Lucan was extremely excited when he got home this Friday as there was a squidgy purple parcel waiting for him on the doorstep. It is not often that a 3 year old gets post and so it could have been almost anything inside and he would have been thrilled.

Luckily not only was he excited by the outside he was almost beside himself with what was inside. A new pair of dungarees and not just any old dungarees, some dungarees from Wild Things. He was instantly taken by the great simple shark design and insisted on wearing them there and then. The great face on the front was topped off with a super soft fin on the back to give a great overall effect. This is a new design so isn’t on the website yet but it will be there soon. There are also some great girls wear too as well as tents for playtime.

From a mum perspective the dungarees were great quality corduroy fabric and clearly made to last the toil that they will no doubt get over the coming months.

Lucan was almost literally wrestled out of his dungarees tonight to get into the bath so I think I can say these will be a firm favourite for as long as he can squeeze them on.

Check out Wild Things at www.wildthingsdresses.com perfect for a present or just a treat they are great fun and let kids be kids in their clothes.

– Emily

We were offered a few weeks ago the chance to review a new product to the B&Q garden line up, the EasyGrow technology. I must say here that B&Q kindly donated the plants for this review via a £10 gift card. It would seem that we are easily bought. The EasyGrow website states that the purpose of the new technology, which will replace all polystyrene packaging from now on for their bedding plants, is to reduce peat usage and also to reduce the amount of polystyrene going to landfill. Both of these sound like a pretty good idea to me and I am happy to admit that I have done battle with more than a few polystyrene trays in my time. However, the point which is more pertinent to me was that they now are supporting local plant growers and all the plants we bought (and the vast majority that we found in store) were grown in the UK. This has to be a good thing and hopefully one which might one day make it onto the front of the tray rather than the back!

I was really pretty impressed with the ‘teabag technology’. Lucan, being only 3, is not the gentlest pair of hands with plants and yet even with his rough handling, the ‘teabags’ came out the green trays with ease and into the holes he made all by himself. It has to be said he was really very chuffed with himself and managed 2 or 3 completely unaided, something which really is testament to how easy the system really is. This was great on many levels but more than anything getting him involved and interested in gardening and looking after plants is something that is important to me.

Once all the plants were planted there is one bonus which is that, while you can recycle the green trays, you can also use them as seed trays to propagate the next round of seeds. This is exactly what I have done and I am looking forward to my tomato seeds getting going in their new green home.

All in all the technology of the biodegradable teabag style outer for the plants works well and seems to make gardening easy enough to make it childs-play. The proof will be rather in the flowering and hopefully the front of our house will be awash with begonias and verbenas in the not to distant future.

– Emily

Saturday 3rd May has been in the diary for a while and was a day that we were really looking forward to. It has, I am glad to say, not disappointed at all. We have spent a super day at Munchies on the Meadow 2014 in Cobham, Kent. We were invited last year to open the very first Munchies on the Meadow and had a great day. So, we were really excited when we were invited back for a second year and this time they very generously donated a stall for us to start raising funds, and awareness, for our charity the British Family Foundation. The weather was exceptional, and a year of hard work and dedication by the organisers made for a slick and fantastically attended event.

There were many of our old friends at the event: Kent Chilli Farm, Howards of Kent, Nelsons Brewery, Kent Crisps and Simply Ice Cream. There were also lots of new friends to be made as there were lots more stalls than last year. 

As part of our stall we ran a raffle to raise money to begin our charity work. We are pleased to announce the winners of our raffle were:

1st Prize – Mr Wells
2nd Prize – Ben Keelan
3rd Prize – Amy Taylor

We will contact everyone via the details they gave us and hope to have their prizes with them as soon as possible.

All in all it was a really great day and despite not winning the Munchies Bake Off (my attempt was terrible, having been forgotten while watching Masterchef) we had a great time meeting people nd getting some fantistic feedback about our plans for the foundation.

Thank you to everyone we met who were so supportive of the charity and we look forward to coming back to Munchies on the Meadow 2015!

– Emily

Britain is going crafting crazy at the moment. Websites like Folksy, Etsy and others are filled to the rafters with brilliantly made gifts. Dads are notoriously difficult to buy gifts for so perhaps this year you may want to consider something unique and handmade.  My personal favorite site is Folksy because it showcases British made goods. Here are a few of my personal favorite gifts from folksy that would be perfect for Fathers day on 15th June this year (2014).

Personalised Leather Cuff Links
Let’s get this one out of the way early because this is from my own folksy shop. I think they are a pretty ideal father’s day gift… but then I would say that. £18.00

http://folksy.com/items/4394959-Leather-Cuff-Links-Gift-Boxed-Personalised-
Guitar players wallet
You know your Dad may never get over the fact that the chances of him ever playing lead for Dire Straits are now slim. However, this nice little leather guitar pouch by Pinegrove leather is the perfect gift for the Pop that has every other guitar gadget known to man. £39.00

http://folksy.com/items/5114441-Leather-Guitar-Players-Wallet-great-Christmas-music-gift-black-panel-

Silver Fingerprint Key Ring
Dad wont loose his keys ever again with this solid silver keyring featuring the finger prints of those he love the most… his drinking buddies! £85.00

http://folksy.com/items/3352698-Father-s-Day-Silver-Fingerprint-Key-Ring-Two-Fingerprints
Liberty Print Men’s Tie
How about a handmade tie that will really make the old fella stand out from the crowd in the office? He may never be overlooked for promotion again! £28.00

http://folksy.com/items/5884421-Mens-Tie-Handmade-from-Liberty-Tana-Lawn-Chive-Red-narrow
Table lamp up-cycled from car parts
Don’t forget, you are reason your dad doesn’t own a Porsche. You might be able to make it up to him by giving him one of these lamps made out of reconditioned car parts. £60.00

http://folksy.com/items/5499811-Table-lamp-up-cycled-from-car-parts
Irish Stout Shaving Soap
If your Dads chin does not already smell enough of Guinness – and let’s face it whose doesn’t – then you may be interest to hear that you can now buy an Irish stout shaving soap. £6.00

http://folksy.com/items/3386666-Irish-Stout-Shaving-Soap

As a proud Dad I would personally be very happy to receive any of these gifts on the 15 June. So, make your old man happy this year!

– James

In the last month we have become very proud allotment holders. We have never had one before and the plot was covered with grass, rubble, black plastic and even a bit of asbestos!

With all hazards removed we roped my dad in to help us rotivate a small patch to use this year in the hope that we could cultivate a small amount at a time. Our 1st small patch was quickly filled with the pre-requisite strawberries, raspberries, red currents and blackcurrents down the outside edges of the plot. I also have a real love of fresh broad beans so having seen some fantastically grown local plants at the Westerham farmers market last weekend at a bargain 12 plants for £2, I bought up 3 trays and in they went next to the raspberries.

Anyone who asks will know I am a bit of a bargain hunter and so seeing the distinctive red reduction label on some onion sets in Waitrose a few weeks ago was more than I could pass on. These have gone in on the other side of the plot next to the strawberries as I am sure I remember my grandad say that the smell of the onions keeps the bugs off the strawberries. To fill the last few gaps there are leeks, carrots and soon there will be celeriac.

I really thought when we first rotivated the patch that it was so huge we would never fill it and yet, in less than a weekend, it was full to bursting and ready to grow. Plot two is now being dug over ready to take the peas and runner beans that are hibernating in the greenhouse and from there well I will have to see what gets going well.

I will admit that there is not much in the way of planning going on this year, it is mostly just about getting the most from the land that we can with the growing season well under way. I am hoping that in the autumn when the plants going in at the moment are pretty much done that I can look over the plot and plan more properly for next year, however for the mean time the family allotment site is ever expanding and (apart from a few nibbles by passing bunnies) growing well.

This is the first section of our new allotment

– Emily

We have been working on a few informative animations for the British Family Foundation and here is the first. It might still be a little rough but we thought that we would give you a sneak preview and try to get some constructive feedback.

Please let us know what you think…. also if you would like to hire MrsB to do some voice over work she is getting pretty good at it! 😉

We were very pleased to announce that on Saturday 3rd May we will be at the Munchies on the Meadow event in Cobham, Kent. We have been kindly offered a stand at this fantastic event to begin to generate a little bit of interest in the British Family Foundation. To be honest we are not quite ready for a full public launch yet but it will be nice to be given an opportunity to talk to the public about the charity and gauge the general reaction to our plans. (if you need to catch up on details of our charity please click here)

Having this event as a bit of a deadline means that we are really pulling our fingers out to get the website up and running. We have also had some flyers printed and have had some signage made up. It really feels like it is coming together.

Another fact, that makes us cringe a little, is that we have been asked to open the event again. In the last 18 months we have done quite a bit of this type of thing. I have to admit that we both hate it… basically because nobody actually knows who we are. I am not entirely sure why we always agree. I think we just don’t want to disappoint people when they ask us. In any event, if you get there early, you will hear us mumble embarrassingly through our little bit.

That all being said, we went to Munchies on the Meadow last year too and it was a really great event. If you are at a loose end next week it really is worth a visit. Oh, and do be sure to come and say hi to James and I.

Details about Munchies on the Meadow here.

– Emily