apple crumble recipe: September 2013

It was all going so well until

Easyjet, in their wisdom, decided to land our plane in Santiago instead of Porto! The staff are saying the problem is the fog here - pictured - but we can hear other planes taking off and landing so that's a lie.
We should have started boarding at 14.35. At 16.00 we finally got some news and were told that boarding will begin at 21.15. Oh joy! If Easyjet actually stick to this, we might get home by about 1am. If not, I might be going straight to work from Gatwick.
Fortunately I have several audio books on my headphones and there's a Costa with comfy armchairs. Silver linings?

P.S. We finally got a plane which took off about 10pm and landed at Gatwick shortly after midnight. We were all given vouchers to buy food. Arrived home at 2am.

A tram ride to the coast

for our last full day in Porto.

We started with a visit to the church of St Francis which is such a vision of ornate gilty cheruby excess that it's overwhelming - and not in a good way. The origins of the church are medieval but most of the decor was added in the 1700s.

The tram terminus is just outside the church and it's only €2.50 for nearly half an hour along the river to the sea. Both the tram and the Metro are great ways to tour Porto cheaply!

The huge sculpture pictured is some minutes walk from the sea end of the tram line. There's a sandy beach with lots of surfers in the sea and a wide promenade to stroll along. We kept walking past the fish docks and along a street with a dozen or so stalls grilling fresh caught sardines. We got as far as Mercado, a huge glass roofed market building.

This striking art deco villa

is in the Fundacao de Serralves park which also contains a contemporary art gallery, a tranquil tea house, rose and herb gardens, a small farm and an arboretum.

We weren't particularly taken by the art. Alexandre Estrela had several sound and video installations, a couple of which were intriguing, and Bochner was the main visiting exhibition. Fun images comprised of words were the more memorable of his works.

Fortunately today had very little rain - yesterday afternoon we got drenched! So we could walk all around Serralves, took tea in the Tea House and then walked back to Hotel Teatro along the river. We calculate nearky six hours walking in all.

Dinner tonight was a disappointing salted cod dish with tinned boiled potatoes. T'was an odd restaurant! A shame as yesterday's monkfish risotto at Restaurante Novo Paris was really nice.

I am developing a taste both for the little pastry custard tarts they sell everywhere and also for tawny port. Oops! More walking is needed tomorrow.

Kensington SafeGrip iPad Case

Technology now plays a huge part in our children's lives whether we like it or not. It is everywhere and is hard to escape from. At my boy's school they use a lot of gadgets and are encouraged to do the same at home. Luckily for my children they have lots to choose from both at school and at home. I am one of those parents who tries to let her children embrace technology where ever possible. Having just said that I do have my limits to the amount of time they spend on the computer or iPad as I do like them to play with normal toys too. I do like the boys to respect the gadgets that we have though but do worry that they can be too heavy handed especially with my iPad. Luckily for me I was recently asked to review a new case from Kensington that is specifically designed for the iPad and is aimed at children users.

The Kensington SafeGrip case features a rugged handle, this is perfect for little hands. The handle can also be used as a stand. There is also a stylus holder on the case and a personalisation slot on the back, so you can put a name tag on it so you know who it belongs too.

The key features of the case include:

Made from a tough, padded material to protect against drops and bumps
Built to survive the outdoors, kids and shared-use environments
Comes with a screen protector
A handle for carrying, ideal for kids and prevents drops
The handle doubles as a stand with type and view modes
Built-in stylus holder and personalisation pocket
Has access to all ports - charger socket, camera, headphone socket etc
Suitable for iPad 2 and newer models

The case is priced at £39.99. Some people may think that this is expensive. But if you think about the actual cost of an iPad this really is a small price to pay in comparison to replacing a whole tablet. Even if you have house insurance you will more than likely have to pay an excess so why not have a little piece of mind with a case that you know will protect your iPad well.

Enjoying Porto despite the rain

which has been torrential in bursts this morning. The hotel has umbrellas to borrow though!

We've seen the Bolhao market, the gorgeous bookshop with the Hogwarts staircase - Lello - and so much beautiful architecture. I love that there as so many grand old buildings with fabulous tiled frontages and interesting statues like the one pictured. All the pavements are cobbled, some with black and white images.

Yesterday, there were several groups of university students, elegantly dressed in black capes and suits all over the city centre. Apparently it is some sort of initiation rite for the freshmen students but it was bizarre to see them all together. Perhaps J K Rowling was inspired by their appearance as well as Lello?

I think this afternoon we might wander round some more and drink in the atmosphere. I quite like being in the rain as it is still warm and with only a light breeze. Photos aren't coming out so well though.

Happy Birthday Dave!

It's a very special day today!

Not just any another Wednesday, but Wednesday the 25th of September!

That means it's Davey's Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my Gorgeous Boyfriend

May you have a lovely day with lots of Chocolate and Sunshine

The Anagranimals & The Wishing Tree Book Review

Recently the boys were sent a book called The Anaganimals and the Wishing Tree to review. We were very happy about this as we love books.

The Anaganimals and the Wishing Tree is a new book by Leith Moghli. It is illustrated by Ian King. I have to admit that these are fantastic. I especially love the picture of the Wishing Tree.

The book tells the story of a group of animals in a land called Pogo Bogo. They find a wishing tree and are allowed to make a wish. They all wish for the best parts of their favourite animals.

The book is aimed at 5 - 9 year olds. I did notice that there is a lot of text per page and although Nathan can read quite well he is not used to so much text at a time. Callum on the other hand loves reading longer stories and had no problem at all and happily read the story on his own. We also enjoyed the story together as a bedtime story and all 3 boys loved the names of the newly transformed animals. Our favourites were the "Hippo-Rillo-Roo' and the "Ele-Zeb-Zee'. We had lots of giggles throughout the story.

The book was released on 1st September and is the first installment of a great adventure. You can find out more, read the next installment and other stories at www.Anagranimals.com. We will certainly be checking it out to see how the adventures continues.

Blackberry bakewell tarts recipe

I walked along the Cuckoo Trail into Hailsham this morning and, along the way, saw a couple of women picking blackberries which reminded me that I had not yet gotten around to posting this recipe. I found it originally on the +BBC Good Food website and baked the little tarts pictured for when our friends Andy and Barbara came round for dinner. They went down so well that the plate was cleared within a few minutes! Dave and I had 'tested' a few straight from the oven earlier in the afternoon - purely to make sure they were up to standard you understand? I think they actually taste almondier when cold than when hot.

Ingredients (made 18 tarts) Apologies for the mixed measurements - I always make pastry in imperial!

For the pastry:
8oz plain flour
5oz butter
3-4 tbsp cold water

For the filling:
100g butter
100g caster sugar
1 large egg
100g ground almonds
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp almond liqueur (optional)
Blackberries

Start by making the pastry. Chop the butter into cubes and rub in into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water slowly and mix it in until you have a soft-but-not-sticky dough. Chill the dough in the fridge while you make the frangipane filling.

Preheat the oven to 200c / 180c fan / gas mark 6.

Put the chopped butter, caster sugar, egg, almonds and plain flour into a large mixing bowl. If using the almond liqueur, add it now too. (Dave had a bottle of +DISARONNO so I 'borrowed' some!) Beat all the ingredients together until combined and fluffy. Don't overmix though.

Roll out the pastry into a thin layer and use a 8-9cm pastry cutter to get circles. (The pastry in the phot was a bit too thick.) Grease a bun tin and line each of the indentations with a pastry circle. Fill each pastry case with a good tsp of frangipane and push a blackberry into the centre. I intended to use the blackberries from our garden, but there weren't enough so we got a punnet from +Waitrose instead. They were huge.

Bake the tarts for about 15 mins and try not to serve them ALL immediately!

Whipped semolina pudding with apples and black aronia berries

Aroonia-õunamannavaht & arooniasmuuti / Black aronia smoothie and black aronia and apple pudding

Recipe by Pille @ Nami-Nami. Above photo by Juta Kübarsepp for the October 2012 issue of Kodu ja Aed ("Home and Garden", an Estonian monthly magazine. I've been their food writer since October 2012)

Back in July, The Wall Street Journal touted the slightly astringent and tart black aronia as possibly the next superberry. While WSJ listed it alongside other health-giving berries, Fox News wrote more directly: Aronia: The North American super berry with cancer-fighting properties., calling aronia the "King Kong of antioxidant berries" (other than that, it's actually a pretty good and informative article). In a word - it's a great berry that's very good to you!

Black aronia berry has been popular here in Estonia for decades - it makes a beautiful hedge plant, especially in the autumn:

Black aronia / Must aroonia

See what I mean? The aronia plant has most beautiful dark red leaves in the autumn!

Usually the berries are used to make cordial, though they can be used in so many other ways. I often throw a handful of berries into my smoothie, and I've provided links to various recipes below. Here's a simple autumnal pudding, using apples, aronia berries and cream of wheat/semolina.

Black aronia and apple whipped semolina pudding
(Aroonia-õunavaht)
Serves 4 to 6

1 l (4 cups) water
500 ml (2 cups) a mix of cleaned black aronia berries and chopped apples
100 g caster sugar
a pinch of salt
200 ml semolina (wholewheat or spelt semolina is fine, too)

Put the aronia berries and chopped apples into a saucepan, pour over the water. Bring into a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the aronia berries have softened.

Take a bowl (or another saucepan) and cover with a sieve. Pour the cooked apples and black aronias - and their boiling liquid - onto the sieve and using the back of a wooden spoon, press as much of the fruit through the sieve. Season the mixture with sugar and a pinch of salt. Bring into a boil.

Pour semolina quickly into the boiling mixture, stirring vigorously to avoid any lumps. Then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, stirring every now and then, until semolina - and the pudding - thickens. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for about half an hour. Whisk until fluffy and light - this is best done with an electric mixer.

Serve with milk.

More recipes using black aronia berries aka chokeberries:
Black aronia muffins @ Nami-Nami
Black aronia and kefir smoothie @ Nami-Nami
Aronia jam @ Blooms 'n' Food
6 recipes @ Deep Roots
Aronia jam @ Sto kolorow kuchni (recipe in Polish)
Black aronia soda @ ferdakost
Vispipuuro omenasta ja marja-aroniasta by Riikka @ (recipe in Finnish)
Vispipuuro marja-aroniasta @ Omenaminttu (recipe in Finnish)
Vispipuuro marja-aroniasta ja mustaherukasta by MariMaalla @ Lily (recipe in Finnish)
Aroniaglögi @ Omenaminttu (recipe in Finnish)
Aronia-omenakisselli @ Omenaminttu (recipe in Finnish)
Aronia and rye foam by Malitsu @ Mämmi

DC Super Friends Magazine

The boys are huge super hero fans. They have lots of the imaginext toys and play with them often. There is a new childrens magazine that follows these super heros. It is called DC Super Friends.

DC Super Friends is aimed at boys aged 2 -5. So perfect for Nathan and James. The magazine is packed full of things to keep your little super hero busy. There are puzzles, cut out and keep activities, colouring games, a fan page and competitions for them to enter to win great prizes too. Nathan loves the "Find Joker" activity and kept an eye out for him whilst looking through the magazine.

DC Super Friends has exciting stories about super friends Batman, Superman, The Flash and Green Lantern and many others. The magazine stimulates imagination through these and the activities throughout the magazine. The stories show how good role models unite through friendship to overcome the bad guys. I definitely think there needs to be more emphasis when children are young that by working together and working hard the evil and the bad can be fought and beaten.

James' favourite bit about that magazine is that it comes with a free toy. On the front of this magazine are two communicators and next month there will be a free helicopter toy.

The magazine is available to buy from 19th September in both supermarkets and newsagents. It is priced at £2.99. You can also subscribe to this magazine by visiting www.titanmagazines.com.

Competition To Win 1 of 10 Sets of Aqua Ears

Do you have a child that hates water going in their ears when they are swimming or in the bath? If so then Aquar Ears may just be the product for you. They are specially designed for children and are very soft, they are ideal for swimming, showering, or bathing.

They can also help to protect your child's ears from infections whilst they swim on holiday and you can be assured that loud music at festivals or loud noises at any even will not damage their ears.

Aqua Ears use the same technology as BioEars. BioEars are the only earplugs which use ACTIValoe - a powerful anti-microbial agent, which keeps the earplugs free from the bacteria that can lead to degradation in ordinary earplugs. The earplugs are easily moulded to the shape of the ear providing a comfortable airtight seal.

The earplugs are safe, comfortable, waterproof and reusable and come in pairs of three in a waterproof carry case. Suitable for all ages, they are available in larger Boots stores priced at £4.99.

We have been given 10 sets to giveaway. To win a set just fill in the Rafflecopter form below. Make sure you leave me a comment telling me if you would prefer either SpongeBob SquarePants or Finding Nemo.

UK entrants only

Winners will be chosen at random after the

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Skwooshi Activity Set Review

When I was asked if the boys would like to review Skwooshi a couple of months a go I really didn't know what we were letting ourselves in for. I am the type of mum who lets her children have minimal crafty things at home. My reason for this is mess. I hate mess and I hate it even more when things are ruined because molding materials have been trodden into carpets or paints have been dropped and splashed up the walls. I think my hatred for all things messy came about when my brother was little and my mum allowed him to use dough in the front room. He got it everywhere and it would not come out of the carpet once it had been walked all over by the then 5 year old brother. My parents weren't impressed at all. So I have tried to keep the mess to a minimum in my own home with the boys.

So what is Skwooshi I hear you ask? Skwooshi is a cool new compound that can be stretched, molded, and
shaped. It is mess free and will never dry out. (see my earlier comments about things making a mess - this doesn't - huge thumbs up from me here because of this). On holding Skwooshi I would say it does feel strange. It has a very funny texture, it feels like sand but is durable and solid like dough. It is easy to squash and squeeze and extremely easy to mold and make things out of.

Skwooshi is available in 10 different colours. The set we reviewed came with 3 colours, a brick maker, a plunger, a cutter, 4 cookie cutters, a roller and an instruction sheet. It is also wheat and gluten free.

You can play with Skwooshi on any surface. It doesn't stick or stain fabrics or carpets meaning no mess at all. )I may have mentioned this before - but I love this about it) If bits do escape whilst playing it is easy to clean up, you can simply sweep or vacuum it away.

Skwooshi is available to buy in different sets. It is suitable for children aged 3 years + to play with. The set we received is priced around £12.99 and can be bought both online and in store from good toy stockists such as Smyths.

For more information about Skwooshi take a look at http://www.flairplc.co.uk/brands/Skwooshi/

Competition To Win A Jaffa Fruit Cycling Kit

This summer, citrus fruit favourite Jaffa Fruit, and its gazebo have been touring the UK as an official sponsor of Sky Ride’s city cycling events. Along with the inimitable Jaffa Fruit man, the team have been welcoming families and Sky Ride fans to fun packed days out all across the country and handing out vitamin C packed clementines as well Jaffa reflectors and Tesco money off vouchers.

We have been asked to host a competition to celebrate this event and the prize for one of our lucky readers is a Jaffa Fruit cycling kit worth £50. The prize includes a Halfords bike pump, water bottle, bike lights, bike computer, Jaffa Fruit orange shaped bike reflectors, t-shirts and Tesco money-off vouchers.

To enter simply fill out the rafflecopter form below:

UK entrants only
A winner will be selected at random after the closing date

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I Want More Of The Big Reunion...

I have just caught up on the latest installment of The Big Reunion from last week. I have to admit I love it. It takes me back to my teenage years and reminded me of some of the happiest days of my life. I fell in love for the first time, left school, started and finished college and started uni, had a job that I loved and some great mates. To be honest life was pretty simple when I was younger, there was nothing overly exciting that happened but I had no stress or worries. Yes life was pretty good back then.

My taste in music can only be described as eclectic. I love music from all generations and all genres. Looking in my iTunes you will find the likes of Elvis Presley, The Who, Pink Floyd, UB40, U2, Madonna, Take That, Robbie Williams, and Daft Punk. This is just the top 9 artists who come up on shuffle. I know for a fact I have Meatloaf, Bryan Adams, Oasis, Ocean Colour Scene, Sleeper, The Lightning Seeds and many more on there too. I love the randomness that it throws out, the look on both Matt's and the boys faces are priceless when they hear some of what I have on there. I also have many of the songs from the bands who have been featured on The Big Reunion. Although most of them didn't sing any of my favourites.

I have loved seeing the groups get back together on the show but especially 5ive and 911. What can I say even though my taste in music is somewhat varied I used to love boy bands back in the day. I always have been and will always be a huge Take That, Boyzone and Westlife fan - and lets face it one or two of the members of 5ive and 911 still look pretty hot, especially Lee from 911 and Rich from 5ive!! Is it quite sad that I knew all the words to their songs? I am annoyed that I left it too late to try to see the tour but hope that I can see them all on the Christmas one instead - I may have to sweet talk my Daddy (even at nearly 30 he is still called Daddy) into buying me tickets for my birthday or Christmas.

I really hope that they make a second series as there are so many forgotten groups that they could reunite. I would love to see Let Loose, A1 or even North and South (you may not remember these guys unless you watched their tv show on CBBC) and although they weren't an English group I would love to see Savage Garden reunite as they were pretty awesome too in my opinion.

So who would you like to see reunited or not as the case maybe....

Yu! Snacks Review

Now the boys are back in school one of my everyday tasks is to make their packed lunches interesting, healthy and varied so they don't end up eating the same things everyday. I like to think that I make them healthy lunches and that they enjoy eating them. So when I was asked if the boys would like to try a selection of Yu! Snacks I agreed that they could give them a try.

Yu! snacks are a range of healthy snacks which are made from 100% real fruit. They are, great for lunchboxes or just as a snack between meals. you can buy them from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose.

The first snack that the boys tried was the Yu! Bars. They contain 40% fruit and cereal and are covered in yogurt. They are available in strawberry, raspberry, blackcurrant, raisin and banana. They cost 45p for a single bar 25g or £2 for a 5 bar multipack.

The boys didn't really like the Yu! Fruit Chews but I thought that they were very nice. The chews are bite-sized pieces of dried fruit, they are 100% fruit and count as one of your 5-a-day. Each bag has less than 90 calories, are fat free and have no added sugar. Even though the boys didn't like them I will be buying them in the future as they are ideal for myself as a healthy snack when out and about.

The last snack that the boys tried was the Yogurt-Coated Fruit Pieces. These are exactly what they say. They are tasty fruit bites covered in a creamy yogurt coating. They contain real fruit and real yogurt. They are available in strawberry, raspberry, blackcurrant, raisin and banana. They cost 45p for a single bar 25g or £2 for a 5 bar multipack. Nathan is a huge fan of bananas and is the only fruit he will eat. So when I gave him these to try I wasn't expecting him to eat them. But he loved them.

I intend to buy some of the Yu! Snacks for the boys for their packed lunches as I know that they like them and will eat them.

For more information, you can visit www.yuhealthysnacks.co.uk, follow on Twitter @YuHealthySnacks or ‘Like’ Yu! Snacks on Facebook.

*I was sent a small selection of Yu! Snacks for the purpose of this review - all thoughts and opinions are my own*

Green smoothie recipe

SeptembriRetsept13 _04

Recipe by Pille @ Nami-Nami. Above photo by Juta Kübarsepp for the September 2013 issue of Kodu ja Aed ("Home and Garden", an Estonian monthly magazine. I've been their food writer since October 2012)

Here's a recipe for a healthy and delicious pick-me-up smoothie for those days that kids have been driving you crazy, the to-do-list doesn't seem to get any shorter however hard you try, and you simply have no time to cook anything decent for yourself. It's the matter of peeling three fruits and throwing them into the blender (and rinsing the blender afterwards). I'll find time for that any day :)

The green smoothie - if the name didn't give it away already - is the one third from the left on the above photo. Feel free to guess what the other three are ;)

Green smoothie
(Roheline smuuti)
Serves 2

2 kiwis
1 banana
1 avocado
200 ml orange juice*

Peel the banana, kiwis and avocado. Place the flesh into your blender. Add the orange juice and process till smooth. Serve at once.

If you want your smoothie thinner, then add more orange juice, ice or ice-cold water.

* Ideally freshly squeezed, but any good-quality bottled juice will work as well.

Feeling a Little Lost.....

James had his first day at school yesterday. I wanted to write this post then but words actually failed me as I couldn't decide what I wanted to say. I'm still a little unsure now so please forgive my rambling.

It doesn't seem like two minutes since the midwife was placing a little bundle in my arms. I knew he was my last baby (we had decided before I got pregnant that with 3 boys between us already another baby would complete our family) so had decided I would cherish every little minute.

When everyone found out it was yet "another" boy there were a lot of comments along the lines of "didn't you want a girl" and "oh she'll be trying for that girl just you watch" but the truth is although I would have given anything for a girl it wasn't to be and I could have continued "trying" but seriously there has to be a time when you finally say enough is enough. We certainly couldn't afford more than the children we have and we certainly couldn't fit anymore in our home! but I am very happy with my 3 very happy and healthy boys. Yes it took me a while to get to this happy place but I now know that I'm very happy and wouldn't change them or our family for the world.

So fast forward 4 years and here we are first day at school. The years have gone scarily fast and there is so much that has happened within them.

However, I am now finding myself sat at home watching the clock (sort of). For the last 8 years I have been a stay at home mum and have known nothing else. It is very quiet in the home and although I have a list a mile long of all the things I should or could do at the minute I just don't want to do them. I know I want to go back to work but again I am unsure what I want to do. I am at a crossroads in my life and I am at a total loss as to which way to go. I have a big birthday coming up next month and one that I think i am actually quite sad to be approaching but I will meet that and anything else that comes my way head on. Who knows what the future holds, definitely a wedding and lots of school runs that's for sure. Maybe I should start up my driving lessons again, go horse riding or take up a sport.

Fellowes Powershred 73Ci Review

Identity fraud is something that could affect anyone, fraudsters don't discriminate and will target both businesses and individuals, they simply do not care who you are they just want your details.

Having your identity stolen isn't just an inconvenience, it can be devastating and life changing. It can make you insecure and untrusting of everyone and everything. I would like to think that I am quite aware of scammers and the tricks that they use online, I protect my passwords, I don't send my details to suspicious looking emails (and I must get about 100 a week many of which say I've won the lottery or been left millions of pounds (I wish) or the ones supposedly from the banks saying that my account has been suspended even though I don't bank with them, or ones from Paypal saying I need to make a payment) but I'd also like to think that I am the same when it comes to protecting my identity in everyday circumstances too as I never throw personal information away in the rubbish and I always try to cut up my old bank cards.

Recently I was asked to review the Fellowes Powershred 73Ci. According to the box it is the world's toughest shredder. I was interested to see if this was true.

The first thing I noticed is that the shredder is very well packed and upon opening the box is that minimal assembly is required (perfect for people like myself who are no good with these kind of things). All you need to do to get the shredder ready for use is to push the four castors into place ( the shredder is quite heavy and it moves a lot easier on the castors) then place the heavy motor/feed housing onto the base. It really is as simple as that.

A shredder is a great way to dispose of household documents that may expose a families personal information including addresses and bank details and is a useful tool to protect against fraud, it takes next to no time at all if you keep on top of shredding unwanted documents and personal information. One of the main things that I love about the 73Ci Shredder is that it can also shred debit / credit cards and CDs, not just paper.

You can shred up to 12 sheets of paper at once but I tend to keep it to around 9 or 10. There is no need to take out paper clips or staples either as they can be shredded too making the shredding taking even less time. The shredder cuts each piece into 4x38mm cross-cut particles.

The shredder features a patented SafeSense™ technology that ensures the safety of the user by automatically disabling the shredder when sensing hands or pets are too close to the paper feed. An electronic sensor surrounds the shredder’s paper entry and shuts down the machine immediately when it comes in contact with the energy field created by humans and larger pets. This is great for us with three small children and a very nosy boxer dog.

The shredder has a touch sensitive back lit panel that has a range of warning lights. These are bin full, remove paper, bin open, overheat and SafeSense. These will remain unlit unless there is a problem. It also has a built in energy saving system that reduces in-use energy consumption by up to 70% when in use, it powers down when it has been inactive for 2 minutes.

The 73Ci has a 23 litre pull out bin which is ample enough to keep you shredding away without having to empty the bin too often.

Key features of the shredder:

Shreds 12 sheets per pass into 4x38mm cross-cut particles
100% Jam Proof system eliminates paper jams and powers through tough jobs
Patented SafeSense® Technology stops shredding when hands touch the paper entry
Energy savings system reduces in-use energy consumption and powers down after periods of inactivity.
23 litre pull-out bin for easy emptying

You can purchase this shredder for around £180.00 but this will depend on where you purchase it from. It can be bought both online and in store.

This shredder is ideal for a small office or in the home. It is quite when in use, can be easily moved around from one room to the next if needed. I would highly recommend getting a shredder like the 73Ci as it gives the user piece of mind that they have destroyed the personal information and that the paper can then be disposed of safely.

*I was sent this item for the purpose of this review - all thoughts and opinions are my own*

Wedding Planner Book Review

As many of you may have read in some of my previous posts, Matthew and I have finally started to plan our wedding can host more than one wedding each day. We don't really have a date set in stone but we know we would love it to be either summer 2014 or 2015. Luckily for us the place we have in mind can be booked at short notice. I think the last time I looked at their Facebook page they had 6 weddings one day and only two the day before and three the day after, so I am hoping that we can be just book something with a couple of months notice once we have everything planned and paid for. We already know we are having an intimate ceremony with the boys and our close family and then a big reception when we come home for all our family and friends. As both of our families are so big there was no way we could invite everyone or have a shortened list without upsetting someone.

Luckily for me I was recently asked to review a wedding planner book from Paper Themes. Paper Themes are a company who specialise in wedding invitations, but they also sell lots of other wedding related items too.

The planner is beautifully decorated with a bird and heart print. It looks both elegant and stylish. When I first opened up the planner I was suprised as to how well everything was set out. Inside the planner there is a guide showing you needed to plan the perfect wedding. The guide has six tabbed sections with card and plastic pockets for easy storage and reference.

The planner has an undated calendar, space for guest lists and important contacts, bride, groom, bridesmaid, best man and usher measurements, a budgeting sheet with all the different things you need to buy or plan so you can keep track of your costs and space for your present list plus much more.

The planner is priced at £19.99. I didn't even think about using a planner like this when I first started to organise our big day as I didn't think we would need one with our wedding only being a reasonably small occasion but after a closer look I have quickly realised that I would easily forget to include a lot of things that we would want or need. Or I would more than likely lose one of my many lists that I so love to make for everything. The planner is ideal as you can keep all your wedding related items together. It isn't too big so can be carried around with you if needed too. I am hoping that by using the planner my big day will be planned and organised with very little stress. I shall no doubt keep you all posted of our developments.

*I was sent this item for the purpose of this review - all thoughts and opinions are my own*