ust wo f riends.co m http://ustwofriends.com/rivetz-pterodactyl-wild-science-hyperlauncher-rocket-ball-review

Rivetz Pterodactyl & Wild Science Hyperlauncher Rocket BallReview

We were sent 2 products f rom Rivetz to review. I will start of with the Rivetz PterodactylIn the box you get a 3D card sculpture of a Pterodactyl, A Rivet Gun and detailedinstructions.

I decided to let Terry have a go of doing this as it ’s based on 8+yrs. He started of f byreading through the instructions then started taking the pre cut printed card shapes out.He had to f old them and use the Rivetz gun to join them together with the plastic Rivet pieces. He managedto do a f ew pieces but then struggled as the instructions weren’t very clear at all so he decided to let hisdad have a go. Will started of f where Terry had f inished but even he struggled to understand theinstructions properly and said it would of been a lot better with pictures to show how to do it. Af ter abouthalf an hour Will had managed to f ix only half of it so used around 10-15 card pieces. As there is 30 precutpre-printed cards in total, but 45mins in Will gave up as he just could not work out how to do it as theinstructions did not explain properly. It is now sat on the table only half complete as none of us could workit out, so f or me I think this would be a lot better with pictured instructions and an increased age range. Overall Rating 4/10 this item is priced at £14.99

Next up was the Wild Science Hyperlauncher RockerBall contents were:

Red water based moulding granules

4 x moulds

Saf ety Goggles

Plastic Tubes

Wooden Dowel

Colour Instruction Manual

Terry again did this as it was f or age 8. He enjoyed havingto put the moulding granules into 1 of the moulds and put1 of the plastic tubes through it then you had to get abowl of water and put the mould in the water f or 30secsthen take it out and hold f or 1min 30 secs to let it dry. Youcould then take it out of the mould and store it onto thewooden dowel. Terry made all 4 moulds which wasdif f erent sized balls. This set teaches you about thescience of elasticity, polymers, energy and motion. Terryf ound that the balls bounce quite high and are just likebouncy balls you can buy just a “lot more bouncier” hesaid and “homemade”. BUT come a week later and theballs no longer bounce they have gone completely hardand are starting to break apart and so f or £14.99 youwould think they would last f or quite a while. We are goingto make some more and try storing them into a airt ightcontainer so we will let you know if that works, overall wegave this a 6/10 it would of got a much higher rating if

they had lasted a bit longer.

ust wo f riends.co m http://ustwofriends.com/schleich-fjo rd-horses-review

Schleich Fjord Horses Review

As you know I love Schleich products and we were lucky enough to be sent a f amily of 3 Fjord Horses toreview which consisted of a Stallion, Mare and a Foal I decided to let Nathan have the Horse’s as he lovesanything to do with animals.

Well Schleich have done it again and made something that is well detailed, well made, and hardwearing. Tostart with, The Stallion. You can tell is the Male as it ’s very broad with a good structure and tiny litt le details,which may I add, are all hand f inished.

The Mare is very Feminine looking with great detail on her Mane and Tail with a Sandy Coloured body andDark stripe which is how you can identif y it is a Norwegian Fjord Horse, it also has a 2 coloured Tail andMane.

Finally the litt le Foal, which has got the cutest lit t le f ace ever, with Tiny litt le f eet and again the SandyColoured body with Black Feet very well painted and a lot of detail has gone into this.

What Nathan liked about these horses is the f act they go well with the games he plays. He added them tohis lit t le f arm playset and loves the f acts he has dif f erent looking horses, He also loves taking them in thebath as they are completely f ormed f rom plastic including the Tail and Mane so no waiting f or that to dry.These horses are f ab f or imaginative play with litt le ones.

I would give these Horses a 9/10 as they are well made and a lot of thought has gone into the detail.

FUN FACTS:

Norwegian Fjord horses are easy to recognize by their build and the characteristic dark stripe. The FjordHorse is a small powerf ul horse. With its compact body, strong neck and large straight head, it isreminiscent of Eastern European or Asian wild horses. Fjord horses can be f ound in all dun colors. Themane is usually cut so short that it stands up and the dark stripe runs along the whole back to the tail. Fjordhorses are strong and sure-f ooted, which is why, today, they are used as mountain horses or to ploughuneven terrain. They are also used in trott ing races, f or distance riding and in combined driving.

ust wo f riends.co m http://ustwofriends.com/sodastream-say-no-aspartame

Sugar Free SodaStream Sensation – Say No to Aspartame

With my new health regime, I decided to ditch all drinks with aspartame. Diet Coke has it in abundance, asdoes the majority of f izzy drinks sold to the public so to have a bubbly drink without it is quite rare. I didn’tf ancy dieting to make myself look and f eel better and still be adding nasty chemicals in my body? So it wastime to try something a bit dif f erent whilst using the one iconic item that every household should have…The SodaStream!

My f avourite drink of choice at the moment is blueberry and f ig sparkle.

For this you need

150g of blueberries

4 f resh f igs

2 tbsp of stevia (remember that, 1/3 of a tsp is equal to a tsp of sugar)

Liquidise the f ruit together, pour it into a pan and simmer gently f or about 15 mins. Then strain the pulpaway f rom the juice using a cheesecloth, crushing as much as you can out of the pulp. Put the juice lef tback into the pan and add the stevia. Just simmer that until the stevia has dissolved.

You are then lef t with a beautif ul syrup which you can add to f reshly SodaStream f izzed iced water. It ’senough f or a day or two but if you want to make bigger batches just multiply the ingredients once you’veseen how long it lasts you init ially. Also depends how strong you like your drinks. I like mine pretty weak butjust add more syrup to your drink to make it f ruit ier.

Another f antastic way of making some unique tasting healthy drinks – sugar f ree syrups. The majority ofthese contain Splenda which is a much healthier alternative to aspartame. Although Stevia is a much betteralternative to either sugar or Splenda since it stimulates insulin secretion.

My Chilled Chai Tea Bubbly is init ially quite strange however, if you’re a f an of lemon tea then using SugarFree Chai Tea Syrup f rom Da Vinci will be a breath of f resh air. Just make your SodaStream f izzy as usual,and pour over a f ull glass of ice topped with 3 large teaspoons of the syrup, then mix it up with a cocktailstirrer. Top with a sprig of mint. It ’s beautif ul when it ’s ice cold and when you mix it, the light bubbles playdelightf ully of f the ice cubes. If you’ve never tasted Chai Tea bef ore then it might not be your thing but ifyou’re used to spicy warm nutmeg type mixes then you’ll love it to pieces. Just add more syrup to taste ifit ’s too weak.

The whole idea of me using the sugar f ree syrups were f or me being a diabetic, you are normally onlysubjected to bog standard diet colas or diet lemonades and believe me, it gets boring. Diabetics can notonly quench their thirsts using the multitude of these syrups but with the added household must have beingthe SodaStream, they can explore a whole new world of tastes and f lavours to ignite their taste buds.

SodaStream syrups are pretty good calorie wise too if you are watching your weight. A 250ml glass of“Cosmopolitan” is just 37 calories compared to 99 calories in the alcohol laden version. Their “Mojito” isalso a steal at 38 calories per 250ml compared to 111 calories with the real thing. With over 50 dif f erentsyrups to try in the range, so many, you’ll never be stuck f or an idea.

They also manuf acture diet versions alongside sugar f ree versions that are sweetened with Stevia. SteviaPeach and Pear, Stevia Grapef ruit and Stevia Orange grace the shelves of those people f ed up withcommercially available cans of sugar water, even the sporty amongst us can be treated to a delicious sugarf ree energy drink. Plus there’s no need to be a bodybuilder carrying 6L at a t ime home f rom thesupermarket. One capf ul of syrup makes 1L of f izz, so no more waste with empty bottles and no more

straining backs. No need to be unhealthy with a SodaStream in the kitchen!

Jacqui

ust wo f riends.co m http://ustwofriends.com/top-100-wool-tartan-review-picnics-throws-cuddle-night

Top 100% Wool Tartan Review – Picnics, Throws or to cuddleup with at night.

The days may be getting longer and lighter but the nights can still be bitterly cold so f or a nice cosy sleep,not only do you need a high tog duvet here on the East Coast but a couple of f leecy blankets also helpskeep you nice and snug. Although I ditched the f leece blankets this year and decided upon a proper 100%pure wool one to keep the chill f rom my bones as with having diabetes you tend to f eel the cold a lot morethan your non diabetic counterparts.

A Ramsey Blue Tartan Blanket f rom Buy A Kilt was my blanket of choice and I am utterly bowled over.Ordinarily you see tartan blankets f or sale and they’re too thin and too lightweight to keep you warm,however the Ramsey Blue Tartan Blanket is thick, incredibly sof t and a very high grade. The price tag isn’twhat you’d expect f or such impressive quality though – just £25.20 f or a warm, cost 5f t x 6f t blanket isoutstanding. 100% wool, heavyweight, sof t and durable. You can use it on a sof a as a throw, on your bed(as we have) or as a picnic blanket. They are simply beautif ul and incredibly well manuf actured. Don’t buyone of those cheap and cheerf ul tartan blankets to put in your car – it ’s one of these that you need ifyou’re ever caught out since it will ef f ectively keep the cold out..

I wasn’t f eeling particularly well over the last couple of weeks, so I’d f ind myself sitt ing on the sof a with theblanket wrapped around me, snuggled up with a cup of hot lemon. It was so warm and so comf ortable I’df all asleep within minutes of f inishing my drink. A f ew days wrapped up warm and resting made me f eel awhole lot better since it stopped the chills I was experiencing. I very much doubt I’d have achieved that if Ihadn’t had the blanket to chase the chest inf ection away by keeping me as warm as it did. Sometimes allyou need is something to make you f eel contented and toasty to quickly cure yourself of any passingailments.

If you’re interested in buying something, BuyAKilt have given us an exclusive code f or you to use to receivea 10% discount at each one of their sites: Buy A Kilt , Buy A Hip Flask , Buy A Tankard and Buy A Quaich . Justadd code “f riends 10” when at the checkout to receive your discount.

ust wo f riends.co m http://ustwofriends.com/watchbot-personal-cctv-camera-anytime

The iPho ne WatchBo t Vie wing Scre e n with Me nu (Wid e )

The iPho ne Watchb o t Vie wing Scre e n Nig ht Vis io n (No rmal) No Me nu

Watchbot – Your Personal CCTV Camera, Anytime, Anywhere

When my Mum lived with us, we were f ortunate enough to receive a f ire alarm with texting capabilit ies thatwould alert 3 dif f erent people in the event that it went of f . However to give me peace of mind, I would havepref erred a small CCTV camera that I could have accessed through my iPhone when I’d gone out at anytime just so I was reassured she was ok and allowed me to keep an eye on what she was doing.

I did look f or something on the internet but they were all f ar too conf using with wired connections to a maincontrol unit and to be quite honest, having to set something up like that just conf uses me. I’d rather havehad a plug and play unit. Which brings me onto this amazing f ind!

WatchBot is a portable cctv unit which once connected via your IP address the app (available onmobile/tablet/pc) allows you to view whatever is going on in the room you place it in.

Init ially the camera was a bit of a nightmare to set up on my Mac. Although it claims to work on Mac, you dohave to download and possibly purchase (if you have more than 6 things connected to your internet IP) theIP f inding sof tware which worked really well as it quickly f ound what the IP address of the camera was. I hadthe ethernet cable connected init ially but however much I tried it couldn’t f ind the camera on the network.According to my ISP I would have had to set up port f orwarding which I didn’t really want to do so I installedthe app on my iPhone instead which was seriously easy and then allowed me to set the camera up. I thinkthe only I way I got the camera to work via the app was with the long number underneath and scanning theQR code. Subsequently this is also how I set up the iPad app. There was supposed to be a username/pwdwith a watchbot url but that was no where to be seen. I have an idea if this were shown as promised via theuser guide, then this would have made it a whole lot simpler and given me the ability to watch onscreen viamy PC. The app didn’t give me access to all the multi f unction f eatures the PC sof tware has but did allowme to password secure the stream (which stops other people gaining access to it), watch the action andspeak through the camera via my iPhone mic. Once the camera is set up, then you can pull the ethernetcable out since it ’s connected via wif i and theref ore you can put the unit anywhere you need to watch.

We set ours up in the kitchen as we thought it would allow us to keep an eye on the dogs when they walkedthrough the kitchen to go out into the garden but I f ound it quite f un to watch Andy cooking and shout stuf fat him through the mic. The one thing about that though is if you switch the mic on, turn the speaker of fand then vice versa f or the reply otherwise something similar to the gran canyon echo. But you can set it upas a baby monitor, CCTV in nursing homes, to capture things via the night vision or just as a generalcamera f or home security.

The picture once you viewthrough the app on eitheriPhone or IPad is superb. TheiPad picture was slightly clearer and easier to manoeuvre since the screen was larger but if you were justdipping in and out of the stream you wouldn’t be disappointed.

If you’re watching on the app and you want to record something – as long as you have memory available onyour phone, it should record simply by pressing the litt le hollow camcorder icon on the bottom of thescreen. Press the speaker icon and you’ll get sound too (which is pretty clear). This then gets saved in theapp f older (which you can access on the main log in screen at the bottom). If you want to take ascreenshot, just press the camera icon on the bottom of the screen, or if you’re using an iPhone just clickand hold the menu button with the power button and it will take a picture of what you see on the screen.

Another advantage of usingthe camera with the app is thef act you can see a stream

f rom each of your cameras on the main screen should you have more than the one. Then it ’s just a case ofchoosing which one you want to see in a larger screen. Easy peasy.

I’m a litt le perturbed that I couldn’t get the desktop sof tware to recognise the camera since I would haveloved to have tried the email alert via the motion sensor which would be brilliant if you are away f rom thehouse f or a long period of t ime and expect everything to be stationary and still. A trigger email or even textwould be amazing but knowing it would record the thing that has triggered it would be sensational to see. Imay try the sof tware on Andy’s Windows PC when it comes back f rom being repaired so will update thiswith the results of whether or not it ’s easier to set it up via Windows 8 rather than via Parallel Desktop andMac.

Personally I love this lit t le gadget and will no doubt purchase a couple more to keep an eye out on the f rontof the house and the garden f or total security. It ’s small, neat and easy to use. Costs £149.95 which mayseem a litt le steep, however f or peace of mind I think it ’s worth it as if I have to go out, I can put my mind atease by a swish of the f inger.

Jacqui x

When People Surprise You – The Hand-Made LuckyLeprechaun

ustwofriends.com /people-surprise-handmade-lucky- leprechaun

I know my sister Jannica is artistic. Being a dancer, she has an artistic f lair, eye f or detail and anaptitude f or supreme style and quality. She’s one of the people in this world that I genuinelyadmire. But nothing surprises me more than when she creates something so incredible that ittakes my breath away. She’s partially sighted yet constructs some of the most intricate andcomplex things, that it would put those of us with f ull sight to shame. Yet she doesn’t believe mewhen I tell her that the unique things she makes f rom scratch (and 99% of the time just f rom anidea) are simply out of this world. It astounds me that someone with so much talent doesn’t havean outlet f or it and just creates things f or herself and her f amily. Andy’s cousin dresses OrientalDolls with authentic material to order which sell f or £100s but they’re not a patch on the thingsJannica creates. Take this f or an example…

A 3f t Leprechaun, totally covered in rhinestones and diamante. Sculptured f rom hand. Everythingon this lit t le chap has been handcraf ted, sewn and created by Jannica. 100% unique f rom herimagination. Outstanding workmanship. I wish I had her talent. She’s been a ghost painter,sculptress, jewellery maker and makes some of the most outstanding f imo sweets you’ve everseen but couldn’t eat!

But she doesn’t only make Leprechauns. She can make anything. Fairies, Witches, Princesses,whatever you want she’ll make it. Last week she mentioned to me on the phone that she was inthe process of creating Wish Trees. If I’m honest I had no idea what she was on about, so I hadto Google it. A Wish Tree f or those of you that don’t know is a tree which is used f or wishes andof f erings. By tradit ion, believers make an of f ering (I suppose, like tying a litt le card to thebranches) in order to gain their wish f rom a saint or goddess. I remember looking on John Lewisat Christmas as seeing a 6f t one with litt le lights on which I thought would have lookedsensational in our living room instead of a Christmas Tree, but they sold out bef ore I had achance to order one. So there’s our Jannica making them while she’s chatting on the phone tome. ”I’ll have a brown and orange one, please” I asked. She dropped everything to make me onetoo and yet again it ’s utterly beautif ul. Totally unique and I love it to pieces.

But I digress. I’m in awe of what she can do and thought you’d love to see her latest creation. Letme know what you think – should she start to sell them??? I think so… although I’d like aHarajuku Girl doll bef ore she does. *wink, wink*

Jacqui x

ust wo f riends.co m http://ustwofriends.com/yummy-beginnings

Yummy Beginnings, Personalised Birthday Cakes You’ll Love

Well as people know f rom previous posts I love my cakes as well as my 4 kids do. With 4lots of birthdays and kids having dif f erent choices, I can’t keep getting them all the samecake every year as they’d get bored and plus they change their minds practicallyeveryday.

Last July I ordered a cake f rom somebody f or Will’s birthday but they let me down at thelast minute. I was already to just go shop and buy him a plain choccie cake but then that’s where Heidi Farrf rom Yummy Beginnings stepped in. She told me she could make one f or me in a f ishing theme as Will ismad about f ishing. I was so gratef ul to her f or agreeing to do it all last minute (think I gave her literally aweeks notice), BUT I am glad the other cake maker let me down because what Heidi made was out of thisworld. The detail that went into it was amazing and the taste was delicious, nice and moist with no dry bits.Here is a picture of the cake she did f or Will’s birthday and you will see what I mean about the small f inedetails we Didn’t want to eat it lol.

Af ter this cake I had to go back to her f or Kayla’s birthday in Februarythis year. Kayla decided that she wanted a Doc Mcstuf f in cake and asyou know they’re not in the shops yet in that style, so I though it wouldbe dif f icult. I told Heidi what Kayla wanted and Heidi did her research saidshe knew what it was and instead of a cake with Doc Mcstuf f in stuck onthe top she decided to do Doc Mcstuf f in’s medical bag instead with a f ewbits of her medical equipment. Again the f ine details on this cake wasbrilliant, it made Kayla’s year I think when she saw it. You can see f romthe picture how happy Kayla was with it, and I have already booked inNathan and Lauren’s cakes f or April. Whenever I need any more CakesYummy Beginnings is where I will be going to, as Heidi who owns it is oneof the most talented cake decorators I know and she is always thinkingup new things I’m even trusting her to decide on what sort of cake to dof or Lauren’s birthday.

If anybody wants birthday cakes cupcakes etc then please visit YummyBeginnings even if you don’t want to buy a cake just go and look at herf ab designs although make sure you’ve eaten as you may f ind yourselfdrooling just a litt le bit.

ust wo f riends.co m http://ustwofriends.com/zelfs-twirl-swing-toadstoo l-review

Zelfs Twirl n Swing Toadstool review

Zelf s was the collectable thing f or 2013 and now 2014 is seeing a whole new range of Zelf tastic charactersand playsets to the Zardenia World.

My kids were lucky enough to be sent the Zelf s Twirl and swing Toadstool and a extra masquerade themedZelf to review.

Well 1st person to get all excited and wanting it wasn’t my girls as I expected but Nathan lol as soon as hespotted the wild hair and the swing that was him all excited.

The new series has 12 medium (8cm) Zelf s, 6 of which are Masquerade themed, each have their ownpersonality, power mark, hair accessory and comb to look af ter their unruly hair!

The Twirl and Swing has 3 litt le seats and comes with a exclusive Zelf Ribbita The Frog Zelf which is a nicegreen colour with crazy Green hair. What I love about this toy is no batteries are needed at all it has a litt leknob at the top what you hold on to and turn and my kids loved it they put both the Zelf s on the seats andenjoyed making them spin and watching the seats swing out whilst the zelf s hair just went super crazy.

The Twirl and Swing is suitable f or 5yrs up but My Nathan is 3yrs old and he enjoyed it.

The only downside to this is af ter half hour they did get a bit bored as you can only watch it spin round somany times and to be honest it don’t really do much but spin hopef ully once all the new playsets come out itwill be more enjoyable as will be able to make up stories and play with dif f erent parts etc.

It ’s priced at £14.99 which is f air as you get a Zelf with it and they alone are £5.99.

Overall I would give this playset 6/10 due to the f act it does get boring f or kids af ter a while.