Home remedies for the dreaded winter colds and coughs

So far this winter I’ve been struck down by not one, but two colds. As I’m lucky enough to mostly work from home, I’ve been able to follow the gold standard of cold care: plenty of bed-rest and lots of fluids. And thankfully I’m now almost finished with the...

Different ways to cope with stress

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Stressed out? Got too much going on? Here are some ideas to help you deal with it. Sometimes stress can make us feel anxious, depressed or angry. Or it can make us feel overwhelmed, forgetful or indecisive. If you are feeling overwhelmed,...

Winter TV ideas

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love the idea of Vivid, and I think people who go out into the chilly night and look at the pretty lights are wonderful adventuring stoics who do us all proud. But it’s winter and I’m not interested in venturing outside my...

The best cooking shows online!

These days, with internet-enabled TVs, almost everyone has access to YouTube on their TV and it’s changed the way we watch it. Our family surf between YouTube clips on the weekend, and in our house it’s mostly about cooking. Here are our favourite channels: You Suck...

Five Easy Knitting Projects to Get You Started

Winter is upon us and just today I saw some beautiful bamboo knitting needles in my local $2 shop. Just seeing them made me want to get into a project because I adore knitting with bamboo – it’s warm, flexible and has a lovely satisfying “clack clack”. If you have...

Four Delicious Winter Soup Ideas

In our house, Wednesday night is Soup Night. And, no I don’t mean we have soup for entrée. We have it for our actual meal. I love soup because you can pack in the vegies, and it’s completely delicious. If you’ve got people in your house who think it’s not a real meal,...

Ten Tips for Beautiful, Long-lasting Flowers

Yesterday, lots of lucky mums received flowers, so today we’ve got an updated and illustrated guide to keeping your flowers fresher and pretty for longer. I’ve always considered flowers lovely in and of themselves, a bunch of pretty colours in any kind of...

Five ideas to bake for Mum

It’s one week until Mother’s Day and if you’re thinking of baking something for your beautiful mum, here are five ideas she’s bound to love. You can share a cake after mother’s day lunch or bring her some caramel slice she can enjoy throughout the week with her...

Unconventional Ideas for Mother’s Day Gifts

I have to be honest here – I always go with a bunch of flowers for mum and mum-in-law on Mother’s Day. There are a couple of reasons for this. One: nobody ever said no to flowers. They always put a smile on your face, even if they’re not your favourite bloom (but...

Why Mums Need Time Off

Recently a very wise friend on Facebook noted that mums don’t really get time off. It would be great to have a set week away from the family each year, both to celebrate the victories of parenting but also to unwind and recharge. Planning a weekend or (heaven forbid)...