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Raisie Bay

Competitions and Reviews

Dotty Fish baby shoes, a Review

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I was asked by Dotty Fish if I would like to review some of their baby shoes. Well, it’s been a long time since I had a baby, but I thought of my gorgeous great nephew and decided to try some shoes for him and let you know all about Dotty Fish.

I am an affiliate of Dotty Fish so any links used may earn me some commission at no extra cost to yourself, thank you for supporting my blog.

Dotty Fish Baby Shoes

Dotty Fish is a small business selling shoes and bibs and run by a Mum of two, Helen. The company has a passion for creating beautiful affordable shoes for babies which are podiatry tested. The shoes all have a soft flexible sole which is just what is needed for babies and toddlers taking their first steps. It’s the next best thing to bare feet and the shoes are very well made and incredibly cute.

I asked my neice what shoes she would like and she chose these gorgeous Nya the Elephant Shoes.

Nya the Elephant baby shoes from Dotty shoes. Image shows two little soft leather shoes with an elephant motif on each one.

I was really impressed with them. They not only looked good, they felt really soft. As my Great nephew was born a little early his tiny feet are still not big enough for the shoes, but he’ll be wearing them soon seeing how quick he is growing.

The shoes arrived in a shimmery bag which was a nice touch. I like that the packaging is kept to a minimum but still looks very sweet and a treat to receive. The postage bag was covered with Dotty Fish doodles (great for colouring in!) and the address label pealed off so it was nice enough to give as a gift.

Also in the parcel were some matching bandana bibs.

Dotty fish bibs, one grey, one red and one white with Nya the Elephant printed on.

There were three bibs, one grey, one red and one with Nya the Elephant printed on it. They were such good quality and together with the shoes would make a perfect gift for a new baby.

For the toddler in the house, Dotty Fish have a superb selection of toddler shoes with rubber soles for extra traction. These are called Shimmy Shoes and are really very cute as well as great value.

You can buy a pair of soft sole shoes from Dotty fish for just £12.99 and the Shimmy shoes are only £16.99. The bibs start at £3.49 but you can get a deal if you buy a pack of three for just £6.99. Package and postage is free to the UK and all packaging is sustainable (And very cute!)

I honestly think Dotty Fish shoes are the cutest baby shoes at such a reasonable price. There is a lot more to see over the website so do take a look and let me know what you like best.

dotty Fish baby Shoes.

How many times have I said ‘cute’ in this post…can you tell I’m in love with these shoes!

Dom and Geri Unique Designs for Celebrations

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I was asked to review some items from Dom and Geri and with a very special birthday coming up I decided to see what they have to offer. I was impressed by their unique designs for all sorts of celebrations.

Dom and Geri Unique designs.

Dom and Geri

Dom and Geri offer personalised cards, wrapping paper, banners and gifts in unique designs for all occasions. They offer high quality products with a super fast delivery and prices that can compete with other online companies.

During the pandemic I have had to buy so many cards and wrapping paper online and I’ve always gone to the well known stores. I find them overpriced and some of their products quite tacky. I had a few cards that I decided not to send because the personalisation hadn’t been printed very well.

Dom and Geri offer a really good service and the products I received where great quality and I can’t wait to use them. I chose the Balloon Milestone collection starting with a banner which is huge! I decided against a photograph but the personalisation was really nice and I love the 3D balloon affect image. I also chose a matching roll of paper to wrap up her gifts and a lovely card. I was really pleased with the quality of all three items.

Balloon personalised banner, card and wrapping paper.

I’m so looking forward to this special birthday. All I need now is a few balloons. She has decided that she doesn’t want a big party just a couple of close friends and her boyfriend and weather permitting a BBQ. I’m also treating them to day out. But in the end, it’s the little details like the lovely items from Dom and Geri that make the day really special.

You can follow Dom and Geri on Facebook, Twitter Instagram and Pinterest and sign up for their newsletter for some great special offers.

Chicken Kiev Recipe and Win a Garlic Crusher

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Today I’m bringing you two wonderful things. My recipe for our favourite Chicken Kiev and the chance to win a Garlic Crusher from Oliver’s Kitchen.

The competition prize is being provided from Oliver’s Kitchen and you can enter at the end of this post. It’s the best Garlic crusher I’ve ever had, as soon as I took it from the box I knew it was built to last. It’s heavy, smart and does the job beautifully.

garlic crusher from Oliver's Kitchen.

You can win one of these too in my latest competition. It’s currently out of stock on the website but you can buy one on Amazon for £14.99.

Chicken Kiev Recipe

My favourite garlic based recipe is Chicken Kiev and I like to make it at home. It’s a lot easier than you think.

Ingredients:

  • 4 Chicken breasts with skin removed

For the garlic herb butter

  • 3-4 tbsp freshly chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 3-4 tbsp freshly chopped chives
  • 115g soft butter
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
  • salt and pepper

For the Kiev coating

  • 50g/2oz plain flour
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 175g/6oz natural breadcrumbs
  • oil for frying

Method

First make the garlic butter filling. Add the herbs to the butter along with the garlic and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Mix together with a fork.

Divide the butter into four and using cold hands (run them under the cold tap) roll them into bullet shapes. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Take your chicken breast and lifting the fillet part up, cut through about two thirds of the breast.

Unwrap your butter bullets and place them inside your chicken breast, pulling your fillet part down to fully seal the butter.

Put a pan of oil on to warm up.

Beat the 4 eggs up in a bowl. fill another bowl with the flour and a third bowl with the bread crumbs.

Take each breast and place in the flour bowl until coated, then place in the egg until coated and finally in the breadcrumbs. Make sure each piece is completely covered.

Gently put the chicken into the fat until golden then remove and place on a baking tray.

Pop into the oven on 170 degrees for a further 15 minutes (keep an eye on them and take them out if they start to leak.) Let them rest.

We serve our chicken kievs with pasta, when you cut open the chicken the garlic, herb butter sauce dribbles all over the pasta. You can also serve them with rice or potatoes.

What do you serve your Chicken Kievs with?

Win an Oliver’s Kitchen Garlic Crusher

Now you can own an Oliver’s Kitchen Garlic Crusher yourself by entering my competition using the widget below.

garlic crusher and garlic bulb

Oliver’s Kitchen is a family run website that promises to bring you the best kitchenware, sourced with love with fast hassle free delivery and loved by their customers with over 2000 five star ratings. Go to the site and join the club for some fantastic offers in your e-mail.

Now before the competition here’s a few

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

  • The competition prize is a Garlic Crusher from Oliver’s Kitchen
  • The winner must be living in the UK
  • No information is collected other than for contacting the winner
  • The prize cannot be exchanged for cash
  • The competition starts on 7th July and finishes on 9th August
  • Prize winner will be selected from the widget.
  • Not all parts of the competition need to be completed, but you need to have completed the part you have been selected for if you win.
  • Winners will be contacted by e-mail
  • Oliver’s Kitchen is responsible for the prize

Here’s the widget to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you seen my recipe for Mapo Tofu Curry?

Win a Father’s Day Chocolate Bar

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It’s Father’s Day in the UK on 20th June and I’m offering one of my UK readers the chance to win a special Father’s Day bar of chocolate in my latest give away. This competition is not sponsored by Cadbury’s but I am a Cadbury affiliate so if you click through to the site and make a purchase, I may earn a little money at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog, and for this I am able to offer you this chance to win a gift in return.

Father’s Day Chocolate Gifts from Cadburys

I choose Cadbury’s a lot for my gifting, we love the chocolate and live very near the place where George Cadbury built his factory and village. (And Cadbury World)

I’m going to gift one lucky ready a special edition Father’s Day Dairy Milk Bar.

Cadbury No 1 Dad Father's Day Chocolate Bar.
Cadbury No 1 Dad Father’s Day Chocolate Bar 850g

Just fill in the widget at the end of the post to enter, it’s real easy.

Before you do though, let’s take a look at some of the other products you can buy from Cadbury’s Gift Shop for Father’s Day (or any day, or anyone….go on treat yourself!)

The perfect gift to thank your dad this Father’s Day! A Cadbury gift box filled with a Cadbury Dairy Milk 200g bar in a special ‘No 1 Dad’ gift sleeve alongside a NEW Heroes Share gift box and a selection of milk and dark chocolate bars.

Box of chocolate treats
Father’s Day Gift £20

Send a thoughtful Dad’s Chocolate gift of St Peter’s Ales with a variety of the nation’s favourite Cadbury Dairy Milk bars. Special ‘No.1 Dad’ ‘Gift sleeve on the Dairy Milk Bar.

bars of chocolate and bottles of beer
Bars and Beers box £23,50

Cadbury chocolate Dairy Milk football in a presentation box. Featuring top six football UK clubs.

chocolate football
Football chocolate 256g £6.99

Cadbury chocolate gift and a bottle of red wine! Cadbury Gifts Direct unique two layered Cadbury Selection Box with a bottle of Shiraz Cabernet in a Cadbury gift box. A celebratory gift for all tastes because they deserve it!

red wine and chocolate selection
Red wine and chocolate selection £27

The Competition

There are plenty of other gifts over on the Cadbury Gift Shop, not just for Father’s Day. Take a look at the sale for some bargain buys.

So now for my competition, here are the Terms and Conditions:

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

  • The competition prize is a bar of chocolate sized 850g
  • The winner must be living in the UK
  • No information is collected other than for contacting the winner
  • The prize cannot be exchanged for cash
  • The competition starts on 12th May and ends on 8th June
  • Prize winner will be selected from the widget.
  • Not all parts of the competition need to be completed, but you need to have completed the part you have been selected for if you win.
  • Winners will be contacted by e-mail
  • Raisiebay is responsible for the prize and a substitution of equal quality may have to be made.

Here’s the widget to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Manor House Murder, Foul Play – Game Review

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There has been a murder in the Manor House and this fabulous new card game is here to help you solve the crime. I was thrilled to be sent a pack of cards to play with my family. We all love a good murder mystery.

foul play card game pack
Foul Play Game Card Pack

What’s in the Pack?

In this very portable pack of cards you get a selection of game play cards and instruction cards.

The game cards set out

The cards include the suspects, the evidence, crime scene cards, clue cards and the red herrings. Everything you need for a good crime solving kit.

How to Play Foul Play, Murder in the Manor House

There are two ways to play, Good Cop or Bad Cop. We decided to go for Good Cop and the first step was to sort through the Evidence cards and pick just three. The rest were put away (Without looking) and not used in the game. The game reminded us of playing Cluedo, but rather than having a board it’s played with a pack of cards. If you think of the three cards in Cluedo that are chosen in secret and put in the envelope, these are the three pieces of evidence at play in this pack. Once you have all three then you can identify the murderer in the manor house, but you have to have the murderer card in your hand to win the game.

card game set up

After choosing your three pieces of evidence, all the cards are shuffled. Nine Cards are placed in the centre of the table in a grid, this is now the crime scene. Then each player is given five cards which become their hand. The remaining cards are placed next to the crime scene and are now known as the evidence locker. Cards that are played are then put in the discard pile on the opposite side to the evidence locker. Once the evidence locker is empty, the discard pile is put back in play.

example hand

Here is an example hand. You can have anything in your hand from evidence to suspects. When it’s your turn you choose which card to play and put it down for all to see. Then once you have carried out the instructions on the card you put it into the discard pile.

The object of the game is to get to see all three pieces of evidence which are in play, and then once you’ve identified the murderer you need to have them in the hand before announcing that you have the suspect in custody and are making your arrest. Then if you are correct you have won the game.

What we Thought of Foul Play

It took us a while to figure out how to play. The rules were simple enough, it just seemed confusing at first. I think maybe if there hadn’t been two different ways of playing we may have understood better. But neither way of playing is particularly complicated once you get the hang of it.

Bad Cop

When you play Bad Cop you don’t take out the other evidence cards, but you need to have three pieces of evidence and the suspect in your hand to make your arrest and win.

As you get used to the game(s) you soon learn tips and tricks that help you to play better.

The game is fun and although confusing at first it does get easier once you have played once or twice. We honestly didn’t enjoy the first game, but once we knew what we were doing we became very competitive. We wanted to be the first to solve the crime and our investigative skills became more honed.

Good Cop is definitely my favourite version to play, but it’s nice to have another option to change things up a little.

The cards are good quality and look great. The pack is small and easy to transport. It will definitely be in our suitcase for when we are on our travels. If you are a fan of Cluedo then you will love Foul Play.

Here are the clues and all the suspects…..can you work out who did this manor house murder?

You can buy Foul Play for just £8.95 from their website.

I was sent a copy of Foul Play in return for my honest review. You can read more of my reviews here, and my Disclosure and Privacy Policy here.