We've had adventures with Barny before. We had an adventure looking for creatures and a night time adventure with torches. This time we've recently rescued two rabbits, so we thought we'd have an adventure low down at rabbit height, and see the world from a different angle!

Wow.

When I started this blog 500 posts seemed like something impossible that would take years, yet it's come up so quickly I nearly missed it. I actually can't begin to imagine the amount of drivel I've typed! I'm so blinking perfectionist too, that I dread to think of the hours that equates to.....

I can barely believe all the brands who take a chance and let me review for them over the past 500 posts, those who I am now a regular blogger for (including LEGO wahey!), and Drumond Park, who sponsored me to attend my first really big conference at Britmums. I'm incredibly flattered.

I also had no idea of what would happen and how incredibly eventful the last 500 posts would be, what they would document. I started my blog as a place to keep reviews I was doing for Izziwizzi Kids and I didn't expect to see that end fairly soon afterwards. I knew I'd record birthdays and holidays, I didn't expect to document Meningitis and a broken leg. The blog hasn't just been my record of events and days out, it's been my memory and my timeline, my catharsis and my rock.

I've never needed blogging more than I did exactly 1 year ago tonight. Alone and terrified in a house full of young people relying on me, it was bloggers I turned to. They were the people who were awake, they were the ones ready to listen, give advice and support. They sat there with me all over the country while I told them my partner was in hospital seriously ill. They were there for me until I could sleep at 2am, and they were back online at 6.30am when I rang the hospital to be told my partner had a 'good night'.

He hadn't. He was incredibly ill with Meningitis and didn't really even understand why he was in hospital or what was happening. He couldn't give his full name or answer anything tricky like 'how are you feeling?'. He was shaking so badly that his bed was rocking and waking the other patients. He had a steady temperature of nearly 40 degrees. In the 48 hours after arriving at hospital they pumped him full of fluids and 3 courses of antibiotics, but he lost 2 stone in weight. You really could see him wasting away. Thankfully yet he hadn't started trying to leave.

Without my blog I would have a lot of trouble trying to remember how events continued. It really was my diary and I can't read my early Meningitis posts without remembering exactly how I felt. I can't really read them at all, I cry. Who am I kidding, I cry even thinking about reading them. Thankfully we had a good outcome, a great outcome. My partner is here beside me as I type - watching crap on telly and playing a daft game on his phone.

He has poor memory now, he can't really remember much he did today, but tomorrow he'll remember more. He can't remember appointments or details, and he can't recite a number over and over to remember it while he walks from one room to another, he has to write everything down. He's coping fine at work, and his tiredness has pretty much gone, although he still falls asleep when he's stressed (and I really wish I did because it's an excellent get-out).

He still has back pain, and leg pain and he walks with a limp, but we can be a family, we can carry on our lives and take our kids out for the day. We are the lucky ones.


If you ever, EVER, feel like you have the worst hangover ever and you've not had a drink or been in the sun all day. If you have a temperature that won't drop with Paracetamol and Ibuprofen. If you're in so much pain you can't lie still.  If you get cramping pains in the front of your thighs. And most importantly if ever you can't touch your chin to your chest - go directly to hospital.

Thank you for all those who've helped me along the way,  and especially to those Izziwizzi Playfest people who've been there from day 1 - you guys are still here, even though Playfest isn't, and I couldn't have ever hoped to meet such a great bunch.

 
Thank YOU for reading. If you can stand it, here's to the next 500...x

I love baking, but I spend so long in the kitchen making tea that it can seem a chore at times. On The Table In 30: Baking from Parragon Books sounded just the ticket. Quick recipes are also ideal for cooking with children before they lose interest and wander off, and usually a little easier, so great for beginners.



Full of delicious looking recipes I knew immediately what we were going to make, as my son has been pestering me for doughnuts for ages now. I've never made them before, so now was the opportunity.

Sugar & Spice Doughnuts (page 76)

Makes 6 or 12

Ingredients

115g/4oz self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
 70g/2 1/2oz caster sugar
1tsp ground mixed spice
75ml/2 1/2fl oz milk
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
25g/1oz butter, melted - plus extra for greasing

Sugar-coating
2 tbsp caster sugar
1tsp ground mixed spice

30 minutes to go..

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5. Thoroughly grease a 6 hole doughnut tin or a 12 hole mini muffin tin (cake tin). Sift together the flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the sugar and spice. Make a well in the centre.
Mix together the milk, egg, vanilla extract and melted butter and pour into the well. Mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.

25 minutes to go...

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag filled with a plain nozzle. pipe the mixture as neatly as possible into the prepared tin. Each hole should be about 2/3 full.

20 minutes to go....

Bake in a preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, or until risen, golden and firm to the touch. To make the sugar coating, mix together the sugar and mixed spice on a plate.


Leave the doughnuts to cool in the tinfor 2-3 minutes then gently ease them out. Toss them in the spiced sugar to coat completely and then serve warm or cold.


On the table in 30 minutes: Baking has 176 pages with 60 super-speedy recipes. It also has loads of hints and tips and information pages including substitute ingredients, measurments conversion and preparation techniques.


And the doughnuts? They were delicious! They really did taste just like doughnuts, although less greasy and not deep fried, so they've got to be better for you! They were 'on the table in (less than) 30 minutes, and eaten in 35. My son is very happy that not only did he get some doughnuts, but he actually made them himself - he had a good go at every step - including piping.

Hotter are the biggest UK manufacturer of footwear. Based in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, they make a huge range of shoes, boots and other footwear with comfort the number one priority. I love my Hotter shoes, and you can read my full review here.
 


Hotter don't only sell shoes, they also sell jackets and accessories including bags, and they've kindly offered me a Juliet Handbag as a prize for one of my readers. If handbags aren't for you then you can instead choose to have a £20 voucher towards your own pair of shoes from Hotter.


Entry to the giveaway is by rafflecopter form below.  Each additional task completed will gain you additional entries into the giveaway. UK entries only please. The giveaway will end at midnight on Sunday 3rd August when no more entries will be accepted. Please see additional terms & conditions at the bottom of the rafflecopter form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

All of my giveaways and competitions can be found by clicking this link! 
 

We eat an absolute ton of cheese in my house. We've 4 vegetarians and 5 cheese-loving meat-eaters and can easily use 1.5kg in a week. Mature Cheddar is a firm favourite, but can get a bit safe and boring at times, so an introduction to Pilgrims Choice Crumbles has injected a little difference into our diet.

 
There are 3 varieties of Pilgrims Choice Crumbles, and we were sent them all to try. The difference with this cheese is that it isn't grated, it's tiny cubes designed to melt perfectly.

Guylian are world famous for their fabulous Chocolates, most notably the Seahorses and Seashells. Belgian Chocolate filled with delicious Praline, they make an excellent gift or treat.

My family know I love Guylian. They love Guylian too, and I'm a sharing type of Mum, so I can pretty much guarantee a box or two at Christmas, on birthdays, Mother's Day etc.and I've bought them as gifts for other people myself many times.


Guylian know that it can be tricky for children to know how to thank school staff for all their hard work at the end of the school year. Parents don't always have a lot of money to lavish extravagant gifts on teacher, and it's the thought that counts, so something from the child themselves really does have more value.

Our latest review for Green Toys is a fabulous one. We've had a very special delivery recently - and it is made from 100% recycled plastic milk bottles and 100% recycled cardboard printed with soy ink.

Top 10 lists are really incredibly popular, so a book full of them designed for children to browse at their leisure for hours has to be a great thing. We've been sent the Top Ten Of Everything 2015 by Paul Terry for review.


Devised by the late Russell Ash, the Top 10 Of Everything Annual has enthralled millions of readers over many years, and this mega-edition to the Top 10 series is a must-have for curious kids. 

I'm generally rubbish with shoes. I have my 13 year old pair of Doc Martins that should have gone in the bin 3 years ago, my Fit Flops I haven't been able to wear since I broke my leg, and I have my faithful old purple Converse. When I was packing to go to Britmums Live it was painfully obvious that I need to get some proper shoes, but I like comfort! I had a look around and didn't see anything that was comfortable and grown up. I hadn't looked at Hotter.

It was a complete coincidence that I was contacted by Dove and asked if I wanted to discuss airbrushing on the exact same day I'd been distracting myself from actually doing any writing by laughing at celebrity photoshop fails.

It pretty much wiped the smile of my face as the realisation dawned that, okay, celebrities with accidentally erased limbs are hilarious, but actually what was happening there was genuinely scary rather than funny.

This is a true image

Every photo we see is airbrushed to give us an illusion we can never have as reality. We know these people are real, they exist, they act and model, but the images we see can't ever be achieved even by them, so what on Earth are we teaching our children?