Dann Sullivan, Author at Jupiter & Dann ⋆ Page 7 of 23

Creating a moving 4-Cylinder Engine with Machine Works | Review

Posted on June 14, 2021August 27, 2024 by Dann Sullivan

[Ad- gifted product] Earlier this week I built a moving 4-Cylinder Engine, part of the Machine Works range with my eldest son. It’s a fascinating kit, perfect for those who are mechanically minded, or who really enjoy building models. There are a lot of different people out there, and as such there’s a lot of different hobbies out there. I’m not actually very mechanically minded; I struggle with instruction booklets and normally ‘process of elimination’ my way through troubleshooting things. However, I’m really like seeing how things work, from microchips through electronics to machines. The 4-Cylinder Engine kit is a safe, accessible way to learn the core of how an engine works, and comes complete with a manual full of extra information, as well as an AR-based App.

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KiwiCo Tinker Crate – Spin Art Machine | Review

Posted on June 9, 2021August 27, 2024 by Dann Sullivan

[Ad- gifted product] In our continued mission to find the best subscription boxes for kids, we’ve given KiwiCo’s Tinker Crate a go, and the first box was fantastic. Subscription boxes have developed a lot over the years, I’m not sure exactly when they first became a thing – but I think most of us remember the magazine subscriptions that offered one book of a set of twenty, or a single dinosaur bone per issue. Somewhere along the line, somebody started a cool, activity subscription box, and the whole thing has blown up since.

We’ve dabbled with a lot of these subscription boxes over the last year, giving the kids some fun new ways to learn while homeschooling or in lockdown. We’ve shifted them too, trying to make sure that we don’t get too comfortable with any one in particular. KiwiCo’s Tinker Crate was the next one up for us, and – as it turns out – they’re really onto something.

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A Day Out at Bodiam Castle

Posted on April 21, 2021January 8, 2022 by Dann Sullivan

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.

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My Perspective on Single Parents Day 2021

Posted on March 21, 2021July 6, 2021 by Dann Sullivan

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

Posted on March 15, 2021August 27, 2024 by Dann Sullivan

[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.

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