How to use white vinegar as fabric conditioner
There are lots of ways to use white vinegar in your home, but did you know it can be used as a fabric conditioner? Fabric conditioner can be expensive and coats your clothes with chemicals. The chemicals help them feel softer, reduce static and add artificial fragrance. White vinegar is a natural alternative that is kinder […]
Chocolate, courgette and almond traybake
A cake made with courgette might sound unusual, but the courgette gives the cake a lovely moist texture. This recipe uses dark chocolate and almonds, the dark chocolate makes it deliciously rich the almonds add a beautiful slightly nutty crunch. We always have a glut of courgettes at this time of year, the more you […]
Perfect homemade pizza dough
This is the easiest pizza dough recipe and makes PERFECT pizza every time. We love a classic soft dough that’s sturdy enough to hold a tonne of toppings, but still soft and springy. I love this recipe uses a full bag 1.5kg bag of bread flour, it saves all the measuring! We split our dough […]
The thrifty way to clean your washing machine.
*This post may contain affiliate links To keep your washing machine tip-top good condition, it’s a good idea to clean it regularly. Washing machines can easily build up with detergent residue and limescale if you live in a hard water area. They can also start to smell or grow mould on the seals. There are […]
100 Days Out In And Around Yorkshire
The summer holidays are almost here, and the need to fill the days and tire out the kids is almost upon us! This is a list of some of our favourite days out, along with a few places that have been recommended and are high on our to-visit list. The ones in bold are free […]
6 Months Without Coffee
My coffee addiction started at about 17 years old. The vending machines at the university helped me keep my eyes propped open during the gruelling 9am-9pm intense days. Socially it was important too, we drank lattes and mochas at friends houses, or sat in coffee shops enjoying the socialising during the day. I was an office […]
Firsts and Lasts
We talk a lot about our children’s firsts. First smile, first steps, first words. I remember James’s firsts really vividly, we were almost hanging on and waiting for him to hit each milestone and we celebrated excitedly. Just 16 months later our little Lily arrived. This time we knew what to expect, and in our […]
Simple Living: Where we started and why its important to us
I guess having one of the main focuses on our blog ‘simple living’, sounds kind of ironic given a life with four young children in absolutely no way simple. We had four children in five years, James was just 5 years old when our smallest arrived. It sounds crazy even to me when I say I […]
Deciding To Have Four
Deciding to have a fourth child was an easy decision for us, we had already made the decision over 2 years earlier when we started trying for Amy (our third). We knew then that Amy wouldn’t be our last baby. Simon really wanted to have an even number of children, If you ask him he will […]
Being Shy
One of my favourite things about being a mum is watching my children’s personalities develop. I find it so interesting to see how different they are, especially as they have been brought up exactly the same. One character trait that my girls definitely share is shyness. James, on the other hand, is far from shy. He will […]