Coventry Telegraph - From Dawn Till Rusk

Awards. And goodbye. And a new project.

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:25:56 +0000

Today is my last day at From Dawn Till Rusk.

(And Dave, if you're cheering at the back, so help me I'll hunt you down).

I am leaving the paper for pastures new, but before I go I wanted to thank all the amazing people I've 'met' through writing this blog.

I have read many many many of your blogs. I don't always comment, but I lurk. Regularly.
I have been with you through births, through tragedy, through the election and I have seen the best and the worst of people.

The blogging community is amazing. Really amazing.
I absolutely love the diversity in writing - that to me is the true meaning of blogging. ANYONE can do it. You don't have to be a trained writer, you just have to have heart and have a voice and someone out there will want to listen.

You are ALL contibuting to this massive FREE online library we have at our fingertips.

So as a parting gift today I want to bestow some awards on my favourite bloggers.
In a kind of Oscars stylee.

I ask for nothing in return other than you keep writing.

Wordless Wednesday: School photo. Of me!

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:31:45 +0000

Over at Scary Mommy , Jill is having a school photo fest.

She's asking for bloggers to write a post about school photos - be it ones of your children or ones of yourself.
So, this is me around 1978.

And Tim, if you're over here counting how many words are on my WORDLESS Wednesday post, well you're going to be all kinds of disappointed in me!

The business of blogging: Book deals? What a load of rubbish!

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 07:31:38 +0000

Who hasn't gone about the business of writing their blog with dreams of being 'discovered' and securing that golden ticket of a book deal?

It's the big kahuna for many bloggers. The Lottery win. The icing on the cake.

And in the short time I've been blogging, I've stumbled on a few who have had that stardust sprinkled over them - British blogging mum Elsie Button at Flower Fairies and Fairy Cakes for one. And she's only been blogging since May 2007.

So for this week's addition to the Business of Blogging feature I bring you another blogger who has had their life changed by that call from a publishing house.

Karen Cannard lives in Bury St Edmunds, England, with her husband and two young children. She has two blogs 21st Century Mummy and The Rubbish Diet.
Her book The Rubbish Diet: Achieve zero waste in 8 weeks, will be published by Ebury's Vermilion imprint in 2009.

And she's prepared to dish the dirt, so to speak!

The truth, the whole truth, about home birth. And poo.

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:00:56 +0000

* EDIT UPDATE: Thanks everyone for being so patient.
The system is out of its sulk now and is letting you comment.
Please please show guest blogger Sparx your support and give her some love - she's been sat patiently for this blog to drag itself out of the dark ages and now it's her turn to shine!

IT seems that even childbirth is something which can be influenced by celebrity.

Apparently stars such as Charlotte Church, Thandie Newton and Davina McCall are leading the charge to make home births 'trendy' and figures for the number of women shunning their local hospital for their own living room has soared.

Gone are the days when the A-listers were considered 'too posh to push'.
Now it seems they are fighting over the birthing pools and lining up to give birth at home.

But what is it really like? And can you ever look at your front room in the same light again?

Today guest blogger Sparx, from Notes From Inside My Head, reveals all.
She gave birth in her living room 2 years ago AND BLOGGED ALL THROUGH HER CONTRACTIONS!
I mean, that's blogging dedication for you.
She was also one of those really annoying women who popped her baby out in a matter of hours (but don't hold that against her) - and then, you guessed it, blogged about it again.

Wordless Wednesday: Wow! Look at me.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 07:00:07 +0000

You know when you find a site and you instantly fall in love and then think 'uh oh, this is not going to do my work/life balance any good?'

Well, I have found such a site.
This is me according to Reasonably Clever.

Discover who you are and let me know!

Lost

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:05:18 +0000

If you have ever lost sight of your children - even for a split second - you will know what that gnawing sick feeling is like that clutches at your very core and makes your insides instantly drop.
Your heart pounds so hard in your chest you can almost hear it roar and your ears seem to pop like you're making the fastest decent in a careering aeroplane.

It's the sort of feeling no parent ever wants to experience.
And it's the sort of feeling you can never understand unless you are a parent.

I lost both of my children while out shopping in a packed Ikea recently.
One minute they were jumping on the beds and pulling faces in the mirrors, the next they were gone.

I could feel the panic rising inside, taking my very breath away and making my chest tighten.
I actually felt an overwhelming urge to wimper but I tried to remain calm and rational.
Hubby took one look at my face and knew something was horribly horribly wrong.

Why my kids love Halloween

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:33:45 +0000

The anticipation
"Is it Halloween today mummy?"
"No."
"Is it tomorrow?"
"Noooo."
"Well how many actual days is it until Halloween? How many sleeps? How will I actually know it's Halloween? Are you actually going to tell me when it gets here?"
This has been going on every day since August 10 when in inadvertantly let slip that Halloween was on the horizon. I won't be making that mistake again.
And yes, I am very aware of my son's overuse of the word 'actual'.

Wordless Wednesday: What's the first single you ever bought?

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:00:01 +0000

Ok, ok I'll hold my hands up right now - I am rubbish at Wordless Wednesdays.
Sure I like the idea of putting up a great picture that says everything you need to say, but, well, my mother always said I have far too much to say for myself and, look at that, she was right.

So I was reading the comment section on a blog about, well absolutely nothing to do with music, and the comment when something like this: "The first 45 I ever bought was Highway to Hell. It has the best intro ever." And I almost snorted with derision. What is this man mad, I thought? AC/DC? Tsk.

But then I thought people's choice of music is so fascinating and I want to know more.

So, here is a picture of the band whose single was the very first I ever bought in the flush of my pre teens.

I handed over my hard saved pennies with shaky hands (I was probably wearing that 80s fashion must have, the fingerless gloves too) and carried that plastic record shop bag home like I was transporting the crown jewels to the Queen herself.

It was a 'new' sound, it was edgy and I thought I was way too cool for school.
Funnily enough, the lead singer Suggs now advertises fish fingers on TV adverts. Not so cool.
Which just goes to show that even though you think the likes of Coldplay and Radiohead and Lily Allen are the cool kids now, they too could be advertising frozen veg or Hovis bread in 10 years time.

You don't get that anymore with the age of downloads. Which is really sad because saving up for that first piece of vinyl to call your own was a wonderful part of growing up.

Of course, what I want to know is, what was the first single/album you bought?

Far be it from me to sit in judgement, but if anyone says Lady in Red they'd better have a pretty good explanation . . .

Everything is dead

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 08:00:28 +0000

A few weeks ago my mum had to have one of her dogs put down because he was riddled with cancer.

She was utterly devastated.

The dog was only 5 years old and was her best buddy.
My mum breeds show dogs and is hugely successful in her field. She has had dogs for the past 30 odd years and she is that successful because she adores her dogs. They are her other children and they are her friends.

And so the loss of her companion came as a massive body blow.

Which is something I had to explain to my two children and, as we don't have a dog, it wasn't going to be an easy concept for them to grasp.

But grasp it they did. With both hands. And now they are obsessed with death.

The business of blogging: Dave's story

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:00:34 +0000

I thought long and hard about what title to give this guest post and in the end I went for simplicity.

For my guest blogger today is stay-at-home dad Dave Fowler who is, to be fair, quite simple.
No no, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. He's not, he's really not
(well he is just a little bit).

In all seriousness, Dave Fowler is a gem.
He has wafted through many a blog like a breath of fresh air and I know many of you out there have instantly become fans.

His comments are legendary. He courts interaction and that, I think, is something that is seriously lacking in many blog comment boxes.
He recently left a comment at MomGrind's place in a post about commenting on blogs:
"The blogs I really really like and return to four or five times a day are the ones where the participants interact with one another and it makes me believe there is a community there rather than just a list of bloggers."
And I say amen to that.

He is honest and open and fun and funny and if I wax on any more about him I will have to start charging him PR fees and he'll hang around even more than usual and then I'll NEVER get rid of him.

So today I didn't just ask Dave along to get up on stage and entertain you like some mad little circus monkey (although he so would, if you asked him).
No today he is part of my series on The Business of Blogging - a selection of people for whom blogging and work are entwined.

So Dave used to be a policeman (I know. Still trying to get my head around that one too! Why was it never Dave I met when I was being physically thrown out of a nightclub back in 198. ... , anyway I digress).
He gave up a good career to stay at home and bring up his, count them, four children. All under the age of 7. I mean come on people, that deserves a round of applause.

So without further ado, Dave from Teach My Children Well:
(and if he says anything derogatory in the follow up comments he's a liar liar . . .)

Wordless Wednesday: Wellies

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:01:46 +0000

It's nearing half term here in England and with most people tightening their belts at the moment, here is what we found is easily the best way to entertain the children for free.
And the bonus is they absolutely don't mind if it rains either!

We used to have a sense of humour in this house

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:03:06 +0000

My 5-year-old has discovered jokes.

And as you would expect from one so young they are SO not funny.
I mean, I can laugh at most things. I love a good laugh. I love a good joke.
But when he does stumble on one that is likely to raise a mild titter I have to break it down to it's bare bones and explain it in great detail.
I am fast losing my sense of humour!

So I am asking you all for help.
I need some jokes (and if Dave or Blogger Dad leave anything rude, I'm coming round there to slap your legs).

Things that make me go WOW! #1

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:03:31 +0000

Having a 'down' day? Can't get that coffee down your neck fast enough? Need a little cheering up?

Meet Matt. He dances. With lots of people. He will brighten your day.

I found this at The Creative Junkie and it just made me go 'wow'!
It's probably been in every in box from here to Melbourne and back, but it's new to me and I think it's just great.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

The business of blogging: Happy ever after?

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:00:43 +0000

Today is the second guest post in a series I am running on The Business of Blogging.

I wanted to look at a cross section of people for whom blogging and work are entwined - and for whom
it has had a major impact on their lives.

We have already met a mum whose job is running a parenting website. In the future we will meet a mum whose blog has brought her a book deal and a dad who gave up his job to look after his children.
All really interesting stories, all bloggers you probably know and love, and all right here for you to enjoy.

Today the guest post is from Mom/Mum, who describes her blog as 'Tales from the front-line of a British mummy living in the American land of mommies...'

She lives in Michigan with her two boys and her husband and became a stay-at-home-mum when she moved to the States, leaving behind her career in journalism.
She started her blog in August this year and has already gathered quite a fanbase.

She has a great story to tell . . .

Wordless Wednesday: The tomboy gets girlie

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:00:01 +0000

Mia has now inherited her big brother's blue bike as he is finally able to cycle without the aid of daddy jogging alongside clutching on to his hood.

She wanted it 'more girlie'. She wanted 'pink stuff'.
Gasp (this is me running around the room, whooping and high fiving hubby).
Our little tomboy wants something girlified . . . although you'll notice the tattoo's in place just so no one mistakes her for, you know, a proper girl.