Metal Mummy

Me: Are you eating your dinner Freyja?
Freyja: Yeah. I like dinner.
Me: What else do you like to eat?
F: Chocolate Bars. Grapes. Sausages.
M: Anything else?
F: Chins?
M: Chins?!
F: Nooooooooooooo. Silly Freyja.
M: What else do you like to eat?
F: Tomato Soup.
M: Anything else?
F: Monsters Inc and Radiators. *chuckles to herself* Silly Freyja saying silly things *chuckles some more*

Freyja’s just been helping me to use the beads I bought for her at the weekend from Afflecks Palace in Manchester. When we were t’up North for my first hen do, I decided to pop into a little bead store and pick some cute beads which I could make into a necklace for sproglet. She chose which ones she wanted on her necklace and helped me thread them – the rest, we’ll use for a bracelet or something soon.

I kinda want one myself!

We’re big fans of Orchard Toys in this household. When I say big, I probably mean huge. The range of toys they make are fantastic, durable and educational – we totally love them. Freyja got an array of games and puzzles from Santa in the form of Orchard Toys, so you’d think she’d have enough; but the opportunity to review part of their new range is definitely not one to be sniffed at.

The jigsaw puzzles are a particular favourite with Freyja and I. It’s definitely a lovely thing for her to have as a favourite toy, until she empties all of her jigsaws out at the same time and you have to sit there for the next hour to try and separate the pieces again…

The 4-in-1 box of jigsaws are no different. Varying in pieces from the elephant 4-piece to the penguin 12-piece, they’re fun little jigsaws to occupy her with. She does bigger piece jigaws regularly, but these are lovely even so. They have so much detail in them, and are numbered. You can ask questions about what animal is in the jigsaw, what noise they make, how they move. Having a 3 year old waddling around the room like a penguin is an entertaining sight, for sure.

Yet again, an Orchard Toy that will be gathering no dust at the back of her toy cupboard. Available from their website for £7.50, along with they huge range of fabulous jigsaws and games.

We have one of these 4-in-a-box jigsaws to give away to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment below with your twitter addy/contact details and I shall enter you into the competition! Competition ends on the 13th March.

***We were given one jigsaw set for the purpose of this review. All opinions are our own. Her impression of a waddling penguin really is hilarious***

  ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions

I’ll count to 10 Daddy…

Ready or Not, Here I Come!

I have a list. It used to be a relatively long list, but over the past few years I’ve managed to dwindle it down to one you can pretty much fit on a post it note. If you have relatively small writing.

It’s a list of live music I HAVE to see before I pop my clogs. It used to begin with my all time fave, Rob Zombie (*swoon*) but seeing as I saw him last year (and almost tripped him up), Rammstein took his place. If you’re not familiar with the sort of music I listen to, Rammstein are a German group that WIN at industrial metal music. Music you can dance to. Music you can headbang to. Music you can windmill to (and give yourself minor whiplash to in the process). In short, they are amazing and have been on my list of people to see for nigh on a decade.

Last week, I finally got to see them. At the O2 Arena in London. From a VIP box. That was once I managed to find the place using my trusty London guide. i.e. Google maps. How else are you supposed to find places?! Although you do look like a wally standing outside a shop, next to a post box, with your phone out trying to figure out road names. But, after a quick stop at the Intrepid Fox and the Crobar, and a trusty Spoons for some grub, we arrived at The Dome, among thousands of other Rammstein fans.

As soon as the lights dimmed and the starting chords sprung to life, you knew you were going to be in for a good show. As Rammstein wandered in holding fire-lit torches, looking like some sort of cult, eerily wandering down the lower seating aisle and through the crowd, you just couldn’t wait for the show to start. Anyone who makes an entrance which involves parting the crowds like the Red Sea are guaranteed to produce an excellent performance.

Rammstein are known for their awesome live performances. They don’t chat to the crowd. They don’t just play their music. They PERFORM. They have characters. They have pyrotechnics. Lots of it. They have comedy, props and treadmills. They have rubber dinghies that transport a sequinned-clad keyboardist around the whole ground floor of a massive arena. They have angle grinders, microphone stands that are alight, fireworks and a rig that transports them to a small, central stage on hydraulics whilst the drummer walks the rest of the band on their hands and knees with a leash that would work just as well on a husky ride. It really is a show and I am so stoked to have been able to see it.

Since the tickets went on sale last year and sold out within minutes, I didn’t think I’d get to see them. I just put it down to a “next-time” chance. But no, I got to see them. I got to watch every last song that was on my list to see live. Having to leave early for the train home didn’t stop me from seeing Du Hast, Feuer Frei!, Ich Will, Sonne and one of my favourites, Olne Nich live. Honest to God – the best gig I have seen, and I’ve been to so many I’ve lost count.

The only thing I find irritating about gigs in London, and this one was no different really, is that if you live outside of the city and aren’t staying in one of their numerous hotels, you have to leave before the end of the gig. You have to rush for the last train home, which usually always means you have to leave before the end of the gig. Which also means that, a lot of the time, you miss the encore which also means you sometimes miss the climax and therefore the best bit. Not to mention, navigating London, which, for an outsider can be difficult at the best of times, never mind when you’re keeping up with the hoards of people in order to avoid being trampled – being shoved into tube trains as though you are part of a cattle market auction. Yeah, not easy. Trying to navigate your way through a very bustly Underground system, to find your last train home is about to leave, trying to RUN up a flight of stairs in ridiculous boots with smokers’ lungs… Yeah, not easy at all.

After last night, my post it note of bands to see has got even smaller. Now all I have are a few metal bands (e.g. Machinehead and Five Finger Death Punch), a few grunge bands (e.g. Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots) and a couple of bands I don’t think I’ll ever manage to see (Kerbdog and Pink Floyd). For Pink Floyd, the Australian tribute will have to do. But, for now, I still have memories of Rammstein which I can look back on forever.