Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts

Thursday 22 November 2012

From SAHM to WAHM

I appologise for the lack of posts these past few weeks but things are still a little manic here
I have now officially gone from being a 'Stay at Home Mum' to a 'Work at Home Mum'.
After much cursing and shouting at my computer I now have my very own business and brand new website and it went live today, yay!

This is a big moment for me as I have always worked but since having the children it just wasn't viable anymore, what with having to pay out for two childcare fees. If I went back to work we wouldn't be any better off and I wouldn't get to be with my children. It just wasn't going to work so I needed to find something new that I could do from home and so Caro Boutique was born...



I'd love it if you could check out my site and let me know what you think.



Thursday 23 August 2012

Daddy's to do list

Image found on Pinterest





I have a list, it's not a particualriy long list, the jobs on it aren't really that hard to do. Infact I could probably do most of them myself if I really put my mind to it but this is not my list, this is Daddy's list. The same list that has been stuck up on the wall in his office for quite some time now, with nothing scrubbed out or ticked off. This upsets me. 
I like lists, it's a simple way of organising your day to day activities without forgetting anything or getting sidetracked by other things (dam you Pinterest).

So as I said Daddy's list has been sitting there for a longer than I can cope with, even my moving it around the room in the vain hope that he might notice it again, has failed. So instead of continually nagging him about said list, I have written him a new one. We'll see how fast things start to get ticked off now.

Daddy’s to do list

1)      Fix the windscreen on my car. The small crack has now spread from the top to the bottom. If you don’t then just be warned that after we die (from the car crash that we will inevitably  have because of the cracked winscreen) I shall haunt you everyday for the rest of your life!

2)      Put up Lj’s new curtain pole in her bedroom, if you don’t I shall just have to find a new place to shove it. Somewhere that the sun doesn’t shine perhaps?


3)      Take the handrail off  the wall in the en-suite. If you don’t and I hit my elbow on it one more time then I might just cry (full on , snot running down my face crying) and we all know that nothing makes a man more uncomfortable than a crying woman.

4)      Cut the grass, I don’t want to have to send out a search party everytime the toddler goes out there!  I could, of cause, do this myself but this is a mans job, as is taking out the rubbish, washing the cars and fixing broken things.


5)      Sort out the timer on the water heater. If the kids have to have one more cold bath I think they may get hypothermia. I’m pretty sure that the kids lips turning blue is a bad sign.

Love your adoring and slightly mad other half x





Thursday 12 July 2012

10 Child-Friendly Places to Visit in South Devon

I have just realised that as of next month we will have been living in Devon for a year now. I just can't get over how fast time seems to be flying by at the moment.
Even though we have been here a year it still sometimes feels like we are on a very long holiday. 
We keep discovering new and exciting places to go so I thought for todays post I would share with you some of the fantastic child friendly places that we have found, especially with the forthcoming summer holidays.

1) The Wood Cafe

Now this is a fantastic place that is set within a woodland Yurt Camp. They have a great range of food and drink available (their hot chocolate with marshmallows is my fave) and while you are enjoying your food the children can either play with the basket full of toys or go outside to the undercover play barn.  This place is definitely worth a visit. 


2) Trago Mills

 Trago is one of my regular haunts with the kids, especially when I don't want to spend a huge amount of money. There is so much to do there and you could easily fill up a whole day. (From an adult point of view it is all looking a little tired these days and could do with a good lick of paint but the children don't care about that).
There's an amusment park with a whole array of different rides, you can either buy a ticket for the day for these or pay as you go with tokens. 
The little steam train is a great way to travel around the site and takes you from one end to the other.
My sons favourite part of Trago is the model railway which costs just a pound each to get into (under 4's are free). My daughters favourite part is the animal farm, which is free to get into. Always a bonus.
 For the adults there is a massive, and I mean massive, discount store. They sell everything from carpets to candles.



If you fancy an active day, whether it be walking, cycling, climbing or flying threw the trees, then this is the place for you. It is free to get in, you just have to pay for your parking. ( Peak - Up to 2 hours £3, Over 2 hours £4).
I love this place when I'm having one of those days where the aim of the game is to wear the kids out. 
They have some fantastic walks to suit all abilities and if you aim it right you can end the walk at the big sandpit playarea. 



Personally I love this place, I have a bit of a thing for glass. 
This is another place that is free to get into. There's a shop, a restaurant, glass blowing workshop, outside games garden, marble museum and the fabulous marble runs (these keep my son amused for ages). 
If you are looking to buy a unusual present for someone then this is the place to go.




This is another place that we regularly frequent. A bit like Haldon, it's free to get in but you just have to pay for parking ( £1 for two hours or £2 for all day, I believe). 
Right in the middle is the massive lake that you can walk around and feed the ducks as you go. There are interpretation boards dotted around the walk, an aeriel walkway, a bird hide, picnic areas and a children's walk with little wooden animal statues. 
You can also visit the Nature Interpretation Centre. (Also free).



Cockington is a magical village hidden within the middle of Torquay. It has your classic 'choclate box' style cottages with thatched roofs and horse drawn carts. 
Cockington Court is right in the centre of the village and has cafes, playarea, workshops and plenty of space for the kids to run wild and free. 
You don't have to pay to get in but again you must pay for your parking, quite pricey at around £6 but definitely worth it. 
There is often events going on here so worth checking out their website before you go to see what's on. 

Photo taken from their website


This is one of those, for what seems inevitable, wet days that we seem to be having so many of lately. 
Ted's is an indoor play place specially designed for under 6's. 
It's great because you don't have the usual worries that you have when you go to the other big soft play centres. You can drink your tea in peace knowing that your little bundle of joy isn't going to get squashed by a bigger kid or lost in a maze of colourful plastic.
It's £3 per child for unlimited play and under 1's go free. There's a cafe, free parking and baby changing facilities.




If your daughter is anything like mine and has a new found fascination with animals then this is a great little place to visit. It's free to go to but they are only open to the public on Sundays between 1.30 and 4.00.
They have a small selection of ponies that you can see and stroke and even adopt one if you feel like it. (That might make it a bit of an expensive trip though!) 
You can find the dpht in the grounds of Parke a National Trust area which is also a great free place to visit with lots of beautiful walks along hidden rivers.
I suggest you take a picnic, yummy.

Image taken from website


This is one of mine and the OH's favourite places to eat. The food is real, fresh rustic farm food. It's lovely!
The cafe has an indoor play area for the kids, so you can enjoy your food in peace. It also has an outdoor play area, a farm shop and an animal barn. 
If you are like us and still like to go out and enjoy good food but don't want the stress of worrying about the kids then this is the place for you.





10) Last but not least Teignmouth Seafront

This is another place that we spend quite a significant amount of time, well weather permitting of cause. It has the best playground around (free) and the pier is also a great place to visit. (free to get in, we like free)
You can stroll along the seafront and take in the views, you could even have some yummy fish and chips.

Image taken from website


 So that's it, this is my life, all the places that we spend most of our time. if you know of any other great places in the area then I'd love to know about them.









Monday 25 June 2012

Regaining Control

My blog feels neglected, poor blog! 
We were so busy last week that I literally had no time to think let alone write.
I know it's bad but I've felt nervous all week that I might be missing out on the goings on in the blog world. Whoever says blogging isn't addictive is lying, well I suppose there are worse things to be addicted to aren't there?

I've decided this week, what with my anxiety levels still rising, that I need to get organised, I need to have a system, I need a way of prioritising my time. So I have made a home central area...


This is my way of getting everything in one place. I am a self confessed lover of lists. I have lists everywhere and for everything. Lists for shopping, lists of things I need to do, lists of things I want to do, lists of things I want the OH to do. 


I feel that I have lost control of the house this week and everything is piling on top of me, hopefully this 'home central' idea is the answer. 



The trouble is now I've organised one aspect of the house I want to do the rest, look out linen cupboard here I come!


Thursday 23 February 2012

Boxes, boxes and more boxes!

Looks like we might be moving again!
We have only been in this house for 6 months but I have found the house of our dreams. A lovely cottage with exposed beams and open fireplaces and a spare bedroom for guests, fab!

Just the thought of having to pack all over again fills me with dread but luckily we still haven't unpacked half our stuff from the last move so this time it should be easier, (We'll see about that). Also this house is only just down the road instead of 200 or so miles away.
The kids, no doubt, will be about as much help as they were last time, (unpacking the boxes as I was packing them) and screaming at me if I try to pack any of their toys. Oh joy!

Last time we moved they looked like this...



and now they look like this...




They change so quickly, blink and you miss it.

I'm going to have packing a house down to a fine art by the time we settle somewhere.
Let the packing begin.