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On festival days, the streets surrounding Heeley City Farm are usually crammed bumper to bumper with parked cars. But not today.

I tell Sarah it's because of the rain which is bounding off the windscreen like a hailstorm of ping-pong balls. "Some of the activities might have been cancelled, are you sure you still want to go?"

Of course she does. Ever since she saw the flyer I picked up in the reception at school Sarah has not stopped asking if she could get her hair braided. Personally I was looking forward to picking up a pretty wreath for the front door and some Christmas crafts to adorn our seemingly virginal tree. So hurriedly we packed Cassius into his pram and bolted across to the main centre, seeking shelter under a thatched roof where the tombola and a woodcraft stall had set up their wares.

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Last year, my aunt inspired us all by creating beautiful handmade cards to send to family members - they were a Christmas treat in themselves!

So this year, Sazzy and I will be following her lead, using this great tutorial for origami Christmas trees as the basis for our designs:

We Grow By Our Dreams: Origami Christmas Tree Tutorial

We've found some lovely quality festive wrapping paper at only 25p a sheet in the local post office, already have gold star stickers, metallic pens and beads to embellish, and are scouring eBay for budget-priced blank cards (Hobbycraft is way overpriced!).

I'll post pics once we've made a few (and I finally have access to a camera-enabled phone!)
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These days, almost all of us will operate a Facebook account, whether to keep up with family and friends or extend our social reach.

Image credit: Carbonnyc,


Like all modern technologies, there are no hard-and-fast rules for how we should operate our accounts, but there are guidelines we could follow in order to avoid embarrassing ourselves or others.

Make use of these etiquettes as you see fit and help make Facebook a more appealing place to socialise.

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For the next two weeks, the independent cinema, Showroom in Sheffield will be host to Showcomotion - a film festival for young people.



As a film lover myself, I'm quite excited to know this is happening in my home town and am grateful that local kids will have the opportunity to see and learn about film. And with tickets at only £2.00 each, my kids are looking forward to a few cinema trips!

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Each Friday on Glamumous I review a book I've recently read and feel would be interesting for readers of this site. This week I'm reviewing the craft-based book, Stitch by Cath Kidston
.

I'm afraid I've been a little busy this week, ever since this gorgeous book arrived with the postman to be precise! Having a fondness for cross stitch (and feeling the nesting instinct kicking in!) I'd been interested in this book for some time and was really looking forward to some of the new and modern projects contained within.

Cath Kidston's style of home design offers a modern twist on traditional arts, and this book delivers a needlecrafter's interpretation of this in delicious doses. With projects suitable for crafters of all levels of experience, there's something in here for everyone to try!

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When I first saw those TV adverts suggesting we could feed a family of four for £50, I naturally assumed this meant a week's worth of evening meals only. So it did come as a pleasant surprise to find this cost includes breakfasts and lunches too. For a whole week!



Sainsburys have developed an efficient, cost-effective meal plan and recipe guide to cover a week's worth of meals for the whole family to enjoy together. The plan does require sticking to portion sizes and does not include any snacks between meals, though undoubtedly it is a cost effective means of feeding the family on a budget.

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Having chanced upon a fly poster outside Tesco the other day, my daughter and I made a last-minute dash to The Baby Friendly Show at the Sheffield Park Hotel.

Despite already having two children, I hadn't yet had the opportunity to experience a show dedicated to babies, and had almost no idea of what to expect. At first, DD and I felt a little out of place in the glossy clean hotel entrance - where were the screaming hoardes of toddlers and their flustered parents? A quick word to the receptionist pointed us in the right direction where we found the show began in the entrance to the hotel's event section and a cheery greeting from one of the organizers.

We'd arrived a little late in the day, at around 1pm when the show had been in full swing since 9am. I guessed at this time that we'd probably missed most of the fun planned for the show, though my daughter was still very excited at being able to participate in the treasure hunt which led us from stand to stand in the main exhibition hall.

Despite our late arrival, there we still many families there, most of whom sported prams and babes in arms (or a growing bump like mine!). It was such a pleasant surprise to see many dads there who didn't seem bored to death, making me wish I'd had the foresight to encourage my partner to come along with us!

The Treasure Hunt for the children was a genius idea - we needed to find the fruit or vegetable hidden on each exhibitor's stand, helping me to discover many local services which I may have otherwise overlooked. Being pregnant, I was particularly interested in maternity events and services; though I was a little too shy to join in, I enjoyed watching the Daisy Birthing taster session and was very pleased to find information about financial help available to pregnant workers on the NCT stand!

My favourite part had to be rummaging through the "nearly new" sale where we found loads of wonderful bargains. For £12, I bought a pair of gorgeous smart maternity trousers, two tees, a long white shirt, a dress for DD and a pair of training roller skates, all great quality and decent labels too! If I'd had more cash on me, I would have also bought one of the lovely travel-systems too, though we didn't notice the hotel had a cash machine until we were on the way out!

Next month, the BFG is hosting The Kids Show at the same hotel which we're also looking forward to attending. If you live in or near Sheffield, we look forward to seeing you there!
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This beautiful video by Mama Natural shows a time-lapse of Genevieve's pregnancy belly from 0-9 months. It's a great way to visualize our pregnant changing shape.



I wish I'd had the foresight to do this from the start!
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Bump - due to arrive on 30th October, 2011
Being somewhat superstitious, I felt strongly that my partner and I shouldn't spread news of our pregnancy too far until we'd reached the twelve week mark and had been for our first ultrasound scan.

So we kept our little secret, telling only our close family and closest friends right up until the day when we saw bump's heart beating on that black and white screen. And today we made our pregnancy "Facebook official", posting our scan photo on each of our walls and making our news public.

Though for me, it wasn't without much trepidation!

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Each Friday on Glamumous, you'll find book reviews of titles both new and old. This week, I'm reviewing The Dangerous Book for Boys by Con and Hal Iggledon, a title which promises to please boys from 9 to 90 - and our family all agree that it lives up to this claim!

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Celebrate Free Comic Book Day!
Although I'm now probably too old to be hanging around comic book shops, I sometimes use my son as an excuse to indulge in my inner child-geek =]

So when I heard about Free Comic Book Day, I was thrilled - free comics just for turning up?

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What to buy from Primark (and what to avoid)
In recent years, Primark has become a stable stopover for savvy shoppers hoping to blag quite a few bargains for their cash.

But as the old saying goes, we often "pay for what we get" - while Primark's selection is immense and very cheap, not everything is up to scratch. So inspired by this very helpful thread on the MoneySavingExpert forums, I thought I'd share my personal favourite buys from this budget high-street store.

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Review Generator
After writing up a tutorial explaining how to mark up review posts for better visibility in search engines, I decided to create a "Review Generator" which you can use to write up formatted reviews for your site.

This review generator uses a simple form in which you can add details of your review. You can then generate the code to paste into your blog post, and even preview the content of your review.

Learn more about marking up review posts, or head on over to the review generator page to start using it right away!
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In recent weeks, I've been marking up my book reviews using microformat review code. This will enable my reviews to appear more prominently in search engine results where rich snippets are available, like this:

An example of a "marked-up" review in Google search results

Unlike regular search results which display only plain text, pages which are marked up using microformats are more eye-catching and concise, containing star-ratings, summaries and more.

Many major websites have been marking up their pages using microformats for some time, but as Google is beginning to display rich snippets among regular search results it's important for us as independent bloggers to keep up and retain our search engine rankings!

So in this post I'll explain how we can easily mark up our review posts and enhance their ranking in search engine results.

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In honor of today's Royal Wedding, I decided to review this beautiful short novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Though A Little Princess was written as a children's book, I could not help but find it utterly fascinating and endearing, causing me to stay up late in order to finish reading the same day!
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Glamumous Reads for the Next Month
Having just read A Little Princess which was recommended in Camilla Morton's book, A Girl for All Seasons, I decided to create myself a reading list for the next month based on the titles she's recommended.

Here's my list of twelve books, including both classic and more recent titles based on Camilla's recommendations:
  1. The Lambs of London by Peter Ackroyd
  2. Perfume by Patrick Suskind
  3. The Kid Stays in the Picture by Robert Evans
  4. A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy
  5. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
  6. The Black Violin by Maxence Fermine
  7. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  8. The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland
  9. Animal Farm by George Orwell
  10. Miss Garnet's Angel by Sally Vickers
  11. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
  12. The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson
Phew - that's a lot to get through in a month!

As I read through I'll review my favourites here on Glamumous so you can read my own responses and let me know what you think about them too.

Image credit: Moriza, via Flickr.
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Encouraging our children to read...
After reading Michael Gove's suggestion that 11 year olds should read the equivalent of a book each week, I got to thinking about our own family "library" (which currently consists mostly of my own vast collection of books).

If I were to start devising a library solely for my children, what would be the 50 books I would include first?

Here follows the books I've chosen in alphabetical order which I'm sure will make a great base for our growing family library. Don't forget to let us know what you think of these choices in the comments!


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Hope you had a Happy Easter!
...It's the perfect excuse to share this adorable image by Goddess of Chocolate. Hope you and your family enjoyed the holidays!

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After reading BritMums' tips for boosting blog traffic, I decided to create a Glamumous Facebook page and designed this rather snazzy landing page to give new followers an idea of what the site is about:

Top half of the Glamumous welcome page. Read on for the full-page screenshot

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The lovely ladies over at BritMums have organized an Easter blog hop for British parent bloggers to share their sites and favourite posts.

If you're a British parent blogger, be sure to join BritMums (dads are welcome too!) and add your site to the BlogHop below to be included in this month's round up:

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After reading this amazing guide from cover to cover, I can't help but wonder if this is the best kept secret of all the successful mums I know.
In The Contented Little Baby, Gina Ford explains the feeding and sleeping routines she's refined to make it possible to have a baby who sleeps through the night as young as two months old.

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Each year I notice, without planning or forward thinking: the week (or sometimes two) when the cherry blossoms bloom in their prime and beg to be appreciated.

As I'm driving around town, I find myself looking out for streets on my route which are lined with these beautiful trees and wishing our house was among them.

So what is the significance and appeal of the yearly sakura, and why is it such a great time for picnics?

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Need to find a great film for the family to enjoy together this weekend?

Inspired by the BFI's list of essential kids films, I've created a huge list of 100 fabulous family-friendly films for all ages to enjoy.

From Charlie Chaplin to Coraline and everything between, there's something for everyone in this extensive collection which would make a great basis for a DVD library or your LoveFilm rental list!

Image credit: kennymatic, via Flickr

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The Mum Blogger eCourse
Erica of LittleMummy offers a great FREE eCourse which covers everything you could need to start and build a successful "Mummy Blog".

Although I've been blogging for several years now, I've had quite a break from parent blogging and have signed up for Erica's course to brush up my skills and learn more.

If you're interested to learn how to start and build a successful parent blog, sign up for the eCourse now - it's totally free and judging by Erica's success you're bound to learn a lot too!
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Shouldn't we praise hard work more than talent?
Earlier today, OH pointed out this article on the BBC News website which exalts the virtues of praising effort over talent in our children:
Intelligence-based praise orients the receiver towards the fixed mindset - it suggests to them that intelligence is of primary importance rather than the effort through which intelligence can be transformed. 
Studies cited in this article by Matthew Syed demonstrate a definite (and rather vast) improvement in students who have been praised for their efforts rather than their talents.

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A follow up to Camilla Morton's successful How to Walk in High Heels, this book is an invaluable guide to what we could be doing or thinking about through each month of the year. Here I'm reviewing my hardcover copy (A Girl for All Seasons); in paperback form, this book is called "The Year in High Heels".

Now before I begin: if you haven't yet read this book but have preconceptions about it's content, you'll likely be wondering why on earth such a title is being reviewed on a site about parenting.

While aimed at fashionable (and somewhat wealthy) twenty-somethings, I find Morton's second book offers far more than fashion tips and beauty regimes.

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Transitioning to a single life with two kids and a full-time home business played havoc with my housekeeping skills. So after finding myself marooned in a sea of laundry with a layer of cat hairs on everything in sight, I decided it was time to take action.

Finding inspiration from Flylady and Cath Coulson, I've devised a weekly routine which helps me keep on top of everything with the minimum of fuss.

Now taped prominently to the kitchen door, my Keeping House sheet is helping me stay organized and has the bonus of telling OH and the kids what they could do to earn brownie points (and perhaps absolve a little of the stress from my day).

Here follows my fuss-free guide to keeping house for anyone else who feels there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Clear out the clutter, fast!

Less clutter = less to clean!

One of the easiest ways to keep a manageable house is to keep the things which need to be cleaned (or tidied away) to a minimum. Decluttering an entire home can be incredibly time consuming, so if you need to get this done fast try the following technique.

Go through the house, room by room with three marked boxes or bags and for everything in sight (or which falls out of cupboards when opened), decide which of the following applies:
  1. Keep - to put in the proper place ASAP
  2. Recycle - give away or donate to charity
  3. Throw away - it's no longer useful to anyone
To begin with, do this only for things in sight or which would get in the way during your day-to-day life. As you settle into a housekeeping routine, you can work in concentrated bursts of declutter as required.

Pick up as you go along

Many hands make light work!
I really wish I'd listened to Mum the first time she said this as it's the most useful housekeeping tip I've ever had!
  • Clear up mess as you make it
  • Tidy up as you go along
  • Pick things up as you go from room to room
By doing these things you'll likely find there's hardly any mess to clean and your routines will be finished in minutes!

Weekly routines

Plan ahead!

My Mum likes to do certain tasks on particular days of the week; she's done this for years and gets quite agitated if the chores aren't complete on a particular day... But her routines certainly pay off - my parents' house is dust-free, gleaming and worthy of showhome status any day of the week!

I only wish I could be so organized, though my own (toned-down) routines ensure I don't have to panic at the thought of unexpected guests!

My preference is to do a little each day, allowing me the greatest flexibility with kids and (7-days-a-week) work, with less at the weekends so I have at least some time to relax! If it suits you better, you could squash all tasks into just 2 or three days, or swap out weekend jobs to allow more time for putting your feet up.

Here's my sample routine, which I suggest you adapt to suit your own preferences and family life:

Monday

  • Change the sheets on all beds, wash dry and put away. There's nothing quite so nice as slipping between clean sheets at the end of a long day!
  • Cull or toss all unwanted papers and magazines
  • Feather dust throughout the house - feather dusters are quite wonderful, much quicker (and easier) than using cloths and polish. Ostritch feathers are perfect, though we usually make do with a 2-pack from Poundland!
  • Clean all mirrors and doors - we use plain ol' vinegar and newspaper
  • Vacuum from top to bottom - once a week for the whole house, plus once more for communal rooms. Perhaps once more if you have pets..?
  • Mop kitchen and bathroom
  • Empty all bins including those in bedrooms, bathrooms

Tuesday

  • Wipe kitchen appliances and cupboard doors - just a once-over will suffice. When done regularly, it makes a helluva difference!
  • Water house plants
  • Spend time on any problem areas - if you have time! For example, give your wardrobe that long-needed overhaul or clean out the mess from the cupboard under the stairs...

Wednesday

  • Clean the fridge - throw out anything inedible and wipe down with a mild soapy solution to avoid anything nasty building up. The first time, it may require some work, but afterwards this weekly cull will make sure it never smells bad again.
  • Plan grocery shop or book your home delivery - I love avoiding the supermarkets by having groceries delivered. After cleaning the fridge, you'll have a better idea of what you need to buy, and by planning ahead will be able to resist the urge to spend needlessly.
  • Write out letters, cards, thank-you's and the like ready to send the next (errand) day
  • File paperwork including letters/bills received throughout the week. Dealing with this weekly ensures it doesn't build up, and you're prepared to pay bills on errand day

Thursday (Errand Day)

My "financial week" begins on a Thursday and so this is the day when I usually complete all my errands and have the shopping delivered. You could always swap this out if your own weekly routine conflicts.
  • Vacuum/sweep communal areas - it will help keep floors free of debris in the areas most frequently seen by guests
  • Mop kitchen and bathroom floors
  • Wipe bathroom surfaces
  • Pay bills
  • Post letters, cards
  • Run errands (return library books, buy stamps, donate unwantables to the charity shop, etc).

Friday

  • Clean or polish shoes - particularly school shoes, to make them last longer and look smart for the following week
  • Mend/donate or cull clothes - by now you've probably been through the week's laundry and already have these items put aside
  • Clean out your purse and handbag - it's surprising how many receipts, papers and wrappers gather up in a week!

Saturday

  • Tidy kids bedrooms - we've established this as a Saturday regularity as my children are old enough to do their own!
  • Vacuum or sweep communal areas if needed - with messy children andthree cats, a quick once-over at the weekend really helps.

Sunday

  • Sweep front doorstep and wipe door - just to make sure it's always welcoming.
  • Tidy or tend to the garden - one to share with your OH or children if they're willing. Not quite so important during winter months.

Every Day

There's likely to be tasks which need to be done every day of the week. While mine is quite a list, I try to complete them alongside other tasks so they don't take up much of the day.
  • Make beds - if your children are old enough, they can straighten their own. 
  • Swish toilet and wipe bathroom sink - done daily they will always be gleaming. I do mine when I first get up and leave them alone for the rest of the day.
  • Wash, dry and put away laundry - do a load every day if you have enough to fill the washing machine. It's far easier in small chunks than trying to lauder a mountain in a single day!
  • Wipe kitchen surfaces
  • Wash all pots and pans then wipe down the sink
  • Sweep the kitchen floor
  • Empty the kitchen bin even if it isn't full. That way you won't have any smells lingering overnight.
  • Tidy communal areas such as the lounge and entrance hallway
  • Put all dirty clothes in the laundry basket. I have this on my printed sheet to remind men and child-folk that clothes don't live on bedroom floors!

Download an example cleaning routine to print off and paste up:


With suggested tasks  |  Left blank for you to fill in

Print and paste in a prominent place



Fit in extra chores when you have the time and inclination

Fill spare time with optional extras

Little and often seems much less time consuming than periodic bursts!

With cleaning routines established, I often find myself doing extra tasks as I go along, such as:
  • Tidying the bookshelves while dusting
  • Cleaning out drawers while puttig laundry away
  • Wiping out kitchen cupboards after the appliances have been cleaned
Where possible, it's easier to clean areas as you realize they need it. In other words,don't put off until tomorrow anything which could be done today. If you don't have the time, make a mental note to deal with it the next time you're sprucing up the area.

More posts you might like:

  • Save time and money on laundry days 
  • Mrs Beeton's top tips for the modern housewife
  • 7 Reasons to declutter your home
  • "It works for me! - great household hints
  • Store cupboard staples

What do you think?

I hope you've found my "Slacker's Guide to Keeping House" useful! If you have any tips of your own or would like to offer your own insights, please feel free to leave your comments below.

Image credits (in order of appearance): "A clean house..." via thisgeekredes,  vacuum-cleaner by owagner, "Cleaning day" byjaymiek, planner by mike rohde, "Spring cleaning supplies by Chiot's Run, "More Laundry" by pomomama.

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