Double chocolate brownie by @utterlyscrummy

When I offered to test some double chocolate brownies for a fellow twitterer, I thought that I was just helping out another Mum to perfect her baking technique.  Little did I know, that the very next day would bring with it a taste adventure the likes of which I could not have even dreamed.  I didn’t check my doormat immediately after the dog had raised ten bells of hell for the arrival of the postman, but when I did, I collected a small package that looked like an amazon book.  Scratching my head, I opened the cardboard packaging and quite literally giggled with delight at the beautiful yellow tissue paper gift, tied lovingly with blue ribbon.  So spring-like, girly and it really couldn’t have looked more perfect. 

I gently tugged open the sky-coloured tie, and tenderly unfolded the lemon paper shroud and my senses were filled with the scent of chocolate, awakening my taste buds’ desire.  The visual and olfactory joy was compounded with the awakening of the gustatory as I broke a small corner off the pristine brownie that lay before me.  The firm yet crumbly flesh sent my senses into rapture and it was all I could do not to devour every last crumb of the delectable sweet in one fell swoop.  With great restraint, and a testament to my loving and generous nature, I allowed my adorable son to give me, as well as he could, his opinion too. In the blink of an eye it had vanished, not a crumb reaching the floor, and the dog looked on with sadness and regret in his big brown eyes.

What more perfect gift could you imagine for a person who is sick/getting older/celebrating something or just in need of a cheering present?  I give @utterlyscrummy the highest award possible for her baking – I really have never been so enamoured by a cake-biscuit before in all of my several decades on this planet.

Cleebo

Product:  Cleebo "Cleebo is the best way to clear nasal congestion in children, in a safe, hygienic and easy-to-use product." Confirmed by 80% of the 23 independent medical professionals surveyed.

Price:  £5.99

Available from: amazon, thebabycatalogue.com, http://www.opus-innovations.com/p/purchase.shtml

Suitable from:  Birth

Score out of 5: 2

Initial Reaction: What a fantastic idea.  They arrived in the middle of a rather crusty cold so I was able to get to work straight away.

 

Pros:  They are a great design, brightly coloured and sturdy, they contain 10 removable / interchangeable colourful silicone tweezer ends on ABS plastic tweezers. The ends cannot be inserted too far into the nose and can either be disposed of or sterilised.  The case keeps all the parts together neatly.

Cons:  I found them incredibly difficult to use.  A combination of my lack of dexterity and my wriggling and very ticklish toddler, I only achieved one successful excavation before he realised what I was up to and made sure that the tweezers never went near his nose again.  He preferred to play with them.

 

Value for money? If I had been able to get to grips with them, I'd have said yes.  As it stands, sadly, no.

Overall Reaction: I believe that these are easier to use with a small baby who is not prone to excessive movement.  They did not work for me, but I will be passing them onto my bed-ridden Grandmothers carers, to see if they can be of some use to her.

Review first seen at The Parent Panel

I was sent a product sample free of charge but the opinions are entirely my own.

What are you reading? May issue!!

I started the book Discovery at Rosehill with some trepidation, having bought it from a twitter friend Kathryn Brown.  It is her first book and I was a little nervous, just in case it wasn't brilliant, because I'm not a very good liar.  I have never really read a paranormal book before, because I am easily spooked, and I don't really read romance novels either but I am over halfway through this book and am enjoying it tremendously.  The characters are believable, the spirits are a little scary but the storyline sucks you in from the first few pages and I have been forcing myself to put it down at night just so I can get some sleep.

More information about the book is here: http://crystaljigsaw.blogspot.com/p/discovery-at-rosehill-blurb.html