Mum in a time of conservatives - Drown your sorrows

Drown your sorrows. In water. 

Seriously, have you actually looked at the cost of decent bottle of Champagne recently? And the kids Fruit Shoots and J2O don't come cheap either.
You could all switch from all those expensive not to mention calorific, bottles and cans. Clearly I don't mean bottled water, because who the hell is going to have the cash to splash on Buxton, plain old tap water. No sugars, no artificial sweeteners, no calories and no hangover. 
 
Healthy? Check! 
 
Money saving? Check!

Green? Well there is no packaging and no air-miles so Check! 

Lefty? No cans and bottles means no extra money for Rexam's Tory supporter Graham Chipchase and what could be more lefty than a product for the masses? So, "hell yes" Check!
 

Just don't add whiskey......

(Yes this is a little tongue in cheek, I need something to lighten my mood. But seriously water is great stuff. Want some ways to make water more interesting? Click here )

Mum in a time of Conservatives

I think if you know me or have followed me on Facebook you'll know that the 2015 UK General Election did not go the way I wanted it. Not at all. 

I could bang on about how the way the Liberals bungled it 5 years ago lead to this, I could blame the media (and I do, very much so) or the rise of the SNP, I could explain how the marketing of Labour totally failed or how the greens lived inside their own media bubble. But I'm not the most acute political mind ever, I do have opinions (see my facebook page) and I am reading the analysis coming out in the media but my main concern is: 

HOW THE HELL DO WE GET THROUGH THE NEXT FIVE YEARS?

My aim on this blog (at least until I get bored or employed on something else) is to give what will hopefully be a lighter hearted way for us 'lefty' and eco-conscious mums to a) survive and b) make a difference.

Going viral

Yesterday was a bit of a shock. 
All I did the night before was post this on Facebook

In case you can't read it I'll spell it out for you. It's a leaflet that came through my door from Lynton Yates (Leicestershire County Councillor for Glenfield) and it says

"We could remove six million cars from the road if benefit claimants were not driving. Why do they have the privilege to spend the tax payers hard earned money on a car when those in work are struggling to keep their own car on the road.

These people really could catch a bus."

I shared it on my personal profile with a few friends and shared it on a page I've sent articles to before ATOS Miracles

Then I went out. 

While I was away some friends put it on Twitter and by the time I got home with my kids at 6pm it was trending and my original post had had over 50,000 views been shared 500 times and I had messages from 5 journalists, including 2 from national newspapers and one from the BBC. But I also had people who claimed to be senior members of UKIP telling me that I'd faked it and some highly abusive messages telling me I was not just anti-British but also a paedophile.

Here's my opinion: It's my understanding that the largest chunk of the welfare budget is spent on pensions and that of the remainder the majority is paid to people in work. Furthermore, Mobility allowance for the disabled includes an element to get a suitable vehicle to get around in. So it would seem that Councillor Yates suggestion is not only ill-informed and unworkable but born out of the unthinking prejudice that all benefit claimants are able-bodied, urban dwelling, middle-aged layabouts with no dependents and nothing to do. As for the suggestion I faked it, why would I bother? They shoot themselves in the foot as a pastime (or possibly past-time as written in his leaflet). Is it official UKIP policy? Not as far as I know, but then neither are half the things that come out of Nigel Farage's mouth, it was written by Councillor Yates (or at least one of his minions) and put out under his name, it therefor counts as his opinion and I'm not going to pull it off the internet now, nor could I even if I wanted to.

And all this less than a week after I'd talked to my 8 year old about being careful about sharing photo's over the Internet and other devices (I'd found her using a chat app while at a friends house).

I have to be honest the girls and my husband don't know whether to be scared or proud. Neither do I. The number who have viewed the post is now over 72,000 and the total of abusive messages up to 6. So no I'm not going to stand up on national media and give my real name, I have my kids to protect (not to mention my career). But I am proud that I stood up and called out unthinking prejudice and that my little pebble of news caused big ripples on the media pond, at least for five minutes. I can make a difference and now if you'll excuse me I'm going to be the difference to a small group of new mum's who need some breastfeeding support.

Yours, as ever,
Mumjuice

Hotels and healthcare

While listening to the radio today I heard someone suggest in a very sensible voice that while NHS health care should remain free that perhaps a charge could be made for board and lodging for someone who has to stay in hospital? They said that perhaps a charge of £75 per night would be sensible and affordable. I didn't really hear the rest of the report as my emotions caught up with me so forgive me for not knowing who they were or why they thought that.
You see I was listening to the radio while in the car, while driving away from the hospital having just seen my husband readmitted. Of the last 40 nights he's spent 20 in hospital. Not through choice, through a very serious infection resulting from gallstones. I consider our family to be reasonably well off, my husband has a good job and I make small sporadic amounts from free-lance work (anyone want to buy an article?) But could we have quickly found the £1500 that this illness would have cost us if this charge was to be levied? No. In fact it would probably have questioned whether to readmit him this afternoon really was a good idea. Quite quickly I would have found myself having to choose between my husbands health care and food or heating for my children, and we are not alone. According to another report I heard on the radio sometime back more than 50% of working families are less than 3 missing paychecks away from homelessness and poverty. But I live in a village where more than 25% of the children are living below the poverty line. Every day their parents have to choose between 'eating and heating' and that's not to mention the pensioners. A 'bed and board' charge would certainly bar them from health care they might desperately need.
Food and rest are not 'bed and board' they are nutrition and restoration, they are essential aspects of care and if we forget that then we have lost our compassion and humanity.

Tips for going to the Dordogne on Holiday

A member of one of the Facebook groups I'm in asked for tips on taking a family holiday in the Dordogne, since I've done this for a number of years I thought I'd impart some wisdom and then I thought "why not blog it?" So here I am.

The journey down.

We live near Nottingham, we like to cross over to Peterborough, then Cambridge before heading down the M11 to the M25 and beyond to Dover. I prefer this route as a) I know it well and b) it's saved us from some pretty nasty jams on the M1 and M25 in the past. So long as you get past Barr Hill nice and early in the morning your only major hold-up will be the Thames river crossing. We can do the journey in 5 hours but this is on a clear day with no stops. For 'family' journeys allow at least 7 hours. Get petrol at a Dover supermarket then take your pre-booked ferry crossing to Calais.

From Calais  follow the following route - Abbeyville - Rouen - Evereux - Dreux - Chartres. This is the limit of what we can do in a day, we pre-book a night in a family room in the Novotel. The biggest hold-up this side of the Channel is likely to be Rouen, avoid the central bridges if at all possible and be aware that after Evereux there is a shortage of toilet stops.

By the way while the service stations in France are often beautiful by comparison and the picnic/comfort stops plentiful we find motorway food (and ferry food) in France to be almost as bad as the UK i.e. in-edible, so we always take picnics. Where in follows my next tip, when you leave the Novotel in the morning head for one of the nearest supermarkets, get a breakfast, something to eat on route and fuel for your vehicle.

Now head down the N154 for Orleans, then the N20 for 'La Ferte-St Aubin' and Vierson. At Vierson get on the A20 and head for Chateauroux. When you get off the A20 is up to you, but if you can leave by J53 you will avoid the peage. All the driving this side of the Channel should only have cost you about 10 euro, as opposed to over 50 on the main motorways. It also avoids central Paris and all the delays that ensue from there. You are welcome.

And just for the record we DVD and MP3 player alternately on the journey. Its the only way we can survive. The girls can't cope otherwise and we can't handle that many repeats of 'Frozen'.

Eating and drinking.

If you are eating out go for set meals at lunch time it is a lot cheaper than evening meals and more pleasant in my opinion. However my top tip for family evening meals is the Marche Producteur http://www.marches-producteurs.com/dordogne  they are basically local farmers markets with a BBQ facility thrown in for free (though some of the smaller ones don't so watch out). The set up varies but the chips seem to be ready at about 8pm and the grills are normally hot by then too. It is an incredibly cheap way to eat out and it's good fun too. Our family has a lot of food allergies and we find our limited French invaluable in talking to the producers who will happily tell you exactly what is in their sausage/bread/ice cream etc. It's even possible to eat well as a vegetarian but always take a salad in your picnic hamper just in case and everyone should take something to drink.

I'm not going to recommend places to go or stay, the area is vast and the choice wide. If you have found this page you probably already know many of them, go, enjoy and have a glass or two for me while you are there.

The journey back.

We pretty much reverse the route going home  but stop in the Loire for a couple of nights to do a Chateau or two and the Garden Festival which is amazing http://www.domaine-chaumont.fr/en_festival_festival. Then it's back on up to Orleans following the reverse route home until we get to a B&B or hotel in the Somme area for the night and catching the ferry home. 

One last piece of advice, have a stop for fuel long before Calais and once you approach the city do not leave your car, keep the doors, boot or hatch and windows locked and have every space in your vehicle covered or filled. There are some poor desperate people out there who will do anything to get to a better life in the UK. Don't let yourself fall victim to them 'hitching a lift' seen, or unseen in your car. Whether you know about them or not you will get fined and a criminal record. That said please don't feel  this part of the journey is particularly dangerous, it's like a night out in Nottingham - know the risks and what to do to keep safe.

Have a lovely holiday!

Like a pebble on a beach...

This is my pebble.
I collected it on a beach near where my in-laws live.

The red is sandstone, it's a sedimentary rock formed in the Devonian era (not surprising then to note that the in-laws live in Devon).  As rocks go sandstone is not the hardest stone you will ever come across, while not exactly soft it is easily eroded by the action of the environment (in this case the waves and tide).

The white stuff is quartz, it's an igneous stone formed by volcanic action that used heat and pressure to push it into the sandstone.  Quartz is hard and when all the rest of this pebble has been worn away the quartz will still be there in flakes.

I feel like I can identify with the pebble,  bits of my personality were made under the intense heat and pressure of some difficult situations, they are hard, rough edges but they hold the rest of me together. Other parts of my personality are softer and are more easily worn away and like the pebble, the adult I am today was formed gradually over time.

It's taken me time to understand that these aspects are not flaws. The pebble is interesting precisely because it has these different features. 

And if I am not the only pebble on the beach?
Maybe then I can be a little bolder.

Take me to the water

I've had a few 'health journeys' in my time, either by choice (like a fitness or weight loss programme) or by necessity (like an illness which involves regular trips to the doctor) and one question I'm often asked is 'are you drinking enough fluids'. Its a fair enough question, bodies perform better when they are fully hydrated and drinking more is an easy lifestyle change to make. If you are in the UK the NHS recommends you drink about six 200ml glasses a day.

As it happens I do drink plenty, it's only 10am and I estimate that I'm already well into my second litre. I like to drink, it helps my brain work and if I'm honest I also use it as a way to suppress any hunger pangs. (Did I mention that in the last year I've lost over 2 stone?) Do you know that many people can't actually tell the difference between feeling hungry and feeling dehydrated and that that skill will diminish with age, the elderly are at particular risk of dehydration.

Unfortunately many of the drinks we like to have are not actually hydrating, tea and coffee for example, alcohol will also drive water out of your system. Pure fruit juices are also so stack full of sugar that they wont help hydrate you either, unless you add extra water. I also try to avoid squash for similar reasons and I don't think the 'no added sugar' squashes are a great alternative either as the artificial sweetener can leave you feeling hungry (think about it, how many skinny people do you actually see drinking diet soda?) And so called 'flavoured water' you can buy in the shops is usually just colourless diet squash with added sweetener.

Re-hydrating isotonic drinks are fab (provided they don't have sweetener) but they can be VERY expensive, over-the-counter oral re-hydration sachets to add to water are not much cheaper.  No, there really is no better drink than water. But even I'm prepared to admit that it can be a little dull at times so here I'm going to share my favourite water 'recipes'. Things that can give the water just enough flavour to make it different and interesting.

• Sliced fruit - be it citrus like lemons or sweet like sliced strawberries just a touch of sliced fruit mixed in with the ice can make the water seem even more refreshing. Also cucumber works really nicely.
• Herbs - many herbs are great in water. I often use rosemary (which by the way is BRILLIANT with a slice of watermelon, so refreshing) but I also like all sorts of mint, thyme and sage (which is great with some blackcurrants) . The list goes on. Give your herb some gentle scrunching to release the flavour and float on the water.
• Flowers - my girls love a flower or two floating in with the ice and water. Rose petals, elderflower, nasturtiums, marigolds. Any edible flower looks great and if it's scented like roses a little sparkling water added to the mix will help bring that out.
• Herbal and fruit teas - I'll often make a peppermint or chamomile tea and drink it hot or let it cool and add ice. Go for quality bags or loose tea with no added 'black tea' and no artificial sweetener. My all time favourite tea is a few thin slices of ginger with a dash of lemon juice.
• A dash of.. - lemon juice, lime juice, vanilla, cider vinegar or Angostura bitters all work well when added to water.
• Home made oral re-hydration therapy - to one litre of fresh clean water add half a level teaspoon (3 grams) of salt and 3 level tablespoons of sugar (18 grams). 

If you want to look really classy any of the above frozen into ice cubs will look great but of course until the ice melts you will have less flavour.

As I type now I am looking forward to a blistering hot weekend, the weather man just told me that the last time it was this good was the first week in July 2006 - I remember it well, it was the week my first daughter was born (and no it wasn't a water birth). 
Have a great weekend! xx