Fun flying a Remote Control Helicopter

Disclosure. This post is a review of a product I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

The boys have really enjoyed playing with childrens’ basic remote control car toys in the past, but now that they are older, these only get played with very occasionally, mostly sitting neglected on the shelf, whilst video games now dominate. So when Carrie from Syma Toys approached me to ask if I would be interested in reviewing one of their more sophisticated remote control vehicles which are aimed at all ages, also advising me that Syma products are designed to be as eco friendly as possible and are constructed to minimize material waste and ensure high quality, I immediately said yes. An ideal chance to get the boys outside and interested in something non-screen based.

I showed my younger son the pictures of the three choices on offer and he selected the remote control helicopter drone, which was sent via Amazon. Dispatch was very prompt and it was a good job that Syma had packaged the product well, as at some point during delivery, a hole had been torn through the Amazon box, which went right through the Syma cardboard too. I have no idea how that happened, but actions in the supply chain like that can be so frustrating for both the customer and the vendor, particularly small businesses like Syma.

Moving onto the product itself, the package contains the RC helicopter itself, the RC transmitter, along with a spare rechargeable battery for the helicopter, a USB charging cable, a spare tail blade, screwdriver and instruction manual. I’m unsure why a spare tail blade is included as standard, but other spare parts can be purchased via the Syma website. And if you prefer visual instructions, videos are available to view. I knew in advance that I would need to provide batteries for the remote control transmitter, so I purchased those at the same time. Amazon indicates that you need 6 AA batteries, but actually it is only 4. However I’m pretty sure most customers would prefer for the batteries to be included too. Maybe something Syma could consider in the future.

The instructions indicated a 150 minute duration for a full battery charge, which should give about 7 minutes flight time, so I set to with that as the first activity, getting both batteries charged up. It is easy to know when they are ready as the charger changes from red to blue light. Always best to stop charging at that point, as over-charging would degrade the life of a battery.

We don’t have space inside our home for flying it, so we had to wait for a wind-free day to fly outside. The instructions advise wind conditions of Force 1 or less. Finally we were good to go. My younger son and I had both read the instructions and watched the videos to make sure we knew what we needed to do. It all sounded reasonably straight-forward but this was where things started to go awry. We couldn’t seem to get the helicopter and transmitter to pair together, even though we following the correct logic sequence of plugging the power lead from the battery into the helicopter, swtiching on so the helicopter light started flashing. Then switching on the transmitter, so it started flashing too, pushing the left joystick up, then pressing back down. At this point both devices should have a constant light, but we were only achieving that on the transmitter, whilst the helicopter light was continuing to flash.

But Syma customer service to the rescue. We sent them a video showing how we couldn’t seem to pair the helicopter and transmitter and they sent us another. So 5 stars for helpful support. This time we were in business. A piece of cake to easily pair the two this time. And even more of a bonus, it arrived on a beautifully sunny calm day. Ideal flying conditions.

Our first flights were in the garden, but with an inexperienced pilot at the controls, we soon realised the lack of space, between walls, fences and other obstacles, with a few minor crashes. So we decided to drive to somewhere with a big open space. We opted for a large meadow, but another difficulty became apparent. It is not so easy to take off in long grass. And an even more challenging problem, was locating it when it landed at a distance away. Also we were slightly worried that it was going to fly off on its own, as my son said it wasn’t always responding to his joystick directions. The instructions do indicate that the operating range is 30m.

So in hindsight, when learning to fly, it would probably be best to start in a large indoor area, if you have access to somewhere like a church hall or scout hut. And failing that, a large open outdoor space with easier terrain like tarmac or paved. However, all told my son had a bundle of fun and will certainly be practising his flying technique. Otherwise we may be checking out their spare parts store sooner than anticipated.

This helicopter is the deluxe top of the range S37 raptor model which currently retails on Amazon for just under £120, so excellent as a gift or special treat to yourself. Syma also sell much cheaper budget aircraft. This toy appeals to children and adults alike, although children aged under 8 will require adult supervision. Plenty of fun to play with.

And I have an offer to pass on to my readers – 5% off at Amazon with discount code: NZOJLDUU.

Do take a look at the Syma store. If you prefer you may purchase directly from them rather than via Amazon. They also sell some great looking camera drones, boats and tanks.

Regular followers of my blog will know that I always check out the sustainability angle of products, so this is what I found out on their website. The majority of their product lines are ethically made in China. Symatoys products are designed to be as eco friendly as possible and are constructed to minimize material waste and ensure high quality – exactly what Carrie told me.

And from the circular economy viewpoint I discovered they have a Reuse Program where they will send you free RC products which they cannot sell due to open packaging, to avoid plastic pollution of the warehouse wastefully disposing of them. An excellent idea in my opinion.

I also read that you may apply for an extra free battery to enjoy a longer flight time. A very kind offer. Plus once you register the product for 2 year warranty, most spare parts will be free of charge.

So to summarise, a great fun product and excellent customer service.

I’d love to hear about your favourite remote control toy.

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Tiddledy Wink Wink to Jaques of London – the oldest games company in the world!

Disclosure. This post is a review of products I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

Regular followers of my blog may have seen when I featured the family fun we had playing Chinese Checkers and Shut The Box about 6 weeks ago. So I was delighted to be offered the opportunity to review another two products for free from Jaques of London, .

Their wooden toys all look excellent for younger children and some are suitable for babies. And it is excellent that they are made from 100% sustainably sourced wood. However as the boys are both in double figures now, I have chosen two traditional classic games – a Draughts Set and Tiddlywinks.

Once again very fast dispatch and beautifully presented, although still encased with the needless layer of single use plastic. I did highlight this to Jaques following my previou post and they have passed my comments onto their Product development team. It is something that they are looking into changing for the future of being a sustainable business.

I was very interested to read that Tiddlywinks was a Jaques invention back in the 1800s, patented under the name Tiddledy Winks. Those who have more than a passing interest can read all about the history and official tournaments on the Tiddly Winks Association website. Yes you read that right – the game has its own Association. Who would have thought that this game, which I had always imagined to just be a fun children’s pastime, is actually as strategic as the likes of chess?

The version of Tiddlywinks that I received is the travel edition, so it didn’t include a playing mat, but no problem, we just mapped out an area on the carpet with the Jaques ribbons. Good bit of thinking that. No idea if it was the correct size though, so might be worth specifying on the instructions. However don’t worry, for the purists amongst you, they also sell a full version including a baize mat. Plus bonus points – the full edition has been manufactured to the original 1800s Jaques design which looks amazing.

I was wondering what the winks would be made of, as I’ve only ever seen plastic tiddly winks. However these are also plastic which was a slight disappointment. Also the instruction sheet needs some proof-reading, since it is inconsistent in regards to the number of tiddly winks, as to whether each person plays with 4 or 6. But we didn’t have a choice, as only 4 were included apart from lucky red who got 5.

As we read the rules, we did laugh over some of the terminology. The large winks are called squidgers which makes sense, but if your wink lands on top of another wink, the one on top is squopping and the one underneath has been squopped. Where did they come with those words? However my son managed to do something which hadn’t been defined. He got a wink trapped under the pot. Who can come up with an equally silly name to define that?

We found Tiddlywinks was a fun game to play, although I couldn’t seem to get the knack, as almost every time, my wink ended up outside the playing zone, so I kept forfeiting my next turn. I didn’t manage to actually pot any winks. We left the pot open, so we effectively had 2 chances at potting, but even so nobody got all 4 potted in the time limit. 2 was the best, so we definitely need more practice. We cetainly won’t be entering any tournaments anytime soon. Not sure whether the pot should have been left open or closed, but if we had closed it, none of us would have potted, as all winks potted were in the larger lower pot.

Tiddlywinks can be either played as 2 teams of 2 or upto 4 individuals. A great game for all the family apart from very young children due to the risk of swallowing small pieces. Perhaps Jaques could consider producing a version with giant winks as the hand coordination element would be good for young children.

Moving on to the second game. The solid wooden draughts board looks very elegant but I am in two minds as regards the quality of the pieces. This is because one piece doesn’t look as attractive as all the others. So on the one hand I am pleased since they are hand-crafted but on the other hand I want them to look perfect as a set. Sorry am I being too greedy?

I don’t think I’ve played draughts since childhood, but the instructions were clear to follow. However I think I should have chosen to play my first game against one of the boys rather than my husband as he remembered the rules no problem and absolutely whooped me in a very short time, crowning 3 of his pieces. A great strategic game.

Both games are very good value for money, for excellent high quality products which should last a lifetime. Suitable for children or adults. Buy for yourself or as gifts. And lots of screen-free fun family time together.

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed I got a surprise bonus in the draughts. A prize code. So keep your eyes peeled when you order, in case you get extra lucky too!

Jaques of London have an amazing heritage. They are a long-established games, toys and sports manufacturer spanning 8 generations of the Jaques family back to 1795. Their products are still timber-based today. And not only do they make them, they have been inventing games and toys too. With my interest in genealogy, it was fascinating to read the family history of the oldest games company and sports manufacturer in the world.

I certainly recommend you have a look round their website. They have some great special offers. So many fabulous eco-friendly plastic-free fun toys, games and sports equipment. Plus you can get 15% off if you sign up to their newsletter. And they currently have a promotion where some lucky shoppers will win their money back.

So what is your favourite game?

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Sustainably made games and toys from Jaques of London – the oldest games company in the world!

Disclosure. This post is a review of products I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

When Rosey from Jaques of London asked me if I would do a Christmas feature, I took a look at their website and was instantly drawn to their heritage. They are a long-established games, toys and sports manufacturer spanning 8 generations of the Jaques family back to 1795. It was refreshing to read that their products are still timber-based today. And not only do they make them, they have been inventing games and toys too. With my interest in genealogy, it was fascinating to read the family history of the oldest games company and sports manufacturer in the world.

I had a good browse round their website and saw that they sell toys suitable for babies upwards, family games and sports equipment like croquet. Spoilt for choice, I selected a couple of traditional classic games – Chinese Checkers and Shut The Box Game which they sent me free to review.

Dispatch was very fast and both games were beautifully presented with reproduction tissue paper and personalised cards from the team members who had hand wrapped them. You could tell a lot of care and thought had gone into that. They immediately made me think of “Brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favourite things” from The Sound of Music. You won’t need to wrap these, they are ready to go under the Christmas tree. However the one thing that was definitely surplus to requirement was the single use plastic encasing each box, as they were already doubly secured with an attractive ribbon.

But since it is obvious that sustainability is something that is key to this company with its environmentally friendly wooden products and brown boxes in preference to shiny ones, hopefully the single use plastic is already on their agenda to remove. I didn’t manage to find a sustainability page on their website, but did come across an interesting article on their blog about What Wood is Safe for Children’s Toys.

So onto the products themselves. I was delighted to spot Shut The Box Game in their range. This is a game that I originally wanted to buy for son1 back in 2013 but couldn’t find it stocked anywhere. He had enjoyed playing it multiple times whilst in hospital with leukaemia. A great distraction for him at the time and educational too.

This dice game can be played by any number of players, even just one and is good for arithmetic skills. This is an attractive wooden framed version with a baize lining. Numbers go upto 12, but they sell various versions including one with numbers upto 9 and a travel edition.

The other game I chose was Chinese Checkers and when it arrived, I discovered a bonus. Chinese Checkers on one side and flip it over for a game of Go Bang. All the pieces of this edition have been beautifully hand carved.

Chinese Checkers is a traditional board game for 2, 3, 4 or 6 players. Each player chooses a peg colour and a starting point of the star. The objective of this game is to be the first to get all 10 of your pegs to the opposite star point. Jumping is a key feature of the rules and depending on the position of the pieces, we sometimes got lucky travelling right across the board in one move with a series of jumps.

Meanwhile Go Bang is a strategy game of territorial capture for 2 players.

All the games came with comprehensive detailed instructions. And very good value for money for excellent high quality products which should last a lifetime. These would both be great for Christmas gifts.

So I certainly recommend you have a look round their website. They currently have some great special offers. So many fabulous eco-friendly plastic-free fun toys, games and sports equipment. Plus you can get 15% off if you sign up to their newsletter.

Finally a random fact for the day, the origin of Chinese Checkers is in Germany and not China, so why do they call it Chinese Checkers?

I’d love to hear your favourite game or idea for inventing a new game.

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Foul Play is afoot After Dark – review and giveaway

Disclosure. This post is a review of a product I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

There seems to have been a trend in my recent posts of what we’ve been doing for entertainment during lockdown, so games have been interspersed amongst my many book reviews. We’ve also been digging the jigsaws out of the cupboard, but they are more of a long term project that we just do a few pieces at a time. This is the especially the case with the 2000 piece one we’re working on at the moment, which is very difficult with lots of sky, water and rock.

But today I’m sticking with the game theme, as we have received another game free to review. This time it is Foul Play, The Manor House Murder Mystery Card Game from After Dark. Now regular followers of my blog will know that I love to read a good murder mystery story, but I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned how much I enjoy seeing a murder mystery on stage or being involved in a murder mystery game. Whether it is solving or actually being the murderer, which I’ve done twice. The first occasion was at a party but the second time, one of the amdram groups that I used to belong to, had been booked as the entertainment for a murder mystery night. Yes people actually paid to try and guess and if I recall, none of them worked out that I was indeed the culprit. And guess how many versions of Cluedo we have here, not one, not two, not three but four. We have the original version, Super Cluedo, Harry Potter and Doctor Who versions.

Murder Mystery events are the bread and butter business for After Dark and of course the pandemic has kept actors out of work for the time being, although they do hope to be back performing soon. But they extended their business model to come up with the Foul Play card game.

Dispatch was super speedy and I was very pleased to see how small the box was, just the size of a pack of playing cards. The boys have so many games that rattle around in big empty boxes, that we are almost running out of shelf space. But as the cards fitted so snugly in their box, I really didn’t see the need for the plastic around the cards inside. Hopefully they will reconsider that.

This is a game for 2-5 players and is suitable for age 8+. It is set in Edwardian England and the Lord of the Manor is dead. You have to work out which suspect killed him. There are two versions of the game, one where you play as Good Cop and the other as Bad Cop.

We tried the Good Cop version first, where you need to uncover the three pieces of evidence to track down the killer. My youngest got really into the swing of things by having several magnifying glasses as props and writing his suspicions and clues in a notebook. Although other players along with the fish seemed to be his prime suspects rather than those on the cards. The fish being the Red Herring of course! And his detective bear joined in the fun too.

However props and notebooks are just window dressing for extra fun. All that is needed is the Foul Play deck of cards. But beware of other players stealing your cards, as I became a target. The boys kindly left me with one card rather than eliminating me from the game, so I had to steal a card back in order to have enough cards to revisit the crime scene.

The next day we played again but as Bad Cops this time. With 15 pieces of evidence in play, we found this to be a much faster game, as you’re trying to pin the crime on any suspect. Although Good Cop would have been quicker if my son had realised that watches didn’t have to be worn on wrists, He had the killer card, but swapped it at the crime scene.

Until you have played the game a few times and become more familiar with the suspects, I did initially feel one of the pieces of evidence was slightly unfair. It said the killer is not related to any other suspect. I subsequently discovered that there are some extra downloadable resources on the website, so we could have printed a full list of suspects. And read a handy synopsis on each suspect, although the formatting needs to be improved to prevent text wrapping over other text.

The instructions were very comprehensive. The only things we felt unsure of were whether to shuffle the discard pile before restarting it again as the Evidence Locker, and should both players get to pick a card when swapping on Fair Play or only the player who played the card.

As per all of my game reviews during the pandemic, we didn’t just limit it to playing in out household, we also tried it out over Zoom, which worked fine too. Great for mental health and wellbeing, to be able to involve those that the pandemic has forced into a lonely isolated lifestyle.

Foul Play currently retails at £8.95. Excellent value in my opinion and so much fun. The official case file reference for solving this crime is #foulplaygame and I’m delighted to see that a second game Once Upon A Crime will soon be hitting the shelves. Any suggestions for what other versions you would like to see?

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition, courtesy of After Dark to giveaway a Foul Play card game to one lucky winner!

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear your favourite game or idea for a new game.

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Game Off Celebrities – a Head to Head Battle – review and giveaway

Disclosure. This post is a review of a product I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

We love playing games in our household, but during this winter lockdown, I’ve frequently been heard calling out “Shall we play a game?” It helps give the boys a break from their screens, which they would be reluctant to do otherwise, when most of the activities they enjoy are off limits. And although we have our favourites that we play again and again, we really like trying something new. So I was delighted to be offered the chance to try out the new Celebrities version of Game Off for free.

Gosh I’ve never compared games to buses before but it had been a while since I’d reviewed a game and now this is the second one our family have put to the test in a matter of weeks!

Dispatch was very quick and it was good to see how small the box was. No wasted empty space in a large box. A win win all round as it will take up less space on the shelf, plus portable too, which will be a bonus once we can finally start going on holidays again. But putting on my “Reduce Plastic Pollution” hat, did it really need two layers of plastic, one round the box and then a second one inside round the pack of cards. Ideally I would like to see none, but can understand the need for some method of sealing the new product. Perhaps something the company can review before their next production run.

Moving onto the game itself, I loved the chatty friendly style that the instructions are written in, with a cheeky way of deciding who goes first. It says that it is suitable for ages 8-118. We joked here about having to stop playing when we reach 119. Of course we’re a long long way off that upper age limit, so with technology advances, who knows what humans life span may be in the future.

There are five types of cards – Body, Mind, Skill, Courage and Luck. The object of the game is to be the first person to collect one of each category. You win the cards via head-to-head battles with the other players acting as judges, so it needs a minimum of 3 players.

So each card describes a challenge based on a named celebrity, who range from current right back into the depths of history like Pythagoras. Some of the challenges are verbal, others require pen and paper and a few you need to improvise with props. It certainly makes it funny being the judges and the rules have cleverly thought out what to do in a draw scenario.

There is an additional rule which permits players to swap three of one type of card for another. This could prove useful in changing the dynamics of the game.

As we played, one thing became quite apparent quickly. Not everyone had necessarily heard of all the “famous” people or fully understood the particular challenge. For instance, my youngest son could not get the concept of “sharpest cheekbones” for a Keira Knightley Off. This did tend to take the edge off the boys enjoyment of the game somewhat. I haven’t played any of the other versions of Game Off, but I’m sure the Family version would have suited them both much better, although this Celebrities one does suggest from age 8 up, so should have been fine. I did think this would work excellently as a party game for adults though once parties are back on the agenda.

We certainly had lots of giggles with it and some ideas were very tongue in cheek. All us judges abstained when the boys went head to head in a Greta Thunberg Off. We were supposed to be voting on which of their letters would make the world a better place. Neither would and son1 was advocating to destroy the world entirely!

Afterwards the boys took a look at a few more of the cards, and I have to say it would be very hard for the games designers to guess which “famous” people to include for older children. For instance I was very surprised when I realised that neither of them had heard of Nelson! He is obviously not on the history school curriculum these days. But my youngest is an avid reader of history genre books and still hadn’t come across him. Yes really!! Maybe a testing panel of say age 8-16 would be useful in determining which “famous” people to include or exclude.

And we didn’t just limit it to playing in out household, we also tried it out over Zoom. Great for mental health and wellbeing, to be able to involve those that lockdown has forced into a lonely isolated lifestyle. We did have to adapt slightly, so that someone else rolled for him, as this was the first time any of us had ever seen a Left / Right dice, so obviously he didn’t have one of those. There were some of the challenges that wouldn’t have really worked remotely, but luckily those didn’t come up for him, but if they had it wouldn’t have been a problem, as we could have just redrawn a different challenge card.

According to the website, there are several other versions of Game Off. The original family version is suitable from age 3 up, then there is the sequel, Game Off 2 suitable from age 5 up plus an 18+ adult only version, so something for everyone. Plus this Celebrities version also comes in Spanish and German editions.

Any suggestions for what other versions you would like to see?

Game Off Celebrities currently retails at £12.99 and is sold via Amazon. Good value in my opinion and plenty of fun. I love its hashtag #EverythingIsAGame

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition, courtesy of Captain Fats to giveaway a Game Off Celebrities to not one, not two, but three lucky winners!

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear your favourite game or idea for a new game.

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Last night I had 20 Dreams to giveaway …

Disclosure. This post is a review of a product I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

Games have always been something we have enjoyed in our family, but during this winter lockdown we have been playing even more, whilst it is too cold to spend much time in the garden. So I was very pleased to be offered the chance to try out the brand new 20 Dreams game for free.

20 Dreams, a creative storytelling card game was ‘dreamt’ up by Karen Stallard, an Arts Psychotherapist. It focuses on using the more emotional side of your brain, rather than logic. Then launched as a small business venture with a successful Kickstarter campaign last summer.

Dispatch was quick and I was glad to see the care that had been taken to ensure the product was plastic free, with just a couple of paper strips to secure the cards. Every little helps to try to reduce plastic pollution. Plus a nice small box size was a bonus too, as not everyone has space to store many large games.

In fact, even the box gets used during the game as the ‘penalty box’ for incorrect guesses. Great innovative use of the box.

The game has different variants depending on how many people are playing. So there is a 2 player cooperative game, working together to collect points or a 3-6 player competitive game or a team version. So far we’ve tried playing it with 4 and 5 players, including over Zoom.

You take it in turns to tell a dream which includes the 3 picture cards and expresses the emotion on your white card. The other players then have to guess which emotion it is from their own coloured pack. Get it right and the dream teller earns points, but get it wrong and the penalties start stacking up!

The rules suggest a certain number of rounds depending on the number of players. Well son2 insisted we continue playing until all the emotion cards ran out as he was enjoying it so much, so you can adapt your own variations too.

As mentioned above, we did also try it out over Zoom. Great for mental health and wellbeing, to be able to involve those that lockdown has forced into a lonely isolated lifestyle. Ideally this would be best with a game set each or at least to have given a player pack to the person playing remotely. However we didn’t have this opportunity so our workaround was for him to write down the list of 20 emotions and cross them out once played.

I have to say son1’s emotions were impossible to guess. Every dream he told in a flat monotone, with barely any story around the 3 pictures. Very hard to work out what he was feeling so I think I wrongly guessed “calm” every time for him, until someone else played that emotion card. Meanwhile he seemed to deliberately guess almost the most opposite emotion possible for the rest of us. I’m not sure if it was tactical play on his part, but it meant all his blue cards ended up in the penalty box. And for the final scores, we all were negative, although son2 was the winner being least negative points. But everyone had great fun, even son1. We were in fits of giggles over how hilarious some of the stories were.

The dream teller is supposed to start each dream saying “Last night I had a dream” and end it by saying “and I woke up feeling …?” Well son2 even involved his bear by wearing the outer box showing those phrases.

The box indicates that this is the 2020 classic pop art edition and their online shop also says 1st edition, so looks like there will be more releases to look forward to. Any suggestions for what other versions you would like to see?

I believe that our family are all more analytical than creative, so I would be very interested to play this with a different group of people too, as I’m sure the dynamics of the game will be quite different. And the 20 Dreams website says that it can also be used as an educational tool by parents, teachers or therapists, with plenty of resources, tools and ideas detailed.

The game is aimed at age 12+ but on the website, they suggest that it can be adapted for younger or neurodiverse players by removing the more difficult emotions to make the game shorter and more accessible.

The only thing that did slightly surprise me was that the box says ‘Made in China’. I had just assumed that as a small start-up business, who had taken the effort to help protect the environment by avoiding single-use plastic, that the product would have had a lower carbon footprint and supported other local industry if made in the UK.

20 Dreams currently retails at £14.99. Great value in my opinion. I can certainly highly recommend this game, which has been very well thought out. Fun for all the family across the generations.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a 20 Dreams game to one lucky winner. What a fun prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear your idea for a new game.

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AD Britmums #ACEit Challenge or has she gone conkers?

Disclosure. This post is an entry for the #ACEit Challenge, sponsored by ACE. Get ideas on how to wash whites, treat stains and laundry like a boss with tips from the ACE site!
This post mentions a product I received for free. All opinions are my own. This post is classed as an advert because of the requirement to include the #ACEit hashtag.

Britmums recently challenged bloggers to take part in the #ACEit Challenge for brighter whites when trying the new ACE Ultra for Whites. I was in two minds whether to take part in this challenge or not, especially since it is in a plastic bottle. Regular followers of my blog will know that I am trying to reduce plastic. Pity it isn’t a powder rather than a liquid, as the last ACE product I reviewed, ACE for Colours Powder came in a plastic-free fully recyclable carton.

However I have to admit that my whites have been starting to look rather off-white since I swapped regular detergent for more eco-friendly alternatives, like soap nuts or homemade from horse chestnuts (conkers). Don’t get me wrong, my laundry is clean, but not bright white. I know you can’t expect a natural product to give the same results that bleach does, so perhaps this would be the answer, an occasional helpful boost from ACE.

So I signed up and received a free 1L bottle of ACE Ultra for Whites.

Now onto the actual washing test. There were my eldest son’s school shirts complete with very bad underarm stains and greyish grimy collars, plus off-white socks and undies, along with a very grey floor cloth. Unfortunately only a very small load, as ACE Ultra for Whites should only be used on totally white items. Again from an eco point of view, I prefer to do a full load which would normally include cream coloured bedding and towels too plus clothes which are part white, part coloured.

The instructions on the bottle suggested 4 possible alternative methods of use as follows, (along with household cleaning instructions for your sinks, etc too) …

1. Fill your CL bleach compartment with the product. (My washing machine doesn’t have a CL compartment.)
2. Fill your fabric conditioner compartment with the product, if you’re not planning to use fabric conditioner.
3. Pour product directly in during a pre-wash cycle.
4. Soak by hand in 10L of water to 150ml of product, for 20-30 minutes before rinsing and washing as usual.

I decided to opt for method 4, but I have to say I didn’t see much difference after the 30 minutes, but I assumed that perhaps I had over-diluted it, as I had just guessed how much to fill the sink. I didn’t actually measure the 10 litres of water. Also there was no indication of what temperature the water should be, so I had opted for warm, which may have been wrong too.

Since I still needed to wash the clothes, I tried again, this time using method 2. A much better success. Everything did look bright white. However ACE didn’t work its full magic on the underarm stains. They were better but still yellowish. The most remarkable change was on the floor cloth. It actually was white again.

About ACE Ultra:

• It’s specifically formulated to help brighten dull whites.
• It’s gentle on delicate clothes.
• It tackles germs and odours, including viruses. That means not only do your clothes smell cleaner, they actually are cleaner – something even more important in the current climate.
• It’s concentrated, making it among the most affordable ways to keep white clothes looking bright!
• It’s available in Morrison’s.
• NOTE: ACE Ultra includes bleach.
• ACE Ultra for Whites should only be used on totally white items.

So yes I can see some plus points from ACE Ultra, but I think on the whole, it is not the product for me. Instead can anyone point me in the direction of an eco-friendly answer for brighter whites please, if such a thing exists?

And for those of you still wondering, how on earth do I use conkers for my laundry, let me point you here to The Watercress Queen who I have to thank for this environmentally friendly idea. I tried this out last Autumn and I still have over 4 big jars left, so no need to collect any this season. Plus not only is it eco, but it is very cost effective too, saving all the money you would have spent on detergent. I made a couple of variations to the original method, one being I dried the pieces of conker spread out on trays in the airing cupboard for about a week. And secondly I only do two soaks rather than three. I can highly recommend you try this idea out, but if you do, please remember to plant some of the conkers you collect.

Before trying this, I had bought a large bag of soap nuts shells, which work on the same principle. However I am a bigger fan of using conkers because they are grown locally so have a minimal carbon footprint in comparison. Also subsequent to buying the soap nuts, I read that the export market has driven the price up so locals who have been using them for generations can no longer afford them, which is so wrong and needs addressing. I do also use the soap nuts in the dishwasher although I haven’t dared try conkers, since they are poisonous.

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Macadamia Energy Bites

Disclosure.  This post is a review of products I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I do enjoy cooking, so I was very pleased to receive the following selection of products from Buy Whole Foods Online free to review.

Organic Carob Powder 500g
Ceylon Cinnamon Powder (True) 250g
Organic Amla Powder 125g
Raw Wild Flower Bulgarian Honey 900g
Macadamia Nut Halves, Raw 250g

I had already formulated a tentative recipe idea in my head when I chose this selection which was to make some healthy raw energy snacks.

I do like this brand and have previously blogged some TVP meal recipes and my healthy yummy chocolate puds, made using their products. However this was back near the start of this year, so I was keen to see whether they would have taken on board my packaging suggestions, as I hadn’t had any feedback.

I was also pleased to see that everything was long-dated, with best before dates of October 2020 and beyond. Even the nuts, which was quite a pleasant surprise to me.

Now let me tell you a little about these products, especially if like me, you get confused between cocoa, cacao and carob. Carob powder is produced by grinding the dried carob pods into a powder. I have now discovered that unlike cacao and cocoa, carob is naturally caffeine-free and much lower in fat than other forms of chocolate, plus it has a naturally sweet flavour. And 2 tablespoons contains almost 20% of your fibre RDA. It is also a form of calcium, which is great news for the bones as well as the taste buds!

Amla powder is something I hadn’t heard of previously. I have now discovered that it is made from drying Indian gooseberries and grinding them down to make a powder. It is rich in vitamins and minerals and has had Ayurvedic uses for centuries.

Raw honey, unlike your average honey, is unfiltered and unpasteurised, so it retains all the precious nutrients which are normally lost through heating and filtering. Plus raw honey is a natural sweetener free from additives that other conventional honeys may have. And raw honey contains a considerable amount of bee pollen, which is a complete source of protein.

Cinnamon is a spice which I often add to the likes of cookies and buns, but it also works well in savoury dishes too. However I didn’t realise there are variations in the grade of cinnamon. Apparently this Ceylon cinnamon is the purest form of cinnamon you can buy. Packed with nutrition, there are a number of health benefits associated with consuming Ceylon cinnamon on a daily basis including anti-inflammatory properties and easing digestion issues.

Macadamia nuts are something that I buy on an adhoc basis for snacks. Ideal as they are high in protein, fibre and healthy fats. But I’ve also now discovered that they are great for creating your own macadamia nut butter. That is something I’ve never tried yet.

So let me share my Macadamia Energy Bites recipe with you.

Macadamia Energy Bites

Ingredients (makes 10 – 12)

125g macadamia nuts
2 tbsp carob powder
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp amla powder

Method

Grind the nuts in a blender.
Tip ground nuts into a mixing bowl.
Mix in the carob, cinnamon and amla powder.
Mix in the honey.
Break off walnut-size amounts of mixture and roll into small balls.
Serve and enjoy.
These may be stored for upto a week in the fridge.

These were absolutely delicious and didn’t last long. I used half the macadamia nuts in the recipe, so there is only enough left to make one more batch. After that, I need to come up with some more recipe ideas for the other products, particularly the cinnamon, which is a huge packet. I’ve got about a year to use 250g, when a small spice jar usually lasts me about that length of time. I’ll have to see if the boys like cinnamon toast. I used to eat that quite regularly, but haven’t had it in years. So please hit me with your recipe suggestions.

The honey is one standard size extra large jar, but all the dry products come in a wide range of sizes from 50g to the bulk 25kg.

Unfortunately no change in the packaging as yet. Apart from the honey, the products are all in plastic, even if it is labelled as BPA free plastic. I’m still hoping Buy Whole Foods Online will review their product packaging and switch to a paper-based solution. Or the fact that some of them can be purchased in sizes upto 25kg, maybe they could start selling those via bulk stores, so we could take our own containers to fill.

I do recommend that you take a look at the Buy Whole Foods Online store. There is a huge amount to choose from.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway the same selection of products as I received from Buy Whole Foods Online to one lucky winner. You’ll certainly be able to make some tasty treats with these.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear your recipe suggestions using any of these products.

I’ve subsequently seen the most beautiful recipe for Rose and Almond Nougat on the Marvellous Mrs P blog, which I’m wondering how well it would adapt to using macadamia nuts. I’ve got a rose bush in the garden and had been considering the possibility of using the rose hips to make a cordial, but had never considered the potential of the rose petals.

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Britmums #ACEWinterRefresh Challenge ad

Well I’ve certainly noticed the change in temperature over the last couple of weeks. It is definitely Autumnal feeling, although we’ve managed to avoid putting the heating on yet. Trying to wait until November. I even treated myself to a new secondhand pair of winter boots from the charity shop. I’ve been trying to be more sustainable this year, but this is the first time I’ve purchased secondhand footwear.

Luckily we have plenty of wardrobe space, so all the cosy jumpers and leggings, etc are easily accessible. I remember as a child, my mum used to use a suitcase as storage for summer or winter kids wardrobe according to the season, checking what still fitted us when she unpacked it again. However I have rearranged our hall cupboard and put all the sandals, crocs, flip-flops and sunhats back upstairs in the wardrobes and brought down our winter coats, hats, scarves, gloves and boots.

But what’s with the idea behind the #ACEWinterRefresh Challenge? I was rather sceptical of the hashtag but signed up when Britmums challenged bloggers to take part, so I received two free boxes of ACE for Colours Powder. Apparently the brand-new ACE for Colours Powder reinvigorates clothes, using stain-removing powers and bringing coloured garments back to life. Plus, unlike other stain removers, it comes in a plastic-free fully recyclable carton. It was the latter point that sold it to me, as regular followers of my blog will know that I am trying to reduce plastic.

However I drew the line at testing it on my winter wardrobe, straight from the hangers. It is already clean, so that does not seem very environmentally friendly. Instead I waited until I’d actually worn some of my winter clothes.

There are various options on how to use all listed on the box, including pretreatment or soaking for stains. As this load of laundry was all standard, I just needed to add the detergent as usual, then add 2 tablespoons of the ACE For Colours powder to the main wash dispenser drawer. You would double the dosage for very dirty laundry like my boys’ school sports kits. But I’m not going to talk about that now, as I blogged about washing those last year here.

All looked clean and bright, hurrah. And of course now that it is getting colder, it is time to swap my cropped running leggings for full-length. So there will be plenty of mud splashes on those as well as on school sports kit. Definitely the best time of year to begin the #ACEWinterRefresh, but it will certainly be on-going all winter.

About ACE

• ACE makes life easy with the never-ending school laundry pile by gently removing stains
• ACE keeps garments bright, robust and clean meaning clothes last for longer
• Keep those colours bright and fresh with ACE for Colours
• Ace for Colours Powder comes in a fully recyclable Tetra pak
• Use ACE in your daily wash to keep clothes looking fresher for longer
• Call to action: Pick up the ACE product range including ACE for Colours powder at your nearest Morrison’s store or buy online on Amazon.

I’d love to hear about your washing tips or nightmares.

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Disclosure. This post is an entry for the BritMums #ACEWinterRefresh Challenge, sponsored by ACE for Colours Powder. Get help for all kinds of stains with the ACE Stain Helper and pick up the range at your nearest Morrison’s store or buy online on Amazon.
This post mentions a product I received for free. All opinions are my own. This post is classed as an advert because of the requirement to include the #ACEWinterRefresh hashtag.

An eco holiday at Owl Barn Retreat

In line with trying to become more eco-focussed this year, we decided that we wanted our holiday to follow the same principles, so we chose to stay at Owl Barn Retreat. This is a delightful barn conversion in a rural location about a mile from the village of Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant in Wales. It is a sustainable and eco-friendly holiday cottage which has achieved a gold award from the Green Business Tourist Scheme. This was how we discovered the cottage. I’m particularly impressed with the kitchen work surfaces having been constructed from recycled glass bottles.

From here, we were able to do several walks to the nearby villages of Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant and Penybontfawr, plus most magnificent of all, a longer walk from the cottage all the way to Pistyll Rhaeadr, the tallest waterfall in Wales which is in a remote area of the Berwyn Mountains. And of course we had to take a trip to CAT, the Centre for Alternative Technology, my third time there. We also enjoyed a walk from Lake Vyrnwy to a nearby smaller waterfall.

We were provided with Faith in Nature toiletries and Ecover, Ecoleaf and Method cleaning products, along with a tasty welcome pack of local food. We continued to try to buy locally with produce from the village butcher, Oswestry market, Llynclys Hall farm shop, plus Honeysuckle whole foods shop in Oswestry and Down to Earth in Llanfyllin. Zero trips to the supermarket on this holiday.

Recycling and composting are key at the cottage with separate clearly labelled bins for each type of recycling. I’m already aware how recycling varies from county to county. Here in Powys, there appears to be no recycling of tetra packs or metal jar lids. We did consider the possibility of bringing those back home but decided there probably wasn’t space in the car. But we did head home with an eco brick half filled.

And I loved relaxing in the wildlife garden watching the butterflies and listening to the birds. We’ve also seen rabbits, squirrels and a fox. Son2 has enjoyed using the telescope when it has been less cloudy and has spotted Arcturus. He also loved playing in the maze, which is another great area for wildlife with all the long grass and bracken.

It was a great feeling to be on the same wavelength as the owners. Anne phoned me a few days in advance of our holiday and told me things like there being a fishmonger at Oswestry market on Wednesdays. Just like I do here at home, Anne takes her own boxes to the butcher and fishmonger to avoid plastic. She was quite happy to leave me a supply of boxes to use, so we didn’t have to pack those.

We loved it so much at Owl Barn Retreat, that we have already booked two future stays there.

I’d love to hear your eco friendly holiday suggestions and tips please.

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