5 reasons why Iceland is at the top of our Bucket list

Iceland is one of those countries I have been very eager to visit for the past few years, it has everything you want in a destination with dramatic landscapes, a vibrant music scene, a fascinating history, local delicacies and who can forget the Aurora borealis aka Northern Lights?  Did. you know Iceland has been voted the safest country in the world ten times over and I have been very inspired by family travel blogger My Travel Monkey who encourages people to visit this Nordic country with kids. My kids and I love getting outdoors and being active and Iceland captures this lifestyle to the full with pursuits such as hiking, skiing and whale watching being very popular. With so much to see and do I thought I would share my top 5 things to do in Iceland that are on my bucket list 1. The Northern Lights Not only is this at the top of my list of things to do in Iceland but it's also has a firm place on my list of 40 things to do before I'm forty as I can o......

Read more »

Christmas Traditions with The Snowman and the Snowdog

Love this cute Snowdog Christmas decoration from Wild In Art I'm really excited to have been invited to be apart of The Snowman and Snowdog Advent Blog tour and like most families we have a few festive traditions we do together in the run up to Christmas, some have been carried on from my childhood while others are new and have developed over the past few years with my boys. I think the run up to the big day is as important as the actual day itself and we love nothing more than getting into the festive spirit. While we usually start on the first day of advent we have slowly been embracing Christmas we some low key things such as baking gingerbread and enjoying my sons school winter fair this past weekend. One of the traditions that has followed on through from my childhood is watching and reading The Snowman, even growing up in South Africa my mother being Welsh made sure that there was always a bit of a British influence when it come to things like this. It's......

Read more »

Exploring Chepstow Castle

We were recently invited by Cross Country Trains to take a day trip anywhere along their routes and with my youngest being obsessed with castles I thought why not Chepstow. Only just over half an hour from Cardiff this historical Welsh Town really feels much further away as you travel through some beautiful countryside to get there leaving the face paced city quickly behind. It's been a few years since we were last in Chepstow and I also invited my mother to come along which and it was lovely to spend the day with her and my very excited 2yr old.  Chepstow has a wonderful feel to it, the colourful row of houses that lead down to the castle are so pretty as well as all the ivy covered pubs. We stopped in to a little bakery to pick up a few pastries before heading to the castle which is also near the small but perfectly formed Chepstow museum. We also past Th Castle View hotel which we actually stayed in when my eldest was the same age as my youngest is now, ......

Read more »

Food and Flowers - Christmas Hamper ideas

Wow can you believe we are more than half way through November? The festive season really is approaching fast and I think it's safe to say it's officially acceptable to indulge in a cheeky mince pie and hot spiced apple tea (or mulled wine). To me food is very much connected to seasons, celebrations and brings back memories and helps create new ones as you celebrate with friends and family around a big feast of delicious treats as well as making it a time to try new things. That is why I love foodie gifts as they offer something for everyone especially for tricky people to get gifts for as they are both practical, useful and of course delicious. So as you can imagine I was very excited at the chance to review a wonderfully festive hamper from Prestige Hampers which has an array of options to fit all budgets. Mine was the Traditional Gift Basket which is basically Christmas in a box and has pretty much has everything you need to get in the Christmas mood including two ......

Read more »

6 tips for a Minimalist Inspired Christmas

Over the past year I have done a massive de-clutting when it comes to our Christmas decorations, like most I love Christmas but what I don't like is the all the excess which seems to follow through into every part of the festive season. My main goal this year is to create a homely, warm and festive feel but with small simple touches, loved and hand picked decorations I plan to keep for years not ones that are disposable and will land up in the land full at the end of the year. So I thought I would share a few minimalist inspired tips that embraces getting the home ready but focuses on less is more and quality over quantity 1. Decorating the Tree I have minimised our tree decorations down by about 80 percent although each year I pick up one or two special glass babbles to add to the collection. Each decoration has been hand picked and I have to say I love each and every one which in comparison to the mountain of plastic ones we had years before is a welcomed change. It'......

Read more »

Win a pair of Emma Bridgewater DAB Radios

I don't know about you but I love when form and functionality come together so well especially when it involves music. My VQ , a Independent British audio brand does this perfectly with sound and style being forefront to their brand ethos and they have created some very unique and stylish retro inspired digital radios, collaborating with designers such as Emma Bridgewater and Lulu Guinness to create something that is classic but modern in equal measures. Both John and I collect vinyl and music is something that is very important to us, especially as my eldest is starting to develop his own likes and dislikes when it comes to musical choice (my youngest just dances to everything right now) and we want to continue to encourage his interest in it. I still remember the first time I got my own radio, I was very excited and it was my pride possession for years. We feel our 7yr is at the age he can have his own radio and this Men at Work print is so much fun and perfect a cool kids ......

Read more »

6 ways to master beach photography

It's been a while since I graduated from Uni, having studied photography it's something that has certainly helped with the work I do now. I was fortunate enough to still learn traditional methods such as processing my own film, black and white hand printing and shooting on medium and large format, something not so relevant to todays digital world but still really fun to do. I hard ever write about my experience but thought I would put together a little easy to use guide to great beach photography. Mediterranean, far flung and exotic beach holidays are always popular but if your photos from this year’s vacation haven’t turned out quite as impressive as you had hoped, perhaps it’s time to review your skills to make sure you get the best out of your trip next time. Luckily, the beach can be the most stunning backdrop to get creative with a camera, so getting great images shouldn’t be all that hard. After having spent my 30th on the French Riviera I have been craving go......

Read more »

A Family Day Trip to Swansea

We love to use our weekends for little getaways or day trips especially as the UK has such a fantastic railway network. So when The Family and Friends Railcard got in touch asking if we would like to try out the card and see how much it saved on a day trip we couldn't wait. We debated going to Bristol as it's one of our favourite cities and with it only being 45mins from Cardiff it's a great place to explore but we wanted to take the kids somewhere we haven't been to in a while, Swansea. I have to say I cannot remember the last time I was in Swansea city centre as when we do head in that direction it's usually to the beaches on the Gower. The train from Cardiff to Swansea is direct and just under 55mins, both our journey there and back was smooth with the added bonus of an on-board cafe on both trains due to it being an intercity. You only have to pay for children over 5 but instead of being £28 for two adults and 1 paying child, with our family rail car......

Read more »