Autumn's Yankee Candle Collection

Autumn is my favourite season of the year for all the rich colours on the trees, the marvellous treasures we can find in nature and the crispness of the air. It's a wonderous time of year as children start to understand the way that fruit and vegetables ripen, and can see and taste the fruits of their labour.

Yankee Candles have tapped into that as they have produced a fruity range of candles which perfectly reflect the spicey aromas associated with Harvest and Autumn; Cinnamon Appleberry, Grapevine & Oak, Pomegranate Cider, Harvest, and Apple Pumpkin.

Autumn Yankee Candles

We've been sent the absolutely glorious 'Harvest' to review and it is my new favourite scented candle I own. At the moment, I actually haven't lit it because the fragrance is wonderful as it is!

Autumn scented candle

It is an incredibly rich scent with golden hues of Autumn; cinnamon, cloves and musk combine with a hint of sweet apples and pumpkins to really fill the air deliciously. And with 110-150 burn hours, the smell is sure to last all season; that's if you can bear to light it!

The Harvest Yankee Candle is available from high street stores and through the website directly, priced at £19.99 for the large jar candle.

I was sent this product for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

The Gift Of Christmas: Food Banks

As the first day of the school holidays, today is a special day. It's a day of the promise of two weeks together, making and playing, visiting all our old haunts together and enjoying each other's company. Today started early with a visit to the doctor (an appointment I've been waiting for for over a month, and still I got the time wrong!), followed by a breakfast pastry and then a trip to Aldi. Just like every other person in Cardiff.

However, unlike the rest of the shoppers there we weren't stocking up on last minute cheese purchases or yet another bag of crisps, we were buying food for our town's food bank.

Donating was something that I've been intending to do for some time, however news that one of my school's families had been made homeless on Friday made me even more determined. The thought of children I've taught and a family I've known for eight years not having food on Christmas Day breaks my heart. I decided to talk about it with The Boy in the car before we went in and gently explained why we were shopping for other people. He was most aggrieved that a bank could take away someone's house from them and thought it wasn't kind; he completely has a point and maybe those in charge should discuss their practices with children before coldly making decisions based on money.

As soon as we got into the store, he reached for the cereal, then turned to the coffee and tea. We'd talked about how the food needed to be in tins or packets, and actually it's very difficult to shop keeping only that in mind. However £35.oo buys an awful lot of tins and packets of pasta and we had three large reusable shopping bags crammed full.

We've just come home from taking it to the church, and The Boy was fascinated with the process. The warden was keen to explain how the food was stored, and distributed in pre-sorted shopping bags dependent upon if they were single, couples or families. It is humbling to see the mostly empty shelves and the bags already made up for families, shocking to think of the amount of people that will be going without a basic diet this Christmas while we are enjoying the excesses of the season.

We spent £35.00 which is more than I intended to but to be honest it's not that big a dent in the budget at this time of year; one less unnecessary present, no Starbucks this week, and a few chunks of cheese less to end up going off because no-one really likes Wensleydale.

If you're thinking of donating to a food bank, these items are a good starting point:

  • Rice and dried pasta
  • Pasta sauces
  • Baked beans
  • Tinned spaghetti
  • Tinned vegetables (including potatoes)
  • Tinned fruit
  • Coffee and tea bags
  • Sugar
  • Dried milk
  • Gravy or stock cubes
  • Cereal
  • Jam or marmalade
  • Biscuits
  • Apple/orange juice
  • Squash
  • Toilet roll, nappies and sanitary towels.

Most of us in this country are only one step away from the breadline, it only takes a lost job to destroy lives. When you're buying last minute treats this week, can you spare a few tins to donate to your local food bank this Christmas?

The Trussell Trust are a nationwide network of food banks, however there are also many independent food banks running in churches and community centres. Our local one is an independent and I find it comforting to know that our donation is going to people I may know in the community.

A Digital Postcard From Ghana

Nope, I've not been on holiday. Looking out the window at the dreary and monotone world, it would be nice but unfortunately not. I'm also not convinced that Ghana would be a place that people would have at the top of their holiday list, but this weekend three intrepid bloggers (#TeamHonk) set off with the Comic Relief team (including Davina McCall and Jonathan Ross) for a trip to see the good work that has been done  as a result of the past twenty five years worth of donations to Red Nose Day.

#TeamHonk have been visiting four projects in Ghana on 4th and 5th February to see for themselves the difference Red Nose Day money has been making. Those projects are: Virtuous Women and Children International, African Outreach, Vaccination Clinic, and Basic Needs UK Trust.

To help raise awareness of the chosen projects, #TeamHonk have been sending 'digital postcards' out to show how the money has been sent. This is my postcard, fittingly of a school, sent from Penny at Alexander Residence.

Davina McCall

Here is Davina filming in the school in Agbogbloshie the largest slum community in Accra, Ghana, with 700,000 people. 200 children can now attend school thanks to money from Comic relief which extended a small shack for 20 students set up by an amazing women called Paulina. Wonder if this clip will be on Red Nose Day coverage, 15th March?

Love Penny

This is a digital postcard sent from TeamHonk (Mammasaurus, Alexander Residence, and Mummy Barrow) during their travels with Comic Relief in Ghana celebrating #goodwork.

For the past 25 years the money raised through Red Nose Day has been changing the lives of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in the UK and Africa. Let’s Keep Up the Good Work. Find out how at rednoseday.com.

For other digital postcards please do join up and check out the linky on www.teamhonk.org
GoodWork

The Final TRU Review

At the start of the Toys R Us Toyology 2011 programme, I said that I wanted to donate some of the toys we were given to review and I have done this as and where possible with appropriate toys; to playgroups, to friends, etc.

At the end of the programme, The Boy and Me (ha, see what I did) have been given the chance to donate an entire box of toys to a cause that we feel would benefit from it, and is close to our heart. The very generous companies who are involved in the Toyology programme have put together this fantastic box of toys for the children who benefit from Tŷ Hafan Hospice's respite care for children suffering from life-limiting and terminal illnesses.

 

The box includes:

 The 400+ families whose children that benefit from the care of the staff at Tŷ Hafan since 1999, live with the dreadful reality that their children with life-limiting conditions may not reach the age of 19. These precious children suffer from various conditions, such as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Cystic Fibrosis and Celebral Palsy. Tŷ Hafan is not part of the health service and therefore any donations, monetary or other items, are always helpful to make the children's lives better. One of the facilities that Tŷ Hafan offers is play therapy sessions and it is to one of these that we are taking the above box of toys on Saturday morning.

If you would like to donate to Tŷ Hafan, then please click this link.

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