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Raisie Bay

My Sunday Snapshot – Happier Days

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After being stuck at home so long I really wished we didn’t live in a huge city. Today I’ve gone back in time to happier days. Back in June 2013 we were on holiday in Center Parcs. The girls were supposed to be at school but we had been given permission to take them on holiday during school time. All it took was a letter!

happier times the girls and their bikes
The girls and their bikes

Happier Times 2013

I had been chosen to be a Center Parcs blogger, which meant a day trip to Center Parcs where I was treated like a V.I.P with a group of bloggers. Then a holiday at a park of my choice. We chose Whinfell Forest which was amazing.

We had so much included in our holiday, like bikes, a spa day and a free meal at the restaurant (with free drinks too!) It was certainly happier times.

Star had an accident on her bike the very first day where she fell off and then refused to get on it again. So she pushed it around for a few days before deciding to give up on it.

Graham's bike in the woods with a baby on the back
Graham and the Little Man

Graham’s bike had a seat on the back for The Little Man, he was only two years old so he didn’t have a bike of his own.

We didn’t have the best weather, some days were sunnier than others. But Center parcs have so many trees it’s very rare to actually get wet in the rain.

The Little Man toddling in the woodland

Country Side

We really loved our time in the countryside and I would give anything to be there right now. Don’t worry, I’d be quite happy to isolate in the lodge we stayed in. I have a little video of it, it was gorgeous. And just behind it, loads of trees and wonderful places to walk among nature.

I have always lived in the city. I think living somewhere else would feel quite alien. But I love holidays that take you away from the normal. I’ve always said I’d love to live near the sea side, but then would I be so excited about seeing the sea if I could see it from my window every day? (I think I would, I love the sea.)

How about living in the middle of nature and having special guests for breakfast on your patio?

Red Squirrel on patio table

I think, suddenly having everything on your doorstep…shops, hospitals, restaurants etc. is not so convenient when everything is closed or you can’t go because of the risks of catching a virus.

At this moment I’m dreaming of happier times where we were surrounded with trees and nature.

The Ordinary Moments

Isolation Diaries Day 56

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Phew, Day 56, that’s a whole 8 weeks of isolation. We are a week ahead of the official lock down due to self isolating.

It’s been a while since I updated but hey, it’s much of the same! We home school during the week. We laze about during the weekend. We have still not left our home…at all! Graham has been out for essentials, he’s starting to creep out on a daily basis, but I get it. He needs to get out, and we can count it as his daily exercise. I have to admit I’ve been longing for a change of scenery, but the kids are still happy.

We are lucky to have a garden and when the sun shines we make use of it. Even if it’s getting the kids to sit on the trampoline with their tables. I’m thinking of making a cosier patio area for them to relax in. Just to encourage them out. We have a table and chairs, but they are not comfortable and there is little shade. That’s something to think about I guess.

Health

Health wise we have all been good. The kids are well, I’m trying to keep them healthy with food, exercise is a little harder, especially with the girls. The Little Man is young enough to enjoy the garden toys, swings, trampoline etc. We may put the slide out the front see if anyone else wants it as it’s a bit small for him now.

I think the adults are suffering a little with mental health, but we are not arguing and fighting all the time which is good. We are trying to understand each other more and even though we get on each others nerves sometimes we are becoming more accepting.

My health has not been so brilliant with the usual problems. But thankfully, I can cope and everyone is very helpful, even the kids. I don’t know what I’d do without my family. The wet room has been a great addition, I can shower and dress without using up all my spoons for the day. It’s so much easier. The kids are becoming more helpful around the house, they will clean up and do many more chores than before. If they were at school they would miss out on a lot of the housework, now they understand that they can help and it’s good.

Day 56 seems so long, it’s longer than the school summer holidays, that’s something to think about it isn’t it. The lovely Faith Mummy wrote a piece over her on her Facebook page which is worth a read if you have a minute.

News up to day 56

This week I finished my final interview for the Office of National Statistics which I’ve been doing for over a year. Because of doing this we have been chosen as a family to take part in the first wave of COVID 19 Infection Survey. We are still waiting for an appointment for the first round of testing, but once it begins we’ll be tested every week for a month and then every month for a year. It sounds a bit daunting and I’m not sure how the entire family will react (especially after the first test) but it’s important to help the scientists understand this virus. I have already decided that no matter how uncomfortable it is I’m going to complete the entire survey. The other’s can drop out at any time.

75th VE Day

Celebrations were kind of strange this year but I still think it’s important to remember those who gave us our freedom. With all that’s going on at the moment it certainly makes you think of the suffering that the people of our country went through during the wars. Including my Nan and Grandad and their eight children. My Mum, born just before the Second World War. My Dad who was older than Mum and served in the Second World War. And my Grandad who never came back (But not because he died, but that’s a whole other can of worms.) My Paternal grandparents lived through it too, but I never met them as they had both passed away before I was born.

My last memory of a family celebration was the 40th Anniversary in 1985. I was a teenager and my Mum held a big family party and BBQ in our back garden. We had all the flags and the old music, and my Nan was there to enjoy it too, she would have been 74. My Mum would have been just a little younger than I am now. This party played on my mind yesterday and I realised just how much I miss my family. The family that are mostly no longer with us.

Television I’ve watched up to Day 56

The television has been a bit boring, but it’s starting to pick up a little now, especially with the return of Killing Eve. I don’t know why I like this program, it just intrigues me even though the violence repulses me.

I’ve also been watching DEVS, I’m on catch up so quite a few episodes behind at the moment…shhh! I am enjoying it though, again in a weird kind of way. I wish I knew what they heck it was all about.

The there is the return of The A Word. My family berate me for watching a drama which features Autism when we have autistic family members. But I do actually find it interesting seeing how other families cope and I enjoy it for the drama. For the first couple of series I was quite obsessed with taking the program apart and using it to talk about Autism on my blog, like in this post for instance. Now, I’m just watching it for the drama that it is.

I’m also watching the re-run of Doc Martin. I used to watch this when it was first aired and loved it, but then I didn’t watch it for a while. I’m enjoying it again now, it actually makes me laugh out loud sometimes. I love Martin Clunes character. Oh and who wouldn’t enjoy the gorgeous Cornish scenery, what I would give to live in a village like that right now!

I finished watching The Good Place on Netflix. Oh, I dragged out the last series as I didn’t want it to end, what would I do without my friends Eleanor, Chidi, Tahini, Jason, Janet and Michael. It’s kind of strange because they were dead right from the beginning, but the grief at the end felt real. I’ve started reading philosophy again. If you are interested in philosophy on a lighter level then I’d suggest Jostein Gaarder, Stephen Law or even Paulo Cohelo for reading material.

I haven’t done this for a while but here are the places you can find me online. Please join me if you wish.

See you soon, don’t forget to join in with your posts. We could make a COVID Time capsule between us! Stay Safe x

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Build Your Own History Museum – Review and Competition

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Build Your Own History Museum is classed on the Lonely Planet Kids website as a boredom buster, and we all need those for our kids right now. But as well as being a boredom buster it’s also full of interactive and fun learning. See my review below and how you can win one of two copies yourself.

Build Your own museum book cover
ISBN: 9781788689403
Writers: Lonely Planet Kids, Claudia Martin
24 pages, 24pp color | Dimensions: 282mm × 259mm

Build Your Own Museum – The Blurb

Suitable for children ages 6-8

Calling all archaeologists!

A crate has arrived for you and it’s packed with treasures from the ancient world! Can you assemble them and assign each to the right room in time for the museum’s big opening? Among the treasures to display are an Egyptian sarcophagus, a Greek temple and a Chinese Terracotta Army.

Fun, interactive and with lots of facts to discover, Lonely Planet Kids’ Build Your Own History Museum is a hands-on way to learn about ancient people, cultures and traditions. It’s packed with amazing facts and awesome illustrations that reveal how people all over the world once lived and worked.

Perfect for history fans of all ages, this follow-up to Build Your Own Dinosaur Museum features the ancient civilizations Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, Egypt, Greece, China, Rome, the Maya, and the Vikings.

Our Review

My Little Man is 9 years old so a little older than the recommended age group. However, he still found this book fun and informative and still needed a little help putting it together.

history museum inside cover
Archaeological finds

The book comes in two sections. At the front you have a whole heap of archaeological finds which are cardboard cut outs.

They fit together on the relevant pages of the rest of the book to create a complete history museum.

cut outs

From Ancient People, , Egypt, China, Rome, Vikings, and others you can learn in short bursts about their life and treasures and then go ahead and fill in the pages with 3D exhibits. The end result is a stunning fold out museum.

3D viking long boat
3D Viking Long Boat

Our Verdict on Build Your Own History Museum

I loved this book so much, it contains just the right amount of information to keep the younger ones entertained and learning. Then they can bring the book to life just by pushing out the cardboard pieces and building the exhibits themselves. It’s educational and fun, the best kind of book.

If I had any criticism it would be that the pieces are a little fiddly to fit in. I had to help my Little Man and he is 9 years. If I was to be fair, he is autistic and a impatient, but even I found it a little fiddly.

The good thing is, the exhibits do stay put once they are inserted and you end up with a pop-up book that you’ve made yourself. All kids love a pop up book and it’s exciting to be a part of making it.

Competition

I have two copies of this lovely book to give away to my readers. You can buy it from Lonely Planet Kids for £14.99 if you don’t want to wait or enter the competition.

Here’s the widget

a Rafflecopter giveaway

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

  • The competition prize is one of 2 books
  • 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 9th May 2020 and ends 6th June 2020
  • 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
  • Prizes will be posted out as soon as possible depending on restrictions of lock down at end of competition.

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book for review and two for the competition. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I am also an affiliate for Lonely Planet and my links to their website may earn me a little money if you decide to buy anything from them. Thank you for your support.

Word of the Week 19 – Playing Games

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Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week. A nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. The idea of the linky is to reflect back on your past week and share it with us. It’s great if you can sum it up in a word or phrase, hence giving us your Word of the Week. My phrase this week is playing games and you can read more about that below.

I’m not totally strict on using just a word or phrase. But please try to stick to the theme of summing up your week.There are not too many rules with this linky, just remember to read at least another couple of posts in the link up after adding your link. I will read and comment on all posts and tweet them out for you. I also have a Pinterest board

devoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts to Mix Please add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

My Word of the Week – Playing Games

playing games

It’s been a bit of a weird week this week. Does anyone else think time is flying by in lock down, or is it going slow for you? It was a bit of shock to think that we have been stuck at home longer than the entire school Summer holiday already.

This week I decided to treat my kids to some time playing games. The Little Man had a game, Scrap Mechanic, on his laptop and the girls had, My Hero, Justice Two (or something like that) on the Switch. I also decided to revisit a game myself and I’ve been playing The Sims. The eldest two have been playing some prison escape game and Graham has been playing Uncharted Four.

They are all very different games so it’s been a whole week of computer gaming and maybe that’s why it’s gone so fast. Time flies when you are gaming that’s for sure.

Of course we have still been home educating too, but we get an extra day off today, Yay! The Little Man is still working the hardest, but that’s probably because he has to do all his work under my supervision. I’m trusting the girls to work independently.

Other than that we’ve had a couple of nice days and managed to get in the garden for a little while. We picked some dandelions from the garden last weekend and made some cookies with the petals. They were delicious but the kids were not keen to try them because they had flowers in them. I tried to explain that sugar and flour comes from plants too, but they still only had a nibble. I have strange kids!

That’s all from me this week, let me know what word or phrase sums up your word this week?

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Last week my word of the week was Challenge

Diet and Health – You are What you Eat

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Why Are Diet And Health Connected?

You are what you eat. diet and health by www.Raisiebay.com

When you are thinking about diet and health, it’s quite simple really, you are what you eat! What you put in your body is what your body uses for energy and growth. Eat well and your body will work well. But what happens if you do what you can but things still go wrong? You might have your five a day, include protein, dairy, oil and starch and drink plenty of fluids, but your body may still not be as healthy as you wish.

This is when people start considering other types of problems with diet and how they are affecting their health.

Diet and Health Issues

So what sort of health issues can your diet cause, or improve? Weight is obviously one. People are all for not shaming people for being overweight and I’m one that believes that some people are genuinely meant to be a bigger size than others and if that doesn’t cause them any health problems then that’s fine. But if being overweight does cause problems then maybe it’s time to think about your diet and start making improvements.

Other issues can be caused by changing your diet without first checking that it would be better for you. A lot of people decide to cut out dairy or meat but fail to replace the nutrients they supply. Sometimes simple nutritional tests can be the way to find out whether a vegan diet would be best for you.

Trying Different Diets

It’s always best to consult your doctor before making drastic changes to your diet. But, there are ways you can make improvements and see if they work.

A few years ago I tried a Paleo diet. I kept it up for about a month but I found it hard as it was quite strict. I did find that certain things made me feel worse though, like sugar and starchy food. Unlike many I have low blood pressure which means I can take a little extra salt in my diet. The problem is I don’t really like salt or salty tasting things.

I’ve also tried replacing food with protein shakes but although they were filling, I did miss actually eating food.

I’ve tried a vegetarian diet, which mostly worked as I’m not a great meat eater, but I do like to eat fish, and I find fish gives me a lot of the nutrients that I lack. So, I ended up being more a Pescatarian, where I ate fish but not meat. Eventually, a little meat started creeping back in though. I have a large family and it gets difficult cooking different types of meals for everyone. We have to strike a balance somewhere.

Finding the Right Balance

It can be easy if you are living alone, but when you have a whole family to think of you need to be able to find the right balance of food that fits in with everyone. That doesn’t mean that everyone will like the same foods, I have two children that love peas and three that hate them for instance, but you can make things work. We can all have a paella, but I can dish some up before adding the pre cooked peas.

My husband and I get heartburn but we have worked out which food cause the biggest problems and eliminate them, or eat them less frequently. I have family members with digestive issues, so I can make sure they get the food which helps them most, if I can’t give them what they need in food then drinks always helps. I’ve found in the past that even just a change in breakfast cereal can make a difference.

We don’t always eat healthily and we do sometimes turn to junk or comfort food. But I try to make sure we eat enough to give us the right nutrients along with the diet that causes us the less stress to our bodies.

Occasionally, I do stop and think about how lucky we are to have such a wide range of food available to us and that we are able to afford it. When times get hard financially we can choose to cut out the treats and still be able to afford healthy food. It’s so easy to choose ready made meals and meals from jars, but when you make your own food you know exactly what you are putting into it. We always say we make our food with love and whether it’s Spaghetti bolognese, a sandwich or a chocolate cake, we know all the ingredients and what affect the food will have on us.

Most weeks I try to write up my weekly meal plan on my other blog At Home a Lot. Planning meals can help a lot with deciding what you want to eat each day and working out what you need to buy each week.

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