Labels

Monday 25 November 2013

Tesco Chocolate

It is so hard being a blogger when Tesco send you delicious chocolates to review, we have to eat large amounts of mouth watering chocolate, we have to taste every last crumb just to be sure it tastes good! Okay that last bit is a lie, I could have shared out the delicious Cinnamon Chokablok and the Gingerbread stars, they are perfect for sharing with my family but who shares chocolate, my children certainly don't and I am not about to break a habit of a lifetime. I had to choose my chocolate eating moment carefully, sure I could have just retreated to my bedroom and hid in the wardrobe, the kids would've never found me there but I like to see what I am eating. I waited for the children to go to bed and for the husband to become absorbed in a computer game, and chocolate taste testing began.
I devoured half of the Cinnamon Chokablok, taking in the cinnamon taste, I do love cinnamon. The taste is not overpowering either, it is just right for the taste buds. It is milk chocolate with white chocolate swirled in. If the tree shape was not festive enough the chocolate malt balls gold dusting glistens in the light(I would not have noticed that in the wardrobe). Amongst the glistening balls of goodness you have caramelised biscuit and ginger crumble. It is fair to say the 150g Cinnamon Chokablok is definitely worth £5, it will make a great gift too, after all who does not like chocolate?(if you don't like chocolate don't answer that)  
With the Cinnamon Chokablok came the pretty presented Gingerbread Stars Square Box, I think these would make perfect little gifts for a teacher or as a stocking filler. They come wrapped in black tissue paper and presented in their own box. They are a good size piece of chocolate too, Tesco have been generous in making these rather chunky stars. They have topped the milk chocolate stars with a drizzling of white chocolate and caramelised biscuits and ginger crumble. They taste delicious, mouth watering delicious! The Gingerbread stars a bargain too at £4 for 100g. Tesco have a huge range of festive chocolate just ready to be placed in you stockings or even to hand out to visitors this Christmas, that is if you can bare to share.




 Tesco sent us the two selections from their range for the purpose of the review, all opinions and images are my own.

Saturday 23 November 2013

The nest remains empty

 Most chicken keepers will know that when you walk into that coop and see it covered in feathers your first thought is that you've had a fox attack, thankfully for us it is the lovely or not so lovely moult that chickens go through after their first year of laying. My chickens have all take turns to go through moult. Zebadee our Plymouth Barred Rock was the first, she stopped laying her eggs, her comb and wattles turned pink and her lovely black and white feather begin to fall out, she had a bare bottom for around 1 week and it seemed like it took weeks for her to start looking like her old self again. Next up was our Light Sussex, Layla, she is a rather plump lady and doesn't seem to have done too badly during the moult, she is still on the scraggy side and I am hoping her tail feathers grow soon. Third to go through moult is Rosie our Czech Brindle hen, as quickly as she lost her feathers she grew them back, her moult have by far been the shortest. 
Throughout Zebadee, Rosie and Layla's moult I was getting our daily blue egg off Janny our cream legbar and an occasional egg off who I presume our Jersey Giant but with less daylight hours and the fact that Janny in the picture on the right seems to have thrown herself into moult we are now eggless! She looks like she has lost the most feathers out of all of them. I have put two pictures side by side to compare and my poor girl does look like she is getting ready to throw herself into the oven. I can not wait till her feathers grow back so she looks like she does in the left picture.
Our last chicken is a Jersey Giant who I hatched in May, she still remains nameless and is in need of a good name, feel free to share your suggestions. Her comb and wattles are an impressive red, she is bigger or as big as my hens so I can not wait to see what size she will be when she is fully grown. Back in May I hatched 7 eggs, this Jersey Giant is the only one I kept, the others all went off to new homes. I was hoping the Araucana was a female but sadly it was a boy so I was unable to keep him.
 

Five chickens and not one egg between them, I fear I might have to buy some eggs!



Cosatto Hug 1-2-3 Car Seat

Being A Cosatto Buddy means we get to test their lovely products, we love putting products to the test and have even roped my nephew into being a mini tester too. Cosatto sent me the fantastic Hug 1-2-3 car seat to put through its paces. Being a 1-2-3 group car seat means it is suitable for ages 9 months to 11 years or 9kg - 36kg. This is where my nephew comes in, my daughter is 2 so I wanted to see what a 9 month old was like in the car seat so who better to be a mini tester than him. The Hug car seat comes in two designs, the All Star as shown and the beautiful Golightly. Cosatto describes the All Star design as "a monochrome mover with rebellious red flashes" and I 100% agree.
The Hug car seat is the most padded car seat I have come across, the padded matching liner can be removed as your child grows and the head rest can be fully adjusted too. The 5 point safety harness comes fully padded so your child will be in a comfortable hug from the front to behind. The quick release buckle is easy to release for an adult but not for a child. The easy adjustable harness makes life easier when you have thicker clothing on your child during the colder months, you don't have to fiddle with the straps, just press the release button and pull. 
What I first noticed about the Hug is the side impact protection on it, the second thing I noticed other than its gorgeous design is the fitting, it is different to any other car seat I have had and trust me I have had lots. Threading the seat belt has been made easier and safer, it has more lock off points and from a mothers point of view I feel that it is a safer fitting than your standard fitting on a car seat. The Hug with its great side impact protection does seem like it is a bigger seat than some, it comes in at 50cm wide and has a height of 64cm and a weight of 9.5kg. I love the leatherette fabric, you do feel like you are getting a luxurious product that costs only £220. I think the price is excellent as it can be use from 9 months right up to the age of 11 years. My nephew uses the All Star Hug every day, the recline is perfect for him when he needs to shut those beautiful eyes of his and his Mummy and Daddy also find it to be an excellent car seat.

I received the Hug car seat for the purpose of the review. All images and opinions are my own. 



Wednesday 20 November 2013

Cat beds from Swell Pets




 Anyone that is owned by a cat knows that the best seat in the house will always be under the cat! A cat will sleep in the warmest place, not only will they seek out a warm place they like to feel secure, after all they are about to drift off and dream of tuna. A cat living in a busy family home like ours needs its safe place, before we got our wicker cat bed from Swell Pets Shadow would often hide out at the top of the stairs away from the hustle and bustle of our home, once the children were all in bed you would find him sprawled out upside down on the sofa without a care in the world.






When the wicker bed first arrived I thought that Shadow would be too big to fit in because he is a rather big cat but as soon as I placed it on the floor he came to investigate and headed straight in. Since then he spends much more time downstairs in his cat bed rather than sleeping upstairs away from us. He feels secure, it is his own little place that he will not be moved from, nor can any child accidentally fall on him so I don't worry so much about the children being near him when he is sleeping. 




If you are looking for that purrfect bed for your cat Swell Pets has a good range of cat beds, from the Thermo Kitty Cabin Bed to the Jolly Molly Bamboo radiator bed and all of the other wonderful cat beds in between, I am sure you will find one that will suit your household and most importantly your feline friends needs.

I was sent the bed for the purpose of this post, all images and opinions are my own

Hotel Chocolate Squirrel's Stash

 It is not often I get delicious parcels delivered to my house, recently however I have. Hotel Chocolat sent me their beautifully packaged Squirrel Stash to try. I had planned to share my chocolate gift but once I started to try them I have to say I could not stop. I love nuts and when they are teamed with chocolate I love them even more. 

I like that they arrive tied with the Hotel Chocolat ribbon and gift card so they can easily be given to a loved one or friend as a gift, and what a wonderful gift they make.
In this collection you have, Caramel Truffle, Whole Roasted Hazelnut in Praline, Simple Hazelnut Pralines, Gianduja & Salted Caramel, Walnut-studded Hazelnut Praline and Praline with a whole hazelnut.




 The delicious silk feeling on my tongue from the Caramel truffle is divine, I wish there were more than two of these in this collection because they really do taste utterly gorgeous, I think I would have to say these are my favourite, a box of these would be very welcomed off Santa. 
They all do taste delicious, even the smooth gianduja & salted caramel is pleasing to the taste buds. Each one beautiful made and presented. 




Hotel Chocolate do a fantastic range of chocolate suitable for all budgets that make really nice gifts or luxury treats for yourself.

I were sent the Squirrel's stash for the purpose of the review all opinions and images are my own.


Wednesday 13 November 2013

Hobbycraft Stocking Kit

It is November and I am all excited for Christmas, I have seen the Coca Cola advert so yes it is officially Christmas! With the Christmas day on the countdown it is time to get crafty. I love crafts, especially Christmas crafts so I really did enjoy making these gorgeous Stockings from the Hobbycraft Stocking kit. Hobbycraft has many wonderful Christmas products to buy and I have certainly been buying many of them. In the pack you get all the materials you will need to make the 2 stockings, all you need is the tools, in this case that would be a pair of scissors and a sewing needle. In the instructions it does list fabric glue as needed to stick on the hearts but as you will have the needle and thread to hand you could just put a few stitches in to hold the heart in place. 
If you are worried about not being that great at sewing then do not worry, the only skill that is needed it the ability to do a back stitch and a running stitch, if you don't have those skills then fear not, after reading the instructions you will. 
I admit I tend to use my sewing machine for projects like these but I decided to do these by hand to show that it can easily be done. All the materials are cut to size ready for you to sew them together so it really could not be simpler and you will end up with 2 gorgeous stockings that will look wonderful hanging on your fire surround ir even your Christmas tree this Christmas.
The design of the heart is all yours to decide, it shows you the snowflake design and it is really easy to copy or you could be as creative at you like. Raid your sewing box and add a cute button or if you are really good with a needle and thread you could personalise your stockings with a name or initial. You get 2 hearts 1 white and one red and also get the same colour threads to use on the opposite hearts to make your design really stand out.
The stockings are approximately 21cm in length once sewn so are big enough to fit in chocolate buttons, an orange and a small gift. For just £3 they really are a bargain and something you could make and bring out year after year. 

We received the kit for the purpose of the review, all opinions are my own.