My washing machine works hard. Actually it works really hard, and it's been incredibly good to us. It is now 9 years old and although it's a bit noisy, it works perfectly. I do 2 or 3 washloads a day - more when I'm washing bedding - and have done for the last 9 years. That's nearly 10,000 washloads and I've only had to call out an engineer once.


My washing machine is a Hotpoint Ultima, and while I love it, I know that it's coming to the end of it's life. It is also fairly small by today's standards and although it was considered energy-efficient when it was new, any washing machine I can buy now will be far more economical and Earth-friendly to run than one made in 2006. In my case I know the time has come to say "out with the old".

Co-operative Electrical have teamed up with Hotpoint and launched a 'Pin it to Win it' #OutWithTheOld competition over on Pinterest whereby one lucky person will be able to say "out with the old" and have the chance to win £1000 worth of Hotpoint appliances, and in true Co-operative style, they're offering a friend or family member the chance to receive £300 worth of appliances too!

The Geronimo Festival is a brand new event which is going to be the biggest children's festival in the North West. Held at Tatton Park in Cheshire, the festival is a daily event running from Saturday 23rd May until Monday 25th May 2015.  We've been asked to be ambassadors, and we can't wait.

The LEGO Minifigure collections are brilliant because they provide such an amazing range of faces, hairstyles, clothes and accessories. It widens general play value for all of your LEGO because you can bring in crowds, bystanders and extra people, and they can be doing pretty much whatever you want. You even have a great chance of finding one that looks just like you.


The Series 13 Minifigures are brilliant, they're my favourite series for quite a while, and they seem to be a real response to the criticism LEGO was receiving about gender roles, as we have a few really strong female characters, as well as some epic outfits and brilliantly funny characters. I mentioned them in my post about the new LEGO coming up this Spring.

I've been vegetarian now for 30 years (sheesh). In the olden days ('when all this were fields') being a vegetarian really was about ripping out a cooking page from the Sunday newspaper supplement and spending 4 hours making a nut roast that tasted of cardboard and peanut with surprise lumps of raw carrot. There were very few companies catering for vegetarians, and the only way to access those products for me was a trip to the health food shop. It's nice to see though that at least one of those early companies still remains among the big money-backed multinationals.


Goodlife have been making vegetarian foods now for 25 years. Their aim is to make vegetarian foods that are so full of flavour and interest that you don't need to add anything extra. They champion the vegetable, and that is why you'll find Red Sky Tomato And Basil Sausages with Creamy Mozarella, and Picador Parsnip And Sweet Carrot Nut Burgers with Crunchy Cashews among their frozen product range.

Ever since I was little I always loved the idea of having a LEGO street. A miniature world I could immerse myself into. Last year we were lucky enough to find a few of the older LEGO Creator 3in1 house sets reduced massively, so I bought a few with my birthday money and I went home a happy person.

This set may be a little harder to find now, but I did find it in many of the larger shops online still, although it's currently unavailable from LEGO.com




The smallest model is a very small cottage.

Warburtons have a long-standing relationship with the British Heart Foundation and this January they have teamed up to try to raise £1m for the Wear It Beat It campaign. Until the end of February 5p will be donated from the sale of every loaf of Warburtons Wholemeal sold.


Wholegrain carbohydrates are a very important part of a heart-healthy diet and Warburtons are committed to helping their consumers put their heart first. We like their wholemeal bread, not only because it's delicious, but because the 'bits' are really fine and so the children don't moan.


Warburtons want the UK to get involved, grab a loaf and hold a Big Red Breakfast for friends, family or colleagues on Friday 6 February and raise a few pennies for the British Heart Foundation. Spend time together chatting and catching up over the most important meal of the day. The theme is red, so be creative and raise a smile - and don't forget to upload your photo's to the Warburtons Facebook page!

Sweet Cherry Publishing is a new company to me. Founded in 2011 they have a nice list of great children's authors and illustrators working with them, including Susan McNally and Ken Lake, and they specialise in producing fictional series and collections of books.


One of the sets we've been sent to review is The Complete Collection of Mr Pattacake. 3 books written and illustrated by Stephanie Baudet especially for children aged around 5-8 who are beginning to read confidently alone.

Being locked in a room for an hour with a bunch of people you hardly know might sound like a nightmare, but actually a visit to the Escape Room in Manchester is just about the most fun a grown up can have in an hour - truly!


The Escape Room has been open just over a week, and I was lucky enough to be invited to the official launch last night. There was a fantastic buzz, no-one knew exactly what to expect, (for my party it was a complete unknown) and so the atmosphere is one of real excitement and a little trepidation - "what have I let myself in for?"

Way back in the day there was Band Aid and I bought the single. There was Live Aid and I watched the whole thing. Then there were a few tentative dips into charity singles before people accepted it was a wise and sensible way to raise awareness and a few bob for a worthy cause. My all-time favourite charity record is an album produced on behalf of War Child - Help.

There was quite a buzz about this album back in 1995. It was recorded in 24 hours in full view of the media, and I bought my copy as soon as it hit the shop. It featured a host of my favourite artists at the time (and also some unlikely singers including Kate Moss and Johnny Depp), and some unlikely tunes - the Manic Street Preachers cover of Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head can't fail to bring on a smile, and Sinead O'Conner's Ode To Billy Joe raises a tear.


Back then War Child were raising money to help children affected by the war in the Balkans, as Bosnia fell apart and we all watched on the news as the Olympic stadiums were smashed to pieces by bombs. It was the first time in my life that I realised I live in a relatively peaceful country only by accident of birth. These children and young people had been just the same as me, and now they were homeless, destitute, dying.

War Child have continued to work with musicians over the last 20 years, releasing several albums and hosting regular fundraising gigs. During that time they have helped hundreds of thousands of children - getting them out of army uniform and back into school, protecting them from violence and sexual violence, giving them access to medical help and family support, and giving thousands of children somewhere to live.

I like War Child a lot. I like them because they're incredibly open about where the money goes - and 95% of all money donated goes directly to projects. Money is never sent through Governments, it goes directly to where it's needed, and the projects don't stop as soon as peace is declared, they carry on so that children don't fall into prostitution or destitution. They don't sponsor children for life though, they stay long enough to teach them how to continue safely on their own.

On Februrary 9th the latest single to raise money for War Child will be released. Sung by Beattie Wolfe and featuring 10 children from around the UK - who all won the right to be there from 20,000 entrants. The song is called Kids Wish For The World, and the proceeds will be split between War Child and Childline - another charity which I have great respect for. I can't see my teenagers rushing out to buy it unless Skrillex or Professor Green does a remix, it's a little more mainstream than my old Help album, but hey, I hope it does really well.