One of my Christmas presents in 2011 was a Tassimo from the super wonderful husband. I was delighted with it and have loved it ever since.
The only drawback is that the pods are quite expensive when they’re not on offer, which they have been at Asda for ages now.
It’s 3 for £10 and seems to be an ongoing promotion which is great and is the cheapest I’ve seen them.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the Tassimo, but if you don’t want to spend a good chunk of money on coffee, then there are different espresso machines out there that might suit you better.
Tassimo Or Dolce Gusto
The Dolce Gusto pods, on the other hand, are more expensive in Asda but I’ve found loads of places online where they’re much cheaper.
Amazon has some at great prices and there are usually good offers for the pods on Groupon. To top it off, Tesco has a Dolce Gusto machine for £35 which is better than half price at the moment.
My Tassimo isn’t working properly right now, which is why I’m considering buying a new machine. I just don’t know whether to buy a new Tassimo, which I already know I love and have had great service from all these years or to change it up and get a Dolce Gusto because I can get the pods cheaper.
L’Or Or Nescafe
My favourite coffee is L’Or but I do like Nescafe. I just don’t know whether I’m going to like the Nescafe pods as much as I love the L’Or ones.
It’s making my brain frazzle because I just don’t know which to choose!
After making numerous appointments to give blood over the past year, I finally managed to make it to my first appointment today!
I’ve wanted to give blood for years but always been a bit nervous. I don’t know why because I’ve had to give blood loads of times for blood tests so I knew it wouldn’t hurt. It was probably just a fear of the unknown. I set up an account on the NHS Give Blood website and made my first appointment.
When You Can’t Give Blood
I’ve had to cancel a few appointments because each time something happened like illness or childcare problems etc.
You can’t give blood if you’re starting with a cold (you can give blood at the end of a cold) or if your doctor has ordered blood tests.
I started with a cold twice when my appointment was due and the third time my doctor had ordered blood tests to check my thyroid.
I arrived on time today and got the super wonderful husband to go with me because I was too nervous to go in alone!
Friendly Atmosphere
I needn’t have worried. It was a very friendly atmosphere and it was all very easy.
I had to read through some information while drinking a large glass of juice then I was called into a little cubicle.
A lovely lady went through the form I’d received in the post. It was all about my medical history. Prior to going, I wrote down my medications, previous serious illnesses and investigations performed by the hospital; if I had to remember while I was there knew I’d get a brain block!
I had to have a nurse come to see me due to my medical history. I told him about the pulmonary embolism I’d had in 2009 and the colposcopy a few years ago.
That was all fine and after a quick blood test from a prick to my finger, I was told I was able to donate.
I had to wait a few more minutes before being called.
Faster Than I Thought
It took a lot less time than I thought to give blood. I sat there opening and closing my hand and tensing my leg and bum muscles. It helps with your blood pressure apparently. It took about 10 minutes and I was done.
I was given some squash and I picked a packet of biscuits. There were crisps and raisins to choose from as well.
It took around an hour from arriving at the sports centre to leaving. I’ll be giving blood again in September.
I’m really glad I managed to make it today and next time I won’t be nervous at all 🙂
Today is the last day you can register to vote in the next General Election on June 8th.
At the last General Election in 2015, the turnout was 66.1%. This figure includes spoiled ballot papers.
That means that 33.9% did not vote. It also means that the number of people who did not vote outnumbered the votes tallied by any one individual party.
Too many people think that voting isn’t important. Too many people think that their vote can’t make a difference. Yet these figures show how votes DO make a difference. If all those who think it doesn’t make a difference actually voted, then a difference could by made. In the Local Elections 2 weeks ago, a seat in South Blyth was awarded by drawing straws after there was a tie between the two candidates. The turnout was just 26.6%.
HomeSense has partnered with renowned fashion and portrait photographer Rankin to create exclusive aprons for Red Nose Day 2017. The apron features a selection of unique, quirky and quintessentially British animal portraits including Rankin’s own dog.
Red Nose Day and HomeSense are official partners for the third time. Iconic photographer, Rankin, has photographed a host of celebrities wearing the apron. The Hairy Bikers, Si King, and Dave Myers are fronting the campaign. The bikers will be supported by a whole host of celebrities including, Nadine Coyle, Pearl Lowe, Nadiya Hussain, Jodie Kidd, Susanna Reid, Kimberley Wyatt, Lesley Joseph & Linda Robson, Una Healy, The Hemsley Sisters, Ella Mills (Deliciously Ella), Fay Ripley, Vogue Williams and Tim Lovejoy.
Aprons
The adult apron, priced at £12.99, will be available to buy in HomeSense and TK Maxx stores from 13th February and online at tkmaxx.com and rednoseday.com. With at least £5 from every adult apron sale going to Comic Relief, the money will help people living incredibly tough lives in the UK and across Africa.
The HomeSense Red Nose Day range, created by Rankin, also features a new children’s apron encouraging the whole family to join in the bake sale action by getting creative in the kitchen. Further products in the collection include a tea towel, also designed by Rankin, as well as a leather journal and a colouring-in notebook.
A spokesperson for HomeSense said: “Rankin has really risen to the challenge with this year’s apron design, encouraging adults and children to get in the kitchen and make their bakes matter.
The quirky and unique design featuring an image of man’s best friend (Rankin’s own dog) and a range of other animals, will encourage people to grab an apron, get messy in the kitchen and support the good work that Comic Relief does to help transform people’s lives here in the UK where we have customers and stores and across Africa.”
Rankin
“When I was asked to create this year’s Red Nose Day exclusive collection for HomeSense I agreed without hesitation. It is a fantastic cause and I knew it would be a lot of fun. What you’re seeing is some of the best talent in the animal business and, although I’m never one for nepotism, my own dog got on the team sheet. I wanted to make these images as cute and fun as possible and I hope I have included something for everyone which encourages both adults and children to get in the kitchen and raise some dough for Comic Relief.”
Michele Settle, Director, UK Campaigns & Brands at Comic Relief
“Baking is one of the most popular Red Nose Day fundraising activities across the UK and this exclusive apron by Rankin enables you to look stylish in the kitchen and raise money too. So make your bake matter for Red Nose Day 2017.”
Details and Prices:
All profits from the sale of the aprons and the tea towel will be donated to Comic Relief to
help transform the lives of some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in the UK
and around the world. The apron is available to buy from Red Nose Day official partners
HomeSense and TK Maxx stores throughout the UK from 13th February and online at
tkmaxx.com and rednoseday.com.
I’m struggling to think of three confessions if I’m honest! I’ve been putting this post off because I can’t think of anything. We’re off on holiday at the weekend and I want to get my posts scheduled so I have to tackle it today!
OK, confession number 1
I love pajama days. Most Sundays, if we don’t have anything planned, I’ll stay in my PJs all day and not feel at all guilty!
Confession number 2
I hide chocolate/other goodies from my kids. I always said I wouldn’t when I was younger but since I’ve grown up and seen how fast they can devour chocolate, I’ve changed my stance!
Confession number 3
I’m not a fan of school shows/plays/assemblies. When Aiden moved to secondary school I did a silent cheer because it meant no more school shows. He’s not into drama and performing so I could be certain I wouldn’t have to go and watch any and I didn’t. Kaycee is going to be a different matter. She’s already talking about signing up for the school show next year!
I’m taking part in #Blogtober16. It’s a post every day during October with a different prompt. I’m writing a letter to someone for tomorrow’s post.
I saw this on Kim’s blog, Life As Kim, yesterday and thought I’d join in the fun 🙂
4 Things questions
Four names that people call me other than Michelle:
1) Mum
2) Shell
3) Shelly
4) The husband calls me his precious little swamp duck!
Four jobs that I have had:
1) Mother’s help (like a Nanny but less money and more work!)
2) Factory supervisor in a packaging factory
3) A very short stint as a care worker in an old people’s home
4) Laundrette manager
Four movies I have watched more than once:
1) It’s a wonderful life
2) One magic Christmas
3) Mary Poppins
4) The wizard of Oz
Four books I’d recommend:
1) The October list by Jeffrey Deaver
2) The Harry Potter books.
3) The Agatha Raisin books
4) The Wideacre trilogy by Phillipa Gregory
Four places I’ve lived:
1) Kilburn (Derbyshire, not London)
2) Denby
3) Belper
4) Lincoln
Four places I’ve been:
1) Scotland.
2) Holland
3) New York state
4) Vermont
Four places I’d rather be right now:
1) Italy
2) Anywhere away, just me and the husband
3) Disney World.
4) On the beach, eating fish and chips!
Four things I don’t eat:
1) Tripe
2) Liver
3) Olives
4) Cockles
Four of my favourite foods:
(I’ve kept the first three of Kim’s choices here!)
1) Chinese.
2) Pizza.
3) Chocolate.
4) Ice cream
Four TV shows I watch:
1) Call the midwife
2) Big Brother.
3) Criminal Minds
4) Finding Carter
Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1) Our caravan holiday at Mablethorpe in October
2) Doing the things on our Summer Bucket List
3) My mum coming to dye my hair. The amount of grey is now horrendous!
4) My absolute favourite time of the year…..CHRISTMAS!
Four things I am always saying:
(Also sticking with Kim’s first and fourth choices here!)
1) Stop fighting with your sister!
2) For goodness sake!
3) Girls, enough!
4) Go and ask your dad!I tag…anyone who fancies sharing their own four things!
I’ve loved my iPhone since the first one I had and I couldn’t see myself ever changing to another phone but just lately I’ve been getting a bit annoyed with it.
It was just little things at first but this past week it’s been doing my head in. I’ve not been receiving text messages and I didn’t realise for a couple of days until Ant asked why I wasn’t replying to the texts he’d sent.
I could send texts, no problem but couldn’t receive them. At first, I thought it was just texts from Ant that I wasn’t getting. It turned out it was all texts from everyone.
Google
I googled the problem and watched YouTube videos and read help forums and reset my iPhone to factory settings and sat chatting to an O2 guru for over half an hour trying to get it sorted but nothing worked.
He said I’d have to take my phone into one of their shops so someone could have a look at it. I thanked him for trying to help and ended the conversation.
Ant suggested it wasn’t a problem with my phone, he thought it was a problem with the sim card. To test his theory we swapped sim cards and sent texts to each other’s phone.
My iPhone received the text straight away so that confirmed it wasn’t the phone.
We swapped sim cards back and I resigned myself to the fact that a trip into town was in order.
A minute or so later, my phone started beeping and beeping and beeping. All the text messages I’d been sent for the last week or so came in :oD
I wish I’d known it was as easy as changing sim cards. It would have saved me all that time googling, watching, reading and typing!
You probably know I really dislike our downstairs shower room. It’s very pink and very 80s and I’ve had enough of it.
I’ve been wanting to save for a new one since we moved in but I haven’t had a chance yet because something or other always seems to need doing first so I’m entering Tile Mountain’s blogger contest to try and help me on the way to a new bathroom!
In case you haven’t seen my bathroom, here it is now:
When we moved in there was a rusty soap dish near the sink. I tried to get it off but the screw wouldn’t unscrew.
I ended up having to pull it off and I damaged the tile in the process.
Ella gave me one her Moshi thingys to cover the mess!
I’ve made a Pinterest board with some of my favourite tile choices and some design ideas for inspiration.
I’m always browsing Pinterest trying to find my dream bathroom design and I’ve decided I want a countertop sink on a rustic unit. I did have white cabinets picked out with black counters but I want something less modern and with more character.
This bathroom, from one of my favourite lifestyle bloggers, Jenna Sue is gorgeous and I’d be over the moon with a bathroom like this!
Thanks to Tile Mountain for running this competition and good luck to all entrants 🙂
80s cartoons – I got all nostalgic when I saw a video of The Gummi Bears cartoon yesterday on YouTube and subsequently spent the next hour or two searching for the cartoons I used to love when I was a child in the 80s.
It was hard picking just 10!
I’d love to see your top picks of cartoons from your own childhood. If you do a post, feel free to leave a link in the comments so I can come and check them out 🙂
They’re not in any kind of order because it was too hard to pick a favourite.
10 – He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
He-Man is a superhero and the main character of the sword and sorceryMasters of the Universe franchise, which includes a toy line, several animated television series, comic books and a feature film. He-Man is characterized by his superhuman strength and in most variations, is the alter ego of Prince Adam. He-Man and his friends attempt to defend the realm of Eternia and the secrets of Castle Grayskull from the evil forces of Skeletor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He-Man
I found I can still remember the opening lines of He-Man and I found myself talking along!
9 – She-Ra
She-Ra: Princess of Power is an American animated series produced in 1985 by Filmation.[1] A spin-off of Filmation’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, She-Ra was aimed primarily at a young female audience to complement He-Man‘s popularity with young males.
I remember being so excited to see a girl version of He-Man 🙂
8 – Smurfs
The Smurfs (French: Les Schtroumpfs; Dutch: De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smurfs
Who doesn’t love the Smurfs?!
7 – Inspector Gadget
Inspector Gadget is a media franchise that began in 1983 with the DIC Entertainment animated television series Inspector Gadget.[3] Since the original series, there have been many spin-offs based on the show, including additional animated series, video games, and films.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspector_Gadget
I bet you sing along with the song, don’t you? I do!
Adventures of the Gummi Bears is an American animated television series that first aired in the United States from 1985 to 1991.[1] The series was the first animated production by Walt Disney Television and loosely inspired by the gummy bear candies; Disney CEO Michael Eisner was struck with inspiration for the show when his son requested the candies one day.
Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies, commonly known by the shortened title Muppet Babies, is an American animated television series that aired from September 15, 1984, to November 2, 1991, on CBS. The show portrays childhood versions of the Muppets living together in a nursery under the care of a human woman identified only as Nanny (the whereabouts of their parents are never addressed), who appears in almost every episode, but her face is never visible; only the babies’ view of her pink skirt, purple sweater, and distinctive green and white striped socks is shown.
In 1986, a successor series produced by Canadian studio Nelvana who produced the movies – The Care Bears Family, aired on Global in Canada and on ABC in the United States.
Thanks to Carolyn at Carolyn Blogs for tagging me 🙂 I Love Netflix and wish there were more hours in the day so I could watch everything on there that I want to see!
All Time Favourite
My all-time favourite would have to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don’t remember getting excited about any tv shows the way I did when it was time for the latest episode of Buffy on a Thursday night!
Current Addiction
Pretty Little Liars. I first saw it on MTV I think but it was a bit hit and miss so I loved being able to catch up on them all 🙂
Wishlist
My wish for my wishlist came true when they put Once Upon a Time on Netflix. I’d been watching it on Channel 5 but didn’t get to see seasons 3 or 4 so now I’m playing catchup.
Pet Peeve
My pet peeve is having to go right through all the categories to the bottom to get to my watch list when I’m on Netflix on TiVo. It takes forever. There’s probably an easier way that I don’t know about but in general, I don’t find Netflix on TiVo very easy to navigate.
Marathon Essentials
For me, it would have to be Pretty Little Liars, The Returned, American Horror Story, Suits and The Good Wife.
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