The Gallery – From Plot To Plate

I have an admission to make. My entries into this week's Gallery are not my own photos! These pictures were in fact taken by my Dad of food he grew himself.

Tomatoes, Tomatillos and Chillis


Victoria Plum


Sorrel


Cavollo Nero

In the past few weeks my Dad has become some kind of photographic, blogging fiend. After inheriting a camera and being let loose with it in the garden he then started his own blog “Mark's Veg Plot” about a month ago. In the space of a few short weeks he has written a vast numbr of fascinating blog posts about his kitchen garden, some of which have been featured on major gardening websites and magazines. Each post is supported by some stunning photography, all of his own doing. I feel proud, yet somehow inadequate!

My parents are both passionate foodies and my Dad is a serious gardener – fruit and veg are his specialities. I've blogged before about how I plan to pass on this passion to Lara and I know it is already working. When Lara visits anyone with a garden that contains edible plants, she rushes out to explore and see what goodies she can consume. On one occasion recently, when the childminder took her to visit a friend's garden, Lara helped herself to someone else's tomatoes, chillis and sweetcorn. Ooops. Occasionally I have had to physically restrain her from eating tomatoes straight from the plant.

My Dad seems to have found his photographic inspiration. Please go visit his blog, there are some truly stunning photos there, some great recipes and some fascinating gardening tips. There are also one or two shots of Lara!

Meningitis Awareness Week Survey Results

I want to say a big thank-you to all of my readers who filled in the Brother Max survey for National Meningitis Awareness week and for all those who left great comments on the amazing guest post from Jannette.

Last week was National Meningitis Awareness week and to support the cause and announce the results of their survey, Brother Max and the Meningitis Research Foundation held an event in London where mums and dads were able to quiz TV medic Dr. Hilary Jones.



Over 1500 parents filled in the survey and the results showed that 76% of respondents were not confident in their own ability to diagnose illness in their children. Despite the fact that 77% of parents knew that a raised temperature was a sign of illness, over half of the respondents did not know what their child's normal body temperature should be or that the critical body temperature varies between babies, toddlers, adults and children.

Interestingly, over 90% of parents said that they own at least one thermometer but over one third of respondents still rely wholly on measuring devices that most GPs would consider to be inaccurate. You can read my review of the incredibly easy to use and accurate Brother Max 3-in-1 ear and head thermometer here!

To find out more about Meningitis Awareness Week and the symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia, visit:
Brother Max www.brothermax.com
Meningitis Research Foundation www.meningitis.org or call 080 8800 3344.

The Sunday Review – OneLife Reusable Nappy System

As you probably know, I use re-usable nappies on Lara most of the time. Cotton nappies are a funny thing, you have to invest quite a lot of money up front on them and so once you have made your decision on which brand to try, you are kind of stuck with it! We currently use the Bambino Mio system. I'm happy with it, but I'm not sure it is what I would have chosen if I were to start the thinking process all over again.

I am lucky to have had the chance to try the OneLife nappy system thanks to Hello Baby who sent me one to try. OneLife nappies are one of the more widely available brands of re-usable nappies but not one I knew much about. OneLife reusable nappies are available from the online nursery and baby shop Hello Baby. I've bought a couple of things from Hello Baby recently as they have a really impressive range of products for baby and toddlers. I will probably tell you about the Doidy Cup I bought at some point in the future!

The OneLife nappy system is one which features a cotton wrap nappy and a water-resistent outer wrap. The inner nappy is a one-size-fits-all cotton nappy which is shaped around your baby. It fastens using plastic press-studs and has a number of different sets of studs so that you can adjust the nappy to fit your growing baby. There is also an insert which pops into place which you can use for extra absorbency at night. Honestly, I found the number of poppers bewildering. Each time I had to fasten a nappy, I wasn't sure which studs matched up to which! I also found that even on the very largest setting, the nappy seemed very tight on Lara around the legs and left marks after just a couple of hours. Lara only weighs about 12kg and is 15 months old. I don't think she can wear the OneLife one-size nappy right up until she is potty trained if she continues to grow.

The outer-wrapper comes in different patterns and different sizes. Because of this, it has less studs to do up. It did frustrate me though that I had to do up two separate sets of studs – one for the nappy and one for the wrapper. The wrapper gaped at the sides and had a funny, unflattering squareness to it.

The OneLife cotton nappy certainly seemed softer on Lara's skin than the Bambino Mio nappy but I found it more difficult to put on her, less comfortable for her and harder for me to prevent the nappy leaking urine out from inside the wrapper. My other observation is that the wrap-around nappy caused all of Lara's lower region to be wet, whereas the Bambino Mio nappy isolates the moisture to one line from front to back.

You can find out more about the products in the One Life reusable nappy system at Hello Baby.

Images courtesy of Hello Baby