It's So Funny, How We Don't Talk Anymore

No, I'm not paying homage to Cliff Richard *shudder* don't worry.

I was out with my daughter the other day and we decided to have a spot of lunch in a cafe - as you do...ladies that lunch and all that...

Well I say ladies that lunch loosely as it's with a pretty much one way conversation unless it's about Minnie Mouse, food or trumps.  You get the picture?

Mini Cheddar was eating, as usual, and I was people watching - no, I'm not some freakoid who sits and stares at random people for kicks.  There's just only so much watching a toddler devour a ham sandwich at record speed one can do you know!

Anyway, I digress - as usual.  What was I saying?  Oh yes...the cafe.

Photo credit: Ambro

I happened to notice quite a few couples in their 50's and 60's. Nothing strange there you say.  Well, it occurred to me that none of them were talking to eachother.  Not one of them! WTF?  This made me just watch them more.  Then another couple, probably in their 60's walked in.  The man sat down at the table whilst the woman went to the counter.  What is it with that age generation where the woman has to go and fetch?

She came back with two cups on a tray.

"I wanted tea" the man grumbled.

"I thought you said coffee" she snapped.

"No! I changed my mind, go change it".

No please or thank you. Charming.

Off she went back to the counter and duly obliged in getting him the tea he so obviously required.  I would have thrown the bloody cup at his head the ungrateful git but I'm a narky bitch at the moment!

She returned without saying anything and he didn't say anything to her.  They just sat in silence drinking occasionally shooting eachother a look of hatred when the other one wasn't looking.

At what point in their relationship did this become the norm?  At what point in their (I assume) married life did they stop talking and when they do talk they just snip at eachother?  How must it feel to be in that sort of relationship?

I then remembered a friend of my Mums once talking about her husband and saying "He's like a really tatty smelly old pair of slippers.  You hate wearing them as they look awful and they stink but they are SO comfortable that you don't want to throw them out an get a new pair".

Thank feck I wash my slippers to keep them fresh!

The Gallery - Hair

I could share some seriously dodgy haircuts from my past but I've already done that once and I don't think you poor people are quite ready for that again so soon.

Some of you may remember the picture below being in my original banner when I ventured into the world of blogging almost 12 weeks ago now. Has it really been 3 months?

I took this when my daughter was just coming up to 4 months old back in July 2009.  I was on the floor with her looking up, trying my best to hold the camera without dropping it on our heads!  It was supposed to be a nice sweet picture of the two of us but she got a bit narked.

Right at the point I went to press the camera to take the picture she yanked my hair... really hard.

Now head over and view all the other hair raising entries this week...

How Can These People Sleep At Night?

Over the last 3 weeks I haven't been able to dedicate my Fridays to working in the Save The Children shop where I volunteer. I feel really guilty.

I know it's not my fault as I had the Friday of Mini Cheddars 2nd birthday already booked off and the other 2 I only managed 2 hours work before she took really ill and then I picked up the norovirus too.

However, what I can do is blog about it which will ease my guilt.  It won't make me feel any better with what I have to blog about today though.

When I popped into the shop a couple of weeks ago to escape the horrors of my daughters puking episodes volunteer a couple of hours all was a normal day. The other 3 volunteers and myself were hard at work. Customers were coming into the shop thick and fast - all so friendly and lovely as always and varying greatly in age.

I'd heard the odd rumour about charity shop theft before but didn't think much about it. I was told that you could usually tell a theft had taken place as the large wooden hangers would be left empty on the rail.

Our shop is split into two rooms and when you're on the till in the front room you can't see the back room. This is where the fitting room is and wooden hangers would often be left in there too I'd been told. Shocking.

It was pushing 4pm - closing time - and customers in the shop were starting to become few and far between. I'd been upstairs sorting some stock and then went to help cash up and sort the books at the till downstairs. As I went downstairs I noticed a slim, well dressed woman in her 40's in the front part of the shop, she was holding a really lovely sleeveless top on it's wooden hanger. She went into the back room as we were on the till cashing up in the front.

About 5 minutes later she passed by us (you have to go right past the the till to exit the shop), smiled and said goodbye. We didn't think anything of it. Then one of the other volunteers said "I saw her with that cream sleeveless top before, she went to try it on I think, did she leave it in the changing room? I hope she did as I didn't see her put it back".

My heart sank. Surely this pleasant and polite woman wouldn't have stolen it? I went into the changing room. No top, but no hanger either. She must have put it back on the rail and we'd just not seen her. My faith in humankind restored.

As I walked out of the fitting room, there staring back at me was a large wooden hanger with a size 8 clip on it, empty and discarded in the 'bargain bucket'.

Photo credit: africa

Words fail me.

This top was no more than £3.00 to purchase.

£3.00.

Yes, £3.00.

£3.00 can provide 8 children with treatment for life-threatening diarrhea.

How can these people sleep at night?

I know a lot of people are feeling the pinch under this new government but seriously, stealing from a charity shop? That's some new kind of low.



If you would like to read my other blog posts about Save The Children and volunteer work, you can view them here:
Charity Doesn't Always Begin At Home
Born To Volunteer

Movie Meme - Chick Flick

A little bit of a tough one this week from Hannah at Metal Mummy.  It's the dreaded chick flick.

I'm not a girly girl at all.  I'm not saying I'm a tom boy but I hate all that pink fluffy sparkly fairy crap.  I also prefer a pint of cider to a fancy cocktail any day.

My idea of hell in a movie?  Mamma Mia *shudders* I still can't believe a couple of my friends made me watch that film.  I'll never get 108 minutes of my life back.

Despite this, I can appreciate a good old chick flick.  There have been some great ones: Bridget Jones, Ghost, Pretty Woman, Love Actually, Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Notebook and so on.

I was going to go with Memoirs Of A Geisha but I wasn't sure if it could be classed as a proper chick flick?

However, I'll stick with my first choice.

Source - Wikipedia

Dirty Dancing.

Ah, what a classic.

I've always loved this film and have loved it as long as I can remember.  I remember my friend had it on VHS when it first came out back in the 80's and the bit when Penny is in bed after her 'op' and Johnny walks in and she gasps "Johnny"....we would sit and rewind it and all shout "Rubber" right before she said it.  Ah good childish times!

I'm a complete sucker for 80's films as you already know.  This is one of those films that you can sit and recite all the amazing lines (looks around...just me then?)...

"I carried a watermelon"
"Nobody puts Baby in the corner"
"I think she gets this from me"
"Go back to your play pen, Baby"
"You just put your pickle on everybodys plate college boy and leave the hard stuff to me"


What's not to love about this movie?  Classic lines, brilliant soundtrack and what's more the late, great Patrick Swayze.  Sir, you are a legend.


What's your favourite?  Head over to Hannah's blog and link up...

Picture from www.all-pictures.org/

Mini Cheddar - She's More Like A Sponge Than A Cheese

My gorgeous daughter (Mini Cheddar) turned 2 years old a a couple of weeks ago (11th March) and now when I look back at how much she's grown in the past year since her 1st birthday it's amazes me.

On her first birthday

A year ago and she was barely walking with nothing more than the odd babble.  She was just beginning to properly explore the exciting world around her interact properly with toys and people.

The development journey she has taken over the past year is incredible and being a stay at home mum I've been lucky enough to be able to share every moment of it.

Now she's stringing sentences together, saying her please and thank yous, starting to count, knows all her shapes and colours etc. - she amazes me with something new every day.

World domination?

She loves to play and I love to play with her, encouraging her to repeat words and interact with me whilst she's playing.  The joy and laughter that comes from her play time is enough to melt any heart.

At the age of 1 Mini Cheddar didn't even understand what a building block was really, nevermind its colour and now I watch as she creates entire villages with a running commentary on what she's doing. Watching the thought process develop in her is astounding - perhaps she's like Stewie from Family Guy and plans to rule the world?

Queen of Clean

Watching her starting to interact with her little friends now, building up her confidence and social skills already.

The next Nigella?

She loves nothing more than to "help mummy", as she says, and will follow me around the house with her very own baby Dyson and duster.  I think she would easily give Kim & Aggie a run for their money!  She's clearly a domestic goddess in training like her mother *cough*

Also, she insists she helps me "whisk bowl" whilst baking.  It doesn't seem like playing, as such, but it is and she adores it.  It will help her in the future too - hopefully steering her clear from becoming a fussy eater like her Daddy!

Mini Cheddar has quite a number of toys, thanks (I think?) to generous grandparents but sometimes the simple things in life are the best. Like getting out in the great outdoors for some play time at the park - simple play like this along with fresh air brings a whole new experience.

               

Park Life

It also allows for some more social interaction with friends.  All together now "Awwwww"...

Best Friends For Ever

What was that Grandad?

A simple piece of paper and a pen whilst eating out provides an emergency play time for those 'hungry' moments when her tummy demands food but the waitress service leaves little to be desired!  Her inquisitive mind taking direction from her Grandad, constantly playing and learning in her own unique way.

Here you go Grandma

Grandparents also provide the perfect environment for a toy mountain - Grandma especially!

Whether it's a complex toy or a cardboard box, Mini Cheddar gains so much from playing and constantly learning about her 

environment. 

Amazing what they'll deliver

She loves nothing more than to make a tent in the lounge and play house or play with her little kitchen set, dishing up some plastic food she's cooked specially for mummy. All great skills for her future indeed - these little things going such a long way to develop her skill set.

Tunnel of learning

Her ability to learn so quickly astounds me - she is literally like a little sponge soaking up all the information that she sees and hears. I have no doubt that she is going to grow up to be even more of a delight than she is now - although sometimes I can't see how that's possible.


Put quite simply, we are loving life and loving learning.  Not only is she learning about life each day, I'm learning about being a mother (and a teacher) and I love it.


Note: I absolutely HATE the way I say 'carrots' in this video *hangs head in shame* What is wrong with me?




This post is linked up to the Tots 100 March Blog Hop - Learning Through Play

Liebster Blog Award

I was tagged the other week for this new meme *groan* that's floating around the blogosphere.  I'm not sure where the meme originated so if anyone can let me know so I can credit the OP that would be great.

New Mum Online was the first one to tag me with this Liebster Blog Award and then I received another tag a couple of days ago from Mummy and the Beastie so it's spurred me along to actually complete the meme. Thanks again for the tags and sharing the blog love ladies.

It's designed for people with 'little' blogs (less than 300 subscribers) to share the blog love and spread the word.

The thing is though, I'm a little confused (doesn't take much, I know!) as is this just Google Friend Connect subscribers?  I guess it must be as no-one knows how many other subscribers we all have unless we display our stats.

Anyway, here are the rules of the meme:

1. Post displaying the award, linking back to the person(s) who awarded you.
2. Choose your own blog picks and let them know they're awarded.
3. Hope everyone discovers some new favourites
4. Revel in the blog love!

From my blog picks I'm going to choose some wonderful ladies who I met on a baby forum when we were all expecting our little ones - all due in March 2009.

3 of them I've met in real life and we have remained friends.  The other I hope to meet one day.  3 of them have been blogging quite a while now and 1 is a brand new blogger.

Alysons Blog
Never Found The Plot
Dreaming Of Beer
Mrs Ramble

Go and show them some love!


22NBPY5UJFSB

Silent Sunday #11

Flashback Friday - 'Not Quite' The 80's

Not a massive leap back in time this week but yesterday I was too ill to move and this was the only photo I had to hand this morning. However, it's a flashback in another way.

It was probably taken about 6 years ago I reckon, one of my closest friends had an 80's party for her husbands birthday. It was one of the best house party's I've been to. LOTS of alcohol was consumed (as you can see from the look on my face) and lots of laughs were had.

Everyone made such a great effort with their outfits that night - it was amazing! My husband even joined in the fun Miami Vice stylee. What you can't see properly in the photo is that I'm wearing a pair of bright yellow 4" stiletto heels! Awesome.

This photo was taken at the top of the landing outside the loo - it's not only an 80's thing, it's a girl thing!

Now head over to Karin's place at Cafebebe and check out all the other entries...

All Aboard The Train To Vomit Ville

After last weeks overnighter in hospital with Mini Cheddar which put a stop on her birthday week (poor little love) I was kind of hoping for a bit of a break.  The sun is finally shining and it's warm enough to step out in a t-shirt pretty much.  But no, someone had other plans for me this week.

Early evening yesterday I started to feel really nauseous.  Then the stomach cramps hit. Bugger.

I thought I'd gotten away with it! Apparently there are 3 hospitals in the area I live that are shut now due to the dreaded norovirus so I guess my chances were slim.  I've already boarded the train to Vomit Ville and it ain't stopping.

Complete with hospital sick bowl

So, a truly awful nights sleep last night along with severe vomiting at 3.30am, here I am.

As I lay here on the bed feeling a little sorry for myself, I'm actually feeling more sorry for Mini Cheddar.  Not only did we have to cut her days out for her 2nd birthday short last week, then the poor mite had to be put on a drip as she couldn't keep any fluid down at all....now here she is fully recovered but stuck in bed with me.  

Not only that, my husband is now trying to jump on my sickness bandwagon complaining that his tummy feels 'dodgy'.  Didn't stop him wolfing toast and a coffee this morning though did it?  Or stop him going to the chippy last night.  Why can't I just be ill on my own and be nursed properly?

He's just offered to get Mini Cheddar dressed.  It's 11.30am.  I've just been presented with the first question "What shall I put her in?"

"I'm sure you can choose an outfit for her" I shout from my sick bed.

I'm wondering what on earth she'll appear from her room wearing.  Men really have no idea.

Then comes the next one..."I think she may have poo'ed'.

"Well change her nappy"

"Does she need a vest on?"

"That depends what (bloody awful) outfit you dress her in!"

AAAAARRRRRGGGGH!

Ill or full of health, we never stop being mothers do we?

Actually, I really want my mum right now (I always do when I'm ill) but I don't want her to catch the train too.

The Gallery - Education

Tara's theme for The Gallery this week is 'Education'...ooh a toughie!

Learning isn't my strong point.  I always did quite well at school but I hated exams.  Despite that I continued my learning even after getting a job at the tender age of 16.  I'm still to complete one exam for the Chartered Institute of Marketing to get my final qualification...maybe one day I'll get around to it. Who knows?

In the meantime I'm having fun learning about motherhood *cough*

When I first found out I was going to be mum back in July 2008, I rushed out to buy all these books.  I filled my head with the idea that everything I needed to know about pregnancy and motherhood I could glean from a book.

How wrong I was.

I don't think I've touched any of these books since having my daughter - apart from to get them out this week to photograph them.

For me, the best education in the ways of motherhood is learning on the job.

And what a wonderful job it is!

Now head over and view all the other Education entries this week...

Claire Penn Photography...Plus a fantastic 25% off at Etsy!

Let me introduce you to one of my closest friends Claire.

Apart from being one of the most amazing friends ever she's also one extremely talented photographer.  She never ceases to amaze me with the beauty and creativity of her photos and inspires me each day.

Based in Chester, she's a natural light on-location custom portrait photographer covering mainly the North West and North Wales but has also traveled a lot further afield - that's just how in demand she is!

Just one look at her website Claire Penn Photography will show you the amazing photographs she has taken since setting up her business a couple of years ago. She's also taken some gorgeous photographs of Mini Cheddar for me - 2 of which I've displayed here.  You can view some more here.

I've used Venture Photography once before and although they are good (studio based though), the price that they charge for one framed photograph of any size is absolutely ridiculous.  I shudder to think of what we paid for the photograph we have in our lounge.  Claire offers something unique, no garish studio lights - just her the camera, natural light and creativity and talent and most of all, excellent value for money.

As a lover of photography myself, I know how much better natural light is at creating stunning photographs.

I know Claire is my friend but I can honestly say she offers a fantastic service for your portrait needs.  I wouldn't recommend her like this if I didn't think she was amazing.  I've recommended her to a few friends now and they have all been ecstatic with the results.

Please visit her website where you will find everything you need to know.  But be warned, you'll get completely lost in there looking at all the gorgeous photographs!

In addition to this, Claire also offers her Etsy Shop where you can buy some of her fine art photography prints at incredible prices. Also, she's currently offering a fantastic 25% off prices using the discount code 'ANNIVERSARY25'. I have attached just a small example below of the fine art photography prints but make sure you have a look at the rest at her Etsy Shop.

Please take a look around her shop as I'm sure you'll find something you will love and don't forget to claim your 25% off!

You can also follow Claire on Twitter at @clairepennphoto or become a fan of her Facebook page here.

Remember to say hello and tell her I sent you!

Fine art photography examples from Claire Penn Photography

This is not a sponsored post. I received no payment or goods. All words and views are my own

Movie Meme - Favourite Actor

Oooh it's a toughie over at Hannah's place this week.  We have to choose our favorite actor.

Eek!  An Actor.  One actor.  Shit.  That's hard.

There are so many I love Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Alan Rickman, Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey....I could on....

I had to pick just one.  One.  Did I say that? *shakes fist at Hannah*

So, I'm going with the great Robert De Niro.

I know it's an obvious choice but this man is a legend.  He can turn his hand to practically anything and make the weakest film come to life.  He's starred in over 80 films - and some crackers too:

Goodfellas
Awakenings
The Untouchables
Taxi Driver
Raging Bull
Casino
The Godfather Part II
Sleepers
Cape Fear

Again, I could go on.

I'm still a firm believer that De Niro should have won an Oscar for his incredible performance in Awakenings.

I can't WAIT to see him in this new one Limitless.  It looks incredible...and there's Bradley Cooper in it too for a little bit of eye candy.

There's my choice.  Chances are I'll be wanting to change it after I've read everyone elses entries but I hope not because I do firmly believe De Niro is one of our greatest actors.



Who's your favourite?  Head over to Hannah's blog and link up...

Picture from www.all-pictures.org/

Going Grey

Yes, it's official.  I'm getting old.

*sobs lightly into my Horlicks*

I used to have my hair highlighted (see my blog banner pic for proof) but at the beginning of December last year I decided to go back to my natural brown colour.  It was mainly a financial reason - being a stay at home mum means less cash to splash on non-essentials and although my husband said he would gladly pay for me to go blonde every 6 weeks, I decided to see if brunettes actually ended up having more fun after all.

Well, as Bertorelli used to say in 'Allo 'Allo...what a mistakea to makea!

The thing is, with recent events I let my hair appointment in January/February go and thought I'd hang on as long as possible.  This morning, as I stood at the bathroom mirror, trying my best to conceal the panda eyes that I developed having bog all sleep at the hospital this weekend, I'm horrified to see so many spindly horrible grey hairs. Where the hell did they come from?

Yes, I'm going grey.  I'm only 36.  Balls!

Maybe they've been there a while?  Maybe the blonde has been concealing them all this time? Maybe recent events with my husband and my daughter are to blame...perhaps the worry and stress has effected me more than I thought?

Hmm.  Maybe I just need to face the fact I'm no spring chicken any more.  Surely the fact I'd prefer to sit in snuggled up on the sofa in my PJ's rather than go out on a wild night should tell me that.

It's time to face facts, I'm going grey and there's nothing I can do about it.  Time to order an electric fire and a shopping bag with wheels me thinks.

Thank f*** I'm going to the hairdressers tomorrow though!

Oh and at least I don't have a moustache.  Yet.

Silent Sunday #10

The Ticking Clock

As I sit here at 3.40pm on a sunny Saturday afternoon this is my view. The only sound I can hear is the loud ticking of the clock above the ensuite door and the gentle breathing of my beautiful daughter in my arms.

The garish blue of the hospital walls and the clinical linen on the bed is a stark reminder of where we are and how quickly things can go downhill with a little one.

It's hard to believe that only a week ago we were celebrating her 2nd birthday in style and here we are with her hooked up to an iv drip to get fluids into her after a dire case of vommiting and diarrhoea - she couldn't even keep a thimble full of water down.

I have never felt so utterly helpless as I did last night. Her little body fighting against me, two doctors and two nurses as they tried in vain (no pun intended) to put the cannula into her hand to hook her up to the iv. It was the most awful moment of my life.

But this isn't a post to moan about how rough we've had it. As I pop down to the hospital cafe every now again to take a break and get a fix of caffiene, I'm reminded of how fragile our little ones lives are. I go past high dependency units and SCBU machines and it absolutely breaks my heart to think of those parents and children who have their lives literally hanging by a thread.

I've read blogs recently from parents with poorly children, children who spend most of their lives in and out of hospital and doctors surgeries and I can't even begin to imagine the pain and anguish they must have gone through. I've only had this hospital experience for the last 24 hours, so far, but it will be forever etched in my memory as the worst night of my life.

To all those parents and children who have suffered, are still suffering or will suffer in the future - you're in my thoughts.

Flashback Friday - Barton Springs

LtoR - my Sister, my youngest cousin at the back, me seated, my older cousin

This is my Flashback Friday this week....no, it's not the auditions for the film Dumb & Dumber, despite the dodgy bowl cut hairdos...this is a picture of my two cousins, my older Sister and I at Barton Springs in Bedfordshire.  I'm no good with ages and dates but I reckon this was taken about 28-30 years ago.

My cousins still live in Luton but we moved up to North Wales when Mum was expecting me.  My Sister and I always went down to Luton to stay with Nan & Grandad and loved our time with our cousins.

My Nan took us out this day to Barton Springs which is situated in the Barton Hills (part of the Chilterns) which are near the village of Barton-Le-Clay.

I actually remember this day vividly.  We took plastic cups to drink the spring water and had such good fun there.   My Nan took this photo - sadly she passed away a few years ago now before I had my daughter.  I wish she had been able to see her beautiful Great Grandaughter.

I'm the one sitting down in the middle.  Jeez, if only my legs had stayed so svelte!

Now head over to Karin's place at Cafebebe and check out all the other entries...

Revenge Is Sweet

Please don't read this post if you're eating, have just eaten or are about to eat.  Or you can't think about poop!  Although why you'd even be anywhere near a 'Mummy blog' and not be prepared to read about poop is beyond me.

Yes my daughter is still in nappies but thankfully the days of the squirty baby 'korma' poo are over.  Her poos are normal now and every day since that stage passed once she was weaned onto solids I have been grateful.

No more disastrous poo related incidents in the pub at the Sunday carvery with my husband using a specials menu to stop poo dripping onto the floor - true story *shudders with the very thought of the embarrassment*  Maybe I'll blog about that at a later date.

So, any mum will tell you that things rarely go to plan when you're about to embark on a night out with friends.  What's one of them I hear some of you cry?  I know, sometimes nights out can be like rocking horse poop.  Well, I was going out early doors with my best friend the other week and all was going well until I let the dog out.

My husband and I were sat in the lounge playing with my daughter who had just been fed.  I looked out of the patio window to see the dog doing that crouched over shaking thing.  Yes, she was 'shaking like a shitting dog' as the saying goes.

But something wasn't quite right.  I realised she was having a pootastrophe as I now call it.

Our dog, Betty, is 15 and suffering with doggie dementia, bless her.  She appeared to be struggling with a rather large turd that wasn't evacuating as it would normally do.

I ran out to the garden armed with a pair of rubber gloves and some tissue paper.  I get all the glamorous jobs don't I?

I must have frightened the poor pooch because, as I went to grab her, she decided to flip out causing the poo to fly everywhere across her rear-end and stick in her bum fur and then the worst happened...

She sat down on the patio.

It was like a poo massacre!

I was gagging loudly which only caused her to get more stressed out.

What did I do?

I made my husband make up for the last 6 weeks of me waiting on him hand and foot whilst he nursed his broken ankle and I made him clean that crap up!

Watching him hobbling about in the back garden trying to de-turd the dog with a bucket of warm soapy water and a pair of marigolds more than made up for it.

He can still buy me an iPad though.

There Was Me Thinking My Partying Days Were Over

Well, they are pretty much...yes, nowadays the only parties I get to attend are the British Mummy Bloggers Twitter Parties!  Saying that though, they are such good fun - even if they are somewhat less alcohol fueled than those I was once used to. Ahem.

The latest party was a Spring Clean Twitter Party which was fairly apt as I had blogged about doing a Spring Clean myself only weeks earlier.  Never would I have thought I'd be blogging about cleaning.  For those interested (that will be no-one I imagine) you can read my domestic mutterings here.  I try and keep the downstairs of my house fairly tidy but at the moment, if truth be told, upstairs has gone to the dogs a bit.  Sorry, I digress...

I was actually 15 minutes late to the party last week so imagine my surprise when Bottle PR contacted me to say I was one of the top 5 contributers!  Clearly, my love of housework saw me through *cough cough* Actually, it's probably just because I thought tweeting about housework sounded much more fun than actually doing it.

The Twitter party was sponsored by Rentokil and asked for everyones cleaning tips to be tweeted between 1pm - 2pm last Thursday using the hashtag #springclean.  It generated approximately 1,350 tweets from over 500 contributers and the power of British Mummy Bloggers got the hashtag trending twice during the hour!  Go us!  There were some great prizes up for grabs which generated fantastic tips and advice and some truly deserving winners.

These are just a few of the Rentokil tips I saw that I think are definitely worthy of a re-tweet or two:

This was one of my tweets during the party:

I'm a bit of a stickler for vacuuming - although probably not on the same level as some people.  My Sister vacuums every day.  I secretly call her 'Monica Geller'.

If you think we are both sad then maybe you should have a read of this blog post from Rentokil but be prepared to feel itchy and be reaching for the vacuum cleaner faster than you can say "dust mites"!  Most of us probably think our houses are pest-free but you'd be surprised.  I'm not saying I'm going to turn into Aggie MccKenzie or anything but I'm still determined to finish my spring clean.

So, all in all, I think the BMB Twitter Party was a great success and has helped me boost my spring clean determination.

I look forward to the next one!  Being part of BMB and the Twitter Parties is great.

For more tweets and cleaning tips from the party, head over to here British Mummy Bloggers now.