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September – attempts at a fresh start

October 2, 2023 by Penny Leave a Comment

September. A month which marks new starts to so many parents. This year saw the youngest start at school full time and as such my life has changed again to fit in with that. It’s felt like I’ve been juggling everything since she was born and the fact that she’s now out of the house for six and a half hours a day makes a huge difference in my daily life. The morning school run and all the after school and weekend extra-curricular activities are still a huge juggle (especially as we have an hour round trip to school!) but for six and a half blissful silent hours I can actually hear myself think and go to the loo in peace. Fellow juggling parents you will know exactly what I mean here and why it is such a big deal! Alongside that her older sister started in Year 9 and her brother kicked off his final year at primary school.

Her start at school also signifies the start of me trying to get my working life back on track somewhat, and catch up with all the jobs that have been sitting on my to do list for the last five years. My list of things I wanted to achieve in September was massive, and unrealistic, but I’m pleased to say that at least some of them have been achieved. I also feel like I’ve got a pit more of a plan of what the weeks and months ahead might look like too. A few curved balls have derailed and delayed plans a little bit, but I’m hoping to get them back on track pretty soon.

So, just what have I been up to?

Well, both my husband and son celebrated birthdays in September. For one we went to a 1940s weekend at the Milton Keynes Museum and managed to see a Lancaster flypast. The other involved taking a bunch of Ten and eleven year olds go karting. Pretty sure you can work out which was which. It was also the month when my husband and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. As we have no childcare around locally it was also the first wedding anniversary where we’ve actually managed to go out and celebrate. A luxurious brunch back where we went for our first date was absolutely perfect and it felt so good to actually be able to have a conversation without interruptions from little people.

A cup of tea in my flask as I sit and look at the Manor House at Bletchley Park.

To fit in with my mum going on a U3A trip there I also managed a day exploring Bletchley Park. Somewhere I’ve been several times before, but never before without children. With my ticket valid for a whole year I plan to go back again and again until I’ve actually had time to explore all of it and take in all the fascinating stories of the code breakers who worked there in the war.

The start of the new academic year has also seen the beginning of another academic year as a school governor. This is my third year as chair of governors at an infant school, and my eleventh year of being a governor overall, and I think it fair to say that I’m in the swing by now. It’s a volunteer role that takes up a lot of time, but is also incredibly rewarding too. As is always the case at the start of an academic year there is plenty of reading to do and just absorbing all the latest edition of Keeping Children Safe in Education and reading all our relevant linked policies has taken a while. I tried to intersperse all that governor reading with a few books though and September saw me finish reading A Knight for a Knave (and watch the film version, Kes) and Death and The Penguin.

A open copy of Keeping Children Safe in education sits next to a can of coke and a copy of Death and The Penguin.

All the kids’ extra-curricular activities have also kept me on the road. I’ve now got two in Scouts as well as one in Squirrels so sewing on badges to a uniform or camp blanket is a regular activity. The youngest is still attending swimming lessons (Swim England Stage 2 at the moment) and my son is doing weekly karate classes (he had his purple belt grading yesterday) in addition to an after school football club. There is a weekly performing arts class for the youngest and the oldest is this week auditioning for her school drama company. I’ve also finally taught the big on to crochet in preparation for a new school crochet club that she’s trying out this week. Despite being left handed so seems to have mastered being able to do chains and last night’s lesson on treble stitches hopefully means she’s on her way to her first granny square. If that isn’t enough there’s also homework for the older two and daily reading for the youngest. All to be squeezed in between sleep and school.

We’ve also been catching up on all things medical this month. Orthodontist appointments, a long-overdue ENT appointment and two of them at regular dental check ups too. One day soon I might even get round to booking the eye test that was due in September last year for me.

I have managed to carve out a bit of me time too – although nowhere near enough. My September WI meeting involved learning all about Special Effects make up and props and model making. Absolutely fascinating and not something I knew anything about beforehand. I’ve also squeezed in coffee with a couple of friends and made a point of actually spending evenings on the sofa with some great TV. Bake Off, Task Master, Celebrity Race Across the World and Only Murders In the Building are my current favourites but I need to get back into the habit of doing more than just sewing on Scouting badges whilst watching. With the exception of crochet lessons for the oldest I’ve not picked up any knitting or other crochet in far too long. I also had a fantastic night out with a friend hearing the wonderful Rev Kate Bottley speak about her new book. She was so utterly lovely and down to earth and it was a delight to hear her speak.

Penny stood with the Rev Kate Bottley as she holds a chicly toy version of Jesus.

When it comes to work I’ve been plotting behind the scenes trying to get my portfolio of blogs back up to speed. I got to do my first toy review in ages over on Penny Plays and also hosted friend and fellow blogger Becky Goddard-Hill as she launched her new book on Penny Reads. I also wrote about the Andrey Kurkov and Lucy Worsley titles I’ve recently enjoyed and finally got round to re-publishing the recipe for my Gran’s Ginger Biscuits that I make for each month’s WI meeting. I also finally documented the Encanto patchwork quilt that I finished for the youngest’s bed. As well as featuring my trip to Bletchley Park I’ve also featured The University of Oxford Museum of Natural History over on Penny Travels after visiting there in the summer holidays. I also had grand plans of using this site to tell you all about the work we’d done at home this last month, but to do so would need us to have actually done something at home, which we have utterly failed to do!

October will not only feature half term, but also an attempt to start tackling all the jobs that need doing around the house and garden. Watch this space for progress on those…

September – the month that…

October 8, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

… vanished without a trace!

Somehow we’re in October. Worse than that, we’re already a week into October and I only just got round to swapping my calendar over from September this morning!

The last month (and a week) has been utterly crazy in so many ways. It was a month in which I celebrated our first wedding anniversary and Master C’s 7th birthday. Both seem somewhat unbelievable as time is going so fast.

It’s also been a month in which I’ve twice been over to Copenhagen with Bonn whilst he’s been working out there. The first time was mainly so that I didn’t have to spend our first wedding anniversary at home on my own, whilst the second trip was with the aim of gaining enough material to allow me to write several travel posts on both Denmark and Sweden. I certainly gathered everything I needed and visited loads of different places that I want to write about, I just need to find the time to actually do so now we’re back.

In addition to Copenhagen and Malmo I’ve also been up to Liverpool and the Wirral and enjoyed checking out charity shops at various other places around the country. We’ve been on the lookout for vintage board games in particular, but also other toy and game bits that we can use for a bit of a new business venture into the world of re-selling and reducing landfill. More on that over on Penny Plays when I get round to writing about it!

There’s also loads that I haven’t managed to get done in the last month – possibly because we’ve been away so much. The house hasn’t got much further forward over the last month, but at least I can now say that the downstairs loo is finished. Or at least it will be when the very final picture is returned to the wall. Once that is done I can finally take some photos and share the transformation with you.

The other thing that is hanging over me are the Clothkits kits that I bought when Tube Stop Baby was just six months old and that I planned to make for her first birthday which is the middle of November. I’ve now got just a month left and really need to pull my finger out and start working on them. I’ve managed to squeeze in a couple of craft book reviews, but finding time to actually craft is another matter entirely.

I’ve also been putting a lot of effort into my online blogging and social media work over the last month. Not as much as I would have liked to, but as much as I have been able to manage whilst still reserving a few hours every night for sleep. On the travel front I’ve started off my writing on Copenhagen and Malmo with details of how we managed to pop over to Sweden for dinner during our first Copenhagen stay earlier in the year. I’ve also teamed up with Three to write about how I make the most of their App when I’m travelling so that I can always work on the move and stay in touch with my kids.

Over on Penny Plays I’ve been desperately trying to catalogue and play all the vintage board games that came our way during the summer car boot season. Once we’ve played the games we’re looking to either keep them if they are ones that we can see us going back to again, or otherwise selling them over on our new ebay store. It’s early days yet, but we’re hoping this is a way to keep our board game stocks to a reasonable level so they don’t completely take over the house (and garage!). On the blog itself I’ve been writing about everything from a pre-electronics teach yourself chess game, through to Ghettopoly – a version of Monopoly set in a US ghetto. Somewhere in the middle I also wrote about a vintage Spears Game in which you are supposed to name things that begin with a certain letter of the alphabet – Tell Me. It’s certainly been varied.

In addition to all this I’ve also been trying to put some work into the Vintage Board Games Facebook group that we set up earlier in the year. It’s slow work, but with Facebook you need to really put the effort in to get the results out. I just need a bit more time for the effort part!

And lastly, but not at all least. Over on Penny Reads I’ve relaunched Ladybird Tuesday! This is probably one of the achievements I’m most proud of this last month or so. I’ve really missed my regular delves into my vintage Ladybird book collection and after losing various physical possessions during my divorce and subsequent house moves they are one thing that I am so glad to still have in my possession. There’s a huge body of work ahead of me to try and move all the original posts over from Being Mrs C, but I’m sure it will give me something to keep me out of trouble whilst the winter weather keeps us at home. The posts I’ve included this month vary from an original Uncle Mac book that I received for my birthday, through to a Learn to write workbook from the 1980s and the recent Climate Change book that was partly written by Prince Charles. Also in there was the Ladybird book about Denmark. It seemed somewhat appropriate seeing as I’ve spent so much time there lately.

What is nice though at the end of a busy month is sitting down like this and looking at everything that I have managed to achieve and not focussing on the things I failed to do. I’ve been pushing myself a lot lately with daily to do lists and sharing them on Instagram stories with the #KatyKicker hashtag to help make me accountable a bit for how much I get done in a day. It doesn’t always work, but what I have loved is reading Katy’s own monthly aims on her blog. One of the reasons I started blogging in the first place was as a way of making myself actually do things. Time to get back to using my blog like that and set myself some (achievable aims) for the month ahead.

7 things you might not know about me

March 13, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

As a step towards getting back to the old school blogging world that I spoke about in my recent post it was perfect timing that the lovely Becky from Thrifty Home tagged me in a post where bloggers are challenged to tell their readers seven things that they might not know about them. As I start writing this I’m not yet sure what those seven things are going to be, but here goes!

1. When I was a child I wanted to be either a detective or a spy. I had little books on both and kept switching my allegiance as to which I actually wanted. Interestingly if you look at my recent watch history on Netflix I still have the same interests! The most recent things I’ve been watching are The Bletchley Circle and Line of Duty.

2. I have been somewhat obsessed with the London Underground since I moved to central London as a student in 1999. It has always fascinated me and I’m always wanting to see as much of it as possible. To make my dreams into a reality my husband Bonn and I have taken on the challenge of trying to visit every one of the 270 stations on the Underground with our daughter – hence her online name of Tube Stop Baby!

3. When I was about 14 years old I was at a school that had an Amateur Radio station that was attracting rather a lot of interest as our Physics master had come up with the idea of the school having an Amateur Radio link with Helen Sharman (the first British astronaut) whilst she was on the MIR space station. Lured in by all the media attention that our school had at the time I decided to study towards my City and Guilds Amateur Radio examination and I was delighted to pass. This meant that I was able to hold what was then a Class B Amateur Radio licence which allowed me to broadcast to other radio Hams around the world. Incredibly geeky, and not something I use any more, but great experience before I studies electronic engineering at university and got a job working for a telecommunications company.

4. I read rather a lot, but one of my favourite books remains Sue Townsend’s The Queen and I. It’s the only book that I’ve reread several times. It’s hard to explain exactly what it is I love about it, but each time I read it it makes me laugh out loud.

5. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to meet quite a few celebrities through my blogging work. The one brush with fame that I’m most proud of though is the fact that I once sold a train ticket to BBC 6Music’s Stuart Maconie. At the time I had a part time job working at London’s Euston station and I was rather thrilled when he handed over his credit card to get a ticket back up to the north west. I’ve been a fan of his radio work for as long as I can remember and this was back before 6Music had even started and he was still doing The Treatment on Radio 5 Live. I’m gutted that he’s no longer on the radio every afternoon as it was a highlight of the long school run for me.

6. There’s not been as much visibility of it here as there was on my old blog, but I am an avid Ladybird book collector. There are over 400 books in my collection at the last count and I am still desperately trying to reorganise them after we moved house last year. As soon as I get that done I’ll be re-starting the weekly sharing of them over on Penny Reads.

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7. The last thing on my list isn’t much of a surprise, but it’s such an important part of me that it’s worth mentioning again. I’m a tea addict! A decent cuppa (and it normally has to be Yorkshire Tea) is the first thing to pass my lips in a morning and throughout the course of the day there’s usually a cup to hand. Even when I’m on the school run. Luckily I’ve managed to lure Bonn away from just drinking coffee and our outdoors adventures are often accompanied by a flask of tea these days. Pure bliss!

Taking it back to the (blogging) old school

March 7, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

This is one of those blog posts that I might end up regretting. So, please stop reading now if you’re an influencer and easily offended. The thing is I’m in a bit of a rut and suffering from what can only be described as “blogger fatigue”. And maybe part of the problem is that title and how I still describe myself. A blogger.

I first started blogging over ten years ago now. I had a full time job (that I hated as they treated me like dirt) and after being inspired reading loads of craft blogs (especially US ones) I realised that I needed to stop just reading about other people doing things. I was getting really annoyed that I didn’t ever achieve anything crafty and half of the problem was that I wasted all my time reading rather than doing. So I actually starting doing stuff myself. By writing down something like “I am going to make this” it meant that I felt a responsibility to actually do what I was telling people I was going to do. My productivity went through the roof and it was also wonderful to look back at what I had achieved in terms of knitting, sewing and later crochet.

Back ten years ago people blogged for themselves and their readers. There was no talk about SEO or Domain Authority. There was Facebook, but people didn’t really link their blogs to it. Instagram wasn’t even a thing on my radar. I’d never heard of a blogger working with a brand or a PR company. I blogged because it was what I wanted to do. I wanted to create content about the things going on in my life and I really enjoyed doing it.

Oh how things have changed!

Bloggers have now all become “influencers”. Mainstream media is full of stories about them and one (YouTuber Joe Sugg) even made the Strictly Come Dancing final. It’s not all favourable media coverage though. There are also plenty of stories about influencers demanding things from brands, and in some cases pretending that they are working with a brand as a way of seeming more important than they are. There are fresh rules about how we have to declare if we’re working with a brand, or if we feature something somewhere that comes from a brand that we have worked with in the past. It’s all a bit tedious, but I suppose necessary. Yet strangely there seem to be a load of “influencers” that don’t seem to think the rules apply to them. Interestingly they refer to themselves as influencers rather than bloggers…

And then there’s Instagram.

Don’t get me wrong, I spend plenty of time on Instagram looking at people’s feeds and admiring some of their pictures. To me though Instagram will always remain a way of people sharing pictures of what they’re up to. I like to think of it as instant snapshots of what is going on in their lives. A sneak peak. I use it as a way of telling people what I’m up to between blog posts.

The bit that does absolutely nothing for me though is curated feeds. You’re never going to find me carefully selecting pictures that have a certain colour palate so that they fit in with my Instagram mood board. I’m never going to be trying to dress my kids in specific outfits so they can fit in with a theme. It’s just not me. I can’t be bothered. Hell, some days I even wear jeans, t-shirt and a jumper that don’t really go together colour-wise. I probably do so because a) those clothes are clean, or nearly clean b) those clothes were warm and c) those clothes were to hand when I got dressed that morning.

The thing is I’m not cut out to be an influencer. I can’t even influence my children to eat vegetables on a regular basis, let alone take arty photographs to convince someone to buy something that I might not buy myself. My house is not instagram worthy. But over the years, partly through necessity, I’ve become someone who makes a living from blogging. I’ve been able to give my kids some amazing experiences through blogging and it also gave me enough of an income to pay for my divorce last year. It’s helped keep the roof over our heads and food on the table. So, why do I appear to be shooting the hand that feeds us?

I suppose what I’m doing is taking a bit of a stand about keeping things real. The other thing that I’ve done in the last ten years is have three kids. Now aged 8, 6 and just 16 weeks old I know that the main things they need in life are a loving home and good role models. Oh and plenty of chocolate in the case of the older two. Something they’ve definitely got from me.

What they don’t need in life is pressure to look perfect or behave in a certain way. They need to know that they can be themselves and that they should be proud to be individuals. I’m worried that things like perfectly curated instagram feeds puts pressure on them. I’m worried that it can also do the same to new mums. And dads. Being a parent can be a lonely business. Especially when it’s your first child. You feel under such pressure to do everything right. To be smiling, out of the house at various baby groups, buying all the right kit and living a Pinterest lifestyle where you’re constantly making healthy meals and organising educational craft activities for your little ones. Life isn’t picture perfect though. Pretty pictures are fine, and can be lovely to look at, but please don’t think that everyone lives their life like that.

My daughter loves books (especially Jaqueline Wilson and Michael Morpurgo ones), crafty activities, being in Brownies and Cubs, watching TV and Hatchimal Collectables. My son is obsessed with trains, croissants, anything space related (this week at least), watching Horrid Henry, audio books at bedtime and playing Crossy Road on his tablet. And winding his big sister up. Both of them enjoy riding their bikes and going and finding geocaches with me. Little Tube Stop Baby likes milk, cuddles and people who smile at her.

I love books, knitting and crochet, radio and podcasts, collecting Ladybird books and Blue Peter annuals, getting out in to the fresh air as much as possible, and of course my family. I’m also proud to be a WI member and a school governor. I’ve a geeky fascination with the London Underground and things more generally train related. I’m a sucker for a social history program on TV and I’ve normally got a cup of tea in my hand. As a family we love board games (especially vintage ones) and exploring the countryside.

These are the things I should be sharing here on my blog. These are the subjects I should be influencing people on. I want to stop focussing on material possessions.

I guess this waffling blog post has become my resignation letter from being an influencer. Or trying to be one as I’m not sure I really succeeded. I’m going back to being a blogger instead. Writing about the things I, and my family, love, and not worrying so much about what other people think. Yes I’m happy to keep reviewing things that my family use and enjoy. I’m happy to write about places that we visit as a family. I’m looking forward to having more time crafting and sharing my creations online. If a brand wants to work with me as a blogger then fine, but my days of reaching out are over. I’m not self-confident enough to do so. I can’t make promises to influence my readers about something. I’m off to find a different day job.

I just don’t have what it takes to be an influencer. And to prove it I’m not even going to bother finding an arty photo to accompany this blog post!

Taking that mojo and moving forwards

May 15, 2018 by Penny Leave a Comment

Coming home from Blog On can be a bit of a strange feeling. Coming away from a blogging conference like that you feel bursting full of ideas. Your head is completely full of blog posts that you want to write. Whilst your notebook is full of lists for things that you want and need to do on your blog. Time though never seems to be on your side!

For me Blog On this year was a bit of a re-launch too. I’ve been to about five of these so far, but that was always with my Being Mrs C hat on. Following my divorce I’m not Mrs C anymore, so I really needed a new blog name and it seems time to have a bit of a fresh start. Hence Penny Blogs (and various other Penny … sites) were born.

It was also the first blogging conference where I’ve taken someone along with me. After travelling to Salford with me last September, Bonn popped his blogging conference cherry and came along as a proper delegate this time. I’m delighted to say that he too came alway bursting with ideas and all motivated. We’ve some blog ideas and plans that we’re both really excited about, but we just need a few more hours in the day to make them all happen as quickly as we’d like.

Drumroll please…

There’s also another reason that is going to be eating up our time later in the year. We’re expecting a baby in November! We’re thrilled, but it does mean that I’ve been spending my evenings fast asleep on the sofa rather than digging into the depths of WordPress. First trimester over though I’m hoping that I’m going to get a bit more energy and be able to get back to my to do list properly.

I’m making a real effort not to let work take over every waking moment though and making time for walks in the countryside and even Aquanatal classes too. Crafting is also very much back on the agenda. Both on my own crocheting, sewing and trying to finished the huge UFO pile that I seem to have moved house with, and also with the kids. When we were squashed in the flat we didn’t really have space to do much, so I’m making the most of being able to spread out now.

I’m having one of those days today when I’m feeling on top of the world. Totally invincible. I’m therefore trying to put that motivation to good use by cracking on with all the jobs that I’ve been stalling on. Blog admin is never anyone’s favourite thing to do, but it’s necessary.

Posts, posts and more blog posts

I’ve a million and one planned travel posts in my head for over on Penny Travels (so far I’ve only managed to get the one up following an amazing 24 hours in Guernsey). There’s a half written up trip to the Isle of Wight that I also want to share. Later this month we’re headed to Cork (B for work) and also Rotterdam (to attend Traverse 18 – so do say hello if you’re going). Being late to book flights we’re literally taking the slow boat to Rotterdam, rather than flying. But I’m actually as excited about the journey as the destination.

In addition to the travel, Blog On also gave me loads of new and renewed contracts with toy brands which are going to be fantastic over on Penny Plays. I’ve also had loads of success in charity shops lately with some vintage games. Now B has finally put our dining table together post move (the delay not his fault I should add!) we hope to get playing and reviewing those too.

Not everything in life goes to plan though. I’ve a series of meetings dotted throughout today, so planned to spend the time in-between working in coffee shops. That plan normally works fine. Apart from the fact that I’ve managed to head out without a fully charged laptop and without a power cable for it! I blame pregnancy brain…

They weren’t lying about the suitcase! Blog On X #BlogOnXGoodyBags

May 7, 2018 by Penny 1 Comment

When you go to Blog On for the first time everyone tells you not to forget your suitcase. I guess it probably seems like some strange in joke or something. The whole idea of turning up somewhere with a large empty suitcase probably just sounds plain odd. But, trust me, it’s exactly what you need.

Blog On is a conference run by bloggers for bloggers. As a result I think it’s one of the best blogging conferences out there.

As well as an excellent mix of sessions on technical and creative subjects, at Blog On you also have a brilliant “Brand Den”. Here you find top brands who work with, or want to work with, bloggers are available to network with. Some come with freebies, some with samples for bloggers to feature in reviews, and some just come to have a chat. Every time I go away with a list of people to contact after the event and a notebook packed full of ideas and inspiration.

What’s in the goody bag?

I’ve blogged before (over on my old blog) about what to take to Blog On, but here’s a look at what you got to bring home from Blog On X.

Bonn and I are staying an extra night in Salford, so hot footed it back to our hotel room and decided to open our Goody Bags on camera. We hadn’t even had a sneak peak before this, so it’s very much a “live un-bagging” experience.

There are some great goodies in there, and a few things that made me realise just how out of touch I am with kids collectables! I’m totally expecting the kids to stake claim to quite a lot of the contents, and might have to hide a few things away in a separate part of the suitcase before our journey south. The chocolate and wine from the Co-op definitely belong to the adults though!

Huge thanks to Laura and the Blog On team for putting on another amazing conference. Thanks also to all the brands and speakers. Roll on Blog On XI. We’ll be booking tickets and a hotel just as soon as the date is confirmed.