Review // Catipilla Scratcher

 

For those of you that aren't aware, I have three cats, Indie who is 8, Link who is 2 and Odin our newest member is also 2 and we rescued him last year from the Cats Protection.

I adore all three and love nothing more than spoiling them to new treats, one thing that I don't quite adore is them scratching at the carpets or the sofa legs, so I am always on the hunt for new scratching poles or mats, so when I came across Catipilla I was very interested in their wall-mounted scratching poles.

They very kindly sent me a wall mounted post for my three fur babies to try out.

Odin checking out the new post.

The Catipilla scratcher is wall mounted and prices range from £20 to £70 depending on which size you go for, they also offer replacement post to buy for when yours is starting to look a bit worse for wear.

The post comes with everything you need to mount it up and if needed you can buy additional fittings for £3 a pair plus shipping costs.

Materials used;

South American sisal rope. 

They source the highest quality, ‘whitest’, natural sisal rope they can find and they never bleach it as this is not good for cats. 

Being a natural product, there will always be slight colour variations and imperfections in the sisal.

Anodised Aluminium.

The inner core of ABS plastic that will not dampen/warp.

Keeping his mini Pantha claws in check!

All three of the cats have enjoyed stretching out on the new post .... trying to get a picture of all three was beyond difficult, every time the camera came out they ran away only to return once I was heading back down the stairs!

I've found Odin enjoys it the most and will always have a good scratch before heading down for his breakfast.

Link protecting the post from the others!

Link our biggest cat weighs around 7kg, so we went for a bigger option rather than a smaller one, so when he was using it he could get a good stretch.

We went for the 75cm post which is priced at a reasonable £42.00.

It was really easy to install and we decided the best place for it was at the top of the stairs and thankfully it is being used much more than the sofa legs!

So it is definitely a big win! 

Not only do Catipilla sell scratching posts they also have a great range of cat climbers, resting points and accessories. 

www.catipilla.com

Review // Mål Paper Daily Goal Setter Planner.

I have kindly been sent a daily goal setter from Mål Paper, a stylish planner to help me achieve me to stick to my daily/weekly and monthly goals and make sure I stick to them!

I'm always trying to be more organised, and now with the new school year just around the corner, my second year of uni about to beginning and a baby on the way now is probably the best time to get myself organised and on the ball.

The word Mål, pronounced 'mo-l', means goal in Swedish.

This 271 paged planner is simply set out and really easy to use and its main aim is to help you become more productive.

Instead of jumping straight into the monthly view pages, this planner has a few notes/instructions at the start to help aid you in the best way to put this planner to use.

It has a cheat sheet at the very beginning which has lots of guidance on how to set effective goals and tips and tricks on affirmations and even tells you about the A, B, C, D, E method which helps you prioritise your lists of to-dos helping make your daily tasks more manageable.

Then on to the actual planner, you have a two-page spread for each of your long-term goals, medium-term goals and then your short-termed goals. 

Then you get the monthly review pages that you can write out from whenever you purchase the planner. 

Then you have your weekly review pages, which is where you can jot down your weekly tasks starting with the most important to additional tasks that will need completing that week.

Then you have your daily planner page, where you have space to write three things you are grateful for, the planner suggests you write these down first thing in the morning.

Your daily affirmations, if this is something you feel you may struggle with at first there are some suggestions at the start of the planner and then you have space to write down your daily tasks and goals that need to be achieved that day.

Then at the end of the day, you can go back and jot down something great that happened.

Then at the back like all good planners, you have space to write important or quick notes on.

I really love how the planner is set out and all the useful tips it suggests to help make sure you get the most out of the planner.

I've set mine up to start from September so that when the new term starts I am ready for it.

Handy little pocket 

The planner costs £21.95 with free shipping for the UK

You can purchase one here.

The lovely guys over at Mål Paper have given me a 15% discount code for my readers, so if you guys do fancy buying one of these for yourself make sure to pop in

BRSPECIAL15

at the checkout!

Baby Number Five Is On Its way

Baby number 5 will be joining the mini beast clan in February 2021!!

After all our miscarriages a couple of years ago we decided that would be the end of trying for another little one to join our family, so when we found out that I was pregnant it was a complete shock.

The day I actually took my test was when my best friend texts me to tell me there was a rainbow even though it hadn't been raining, and that was a sign. So I popped to Tesco to grab a test and low and behold it showed a positive result. 

I didn't really believe it at first and continued to take a few more tests over the following week, half expecting my period to come and the tests to come back negative.

Two weeks went by and it was finally starting to sink in, the sickness also made it harder not to believe.

I held off telling anyone other than my best friend and Jon, not even our parents had been told.

I was still waiting to bleed, due to our miscarriages I just didn't expect this pregnancy to go any differently.

By 7 weeks the sickness was not letting me leave the bathroom I finally gave in and told my mum, we were due to be heading down to London to have a post lockdown visit but there was no way I'd be able to make it without being sick in the car.

 My mum and I decided not to tell anyone else just yet, so we just told my dad I was sick, which led him to get all concerned I had caught corona and he started telling me I needed to quarantine myself and the boys.

10 weeks came and I was past the stage of my previous miscarriages and slowly starting to get a little bit excited about being pregnant, my parents came to visit and we finally told my dad who got a little annoyed that mum knew and he didn't.

11 weeks came and we gave in and told the boys as I was still being really sick and they were sure I was dying of corona and wanted me to go to the doctor. Oscars reaction was the best, he came out with '5 children...are you MAD?' 

Noah pipped in with I bet it's going to be annoying and Rupert wanted to know how big it was, what it ate when it would be big and if it could look like his friend Billy from school!

I'm now in my 13th week and I'm still suffering from morning sickness through out the day but my anti-sickness tablets are helping, we've had our first scan and everything is good with the baby. It was lovely seeing the baby jumping around it really put my mind at ease, but it still hasn't stopped the worry of seeing blood every time I go to the toilet. I am hoping that dread will eventually go as the pregnancy progresses.

We're still holding back from buying things, but that doesnt stop us browsing the internet looking at all the beautiful baby items you can buy.

I'm hoping the sickness wears off soon and I can finally start getting my energy levels back.

xxx

Book Review // Meee in a family minute: 60 Ways To Improve Your Family Life In 60 Secs.

'Sid Madge is a brand strategist and founder of The Meee Programme. 

His first book ‘Meee in a Minute - 60 ways to improve your life in 60 seconds’ became a best-seller and celebrates the work of the Meee Programme. 

It draws on his knowledge of branding and expertise from neuroscience, psychology, education, business and sociology.'

Family time can sometimes be overlooked or put to the bottom of the to-do list thanks to our busy lives, our hectic schedules and the pull of those damn games consoles that are easier to give into than argue against, so when I was asked if I would like a copy of Sid Madge's 60 ways to improve your family life in 60 secs I was definitely more than willing to give it a read.   

Lockdown started off great as we did so much together as a family but as the weeks went on and the stress of it got to us all, we all kind of slipped into a lazy routine of not doing much and only really coming together on the odd walk in the woods or at mealtimes, so I needed to get back on track and reconnect our clan.

Taking breaths when the boys get too much, has really helped me tackle situations much better.

The 60 mini-chapters only take a minute to read and you can flip through the book and read it how you like, it covers everything from learning how to say sorry to creating family traditions.

Sid also covers how to bring a blended family together - which includes those who foster.

I love that you can flip through the book and will always end up finding something that relates to your family or something that you can do together that will bring you closer and help you bring back the fun in being a family.

Lockdown has forced us to spend more time together and even with that in place we still managed to slightly drift apart.

After reading 60 ways to improve your family life in 60 secs I have now clamped down on screen time and make more of an effort to enjoy time as a family, we are talking more, sharing more and the mood in the house is 100 x better.

One thing we all really enjoy has been bringing back family movie night, the last film we watched was Jaws and even Noah was happy to sit down and watch it with us.

The boys are all into sharks at the moment thanks to Fortnites floods, so it was a winner all around.

I did half expect the younger boys to get frightened but they all loved it and now want to watch Jaws 2.

 With Noah months away from becoming a fully-fledged smelly teenager we are in constant battles with him to do simple tasks like brushing his teeth, taking a shower, stepping out of his room to grace us with his presence that I do often snap at him for no reason and have let him go to bed without me apologising to him then wondering why he's always moody with me. 

So after reading the Learn how to Say Sorry chapter, I make a conscious effort to say sorry after I've blown up at him, he's hormonal I'm hormonal but getting angry at silly is pointless. Gentle reminders about his hygiene work much better than shouting at him.

He is much happier after I've said my sorries, he then also apologises back and the awful mood is broken.

simples really!

The mini-chapters are simple and are something families all set out to do, but along the way occasionally forget so it's nice to have the book around for that little kick up the bum when we have lost our way!

Sid's other books are:

60 ways to improve your life.

60 ways to improve your working life.

Meee and my teaching book.

Viking re-enactment at Castle Rising

This is a day out from last August, we all had such a great day that I wanted to share it on the blog, the re-enactment usually happens every year and last year was the first time the boys and I went.

We were hoping to attend again this year but with coronavirus going on, I'm not sure it will be happening.

We went with my friend Sarah and her two boys, Zack and Harley.

We arrived at the start as we weren't sure how busy it would be, the boys were all excited to see all the different re-enactors dressed up in their costumes with an array of different weapons.

Not only were the Vikings there, but there were also many different armies around with guns and canons.

We found a nice space on the grass to set up our picnic and then let the boys explore the castle whilst it was still quiet.

They loved running around finding different doors and stairways.

The last time we went to Castle Rising was the winter that we moved to Norfolk and it was very cold and very misty and the boys were a little bit too young to get the full excitement from an old castle grounds. So it was nice to see them fully get excited about it this time around.

Ru was keen to go to all the parts Alex and Oscar shied away from as they were worried the ground would fall away if they went and stood on it.

After they were done with running around the castle we went and looked at the Viking displays of armour and clothing.

The boys were all pretty impressed they got a chance to have a hold of some of the swords and shields.

The Wuffa Vikings were very friendly and talked them all through what they were all used for and how they were made, not that I'm sure the boys were all that bothered, they just thought they were awesome!

Before all the re-enactments started we got stuck into our picnic, the site wasn't as busy as I thought it would be which was nice, we were sat by the Viking set up and we could watch them go about making and living their Viking life.

Once we were finished we decided to head out to the tea tent and treat the boys all to ice creams, though on our way the boys had to fight the Vikings to get off the bridge!

This really made the boys day, the twins turned into martial art ninjas and kicked their way through the shields!

It was very amusing and I'm not sure the Viking guys were expecting that.

Freeeeedoooooom

We bumped into one of the Vikings after our ice creams and the boys pretty much wanted him to become their new best friend!

They were all over him asking what everything was, and he was so nice and patient with all of them.

Watching the re-enactment was amazing, the guys really were awesome and we loved seeing all the different characters.

After the boys fight with them earlier made them prime targets for the shouts from the Vikings when they were running around, and this made the boys so happy.

Rather than just sitting and watching they all got involved and loved shouting back at them!

 

Poor Mummy 

Before we left the boys all begged to have their photo taken with their favourite Viking!

Even Noah had his picture taken too.

                                  

It was an amazing day and if it does happen to go ahead this year we will definitely be there!

The Vikings were from Wuffa Viking and Saxon Reenactment Society and they do displays around Norfolk and Suffolk.

Rainy Day Walk In The Woods

With me feeling under the weather recently we haven't been out as much as normal and we were all starting to miss the fresh air. 

For our woodland walks, we always go off to Wolferton but have found since Sandringham started charging for parking Wolferton has become much busier than normal, especially during sunny days. We have turned up only to find no space to park and the small roads overcome with parked cars in any spare space.

So we have been staying away and going to a closer by woods that is only really used by locals, but with Monday morning a bit of a washout and the dog really needing a walk we decided to coat the boys up and just head off to Wolferton.

I had to dig about for coats as I had just recently binned a few old winter coats and raincoats they've grown out of but I managed to find a few strays at the back of the cupboard.

When we got there, we were the only ones there which was a nice change. 

The boys all dashed out the car and headed into the reserve.

We are normally faced with a few 100 'I don't wanna walk' or 'Do we have too?' normally from Noah, but this time there were no moans or groans, definitely a bit of a win.

The only one who did get huffy was the dog, as he isn't a fan of the rain!

Even though it was raining it was still warm, and the views with the moody grey skies were lovely.

The boys all went hunting for bigfoot ..... apparently, he lives in Wolferton now.

Ru had a pair of old wellies on so was on the hunt for muddy puddles, it didn't take him long to find some and he was away having a whale of a time until he splashed too much and got it all up his front!

They definitely all need some new forest school kits!

I recently got a phone upgrade and I know have the portrait option on the camera, so I had a go with using it, unfortunately only Oscar and Ru happily posed for me. Noah is completely anti photos these days and Alex was too far in front of me to have his picture taken.

We found a few new dens in the woods, some had log seats in and some were still in the early stages of development.

The boys all loved checking inside the dens to see what was in them.

x Stay Safe x