And so, farewell: it's been a blast

BY THE time you read this, I’ll be knee deep in moving boxes in deepest darkest Buckinghamshire, unpacking my old Uxbridge life. We’re upping sticks and moving to be closer to Alex’s new high school and a house that can only be described as a ‘project’.Read

Rants and Raves: Doing tourist things in your own city

I LOVE being a tourist in London. Going into town and doing touristy things that you’d do in another city but not necessarily your own. I know it’s not very green to drive into town, but my other half takes the underground from Uxbridge every day during the week so it’s a treat to drive in on a Sunday with no traffic, no congestion charge and free parking if you can find a suitable bay or yellow line.Read

Harry Potter fans' paradise on a wizard studio tour

WE ARE big Harry Potter fans in our house. We have all the books, quite a few of the audio CDs for long journeys and we would book our cinema tickets soon after all of the eight films were released.Read

Poo to the few who don't scoop - but nice one Dogs Trust

WE MANAGED to dodge the showers on Saturday and head to the Dogs Trust Summer Open Day and fun dog show in Harefield. I think most of Hillingdon were there too as it was heaving.Read

Smiles of Jubilee joy, with a lump in my throat for Alex

DID you have a great bank holiday and jubilee weekend? The borough seemed to be a bit slow off the mark with hanging out the flags and bunting but eventually we looked great don’t you think?Read

Rants aand raves: Getting into the spirit of the Jubilee

WE WENT on a long road trip at the weekend and I was amazed to see that some high streets had really got into the spirit of the Queen’s jubilee and the Olympics. Streets in large and small towns and villages were adorned with Union flags and bunting hanging from every available space.Read

High School Musical: I reckon I know most of the lyrics by heart!

HAVE you been to the amazing wooden adventure playground over at Black Park? It’s a huge natural play area in the woods with loads of great equipment, and is one of our favourite places to go for a walk around the lake, a coffee or ice-cream (depending what the weather is doing) and a play in the playground.Read

Family street dance draws a powerful veto from my 10 year old

SO, THAT'S another school holiday over in the blink of an eye. It’s one step closer to high school in September in our house, as each end of term and half-term milestone passes this year.Read

Help for bankers? I approve if they are food bankers

DID you know that every four days a new food bank opens in the UK to help families in crisis?Read

Pen pals? Nowadays it's e-friends, Skype-mates and text-buddies.

DID you have a penpal when you were little? Do you remember the anticipation of listening for the flap of the letterbox and then rushing to see whether a handwritten note from a far away friend had plopped through?Read

Half asleep through half term, as Alex makes the most of his holiday

HOW IS your half-term week going? Has any parent been lucky enough to get a lie in? Not for us so far this week, as my 10-year-old son Alex is conditioned to get up when his dad leaves the house, before 7am.Read

Traffic might be a sign of success but we're choking ourselves to death

IS IT just me or has anyone noticed how bad the traffic has got inUxbridge? I’d love nothing more than to walk to school but unfortunately I’m a school run mum who adds to the traffic chaos in the morning. Oxford Road, Park Road and Cowley Road are virtually at gridlock during the morning and evening rush hour.Read

Dogs Trust makes a great trip - just be wary of those sad eyes

Pictures are from last August's Harefield Dogs Trust fete.Read

Ranson's Rants & Raves: Ravers of the Lush Roast - and Top Gun too

I AM always on the hunt for a good Sunday roast in and around our borough – a delicious traditional British roast with lashings of gravy, crunchy roast potatoes, tender meat and a crispy Yorkshire pudding.Read

I'm resolved to make fewer resolutions, more revelations

I AM fed up making new year resolutions each year that just get broken so this year I’m ditching the ‘give up eating cake’, ‘lose two stone’, ‘visit the gym’ type resolutions and instead I’m going to just try and get out and about a bit more.Read

Cathy Ranson: The magic of Christmas

DO YOUR kids still revel in the magic of Father Christmas?Read

Hidden Away beauty spa that's well worth finding out

I WOULD like to say a massive thank you to The Cafm in the Park and the Hydeaway Spa in Rickmansworth, who looked after the Netmums team so well.Read

Syon House wonderland perfect for getting into Christmas spirit

WE HAD fun at Syon House at the weekend, taking a chilly winter woodland walk wrapped up in warm coats and wearing wellies to keep the whistling wind and eerie mist out.Read

Ranson's Rant: Gas explosion brought out the heroism in people

ISN'T it lovely when you hear about people going above and beyond the call of duty to selflessly help others out? I wasn't at all surprised to hear that two lovely ladies who have been involved with Hillingdon Play Association (HPA) since it first started, Julie Gurbuz and Sue Collinson, rushed to help families affected by a frightening gas explosion in West Drayton last week. Read

Rants and raves: The beauty of gift vouchers

I WAS lucky enough to get some beauty vouchers for my birthday last month, and I don't know if it's just me, but I tend to file vouchers away carefully, forget about them and then discover them a week after they've gone out of date and are worthless.Read