Inside our box we had some of the brand new Miracle Cake Bars - Chunky Double Chocolate. We all tried them straight away, and I'm very pleased I split one between us because they do qualify as a small meal. 

They're lovely. Incredibly filling and containing just 131 calories which seems to be mainly comprised of fibre (over 1/3 of your recommended daily intake). They also only have 0.7g of sugar each, and you'd never know it. This is sweet and chocolatey goodness.

It's all very different, but that doesn't mean we can't still make it fun! When we look back, we won't really remember 2 weeks of self-isolating that turned into nothing, or all the hours we were trying to work while the kids asked endless questions. The things we'll remember the most will be the times we laughed at technology fails, the zoom calls with Grandma, the fact we sent parcels and letters. The precious hours getting to really know our family, the NHS, the rainbows, Marcus Rashford, and most of all, the way we still made it work.  

Here are lots of people who are still making it work in order to entertain us, and maybe teach us a few things along the way... Throughout the post are some printables that you can click on, save and print off on A4 paper... 

To book onto sessions you need to join the Bright Sparks, which is free to families on low incomes, and during the Coronavirus pandemic the £15 membership is also being waived, so that everyone can benefit. The sessions are FREE. Toddler sessions run on Tuesdays, family sessions on Saturdays. Sessions are open to all, and have to be booked via the Z-Arts website up until midnight the night before (you only need to book one ticket per family).

Toddler Sessions - Tuesdays, 10.00 - 10.30am
1st December, led by Gill - Kitchen Disco – let’s get fruity! Join Gill in a playful bendy yoga session themed on the fantastic story 'Kitchen Disco'.
8th December, led by Natasha - Hibernating - with The Very Hungry Caterpillar as inspiration.
15th December, led by Tom - Sticks and Stones workshop - create some winter characters that may be hidden outside. 

Family Sessions - Saturday 11.30am - 12.30pm
21st November, led by Gill - Find joy in the everyday - a mindful nature treasure hunt and then join Gill in creating a superb stick crown and some fantastical sculptures.
28th November, led by Yemi - Make & believe heritage in your home! You will uncover, search and explore items that represent your family’s culture.
5th December, led by Natasha - Christmas creations – reuse, recycle and repurpose.
12th December, led by Janine - Create your own Dreamcatchers - collect items on a winter's walk and join Janine to teach you the magic of  creating your very own Dreamcatcher.
19th December, led by Tom - Storyteller Tom shares his tips and tricks for creating new settings where your stories can be set.  Walk around your neighbourhood and put the things you see into your stories. 

1 - 31 December 2020, 7 short films - A £10 family ticket gives access to all 7 episodes of this online digital adventure throughout December, and is accompanied by an interactive HUMBUG Fact File filled with 13 artefacts sent directly to you.

Find out more and book online at Diverghub - online platform for Waterside arts & theatre

Funko are really well known for their 'Funko Pops', but that's only part of the story, They also make a range of games, and we've been sent some to review. 

We've been sent Mickey And Friends and Toy Story Something Wild! games (age 6+, 2-4 players), and 2 of the Marvel Battleworld Battle Balls (age 6+)... 

Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia is a video game based on the popular TV series Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia. It was released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows on September 25th and we were sent a code to review on the Playstation. 

 COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 19th / 20th October 2020.

The UK added 21,331 cases today and now has reported a total of 762,542 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 260,338 tests yesterday. 

6,431 people were in hospital, with 629 using a ventilator, on Sunday 18th October. 

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 241 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days. We now very sadly have a total of 43,967 officially reported losses of life in all settings.

According to ONS figures, up until Friday 8th October, 58,164 people had COVID-19 written on their death certificate. 

Cases / Losses of life (going by death certificate, 2 weeks in arrears):
England 647,025 / 50,309
Northern Ireland 28,953 / 913
Scotland 49,164 / 4,301
Wales 37,400 / 2,641

Rep. Of Ireland 52,256 (+1,263) cases and 1,865 (+13) losses of life. 

There have now been a total of 40,874,258 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 1,126,263. Already 30,481,449 people have recovered.

“You cannot, in an epidemic, just take your own risk. Unfortunately, you’re taking a risk on behalf of everybody else.”
Chief Medical Officer of England, Professor Chris Whitty. 

“We can look to happier days, but these are going to be some tough months ahead."
Former head of the US FDA, Dr Scott Gottlieb. 

The UK had a coronavirus briefing with Boris Haircut, Jonathan Van-Tam, (Deputy Chief Medical Officer) and Stephen Powis (NHS England).
Greater Manchester was given until noon today to come to agreement over Tier 3 Restrictions, and the amount of money that would be given to support people unable to work, or the Government said they'd step in. They did not manage it by noon. Nor by 2pm.
"At 2pm, the Government walked away from negotiations"
Andy Burnham, Manchester Mayor (he had asked for £65m).
The press conference started with latest data on case rates per 100,000 population by local authority across England. It's grim.
Estimates of new infections by region are rising in all age groups except the young people, which are levelling off. It's obviously the older age groups who are at greater risk of succumbing to COVID, and these people do need protecting. Sadly though, hospital admissions show that they are rising rapidly among people around 75+.
They did show graphs for Greater Manchester specifically, and it was very black.
Boris said our measures aren't in vain, we have brought the infection rate down below it's natural level, to around 1.3 or 1.5 (erm....whoop?) instead of 3 or 4. (This does slow spread, but it's still spread...)

Greater Manchester will move to Tier 3 VERY HIGH ALERT AT MIDNIGHT THURSDAY.
- Pubs and bars will close unless serving main meals
- No household mixing indoors or out in most settings
- Travel into or out of the area is advised against.
- The Rule Of 6 must be adhered to.
- Additionally to base Tier 3 restrictions -  casinos, bingo halls, betting shops, adult gaming centres and soft play must also close.
He talks about the Job Support Scheme and Universal Credit giving the lowest paid up to 80% of their regular wage (what about people on zero hour or 10 hour contracts?...). Greater Manchester will receive £22m in support (this is far less per head than has been given to Lancashire and Liverpool, which is what they are all arguing about). 

Public asked if the rules can be changed so that they can visit care homes. Boris burbled and then Jonathan Van Tam was overly-sincere. The answer is that it endangers everyone in the care home. It's not wise now.
Press asked why we don't have a national 'firebreak' lockdown. Jon and Steve both said it wasn't fair to do that nationally. Greater Manchester has more COVID patients than the entire South West of the country.
Press asked what difference arguing for 10 days will have made to Greater Manchester (well, the pubs in Bolton managed to open for a whole fortnight). Jon spoke about cases per 100k in age 60+, which have just about doubled. Steve talked about hospitalisations - which follow around 12+ days after people catch the virus. Greater Manchester had 330 patients with COVID 2 weeks ago, and 620 yesterday. At it's peak, on 18th April, Greater Manchester had 1,277 patients with COVID, so in 2 weeks we could be back at that level (and it's already too late to change that).
Jonathan seemed so demoralised. He needs a hug. "We can't afford just to let our elderly die. And we can't afford to let our NHS be completely consumed by COVID, so they can't do their usual work." 

"We are running now with the brakes partially on, and the R is 1.3-1.5 according to the latest estimates, so we can't take the brake off on this, and we may have to push on it a little bit harder."
Jonathan Van-Halen-Morrison. 

Press asked about the £22m being given to Manchester - he said this is half of what Liverpool has been offered, and not the £60m Boris was rumoured to have offered last night. 'So will local leaders be penalised i they aren't compliant?' Underneath that floppy exterior Boris is a hard-hearted soul. He clearly has ice inside. He didn't give a real answer. My guess is yes.
Press asked about contact tracing. All the lolz... *insert non-answers and misplaced credit here*