Last week I was contacted by Pickled Image and asked if we wanted to review their performance of Yana And The Yeti at The Met Theatre in Bury, North Manchester. A family show with no spoken English and with a storyline almost entirely acted using puppetry, it was one of the most beautiful and serene performances I've ever had the pleasure to attend.


We're very familiar with The Met and this was the first time we've visited since the refit. It's an intimate, smaller theatre which is very friendly and has it's own bar, plus Automatic bar and restaurant next door. Pickled Image create family shows and Yana And The Yeti was suitable for age 5+. Ideal for my 7 and 9 year old boys.


The stage set was a movable, raised miniature snowy landscape that really was gorgeous, and beside it, also raised, two smaller snowy tables. Behind, projected onto the backdrop a huge snow covered mountain. When the actors/puppeteers came onto the stage, they took position and my 9 year old gasped aloud as he realised that what was being played out in close up larger scale on the snowy tabletops, was also being shown in miniature in the landscape scene on the left.

Yana And The Yeti really was just jaw-droppingly beautiful.

What better for a Sunday morning than a swift game of 'Where's The Ninja'? We were guests of Warner Bros at LEGOLAND Discovery Centre last Thursday evening for a special event to promote the release of The LEGO Ninjago Movie on DVD and Digital Download, and my partner saw his opportunity to have a bit of a photobomb chuckle.

There's a Ninja in every photo - some are more obvious than others and some are hilariously photoshopped in because we just weren't as organised as we gave ourselves credit for. The Ninja is blue and made from DUPLO. We'll start easy...


This is really not hard, but as with all good 'spot the character' puzzles, the answers are upside down at the bottom of the page. If you are using a desktop PC, I'd suggest turning your head rather than the screen... no cheating now!

This month has been a pretty rough one for us, I know a lot of people are tired and worn out and we are all ready for Spring - although I really wouldn't complain about a few days of proper snow that the kids can play with. We seem to have had a month of drizzle and sleet and overnight snow that's vanished by morning. Even worse we had a day of snow that was all gone by 3.30pm - so harsh on the kids in school!

Not 20. Not having a birthday, not going out for a drink. Not giggling and opening presents. Not putting on make up and doing your hair. Would you be away at Uni? Would you have a partner, a fling? Would you have a part time job, would you have used some of your birthday money to go out and celebrate? Would you have been grabbing everything life had to offer you and grinning that huge smile? Would you have complained that sundae isn't technically cake, and made sure we had another later this week? Probably.

Happy birthday El.  We miss you, we'll always miss you xxx

Here is a compilation of activities and events that are on this February for families in the Northwest UK, Manchester, Liverpool area. Half term has really caught me out this year as my kids don't break up until Friday, but some children are already off, so apologies to anything that's already started! I'll keep everything in start date order, add more as I get them in, and try to italicise anything that is already over...

If your children are anything like mine then they love small rubbery blind bag collectibles, especially when they are a bit gross and horrible. Flush Force fits the bill perfectly, with a collection of 150 different characters who hide in small plastic toilets...and start at £3.49 for a pack of 2. We've been sent a selection of the Series 1 sets to review.


Included in our bundle are the Bizarre Bathroom with 8 Flushies, the Filthy 5-Pack, the Number 2 Pack and the Collect-A-Bowl Stash 'N' Store Case with 4 Flushies.

Probably the most famous shipwreck tale of all time, the story of the Titanic is fascinating to adults and children alike. The Story Of Titanic For Children by Joe Fullman is an excellent factual book which my 9 year old has poured over since it arrived.


This is a beautiful book and it's full of gorgeous illustrations and photographs. It is honest, but doesn't glorify or overplay any of the tragedies which happened when the Titanic sank. It is full of fascinating details and facts, as well as personal accounts and even sketches drawn by survivors.

If you are anything like me, it was around 3rd January when you realised you hadn't even got a calendar, let alone anything sensible to keep a diary in! My daughter loved the Stigu planner I got from BlogOn last year and had bought herself another this year, so I was more than happy to review for them.


We've had several different Stigu Stationery products over the last few years and they're nice because they are a bit quirky, but they're designed to be attractive, effective and helpful on top of doing the intended job. They have simple wellbeing tips on each page that aren't condescending or twee, they are just reminders that you should relax and play as well as work...

It's easy for me to feel bitter and angry about the state of Children's Mental Health services in this country at the moment. I have every reason to believe it's a failing system that is understaffed, underfunded and consequently takes a long time to access and for any action to be implemented.

Last October the Care Quality Commission published a phase one report on children's mental health services. The full review and recommendations will be published next month. They've already found that because many different agencies can be involved, access to CAMHS and other services can be difficult and incredibly time-consuming. I could have told you that. So probably could anyone who has ever wanted to access CAMHS services.


Over the past 4 years we've learned far more about children's mental health services than we ever would have believed. Our family has been given an immense amount of help, for which I am eternally grateful. We had extreme circumstances and jumped to the top of the queues at first, and in the subsequent months we've had to wait patiently with everyone else and at times watch our young people deteriorate, completely impotent and unable to pull them out by ourselves. We've seen the holes in the service, the lack of knowledge-sharing, the time-pressure, the wrangling for financing from different departments in order to make things happen, and the waiting for red tape and meetings to sign off plans and be able to move forward.

I cannot fault any of the professionals we've met. I don't have a bad word to say about any of them because they were every bit as frustrated as we were. Their job often seems more about admin and knowing who to speak to than it is about clinical care and spending time with the people who need it.

Hearing Things is a great party game from Hasbro that can be played really quietly! It's very different to other games we have, and loads of fun. It's also one that can create some risque answers so, unless you can be very careful with what you say, best for older players.


Packaging is entirely card and inside the box you have the headphones and pack of 150 Phrase Cards, as well as instructions. You'll need 2 x AAA batteries to power the headphones, and learning the rules could hardly be quicker.