100g icing sugar
55g sugar strands / chopped nuts etc for decoration

Put chocolate, condensed milk and butter into a bowl and microwave until all melted.  Take out of micro at 10 – 20 second intervals and stir well until it is very smooth.

When nice and smooth, beat in sieved icing sugar (if you don’t sieve it, it will go into lumps).

I used little cake cases, but the recipe calls for a tray bake.  I got 40 little sweets in the cases.  When the mixture is in, sprinkle on the sugar strands or chopped nuts.

Put in fridge for about an hour.

Hey presto.

 

Posted on by — 14 Comments

Competition / Giveaway – Do you get travel sick? Sea Bands might help.

 

When the lovely people at Sea Bands got in touch and asked me to review and giveaway some sets of their products, I jumped at the chance as my eldest suffers quite badly from nausea and queasiness when he is in the car.

They arrived in a nice white padded envelope and my eldest quickly scanned through the pack to find a pair that he liked.   He found the camouflage green ones, and they were never to be let go as you can see.

They are actually quite cool as far as children are concerned, because they look like wrist sweat bands, so they gain kudos for being in fashion.  There is also the added bonus of not having to give him tablets which can make him feel sleepy.

My boy has been using them now for several weeks, and I am happy to say that he seems to be managing to go on car journeys without suffering.   The potential for journeys away has now left the realms of nervous worry for him, and that has to be a good thing.

The lovely Sea Band people have also given me 4 pairs of bands to give away.   I have two pairs of adult gray bands, one pair of childs pink camouflage, and one pair of blue camouflage.

Before I go into the competition, I’ll let you know a little about Sea Bands from their literature.

Travel sickness is the nausea, dizziness and vomiting that is triggered by the messages in the brain.  We may be sitting motionless in our seats, but our senses tell us that we are moving.  That means we may end us as nauseous.

To help with travel sickness – we can:

  • Sit at the front in cars and buses, and face the direction we are travelling in on trains
  • Breathe fresh air when possible and open windows
  • Don’t eat heavy meals before travelling
  • Keep children occupied with games and looking out the window

The Sea-Band is an elastic wrist band that can help.   Accupressure has been used in Chinese medicine for over 4000 years, and the Sea-Band applies pressure to an accupressure point on your wrist, by a small plastic stud on the inside of your wrist  at a point between the two central tendons which is known to prevent or relieve feelings of nausea.

It is a natural, effective and drug free way to help take away the worst feelings of nausea, and can be worn from a young age.

They have been trialled with children aged 2-15 and gained excellent results in a large number of cases.

They are suitable for

  • Adults
  • Children 3 years and above
  • Pregnant women
  • Hospital patients
They are
  • Drug free with no side effects
  • Clinically tested
  • Used by doctors and hospitals
  • Fast acting
  • Simple to use
  • Reusable and washable
  • Sold in 50+ countries
  • Packed with a small plastic case which makes them easy to keep.
Where to find Seabands

Sea-band Website and Shop
Sea-Band on Facebook
Sea-Band on Twitter

You don’t have to wait for long, as the competition for 4 pairs is starting  now, and will close on the 11th September.  I will announce the winner on the 12th.

COMPETITION / GIVEAWAY

To Enter – do the following, if you are not already.

  • Leave a comment below to confirm your entry with a way for me to contact you, ie twitter id.
  • Like my blog on facebook at the right side of this post.
  • Pop on over to the Sea- Band Facebook Page (using the link above) and like them.
  • Follow me on twitter and tweet the following:
    I entered a competition to win 4 pairs of Sea-Bands at  http://wp.me/p1aG8Y-C1 with @scottish_mum
Make sure you check back on the 12th to see if you have won.  Good luck everyone.  They are lovely wristbands.
Posted on by — 1 Comment

Bloggers Adoption Group on Brit Mums

 

 

Brit Mums have had a facelift.  Formerly known as British Mummy Bloggers, they have updated and extended the facilities they have on the get together site for those of us who live and breathe in the blogosphere.

I have set up a new group on Brit Mums for bloggers who have an interest in adoption, or would like to support those who are affected by the issues surrounding adoption.

There must be quite a few of us Adoptive mums (or dads) (or grown ups with their own children). Even those of you who have questions you always wanted to ask, or just if you want to give an adopter some support on the parenting front.  Everyone is welcome.

I suppose with 3 children, I am in the almost veteran category of adoptive parents, and it can be hard to talk about our issues among non adoptive parents.

Perhaps there isn’t a need for a group for us, but if there is a mum / or dad / or child out there who wants to talk about adoption in any form, I will be around, and hopefully there will be others who feel confident enough to put their hand up and join us for the occasional chat when they need it (or even when they don’t).

Anything adoption and blogging related is welcome.  At the moment, I am billy no mates in the new group, and I’d love a few of you to pop over and join me in saying hello, and perhaps opening up the area of parenthood that is often silent in the blogging world.

Join me by clicking on Brit Mums HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on by — 5 Comments

Whats in my bag 2011. (purse for you Americans I believe)

I have never managed to understand the designer bag craze.  I just don’t get it.  A bag is a bag, is a bag, is a bag, is a bag.  It’s for holding stuff in that won’t fit in your pockets, right?

Now don’t go ratting me out as some kind of slobbish, unorganised, ineffectual mother (ok, yes you’re right, I am).  My poor little bag sees very little TLC, and tends to suffer badly from the effects of rain, wind, sleet and occasionally snow in the lovely Scottish climate.   I do give it the occasional polish to bring up the nice leather that it used to be, and the last episode of TLC was the day before the Cybermummy Train Trip.

My current bag has been slung on my back for the last 3 years and was a fantastic (splutter)  £50.00 when new.  I only tend to have one day bag and one for using on special occasions at any given time, so I like them to last.  I have bought cheap synthetic ones in the past, but I’m lucky if they last me a couple of months.  You’d think they could make them so that they would be tougher wouldn’t you?  Then again, maybe I just spend too much time with my bag on my back.

Yes, my bag is a rather untrendy for my age, small, black leather rucksack.  I’ve been wearing this type of bag off and on for about 20 years.  The only time I don’t have one is when I can’t find a nice one when it comes time to replace a worn out trusty.  Then I have to resort to the dreaded over body bags.

I just can’t understand the pleasure or practicality of having to use an arm or a hand to hold up a bag.  Whats that for then?   How do you hold onto a child, or children, and a dog, or shopping when one hand is permanently tied up holding onto a bag for dear life?

I also know people who have bags that seem to have a never ending supply of things in them.   I have a friend whose bag is a revelation.  It doesn’t matter what eventuality she comes across, there is something in that tardis of a bag she carries to fix the problem.

You are allowed to laugh when you see what is in my disorganised little carry bag.  I am dreading looking actually as it is a couple of months now since I cleared it out.

Here goes:

House and Car Keys
Caravan Keys
Chewing Gum
Old Receipts (really bad habit I have of just throwing them in)
Ancient Purse (really could use a new one)
2 Pairs of Earphones
Wrist Strap
Paracetamol
Passport Photos for us all
Virgin Vie Tinted Moisturiser
Some Bloggers Business Cards
Two Pens
Bits of a Toy
Crayons
Tomato Ketchup
Oilatum Cream
Library Cards
Dog Poo Spare Plastic Bags

Yes, I am officially a slob.  No lippy (note to self – must rectify that one).

Yes, yes I know, my bag is in need of replacement.  This one might just last another winter before it bites the dust.  I need to keep an eye out for rucksack handbags from now on.