A little while ago we reviewed the new vegetarian range from Heck, and as they're so well-known for their flavoursome meaty sausages and we have 3 meat-eaters here, it would have been remiss not to take a look at those too.



Heck Zesty Chicken Chipolata Sausages (10 sausages/340g for £3).

There's no better time spent at home with our teenagers than a family games night, and Cash 'n Guns from Ludovic Maublanc makes it a games night where you point rubber guns at each other and try to steal as much as possible from the other players. It's great...




Each player takes on the role of a gangster, and the scene which unfolds is what happens next after a huge heist. The loot needs to be divided up, but everybody wants it, and everyone is carrying a gun!

Oxo have recently added more products to their Good Grips Kitchenware range, including some great Squeeze And Pour Measuring Cups. They have sent me a selection to review, and it seemed a great excuse for a cake. My youngest wanted to help, so I let him take over...


The first item we used is the 2.8l Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl (£13). Lightweight, yet a good size with a really impressive rubber base, it holds position really well while you are whisking and stirring. A lovely shaped bowl and your mix comes out easily

When you go away on holiday there are always certain home comforts that you do miss, however much fun you are having. A survey by the bedding company Silentnight found that 'Family' didn't come top, instead 6 out of 10 of the British public miss their own bed more.


The survey, carried out by One Poll, asked what made a dream holiday for UK consumers. Peace and home comforts are top of the list, with 52% of British holidaymakers wanting rest and relaxation above everything else. I know when I go away, it's far easier to come home shattered than rested. You need a week off work to get over it.

Liquiproof is a protector and waterproofer for fabrics that is inert and harmless. Odour-free with zero toxicity, it carries no allergic warnings and is the world's only permanent, invisible, water-based, eco-friendly, non-flammable and 100% breathable spray suitable for footwear.

The proofing will not only waterproof and oil-proof your fabrics, it'll also help prevent anything staining them - it should wipe straight off. Liquiproof secured funding from Touker Suleyman on Dragon's Den, and it's pretty easy to see why.


Liquiproof Protector for Fabric, Suede, Nubuck and Sheepskin claims to provide a truly waterproof finish to pretty much any fabric, (except leather, which has it's own product - Liquiproof Leather Protector) without affecting flexibility.

Just imagine waterproofing the bottom of the legs on your jeans, protecting the front of your favourite white t-shirt from dinner spillage stains, or having the only waterproof comfy snuggly blanket at the festival.

The popular interiors blogger Zoe Brewer has joined forces with Dr. Beckmann to bring you a 2 minute masterclass in removing carpet stains. Keeping all of your carpets clean and smell-free can be a real challenge, especially if (like me) you have pets around the house, but Dr. Beckmann’s Carpet Stain Remover is the perfect solution.

Dr. Beckmann’s Carpet Stain Remover has an rrp. of only £3.59, and for two years in a row has been awarded two of Which? Magazine’s coveted awards - ‘Best Buy’ and ‘Best Value’.

Yesterday we had an awesome day out at the Bricktastic LEGO show at Manchester Central. 5 of us went - I took my partner and 3 of our boys aged 6, 7 and 18. I can honestly say we all had an excellent time, we spent over 4 hours in the show, and could easily have stayed longer.


I make no apologies, this post is photo heavy, you don't need me to say much, the pictures speak mainly for themselves. Click on any photo to enlarge. Sorry I didn't catch all of the builder's names at the time - and that I couldn't include the other 50 or so photo's that made it past the first cut!

We went straight on over to the back wall, where we were greeted by aliens, and the robot turtles of Peter Reid, and space...

There's nothing better in Summer than eating outdoors. Sadly living in Manchester the rain does it's very best to prevent us, but we waited for a drizzle break amid the downpours, and managed a barbeque the other evening - on our back porch. Well, we'd promised the kids...


Paladone distribute all kinds of quirky and fun gadgets, gifts and household products, and they have sent us their 12inch Grill Sergeant Portable Barbeque to review. I thought he'd just have a fancy paintjob, but it turns out he's a well-designed barbeque that works really effectively.


Your Grill Sergeant arrives in a box and you have to assemble it yourself. You only need a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, and about 10 minutes. 25 minutes if you have a 6 year old assistant.

When you have kids you put up stair gates and lock the cupboard under the sink. You move the Paracetamol to the wall cupboard in the bathroom and put all the knives in a high drawer. You do everything you can to protect them, but sometimes the obvious escapes us...


1. Multivitamins and Minerals.
Too much of a good thing is bad for you. Lots of delicious chewy colourful animal-shaped multivitamins can do your child more harm than good. Take in too many vitamins and minerals and your body will try to dispose of the excess, but a few do not simply flush out. Iron is especially dangerous because children can't process iron like adults can, and we aren't very good at it. The excess iron doesn't go anywhere, it stays in their bodies and poisons them. Keep iron tablets and syrup with your dangerous medicines locked away, and not on the bedside cabinet. A 24lb (10.8kg) toddler only needs to swallow 2 iron tablets to have taken too many, and 8 iron tablets is a severely toxic dose.

Instead: Do a simple scientific experiment with your older kids to find out 'how much iron is in their breakfast cereal?'

Letts are incredibly well known for their workbooks and revision guides. They produce educational workbooks suitable right throughout a child's school life, and today have added more titles to their Wild About range of workbooks for children in Key Stage 1 and 2. To celebrate, one of my readers can win a set of five Letts Wild About workbooks tailored to the age of their child.


With 3 teenagers here who have just completed GCSE's, AS levels and A Levels, we are well aware of Letts and have a library full of their revision guides. This is the first time that we've looked at Letts Workbooks for younger children.


The Wild About Workbooks are designed to engage your child and encourage them to work through activities while learning about their natural world. We were sent Wild About English: Grammar & Punctuation, and Wild About Maths: Times Tables for my 6 and 7 year old boys.