I am a big fan of history and do enjoy walking around castles. There is something quite fun about looking around at ruins, especially those that use to look so daunting and impressive, but now have missing pieces, are no longer used, and are not up to current standards of living. I don’t often pass up an opportunity to share history with my children either, and with our National Trust cards in hand, I was excited to get along to some castles! One of the first on our list was Bodiam Castle, since it’s not that far from our home at all. This site end up being one of our favourite sites from the National Trust in Essex.
Author: Dann Sullivan
My Perspective on Single Parents Day 2021
Every year it feels like there are more and more national, or international, days. Single Parents Day is an interesting one because from person to person the definition of a single parent varies quite drastically. I don’t normally use the blog for much more than reviews or days out, as I’m quite a busy person, but this felt like a really good opportunity for me to talk about some of my experiences over the last few years. I’ve got three children, and they live between two homes. While they’re here I’m lucky enough to have my partner, Jupiter, helping me out – and she helps out a lot. So, in many ways, I don’t ‘parent alone’, but by some people’s definition, I’m a single parent.
The classic view of the role of a parent has changed a lot over the years. When I was at secondary school only one kid in our friend group had separated parents, and it seemed like a really rare thing. There was always a stigma around people separating, especially if they had children, and the general consensus was to keep muscling on in the relationship regardless. But at times that is the equivalent of telling somebody with a broken arm to “suck it up”. It turns out that divorce before 1900 was incredibly uncommon, with less than 1000 in a year in the 140 years before that. However, there was a big ol’ peak in that after WWII ended, and then it became incredibly in vogue through the 60s and 70s. Despite over 100’000 annual divorces (in the UK) since 1972, there was still a big stigma around couples separating. But, having a child or being in a relationship isn’t synonymous with marriage.
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3 recipes to serve with beer at home
[Ad- gifted product] With St Patrick’s Day on the horizon and a lovely new drinking stein in the house, we decided that we should try out some new food recipes which could be just perfect for an evening in, or after you’ve had a few drinks. We decided to go for a mix of meals, either coming up with our own ideas for the food or taking inspiration from elsewhere. As you’ll know from reading the blog, we love trying out new recipes and have also tried our hands at a few drinks kits over the last year. But, for this post, we’ve decided to tie the two things together with some great foods to try out on an evening of drinking.
We made three different meals, ranging from snacks through to very large portions, and we’ve got the recipes for all three of them below. There’ll be red pepper and pesto grilled cheese, fried pickles as well as bratwurst in blankets. They’re all great in their own ways, and – perhaps surprisingly – we had different favourites at the end of it all.
A Day Out at the Gruffalo Trail
We do like to go out into nature from time to time, normally to local forests to look at mushrooms or make little camps. Wanting to do something a bit different, we decided to check out The Gruffalo Trail, which is a big walk in the forest that features statues from the book The Gruffalo. The Gruffalo Trail is apart of the Essex Wildlife Trust, so it is a well maintained area that has quite a bit to offer. It’s a free walk that even includes a little map, if you go into the gift shop/cafe to grab it – the only thing you need to pay for is parking.
Letterbox Lab Explore Box, Box 1: Hidden Rainbows
This year we’ve been trying out a lot of different subscription boxes to keep the children entertained while our other options have been somewhat restricted by lockdown and Covid-19. We’ve done everything from nature boxes through to history-themed ones, but perhaps one of the most interesting offerings is the Letterbox Lab Explore Box, which we’ve been tinkering with over the last while.
Much like the Mysteries in Time box, the Letterbox Lab is sequential rather than based on the time of the year. So if you started a subscription today, you’d receive the first box, even if other people you know are much later in the sequence. There are twelve boxes in total as part of the Explore Box, with one delivered a month, and Letterbox Labs also do a much heftier Investigate Box if you have older children, or if you’re still interested in the magic of science once you’ve completed the Explore, 12-box run.
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