A milky reveiw

I love milk.  Love it!  Preferably in a tall glass and it needs to be icy cold.  While pregnant with all three of my kids, milk was my drink of choice.  With Bell I liked to dip chicken chips (crisps) into my banana milk.  With Tom it was chocolate milk and with George is was plain old full fat milk.  At 33 weeks I got a telling off from my midwife who wondered if my huge consumption of milk was growing big babies.  I cried..........and carried on drinking it anyway.

So, there you go that's my milky background...........and the very kind folks at Vitarium sent us their flavoured milk mixes to try.  We were keen beans to try them as we all love our flavoured milk.  I was horrified to learn that the average flavoured milk drink contains 7 teaspoons of sugar?!  Step aside sugar milk and make way for Vitarium flavoured milk mixes.

These 100% natural mixes are 99% fat free and low calorie as they are sweetened with Natvia (from the stevia plant).

No-added sugar

Aspartame free
Saccharin free
Sucralose free

Gluten Free

Nut Free

Wheat Free

Egg Free

Yeast Free

GMO Free

I wanted to know up bit more about the stevia plant and found that:

"Stevia is a sweet leafed plant. Its proper name is Stevia Rebaudiana, and it’s part of the Chrysanthemum family. The glycosides in Stevia plant leaves create its incredible sweetness; Stevia is naturally 300 times sweeter than sugar. It’s been part of the human diet for thousands of years, traditionally in grown Paraguay, Brazil, Japan and China."

The packaging says to add four teaspoons to your milk, but I find that 2 is enough.  You can also use the mixes in baking..........just add to a muffin, cake or biscuit mix in place of sugar.  A great alternative for sugar free baked treats.

My three kids like the milk mixes in the morning with their breakfast.  Banana is our favourite, followed by strawberry then the chocolate.  You can find your Vitarium flavoured milk mixes in your local supermarket (Australia and New Zealand).

If you see them while doing your weekly shop, pop one in your trolley and give it a try.  We used to use another milk mix product but will be sticking with this one from now on.  Thank you Vitarium for the goodies!

 

Do you love milk?  Cold, warm, hot or mixed with something?

 

Anyone else dip their chicken chips (crisps) in their banana milk while pregnant???

Muddy Mouse review

I was really pleased when Manon from Muddy Mouse contacted me to see if I would like to try her Iron-on patches.  Anyone with children, and I think in particular boys, will know all about the "knees situation" which seems to occur.  Boys like to skid and slide onto their knees and their poor clothing takes a punishing.  Manon has three boys so she is an expert!

 

Tom's favourite jeans have the tell tale sign of skidding and sliding so they were to be our first item of clothing to try the patches out on.

We were sent a selection of patches to try.  My favourites would have to be the two sausage dog patches..........very cute.  Thank you Manon, we love them!



For Tom's jeans he chose the shark and alien patches.  These are VERY easy to apply (instructions below) - I  also love that the patches are eco-friendly, and that my boys clothing will be able to be passed on and used again............no wastage and money well spent.

 

Muddy Mouse Patches - REPAIR AND/OR ENHANCE.

 

We will be putting aside a couple of patches for future repairs (of which I know there will be many) and the others we will be using on other items of clothing just for fun!

Click through to the Muddy Mouse website to see the entire range of patches - not are they eco-friendly but they are really affordable with prices starting at (Canadian) $3.75 - you can order online and WORLDWIDE SHIPPING is available.  The website is also super easy to navigate with lots of useful information about Muddy Mouse and their patches.

 

 

Please follow the instructions below closely for best results.

1. Place the garment flat on a hard, flat surface, preferably an ironing board.
2. Put your iron on 2 or 3 points. Start with position **. You can always put your iron on high later. Do NOT use the steam function.
3. Put the patch with the backside on the garment, image facing up, in the right position. Always place it on a flat surface. Never over a button, zipper or other thickened part in the fabric.
4.  Place a standard, clean, white sheet of paper or thin cotton cloth over the patch to protect your garment, the iron and the patch.
5. Firmly press on the patch for 60 seconds on both sides, gently moving the iron and using intervals, taking care not to burn the patch or garment.
6. Let it cool down. If the patch does not stick the first time, increase the temperature of the iron and repeat steps 4 and 5.

 

Click on the link here for FAQ's and the do's and don'ts for your Muddy Mouse patches.

Muddy Mouse is an online shop with 100% hip and cool clothes iron-ons, that are parent, wallet and eco friendly.

 

The patches are designed and tested by the best product test team in the world (see who are we?), and are confident in claiming a high quality standard. And the environment gets something too, for the clothes (that you bought with your hard-earned cash) will go a lot further should your child have managed to get a hole in them, resulting in much less waste, and our patches are made with eco-friendly materials only.

 



Muddy Mouse was established in 2013.

 

 

 

 

Christmas goodies from Stuck on you!

 

 

 

How are you going with your Christmas shopping?

 

I decided last year to cut down considerably on the amount of presents that I buy for the kids.  I'm always keen on quality over quantity and  I like to make a big deal of the whole lead up to Christmas - decorating the tree and around the house.  Spending time with family, enjoying delicious food and thoughts of a long hot summer holiday ahead.

 

The sister company to Penny Scallan Design (who as you know we love) - Stuck on You invited me to go online and do a bit of Christmas shopping for my three.

 

There are tons of products for children, everything from clothing, accessories, party ware, toys, labels and an abundance of Christmas goodies.  All of which you can have your children's names printed onto.  You can pick what colours, font and design you want so you can really personalise it to suit your child's tastes.

 

I chose a jumbo Christmas stocking each - printed with their name and a fun design.  These are huge, trimmed with ribbon and nicely padded so they hang really well too.

 

A toiletry bag for Bell, which is perfect for trips away over the holidays.  She is mad about Paris so I know she will love this design.  It came complete with some travel containers and toothbrush as well.

 

Tom has one of the Penny Scallan Kinder packs so I sorted George out with his own back pack complete with a tractor on it.  It can be used as a day pack over summer and it will get even more use come March when he will start kindy.

 

So if you are stuck (no pun intended) for ideas - and there is still plenty of time........just.  Pop over to see the HUGE selection of Stuck on You goodies.  You can have any of the items personalised or not.  The decision is yours.

 

 

Stuck on You - www.stuckonyou.biz

 

 

 *** Thank you to the awesome team at Stuck on You - we were very lucky to be gifted these items.  All opinions are my own.  We love the products so are more than happy to shout from the roof tops about them!

 

 

 

 

Elephant and Bird toy review..........and a treat for readers

We have been lucky enough to review the Elephant and Bird toy camera.  I have been eyeballing it since the linen review and giveaway - you can see that here.



 

Perfect for adventurers!





Or budding wildlife photographers..........

 

It reminds me of a cricket bat that my Grandad made for us when we were little.  He had a shed that he used to hang (hide) out in, he pottered about in there and loved making things.  The bat was simple, smoothed by hand and the perfect child size.

 

This toy camera is all those things too. We have a good mix of plastic fantastic and wooden toys,  I love wooden toys so something like this is a wee delight.  It is so tactile with its light weight smooth wood, simple design and the most delicious soft leather strap.

 

Thank you to Jo at Elephant and Bird for sending this to us.  We love it and know that it will be well used for many years to come.

 

And as a treat for readers you can shop online in their Etsy store and receive 15% off your order - perfect for doing a bit of Christmas shopping or for a treat for yourself.

 

Just type in COUNTRYLOVE when completing your order at check out!

 

(Take a look at the handmade leather notebooks - gorgeous!)

 

Check out Elephant and Bird here!

 

 

 

Christmas is coming..........a Penny Scallan review and giveaway!

Christmas is coming and I have a wonderful giveaway for you!

The very generous people from Penny Scallan Design have sent me a Kiddies Wheelie Bag (RRP $69.95) to review and one lucky reader will win one in the design of their choice.

Perfect to put under the Christmas tree for someone special!

We have reviewed and given away one of their Kinder Packs previously - you can read that review here.




I really love the red and white stripe lining - and it's waterproof.



 

Here is the all important product description:

 

Great wheelie bag for holidays and overnight stays on the plane, boat or train.
Extendable handle with an easy grip for those little hands to pull along.
Made from 100% cotton canvas, polyester lined and scratch resistant PVC coated.

Easy to wipe clean
Size W30 x H46 x D13cm.
Weight is : 1.6kg

 This is a BPA FREE product.

 

We love the Penny Scallan products in our house so we always enjoy reviewing them.  We went with the Big City Design again to go with Tom's Kinder Pack.  Below are the other designs available:





From the moment we unpacked it, it has been a huge hit.  Tom in particular loves hiding away his treasures in bags of any description, so when I got it ready to photograph it was already housing binoculars, a key chain, trains and a notebook.  It has gone off tonight with Tom for a sleepover with cousins and we have been talking about what to pack in it for the Christmas holidays........already.

The Wheelie Bag really is a perfect kiddie size, super light and as always I love that you can wipe it clean.  The front pocket sits flat and is handy for popping in writing paper and books etc for easy reach.  One thing to mention is the handle - very steady, this bag does'nt do the annoying wobble when you walk/run with it.  Got to love that!

 

To enter the Penny Scallan Wheelie Bag giveaway all you need to do is:

Just comment below - easy!

 

 

 Optional bonus entries (leave a comment for each - you may choose none, one or all.  It's entirely up to you!):

 Follow A little bit country via Google Friends Connect,  Blog lovin or Feedly.

 

'Like" A little bit country on Facebook.

"Like" Penny Scallan Design on Facebook.

Share this giveaway via Social media (Facebook, Twitter, blog).

This is an International Giveaway.

(One Kiddies Wheelie Bag to be won)

Giveaway closes on Sunday 24 November at 8pm (NZ Time) - and will be announced the following day.  The winner will have 1 week to get in touch or a new name will be drawn.

This giveaway is now closed!  Click here to see who won.

 

Thank you  Penny Scallan Design and good luck!

 

 

 

Gumboots, wellingtons and galoshes..........a red bands review

Gumboots, wellingtons, galoshes.............call them what you will but come winter time gumboots are a sure staple in most households.

 

The Skellerup Red Band range will be found in most rural New Zealand homes.  After over 50 years of production the design hasn't changed apart from a comfy sponge insole being the only addition and they are still made by hand.

 

Bell and I were gifted a pair each from Skellerup a couple of months ago.  For me they have been the perfect winter boots for the outdoors.  They are completely water proof (hooray!), easy to slip into and the cool "knobby" thing at the heal of each boot that makes them easy to remove.

 

 

 

I wear them outside to walk our dog Maybell too.  The are a heavier boot than most so Maybell has been happy to leave them alone - so no searching for missing boots.

 

 

 

 

The range starts at toddler sizes right through to adult sizes.

 

They are more expensive than other gumboots on the market but in my opinion you get what you pay for.  The boys have cheap gumboots and they always leak.  I have been given a pile of red bands from some friends and am looking forward to putting the boys into them.  They last for ages and are perfect to hand down as they are so well made.

 

Skellerup Gumboots seem to be a staple at Saturday morning rugby.  I took my camera along one morning to take photos - even some of the referee's were wearing them!

 

So thank you Skellerup for providing us with our Red Bands..........we are converts!

 

So tell me - what are gumboots called in your part of the world?

 

Do you have a favourite pair/brand?