Review: Printerpix Photo Books

With all the photos we take of our adventures as a family, I'm always keen to try out new providers of photo products which bring the images on the external hard drive to life. A new kid on the block (to me) is printerpix, who gave me some photo product credits to play around with and test their products.

I went for a photo book, as it was my dad's birthday and as he's not close by and can't follow the children's adventures, it seemed a suitable undertaking.
So let's start with the finished product: It IS rather beautiful. I chose a scrap book style because I'd always meant to make a scrap book but never got around to it and the design appealed to me instantly (of course there are countless other designs to choose from, many with a particular theme in mind, really offering a wide choice). There are borders and frames around the photos which make the finished page look very special and catch one's eye, and of course it's that kind of thing that you simply can't do if you do it yourself. The colours are vibrant, the images all sharp and even the one image that came up with a warning of low quality looked very nice. At £43 for a hardback book, it's definitely competitively priced. And Opa liked it, which is not an easy achievement.

However, I had a hard time getting there. I do take my time over these things, wanting to do them just right. I also never just let the programme do its thing and just create something out of my uploaded photos. I do like to create themes, and to change layout to suit the theme/photo.

Now, all of the things I wanted to change/customise are doable, which is great. The software is definitely capable of a lot. However, it was a pain in the backside doing it: First of, in spite of a very useful short tutorial, it took me ages to find the zoom function to actually get a decent view of the page that allowed to make any changes at all. But even the zoomed in view was not detailed enough, so there were many mistakes made because I couldn't make out where I should click. I should say that I work on a notebook and on Firefox, so it is possible that the same issues may not be experienced with a bigger screen and a different browser. So after a while I gave up on adding descriptions because the view of the letters was so tiny that I couldn't check my spelling, and time was running out to get it done in time. Thankfully, it was easy to delete existing text boxes and their contents, if they were obscuring parts of a photo that I'd rather not have obscured. Other customisable elements were also hard to deal with, I struggled to apply a frame to a picture if it wasn't pre-set, and gave up eventually too (I'm sure if I had preservered, it might have worked, it certainly looked that it should be possible somehow).

I liked that you could easily save your project, so my stop and go approach wasn't an issue and no data was ever lost.

When it came to buying the book, it never appeared in my basket, which was rather odd, but was still in my projects. I had to contact customer service who were super quick to resolve the issue, so the customer support is ace (and had I known that they respond in real time almost, I would probably have asked them about the issues I had in the first place).

So overall I think Printerpix has some really high quality products to offer but the software interface could be made more user friendly by adding a zoom option. Of course, you could just let the programme do the magic and create a photo book for you and it'll be fine, but for someone who likes to be in control, it's a bit cumbersome.

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Disclaimer: I received credits for Printerpix photo products in return for a review post.

Down at the Mela

Every year, as part of the Glasgow West End Festival, the Mela transforms Kelvingrove Park into something rather special. We love the Kawa Circus (I'm a bit of a fan of street artists anyway), and our rather aimless wanderings brought us to storytelling, apple juice making, the best vegetable curry I've had in years and bumping into a number of friends we hadn't seen in a while. For once we managed to stay clear of overpriced rides because apple juice making and storytelling totally roped the girls' attention in. We were so busy enjoying these highlights that we kind of only happened across that we didn't even explore all that the Mela had to offer. Definitely an excuse to come back next year.

Today  I loved the way my big girl became so focussed on squashing apples and pressing juice, on listening to wonderful stories and on being enthralled by the Kawa Circus. This child of mine who is ever busy moving and has boundless energy, totally immersed in the process of apple juicing, or in the stories that appear to become real in her imagination, and then amazed by the magic of the circus.

And I felt rather sad having to wave goodbye to friends who are leaving Glasgow. 

Enough Food for Everyone

1 in 8 people go to bed hungry every night.
At the same time, there is enough food for everyone.
Around here, we throw food away while around here too, people go to bed hungry.

It's not right and a better world is possible, if we put our energy towards it.

There are 10 days left before the G8 meet and today will see the London leg of the Enough Food IF campaign events in Hyde Park. I'll be travelling there today accompanying a group of 9 Young Leaders, young people aged 14-18 who've been involved in campaigning on child poverty in the UK with Save the Children.

I'm very excited, I don't get to London very often and it's rare that I take part in big campaign events these days. It's great to be able to be part of this, and see the next generation get behind the issues that my generation still hasn't managed to solve.

I'll be tweeting on route, my Twitter ID is @cartside. We'll be spending about 11 hours on the train to be in London for 4 hours, and it's so going to be worth it.

In the meantime, please have a look at this video and check out the Enough Food IF website. Sign up and be there in spirit if you can't be there in person by uploading your picture for the big screen.

There is enough food for everyone in the world and it's our responsibility to ensure nobody goes hungry, because nobody needs to.

The Getaway

Of course we adore our children, but sometimes, just sometimes, it's also great to have a bit of a break. To do something that's neither work nor child related and not even a home chore.

My favourite getaway has usually something to do with making things, and while one could say that I'm free to do this after the kids are asleep, truth is that it doesn't happen a lot. Too many chores, too tired, not enough light. Above all, too tired (did I mention that already?)

So I had this cunning plan of gifting a crochet class to my wonderful sis-in-law, and cheekily joining in the fun. Ahem, that wasn't actually the plan but that's kind of what happened. A morning crochet class with Kat of Slugs on the Refrigerator (incidentally one of my favourite blogs ever, with never ending beautiful and inspirational pictures of things involving yarn, kids having fun and generally all that makes life worth living, that bring a smile to my face with every post). While the mamas were having fun up the road in Alloa, the four kids were left with my beloved hubby to jump on a trampoline.

Oh the bliss of it all, being treated to not just a fabulous crochet lesson but also tasty AND pretty cupcakes in herstunning studio, filled to the brim with little treasures and so much love to detail that it was actually not an easy task to focus on the crochet hook (some of which were also distractingly different to anything I'd seen before).

Time flew and when the time drew to a close I was sure we'd only just sat down and no way that 3 hours could have passed just like that, time clearly flies when you're enjoying yourself. Thankfully the weather was stunning so it was great to leave into the sunshine and an afternoon of being spoiled with lunch waiting for us, more cakes and Italian souvenirs by t'inlaws (who'd arrived in the meantime). We even worked hard on our crochet "homework", while the kids were having a blast with the hose...

Summer in Scotland. When it comes, nothing can beat it.

PS Kat has a few more crochet classes scheduled (including one in July in Glasgow's Stitchery), check out her blog for details and to sign up.

 

Days of windmills, stones and rhubarb crumble

Thanks to a very Glasgwegian bank holiday plus school in service day, both kids were off school/nursery, and me with them, for 5 full days. I treasured every minute of it because I constantly feel that we are so very short of quality time spent together, with most days being a constant "hurry up we need to go NOW". Usually, every minute of the day is planned through, so being able to not plan and do the simple things in our own time was oh so very special.

I felt I finally touched base with both girls, and they with each other.

We visited Whitelee Windfarm, a great place with a visitor centre that has a cafe with a stunning look. It's great for cyclists, walkers or those in awe of the big windmills (that'll be us) and above all stone collectors of which I have two. We also visited Kelvingrove Museum and Snowflake was rather excited about the giraffe, half tiger and bear. I loved the art nouveau stained glass windows and metal work. For the first time we had a look at real paintings, and it went ok (apart from Snowflake being over keen to touch them), so here's to the shape of things to come. There was plenty of time spent at  home too, at the swing park, cycling as a threesome, gardening and a lot of cooking and baking. I even finished my seaweed vest. Well, sort of. It's too short for my liking so I'll be adding an edging to it at some stage. It's wearable though.

It was even sunny for most of the time, and when it wasn't we still played in the rain, had playdates and ate the cakes we baked. We had BBQs for dinner when the sun was out.

Yep, we spent the good life for 5 days. Suitably recharged for the next 4 days before the summer holidays.

A fair deal for both Stay at Home Parents and Working Parents

The other day I signed a petition asking for a fair deal for stay at home parents. Without question, the recent changes and proposed changes are all in some way encouraging particularly mothers to work. Well, in theory they do, because there are so many ifs and buts, nevermind the lack of jobs that things look quite different in practice.

I'm very much in favour of women having the choice to stay at home if this is what they believe is best for their child, or to work if that is what they believe is best for their child. But let's be clear - it's often not exactly a choice.

With living costs being extortionately high, it's really only a choice to stay at home if your partner has a higher than average income. And even that may well not be enough. And if your ideal situation is somewhere in between, it's often not possible to get reduced hours to have a better work - parenting balance, and if you're looking for a job, part time jobs are rare as diamonds.

There are a few things that rather bother me in this context, the first being the wording of  the above petition. It suggests that as a family that uses childcare because both parents work, we are getting benefits from the tax system and therefore cost the state money. This is factually wrong. The truth is that because we both work, we pay tax, and the only benefit we can get is a tax free allowance, so we still pay tax. The economic benefit of working parents is definitely in the black. And as for low income families - they may even miss out on any tax free allowance if their income is so low that they don't pay tax. This, incidentally, is a very serious flaw in the system which has a devastating impact on the lowest earning, working, families.

What is correct though is that there is a good point for having transferable tax free allowances. What I mean by this is that if a couple without children both work, they each have a tax free allowance. Once they have a family and one parent decides to stay at home, the tax free allowance of the none working parent is lost. In other countries, this works differently - if there is only one earner in a family, this person will receive an additional tax free allowance per dependant. So say dad works, his own tax free allowance is 10,000, he'll get another 5,000 for his wife and 2,500 for each child. Higher incomes are taxed more progressively to make up for this (for instance, in the UK, higher rate tax is only applied to income over the threshold amount, while in other countries it's applied to all the income). A system like this does make staying at home affordable also for people on lower incomes.

At the same time I do believe that the taxation and benefit system has to ensure that work pays. This has not yet been achieved, although some of the changes within Universal Credits will make this the case for more people than before (and I hasten to add that other parts of the changes to the benefit system will have a horrendous effect on many family and are really nothing short of shameful). Childcare is so expensive that without support, only high earners can actually afford it.

What is however totally unhelpful in this particular debate (which is about fairness and insuring that staying at home to raise children is valued, respected, supported and a financially viable option for parents) is to propose that either staying at home or being a working mum/dad is the RIGHT choice. When we should actually be supporting each other in our choices, this turn of the argument leads to alienation and bad feelings.

Sure enough there are studies that demonstrates that children are better off at home up to the age of 3 and that long nursery hours in particular can have a detrimental impact on a child's emotional development.

But there are also studies that demonstrate that maternal level of education is the biggest indicator of a child's cognitive and emotional development, and that children who have 2 working parents also do better than children whose parent don't work.It is thought that this is due to the link with higher maternal education and also the financial ability to provide stimulating experiences for children.


Children from low income families, on the other hand, tend to fare really rather bad in the education system and measurements of cognitive and emotional development, and of course quite a few low income families will have one or both parents out of work - so in spite of parents staying at home, children lag behind their peers. The reason for children not doing so well in low income families are complex and there isn't space here to look into it in detail, but let's say it's a combination of many factors which parents themselves have very little influence on.

There is also the question of the quality of childcare - and Liz Truss' proposal to have more under 5s per member of staff, who are trained to be compliant and purposeful (the toddlers, not the staff!) will certainly not make for better childcare.

My own mother was a stay at home mum, and I don't think this made me emotionally more stable - in fact I struggled severely with shyness and low self esteem in childhood, so much so that I loathed going to school throughout my primary years (and I didn't exactly love it in secondary but at least I had some friends by then). I can't help but wonder if I could have benefited from more nursery hours than the 3 hours per day that I got from 4 years of age.

So there is no black and white, no ideal situation. Because we can't exactly all be highly educated mums who then abdicate their blossoming careers in favour of being Stay at Home Mums. Some of us aren't highly educated. Some of us can't find a job. Some of us can't find the part time job we want. Some of us are better parents if they're not full time parents. Most working parents will go through incredible lengths to ensure that the time they do spend with their children is the best it can be. Above all we've all looked at the evidence and made our choices. I know how important it is to reconnect with my children when I get back, we practice most of what falls under attachment parenting (though I don't follow it as a philosophy, it's just what happened to be our preferred style), we spend quality time together and I listen to my children all the time. I work on improving my parenting and can draw from all the knowledge that comes with delivering a parenting programme. I have amazing childcare providers, so amazing that both my children look forward to it and miss it in the holidays.

And while I believe that Cubling started childcare too early (which was outwith my control and I do not feel in any way guilty about it), there is no doubt in my mind that I've given both my children the best possible start in life I can, all considered.

So,  I do not believe that I'm a worse parent for working 4 days a week. I also don't buy into the argument that having a fair deal for Stay At Home Mums is encouraging people to be/stay on benefits (because really, who wants to be on those meagre benefits? Exactly, nobody). We all make or are having to make different and difficult choices but all of us are trying to be the best parent to our children whom we love more than ourselves. And those choices should be respected, valued and viable.

Knitting and Reading

For a while I'd meant to join in with Sustainable Mum to share my knitting and reading over at Yarn Along, just that, truth be told, there was not a lot of reading going on. Reading is definitely the big loser in my life with kids. I used to read, what can I say, an awful lot as befitted a former student of literature times three.

My taste in reading has changed, it has to be so worth it or I won't finish a book. There have been few books in the last few years where I didn't feel I wasted my time. I'm more prone to picking up non fiction than fiction (just because it's easier to dip in and out). And I'm rather suspicious of the big novel. But if I find a good novel, there's no denying it that that's what I love reading.

I came across The Time Traveller's Wife (I found it somewhere, about a year ago) and I seemed to remember it was a book that could work for me. I'm sure almost everyone who is into reading books has read this ages ago, so I won't go into detail other than that I was very tempted to not complete it. I had numerous discussions at work (with those who'd read it) whether to go on or not, because after 200 pages or so I felt it was very much the same again and again, and a drag playing around with the idea of a time traveller out ad nauseam. It took the flu to knock me out for a few days and force me to a lot of bedrest before I managed to finally complete the read. Yes, it did move me, but that's not such a hard thing to do as I'm easily moved by even half decent books. My verdict is still that it could have made its point in at least 300 pages less. This is totally hypocritical of course from the perspective of a busy working mama, I'm sure I'd have loved this book to bits as a 20 something student looking for perfect love. I also felt it was very much a book for women, which I find a bit limiting, but heyho, I am a woman so I guess it didn't matter that much. There are numerous incidents where I really felt that the logic of the whole time travelling shenanigans fell to pieces (does it matter? maybe not but it broke my willingness to suspend my disbelief which in theory is a really bad thing), and for the length of the novel I felt important parts were left out (or rather things I was interested in). So yes, a good read but for my taste it dragged out a fair bit without really making much of a point or giving me anything in the way of stretching my mind/learning something new. Good entertainment without changing my outlook on life or the world even in the slightest. That's ok though, in the same way that I enjoyed the Da Vinci Code, not every book has to be life changing.

A lot of knitting was had on our trip around Dumfries and Galloway / Manchester. I have a good few projects on my needles but can only knit something really easy when travelling in a car without getting car sick, so this project was ideal: It's a jumper knit on 4.5mm needles in the round, stockinette stitch, from bottom up and I managed to get to the point where it needs divided for back/front and need sleeves added. The yarn is Artesano Aran in ocre, which is soft and heavy. The pattern is a version of the jumper that Sarah Lund wears in the Killing (yes, I like a good thriller and I'm nerdy enough to want to knit a Sarah Lund sweater). I'm not quite sure which particular version I'll be making, and that may have to wait a bit because I've got a few more urgent projects coming up, but that's fine because it most certainly is a winter jumper so there's still plenty of time to finish it for next winter. For the trip it was ideal, just plain easy and relaxing knitting and the slight feeling of pride that I'm firmly back into knitting adult sized jumpers (having completed 2 for last winter and another 2 on the needles).

Now off to pick some lovely baby knits for the little ones currently being grown by two friends of mine. I'm not broody, no, not at all...

Dark Skies and Wee Lambs

Last year we found out that the UK's first Dark Sky Park is in Dumfries and Galloway, in Galloway Forest Park to be precise. So we've been trying to get there and see some stars for a little while. Our efforts around mid term weren't too successful as it appeared that every single B&B was booked up, so Easter it was to be. Again, we found it hard to find a B&B that would accommodate 2 children. We were also keen to find a farm to stay on.

Eventually we got lucky and found Boreland Farm. While not exactly around the corner from Galloway Forest Park, we figured that it looked remote enough to have the same dark skies, and the description just sounded perfect.

And so it was. An extremely friendly welcome, a lovely newly converted annexe of the farm for our night time quarters, countless animals, newborn lambs and even pony rides. The B&B is listed as a 3 star, which is surprising as it was really quite high quality. The room had a double and 2 single beds, so it would easily accommodate a family of 5, with en suite facilities and an amazingly hot heating system (I mention this because we don't have this at home, so it was pure luxury having a really warm and cozy room for a change). Breakfast was had in the main farmhouse, which is also the family home, prepared on an Aga in a beautiful dining kitchen. The kids loved to visit the newly born lambs (and Cubling still talks about holding one that was only 2 days old), the ponies, the rabbits and the dogs, or to try and find one of the 3 cats hiding away.

On the second morning we were even treated to proper German waffles, because surprisingly the owners had spent a few holidays in Germany, and not in the usual places where you'd expect people to visit, but actually near my own family's home.

We spent most of the day travelling to various villages nearby and further away. It was still the start of the season so lots was shut or being developed. We loved Kirkcudbright, and the main visitor centre of the Galloway Forest Park (Kirroughtree Visitor Centre) which had an adventure playground, as well as some of the beautiful villages of Dumfries and Galloway, like Moniaive and Thornhill. Moniaive has the most amazing Green Tea House and we definitely have to be back to test their wonderfully looking cakes. In the artists town of Kirkcudbright we went for a little walk and found a wee gallery with a tea shop, but had a picnic lunch outside after much driving. The kids enjoyed the green spaces dotted about the colourful, Balamory-houses, town. Gatehouse of Fleet has an old cotton/bobbin mill which really inspired the kids' imagination. They loved to explore and touch the bobbins of all kind of sizes, get dressed up in old clothes, and explore what the town looked like in the 18th century.

The weather was fully with us, with wonderful sunshine and one night of clear dark sky so we even were lucky enough to see the dark skies. Because of the continuing cold spell there was still a lot of snow around which made our short walks around the farm fields a long adventure. Just the right pace for a 2 1/2 year old who won't walk unless it involves balancing.

Sometimes badly planned trips work out just perfectly - we didn't have a plan, or any knowledge of what we were doing/seeing. All we had was a map and a car and we discovered some really wonderful places at a slow pace without racing here or there to manage this or that. There were so many little moments that the kids enjoyed that couldn't have been planned anyway, like riding a pony, climbing a tree, finding a treasure or stroking a dog (a big thing for Snowflake who has never ever touched a furry animal before), or simply enjoying their imaginary play in the rare Scottish sunshine. Oh I forgot to mention the sticks. They were very important too. I'm not sure what for, but they were. I think they may have been ponies, and given the names of Beau and Willow.

A trip to Legoland (Discovery Centre, Manchester)

Somehow our holiday plans are always a little bit last minute. So in an attempt to get away for a few days with minimal hassle, we went on a little trip to Dumfries and Galloway and then Legoland Discovery Centre Manchester, keeping the latter as a surprise for Cubling.

Everything was booked ahead online, which was good because online tickets are cheaper. We stayed in the Trafford Centre Premier Inn, which is truly a child friendly place (pre children I never expected that it can actually be difficult finding any accommodation that will allow a family of 4 in a room) with great service and good food. So convenient too for Legoland and the price tag was very decent too.

The Trafford Shopping Centre is quite remarkable with its Greek/Roman feel to it, it's nice and spacious but this does translate to longer walks and multiple signs for Legoland so that eventually a P1 child spotted the word "Legoland". Ah well, a surprise it was nonetheless!

Although we had missed our allocated entry slot, we still got priority entry because we had prepaid tickets - just as well because the other queue was impressive. Cubling was totally in awe by the amount of lego and the lifesize things made from lego, and loved everything about it, and her sister clearly joined in.

However. Now, it needs to be said we were there during Easter holidays, so it was probably a bit busier than usual (I hope), but my experience of the day was that we went from one queue to the next. First a queue to get in (and we were lucky it was the shorter one), then a queue for the intro talk, then a queue for the first ride, and another 5 queues for other attractions. Most queues involved about half an hour standing, which is difficult with a 2 1/2 year old. What annoyed me too was that the queues were very well hidden, so you only realised the length when it was too late to turn back.

The rides were all mediocre - now I say that because I've seen much better, but for a 6 year old they were all she could wish for, and she was totally happy and loved the whole day. For a 42 year old, well, she had a splitting headache, got very grumpy and was only saved by the kindness and helpfulness of the centre staff whom she couldn't but feel very sorry for. It occurred to me that I wasn't sure how they would evacuate the masses in case of a fire.

I was disappointed by the size of the centre, it was much smaller than I expected - again, this is not something that the kids noticed, they were very happy and didn't complain once (ok, they did make the mistake of exiting the soft play not realising that you'd have to queue again to get back in but they did take it in their stride) but I would have expected a bigger and more spectacular attraction. I did wonder how it compares with Legoland Windsor, or Legoland in Denmark for that matter.


So personally, I wouldn't go again or recommend it. If you live in Scotland, it is easier to get to than Windsor (which is why we made the trip) with just a 3.5 hour car journey from Glasgow.

A day at the beech

I'd almost forgotten how amazing it is that we live so close to the sea. There is always so much to see and do very close to us, so we hardly make it to the beach and even trips to the coast don't usually end up there. As someone who grew up a 4 hour drive from the coast (and without a car to make that journey), the sea will never lose its magic.

Yes, it was 4 degrees and the hills were still covered in snow. I may have been brought up with sea and sand equalling summer and swimming, but really, I never liked swimming anyway so personally I don't have an issue with the temperature. And the kids didn't complain either. There were treasures found, shells collected and dinosaur footprints created, apart from rather a lot of running about on the flats at low tide (our timing had been perfect).

I like the way toddlers are naturals at yoga poses. Unlike their mama.

We did have ice cream because surely, a trip to the beach without an ice cream just doesn't feel right.

We also had the most amazing late lunch at Popeye's.