Monthly Archives: September 2016

Hape Home Education – The Perfect Match

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Hape Home Education range endorsed by teachers from around the world

Hape’s beautiful range of home education toys allows for endless hours of fun and play. Each product is designed to encourage children to explore and learn. The complete range has been developed to build children’s skills and confidence in a fun, gentle way following Hape’s ethos that; ‘children do not play to learn; children learn because they play’. These three products, all part the Home Education range, are endorsed by teachers from around the world.

Each game is made from high-quality natural materials, water-based paints and non-toxic glues. The designs and pictures are vibrant and cheerful. It’s a joy to play with such a good quality product. All games meet European and American safety standards.

Hape’s Motto is Love play. Learn and it certainly scores on every front. I remember so many happy times playing similar puzzles with my own children, and what fun we had. Now it’s the grandchildren’s turn. A lovely gift for Christmas but I couldn’t wait until then. It’s another one for grandma’s toy box.

Hape Converse – Find, match and describe pairs of opposites.

Converse encourages kids to find, match and describe pairs and opposites using brightly coloured picture cards. It’s a great way to develop children’s communication skills and have fun at the same time. The set contains; 20 pairs of playing cards, 1 red card and instructions. The cards are lovely to touch and the use of animals and children to describe opposites such as big and little, wet and dry, front and back are a delight to the eye.

The Hape converse set is recommended for 4 years+ and is available from Amazon priced £12.00.

 

Hape Listen to the Clues – Children use their own words to guide one another in selecting the correct picture sequence.

listen-to-clues

Listen to the Clues is a delightful communication game containing 4 game strips for the listener and 32 colourful playing cards for the speaker. The aim of the game is for the players to use their own words to guide one another in selecting the correct pictures to match a sequence. Cooperation and teamwork are developed and strengthened. A really lovely game that helps with description and storytelling. Great size for little hands as well as larger ones.

The Hape Listen to Clues set is recommended for 4 years+ and is available from Amazon priced at £13.42.

 

Hape Combino –  use colourful transparent overlays to complete pictures.

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Combino  provides children with the opportunity to develop their experimental skills. The wooden tiles are only partly drawn and finished by laying on transparent image overlays to complete the picture. There’s lots of fun to be had by completing the correct pictures but even more from creating odd combinations – propellors on cakes, umbrellas in goldfish bowls.

The Hape Combino is recommended for 4 years+ and is available from Amazon priced £13.42

 

 

Grooming gifts for men – from Brisk and Johnny’s Chop Shop

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Great Grooming products from Brisk and Johnny's Chop Shop

Great Grooming products from Brisk and Johnny’s Chop Shop

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat and you haven’t got a clue what to give your man for Christmas. There are some great ranges of grooming products which are ideal for the image-conscious male.

Johnny’s Chop Shop (available at Boots and online) and Brisk (available from Boots and Waitrose) both have ranges of products, which make great gifts. Both ranges are unfragranced, which means that they won’t clash with whatever aftershave your bloke normally wears.

Johnny’s Chop Shop are offering a traditional barber shop range. The Born Lucky shampoo £6 for 150g) has a shot of conditioner and leaves your hair squeaky clean without taking all the moisture out. The Soul and Balm face balm (£7.50 for 125ml) is a moisturiser, which puts life back into listless skin. There is also Wild Cat Hair Clay (£7 for 70g), which gives a very stiff hold. It’s great for men – and women – if you want to build a quiff or really make a statement with your hair.

Brisk is aimed at hipsters who enjoy spending time with their beards. They offer a beard oil (£6.99 for 50ml) and a beard shampoo (£4.99 for 150ml). The beard oil leaves an attractive sheen and helps tame even the most unruly beard.

Gransthread: Roots, and how many of us revisit them? By Margaret Graham

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It’s strange to return to our ‘roots’. This weekend we took a train to Newcastle, which is where my mum, a Geordie, had one of the few pleasurable experiences in her young life. Her dad took her to see Peter Pan in between the wars, and a short while later, he died.

 

Mum was born in 1914 in the pit village of Washington, which was then in County Durham. Her Da wasn’t a pitman but he and his brother ran a couple of shops. Mum’s was in Brady Square, which still exists in Washington Station, though as a house. Her mum died when mum was two. My grandma, Annie, was off her head with sepsis and took poison. Mum’s dad was at war, Mum’s brother, my uncle Stan, was seven.

 

We think times are hard now, but you ain’t seen nothing, if you weren’t living then. The depression was in high gear, war trauma was rife, jobs were scarce. My grandfather killed himself when mum was eleven, soon after he had taken his children to Peter Pan. Post Traumatic Stress, which is one of the reasons I started the charity Words for the Wounded.

 

I’m not really sure of sections of my mother’s life, but I do know she ran amuck as an orphan until a cousin came to Washington from Gosforth, looking for her. This cousin took mum, now 14, to live with her, sending her to school. Into a class of 7 year olds little Annie Newsome (as she was called) went, to learn to read and write. In time Mum, also an Annie, trained as a nurse.

 

She worked at the Royal Victoria Hospital as the 2nd World War broke out, and is mentioned in Brenda McBryde’s book, A Nurse’s War. Mum became a military nurse, travelled to India to look after the troops in the Burma campaign, meeting my dad, an RAF pilot, on the convoy going over.

 

As children my sisters and I used to go to Uncle Stan’s shop for our school holidays. It was the shop where my grandfather died. It is now a house and we were shown round by the current owner last year. My mother would have been sitting up on a cloud roaring with laughter, because he told us the shop was bought on my uncle’s death by a Madam, who ran a knocking shop, until closed down by the police. She spent a bit of time in clink and featured in a national newspaper. Tall story or the truth? Who knows.

 

Anyway, now I go up north as often as I can. It has changed beyond measure. The pits are gone, the slag heaps too. It is steadily regenerating. Though it has changed it is still ‘home’ and to arrive is a relief, to leave is not. It is an area that informed my writing. Indeed, my first novel After the Storm was based on events in mum’s life. My writing gave my mum immense pleasure. She liked to paint, my father wrote poetry. Perhaps between them they gave me a talent, but it was the north east which gave me inspiration, and continues to do so.

 

www.wordsforthewounded.co.uk

www.margaret-graham.com

 

 

Aldi’s superb Christmas offerings

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Champagne,Aldi,Asti,Spumante,Christmas

Champagnes and sparkling wines from Aldi

Over the last few years Aldi’s wines have been one of the great success stories of British retail. This year – in addition to the normal ranges – they have got some superb sparkling wines and Ports, which are ideal for Christmas and which will also make superb gifts.

Last week Aldi unveiled its range of wines for Autumn/Winter 2016. They are continuing with the extremely successful Exquisite Collection – a range of good quality wines for around £6 a bottle. I really enjoyed the Claire Valley Riesling (£6.99), but they are all worth drinking.

More exciting was a range of excellent sparkling wines. The Valdobbiadene Prosecco Spumante, was a classy prosecco – lots of citrus flavours and medium dry – for £7.49. If you want to create a bit of a splash at Christmas, then the Veuve Monsigny Champagne Brut at £10.99 is an absolute bargain. Lovely light grain – not too fizzy – and a refreshing slight taste of toast. The ideal thing to bring along to a party.

Another interesting sparkling wine is Asti Spumante at £4.99. This is a bit retro – a throwback to the seventies. But it’s fun. It isn’t too alcoholic (7 per cent ABV), it has lovely flavours of ripe pears and would be just the thing for younger people who currently drink cider. Stick a bottle on the table at Christmas dinner!

The collection of fortified wines is also pretty impressive. If you want to splash out Maynard’s Late Bottled Vintage Port 1992 at £19.99 has lovely flavours of chocolate and cherries and a slight hint of pepper. If you’re on a budget Maynards also do a 2012 Late Bottled Vintage Port for £9.99 – which is almost as nice.

Port,Aldi,Tawny,cheap,Christmas

Great wines in lovely bottles – Aldi has some exciting ports for Christmas

Oh, and there’s a Maynard’s 40 year old tawny port for £29.99. It comes in a lovely bottle and makes a great gift. Tawny ports are made in much smaller barrels than ruby ports, so there is more oxidation. Ruby ports taste of fresh fruit, tawny ports taste of dried fruit. This one has lovely flavours of dried figs, dates, raisins. It would make a great gift and would be just the thing to serve with the mince pies.

Legacy by Hannah Fielding Review by Contributing Editor & author Margaret Graham

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legacy-by-hannah-fielding-reviewAward winning romance novelist, Hannah Fielding, has written the third book in her Andalucian Nights Trilogy and her readers will be relieved and excited to know that this epic, Legacy, is written with all the verve of her previous novels.

 

I say epic because it has a sweeping plot and setting. The author’s ability to sustain the story line and amalgamate the two main characters is impressive. Her setting is active. By this I mean that her descriptions don’t just sit like a sack of potatoes, but are interwoven into an action so they don’t stop the pace. She doesn’t however ignore the need for a pause to empathise with the setting, or for the reader to process a scene. This is something I try to encourage in those I mentor: pace is important, but so is pause.

 

She also ‘holds back’. This means that the reader has to wait for facts, secrets, feelings to be revealed, and this is an excellent use of tension. Fielding does this extremely well.

 

So, the plot in a nutshell: Luna Ward, a beautiful blonde journalist based in New York is commissioned to investigate – undercover –  the head of an  alternative health clinic in Spain. As one might expect she finds the man she has been asked to expose irresistible but  is he good, or bad? And what does her deception make her?

 

Secrets and lies threaten to destroy their lives, not to mention their love. So…?

 

Oh no, read it and see.

 

Hannah Fielding’s novel The Echoes of Love won first place in the Romance category at the Independent Publisher Book Award in New York in 2014, and in 2015 Indiscretion won 2015 USA Best Book Award for Romantic Fiction, and in April 2016  Gold Medal and Masquerade won silver medal for romance at the IPBA Benjamin Franklin Awards.

 

Frost Magazine is really excited that Hannah will be telling our readers of A Day in her Life very soon. Make sure you keep an eye out.

 

Legacy by Hannah Fielding  is published by London Wall Publishing.  £7.99

 

 

Mustard Gas – a life saver? By Margaret Graham

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Out of darkness came hope, or so explained Justin Stebbing, Professor of Oncology, Imperial college, London at the Pink Ribbon conference on 17th September. 

 

Gerard Dugdill organized the Pink Ribbon’s 3rd breast cancer forum, in association with the Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London W1G and Frost Magazine was lucky enough to be there on the morning of the Patients’ Day.

 

A series of speakers spoke to an audience of patients and their relatives about many things, not quite sea and ships and sailing wax, cabbages and kings, but surgery,  and nursing support. Frost’s own Dr Kathleen Thompson talked about the things she had learned during her journey through cancer, and had excellent ideas for navigating the system.  It is a journey so amusingly but poignantly described in her award winning book From Both Ends of the Stethoscope. A book which is selling strongly internationally.

 

Then it was the turn of a plastic surgeon, and finally Justin Stebbing who kicked off his talk about what were the beginnings of cancer treatment, and where it appeared to be going now, as research speeds at a gallop into the future. He explained that immunotherapy which is being developed looks as though it could be the way to tackle cancer in the future. As he said, this is a mile ahead, but research is already a few yards into the journey.

 

But back to mustard gas. Justin told us how Dr Stewart Francis Alexander made the link from mustard gas to cancer treatment. He  noticed that many of those caught in a mustard gas attack had, after several days, a surprisingly low number of immune cells in their blood – cells that, if mutated, can go on to develop into leukaemia and lymphoma.

 

Alexander hypothesised that if mustard gas could destroy normal white blood cells, it seemed likely that it could also destroy cancerous ones – thence the start of chemotherapy.

 

This was a hugely valuable day, one ultimately which gave hope that we are on the way in some years hence to non invasive treatment, and perhaps protection.

 

 

From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Both-Ends-Stethoscope-Getting-cancer-ebook/dp/B01A7DM42Q

 

 

Magnitone The Full Monty Brazilian Bombshell Edition Review

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Magnitone The Full Monty Brazilian Bombshell Edition Review2016 is the year I became obsessed with electronic facial devices. It was while using one on my face that I thought how amazing it would be if someone invented one you could use on the entire body. Well my dreams came true with Magnitone’s The Full Monty Brazilian Bombshell Edition. The Magnitone facial brush is amazing for cleansing and toning the face but The Full Monty does, well, the full monty.

I am now obsessed with this face and body brush. I have been using it for weeks now, and it has made a huge difference to my skin. My husband always mentions how soft my skin is after I use it on my body. It exfoliates so well. I don’t fake tan, but if you do this would be a good preparation for it. You use the pedi brush dry and it gets rid of all of the dry skin on your feet. It also leaves your face cleansed and toned. This Vibra-Sonic 3-in-1 Skincare Brush deep-cleanses, tones, exfoliates and buffs skin. With 3 modes; face, body and feet and 3 heads, skin is left beautifully conditioned, from head-to-toe.

This vibrant, illustrated brush is inspired by the carefree spirit of Brazil. It uses award winning Vibra-Sonic technology with 3 modes (Face + Body + Pedi) to deep cleanse, tone and smooth your skin all over – giving you ultimate summer skin confidence. You can get your body Olympic worthy.

  • Double-Award Winning combo of sonic oscillations + pulsed vibrations = an energising daily cleanse and skin workout.
  • Gently wobbles dirt out of pores (where hands can’t go) and boosts micro-circulation to tone up skin
  • Don’t let your face reap all the cleansing and skin smoothing benefits. Max your skin’s fitness and do The Full Monty skin workout

It comes with 4 brush heads. 

  • PORE PERFECTION – Breakout Busting Facial Brush (for oily/congested skin)
  • ACTIVE CLEAN – Daily Cleansing Facial Brush
  • GET BEACHED – Tantastic Prep and Prolong Body Brush
  • WELL HEELED! – Perfect Pedicure Head

And 3 modes.

  • FACE (SENSITIVE / DEEP CLEANSE / PULSELIFT™ TONING)
  • BODY EXFOLIATION
  • PEDI-BUFF

It comes with a 12-month warranty, a MyMagnitone Membership Card, a USB lead and a magnetic USB charging cradle.

It is available from magnitone.co.uk, boots.com, feelunique.com, and MyShowcase and I highly recommend it. It will change your skin. You can buy a Magnitone Full Monty Vibra Sonic Face and Body Cleansing Brush here.

 

 

BEST ENDEAVOURS: Best Of Days: Jane Cable’s Digital Publishing Journey

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Jane Cable, publishing, writingBEST ENDEAVOURS

Jane Cable’s blog about what happens once that digital publishing deal is in the bag continues.

BEST OF DAYS

That’s it – the manuscript has been emailed to Endeavour and acknowledged. In four to six weeks I’ll know how much more work I have to do.

So how do I feel? Exhausted – and suddenly very uncertain about my book. Of course the logical part of my mind tells me to get a grip; all I’ve done is a little tweaking and tidying up – they’ve read The Seahorse Summer, for goodness sake – and they’ve bought the rights. So of course it’s going to be fine. The tired, emotional part of my brain, however, is so mashed up I got motion sickness on the elevator in Sainsburys. No kidding.

But last night in my favourite pub, The Victory Inn at Towan Cross in Cornwall, an important aspect of my book was validated when conversation around the bar fell to a former soldier who was going badly off the rails. In so many ways they could have been talking about one of the two GIs in my book, Paxton.

Now when you tackle a subject like combat stress it’s important to get it right. I was lucky enough to be introduced to a former para turned fitness instructor who was prepared to tell me what he’d seen and heard from the soldiers under his care in Afghanistan after they came home from setting up Camp Bastion. The sense of isolation when separated from their unit on leave. The struggle returning to normal family life and relationships after all they’d experienced. How combat can scar a man in ways unseen. How fireworks are never the same again.

publishing, writing

Readers of Frost will be no strangers to Words for The Wounded, the charity set up by author and contributing editor Margaret Graham. The charity supports soldiers suffering from combat stress and I very much hope that I can do something with The Seahorse Summer that can help them in this work.

In the meantime, with the editing finished, what now? Feet up for a while? Not a chance… there’s a huge ‘to do’ list of tasks which have been swept to one side and too long ignored; a vast amount of marketing to be done – both in advance of The Seahorse Summer and for The Cheesemaker’s House and The Faerie Tree which have been sliding down the Kindle charts while I’ve been busy editing; and, of course, picking up the threads of my current manuscript again.

But as for today? I’m on the north Cornish coast and the sun is shining. Quite honestly, I think I deserve a little break.

 

Jane Cable is the author of two independently published romantic suspense novels, The Cheesemaker’s House and The Faerie Tree, and a sporadic contributor to Frost. The Seahorse Summer tells the tale of how two American soldiers born sixty years apart help forty-something Marie Johnson to rebuild her shattered confidence and find new love. Discover more at www.janecable.com.