Thank god for tesco vouchers. Boys 1 & 2 have been trampolining on Saturday mornings for a few months now at the local leisure centre and were desperate to get a trampoline at home. Tesco came up trumps with a great summer offer that increased the value of our stach of clubcard vouchers to a point where we could buy a 12ft trampoline basically for nothing.
Its been a great investment as they have spent much time on it when they would otherwise be under my feet at home. And, whilst their bouncing skills are improving, the safety net and enclosure have given it something of a cage fighting feel which is not lessened by the amount of wrestling and play fighting that goes on in there!
balancing babies, business and blogging (but not necessarily in that order)
Monday, 14 January 2013
The end of two eras...
January is a great time for a clear out. And once I'm in the mood I do actually enjoy the feeling of decluttering my life by getting rid of a few old possessions that I no longer use. This year I've taken it a little further than before and decided to sell two of my most precious (but still never used!) possessions. Both have been part of my life for over 20 years and both bring back some very fond memories.
Back in sixth form our group of friends split down the middle when it came to the analogie vs digital music debate. I was firmly in the analogue camp (those pesky CD players will never catch on right?) and to prove it I dropped a huge amount of money on a beautiful Linn Axis turntable which has been the centrepiece of my Hifi ever since and has given faultless service for nearly 25 years. Well now, with 3 kids, ipods, ipads, spotify and cds I've come to the conclusion that I am likely never to ply a record again so, being ruthless with myself, I've listed it on ebay in the hope that someone with more time and a quieter household will buy it and cherish it for another 25 years.
A few years after buying the Linn Axis I went mad and bought a lovely Marin Pine Mountain MTB that saw me all through University and beyond but has spent more and more time in the garage in recent years and, after I bought a new bike in a fit of pre-christmas optimism last year I'm afraid the old warhorse has to go! Once again its been listed of ebay, but I have an interesting question about when something that is simply "old" becomes "vintage"!
Back in sixth form our group of friends split down the middle when it came to the analogie vs digital music debate. I was firmly in the analogue camp (those pesky CD players will never catch on right?) and to prove it I dropped a huge amount of money on a beautiful Linn Axis turntable which has been the centrepiece of my Hifi ever since and has given faultless service for nearly 25 years. Well now, with 3 kids, ipods, ipads, spotify and cds I've come to the conclusion that I am likely never to ply a record again so, being ruthless with myself, I've listed it on ebay in the hope that someone with more time and a quieter household will buy it and cherish it for another 25 years.
A few years after buying the Linn Axis I went mad and bought a lovely Marin Pine Mountain MTB that saw me all through University and beyond but has spent more and more time in the garage in recent years and, after I bought a new bike in a fit of pre-christmas optimism last year I'm afraid the old warhorse has to go! Once again its been listed of ebay, but I have an interesting question about when something that is simply "old" becomes "vintage"!
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
New marshmallow lunchbox - Sweet!
I'm pretty pleased with how our new marshmallow lunchbox has turned out. You can see it (and buy it on our website www.lunchboxesetc.co.uk
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
The amazing flying tube!
I'm a sucker for a little geek sad project to try and impress boy1 and boy2. So I was excited to see a very unusual paper aeroplane on QI the other night. This was essentially a tube of paper slightly weighted at the front end which flew straight and true with a little spinning overran throw.
As the boys have recently been coming back from school with armfuls of traditional paper darts this seemed a great opportunity and I was pleased to find a good PDF on the web which has now been printed and folded. It don't look much but it really does fly! Can't wait to see the boys reaction!
As the boys have recently been coming back from school with armfuls of traditional paper darts this seemed a great opportunity and I was pleased to find a good PDF on the web which has now been printed and folded. It don't look much but it really does fly! Can't wait to see the boys reaction!
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Changes...
So nearly a month has gone by since the last blog and I've been busy on the business front. A chance conversation in August has led to a very exciting opportunity to move the business into much larger and better located premise s which, I hope, should hugely increase our footfall on a daily basis.
Of course this means that I've spent the last few weeks reading 90 page leases, talking endlessly to telecoms and electricity companies (not my favourite way to spend time!), sorting signage and, not least, finding a new tenant for our existing space. So excuse me if I have not had time to blog!
Of course this means that I've spent the last few weeks reading 90 page leases, talking endlessly to telecoms and electricity companies (not my favourite way to spend time!), sorting signage and, not least, finding a new tenant for our existing space. So excuse me if I have not had time to blog!
Monday, 3 September 2012
Seeing (pasta) stars
Tiny pasta shapes are, apparently, a staple baby food in Italy. And we have in the past stocked a whole selection of different shapes and sizes in the shop from a company called Plasmon.
However, since we squeezed the baby food out of the current shop some time ago we have had to buy our baby pasta from other sources.
Yesterday boy3 had a bowl of baby bolognese with pasta stars and I realised I'd forgotten how sticky and difficult to remove from anything the little pasta stars are! By the time I'd finished the kitchen (not to mention the batch of lunchboxes I was also preparing) were covered in the little blighters!
Thursday, 30 August 2012
A nervous month ahead...
Those who know me often say that I'm laid back and nothing fazes me. Little do they know that under the relaxed facade is often a nervous wreck. I remember the job interview for my last employed job and the hr manager said something like oh, and it all comes pretty easily to you doesn't it? To which my response was well, i'm like a swan - all serene progress on the outside whilst underneath I'm paddling furiously.
Anyway, my point for this post is that I'm having a squeaky bum moment as we've just agreed terms on new business premises which will pretty much treble our floor space in one go. Of course it also trebles our rent and increases the business rates bill massively, and leaves us with a shop unit to let out in Tavistock but I'm sure that will all turn out fine.
On the plus side it means that I'll have a lot more room to assemble our lunchboxes (check out http://www.Lunchboxesetc.co.uk) and a whole lot more room to display our ever increasing stock of quality second hand children's clothes.
Anyway, my point for this post is that I'm having a squeaky bum moment as we've just agreed terms on new business premises which will pretty much treble our floor space in one go. Of course it also trebles our rent and increases the business rates bill massively, and leaves us with a shop unit to let out in Tavistock but I'm sure that will all turn out fine.
On the plus side it means that I'll have a lot more room to assemble our lunchboxes (check out http://www.Lunchboxesetc.co.uk) and a whole lot more room to display our ever increasing stock of quality second hand children's clothes.
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