ManicMammy's Blog

Reviews, news, family, wine and me

Review of Smashing Pumpkins’ “Rotten Apples” – Greatest Hits

Smashing Pumpkins’ “Rotten Apples” – Greatest Hits Excellent compilation of the brilliant Smashing Pumpkins biggest hits. This is an album I return to again and again. When I get bored with Arcade Fire, The Killers, Feist etc etc and need to blow away the cobwebs, get some energy and sing really loudly, this is the CD that goes on. [...]

Review of Dryer Balls

Dryer Balls Too loud to use, with no discernible improvement in clothes softness or drying time. I bloody hate needless loud noise, drives me nuts. So you can guess my delight when I discovered what a racket these dryer balls make when in the tumble dryer. Arrggh. They promise to mechanically soften fabrics in the [...]

Review of www.gymboree.com

www.gymboree.com Great quality and range of children’s clothes from babies to aged 10 years. I really liked the gymboree range of clothes for kids when the shops were open here and was disappointed when they closed. Thankfully I discovered the american based website www.gymboree.com. This has the added bonus of pricing in dollars as at [...]

Review of Bandon beauty clinic

Bandon beauty clinic,77-78 South Main Street, Bandon, Co Cork, Ireland Professional, friendly and efficient beauty salon in the heart of Bandon. Alot of things make me happy. One such thing, that although very superficial, but that doesn’t cost me much time or money and puts a bounce in my step, is to get my eyebrows [...]

Things that remind me of my Da

Prawn cocktail or more specifically Marie Rose sauce: he had perfected his own version which was served on Christmas day and whenever else he felt like it and it was the business. Long walks. Clunt: his favourite derisory term. “He’s a wrong one”: his second favourite derisory statement. “It’s in the sand”. Being busy and [...]

Review of Plum babyfood

Plum babyfood Handy tubs of organic, preservative free baby food with not just the usual carrot/potato/pear main ingredients. The baby really loves the spinach, parsnip and basil variety of this babyfood. It smells like pesto and she wolfs it down. I spotted these a few months ago in the local SuperValu. The packaging can misdirect [...]

Review of Usborne Lift and Look books

Usborne Lift and Look books Brilliant, robust, beautifully illustrated toddler board books that keep them interested with embedded flaps. The 2 year old now has all but one of this range of board books. He absolutely loves them. They are quite large, robust board books that can withstand being thrown about and chewed on by [...]

Review of Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs

Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs Run of the mill book in the Dr Temperance Brennan series of crime thriller novels. I read this novel over a couple of days last week, but to be honest, I’ve forgotten most of it already. As the latest in the Kathy Reich’s Temperance Brennan series, it just didn’t grab [...]

Review of Hoxton Hotel

Hoxton Hotel,81 Great Eastern Street, London, EC2A 3HU, UK Great, clean, modern, good value hotel if you’re a single person travelling on business in London, not so perfect if you’re a couple on a tourist trip. I love the idea of this hotel. Relaxed atmosphere, modern, basic facilities, charged by room rate rather than number [...]

Review of Nobu Restaurant

Nobu Restaurant Superb food but crowded loud room and mediocre service at expensive prices. To be honest, prior to this visit to London, I hadn’t been a huge fan of Japanese food. I had thought it alright but given a choice for a night out, I would preferably opt for French cuisine. For a change [...]

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