I reviewed a photo book with them in the past and was pleasantly surprised by the quality. Everything looked crisp and colour saturation was good.



I found the process easy to do and before long a gorgeous photo book was in the post to me.



They also have a range of other items on their site. From photo books and canvas prints, calendars to fridge magnets, memory boxes to posters and photo prints as well. Prices are great too with photo books from £16 and 12 fridge magnets priced at £15. 

I recently attended my son's graduation so my next project will be to make a book of the photos or possibly a canvas for my wall. 



You can even create the items on the Cheerz app, available on Apple IOS and Android to create on the go. Perfect when you are on holiday so the photos can greet you when you return. I love the Polaroid-style photos!

Today on my blog I am giving you a chance to win a £100 gift voucher to spend on the Cheerz website.  Don't forget to bookmark this page and come back to enter daily if you like the prize. I also have other competitions running too including £100 to spend at Daniel Footwear and 3 £100 vouchers to spend on jewellery so check out my competition page. Good luck!

Win a £100 voucher for Cheerz

As seen on Loquax, The Prizefinder and Competition Database

Our coach

National Holidays is one such coach provider. Offering a range of holidays across the UK, Ireland and Europe, it's a cost-effective way to travel without the hassle of a plane journey.

Mystery trip

Comfy seats inside

With an onboard toilet for your convenience

Our first stop at the services

Stratford-upon-Avon

William Shakespeare's birthplace

The river festival

Bedroom

Shower room

So after a shower, I went down to the restaurant for dinner. 

Our trip included dinner, bed and breakfast and that night we had a buffet dinner in the hotel. The dinner consisted of salad, soup, main course and dessert and was surprisingly tasty. You never know what a buffet dinner will be like but it was really good. The salad was fresh and had a light Ceasar salad dressing, the carrot soup was seasoned well, and the main course options included a four cheese and spinach ravioli, spaghetti bolognese, and a chicken tikka masala. Something for everyone. I particularly rated the spaghetti bolognese. It wasn't Michelin star food but it was good for the price.  

So that night after a comfortable sleep I went down to breakfast. Breakfast was a buffet and consisted of cereals, fruit, yoghurt and pastries. Also, a cooked breakfast served buffet style was tasty and hot.

After checking out, we were on the bus for day two. Again we didn't know where we were going until the driver told us - the Cotswolds.

Our first stop was Bourton-on-the-Water. An idyllic Cotswolds village, known for its low bridges and traditional stone houses, it's very picturesque and known as 'The Venice Of The Cotswolds". There are also several attractions for you to while away an hour or two including the Cotswold Motor Museum, Birdland - home to many species of birds and life-size model dinosaurs and The Dragonfly Maze.

Bourton-on-the-Water Sally and I strolled around the little village and stopped for tea and cake. Well, it would be rude not to wouldn't it?

You are spoilt for choice for little tea shops, cafes and restaurants in Bourton-on-the-Water, most with a view on the river so I would suggest you sit down with a cake or cream tea and enjoy the view. We stopped at the Green and Pleasant cafe. The only thing that bothered me a little was how busy the village was on a sunny Sunday.

A rare photo of me in Bourton-on-the-Water After our stop here, it was a short drive to the last village, a village I hadn't visited before called Broadway.  Broadway Broadway is a little village with a population of approximately 2500. All the shops are independent, and the pretty high street is lined with lush chestnut trees. You can tell the wealthy live here, outside one of the pubs were two Mclaren cars, a Ferrari and a Lamborgini!

Broadway

Even the grocers had a touch of class in Broadway - look at the beautifully displayed fruit. 

What was especially nice about this little village, is that it doesn't attract the number of visitors that Bourton-on-the-Water and Stow-on-the-Wold do, so even on a sunny Sunday it was still enjoyable to walk around and explore.

Broadway

After a stroll around and a stop for lunch, it was back on the bus for us.

This was the end of our trip and next was the drive back to Manchester. 

So what did I think of the mystery trip, you may be wondering? I think a mystery trip with National Holidays is suited to someone who wants a little adventure and is on a budget. The trip was well priced - I spoke to a lady who said she booked it on special offer and it was less than £60.  That is, I think you could say, an utter bargain! Ok, you are not getting a five-star hotel but when you consider you get two day trips, one night in a hotel, dinner and breakfast for that, then for the price, that is hard to beat. 

It's been a long time since I have taken a coach trip and I honestly was impressed with the comfortable seats, leg room, Wi-Fi and air conditioning. There was also a toilet on board. We stopped every 2 hours or so for a break and a drink but if you wanted water, Gary the driver sold bottles for 50 pence. Gary also acted as our tour guide and had a great line in banter. His driving was great, and I felt very safe too. So important on a coach trip.

Back to our drop-off point

If you are looking to take a trip exploring the UK or Europe then with my experience I can honestly say National Holidays offer a great service.  I hope to try a trip to Europe with them in the future, perhaps a trip to Rome and Sorrento in Italy, or the Black Forest in Germany. So my overall experience is that I feel I can recommend National Holidays to my readers, a company that offers well-priced coach holidays in comfort.

Today on my blog I am giving you the chance to win a mystery coach trip with National Holidays! Entry is via the Gleam app below and is free to enter. Don't forget to follow them on Instagram too, for updates and competitions. Why don't you bookmark the page and come back for a daily entry? Good luck!

Win a holiday with National Holidays

We’re all in a bit of a shock in the UK right now. Not just a heatwave that’s lasted a day or two, but a few solid weeks – and it just doesn’t seem to be going away! Instead of sitting indoors online shopping for fans why don’t you let your social sideshow and host a brilliant outdoor BBQ for all your friends and family?

Here are some stellar tips for throwing your own garden party that’ll have your friends talking about it for weeks afterwards!

Blast some midsummer melodies 

Luckily it is very rare for things to go wrong during a hospital stay but we all know that things do happen. We have all heard the horror stories in the media or know of someone who has suffered unduly because of an error made whilst under the care of medical professionals. Most of us luckily haven’t actually had to experience such a terrible event and perhaps the majority of us wouldn’t actually know what to do if things did go wrong.



So what should you do if things do go wrong during a hospital stay?

Speak up as soon as you realise there is a problem


Whether it is you personally or a family member you are responsible for, it is important to speak out if you feel that your care has been anything but exemplary. Depending on the severity of the situation, you may want to speak to those involved directly in the care to see if you can get some sort of explanation before taking anything further. It is important to know the facts and go in with full details and the whole story. Speak to your regular doctor or locum tenens hospitalist about the incident.

Whilst mistakes shouldn’t be made in medical treatment, unfortunately, these things do happen and humans may make an error that affects others. You can access your own medical records so be sure to view these to get a full picture.

Finding out exactly what happened is key as you will want to know the complete situation before making any official complaints.

Speak to PALS




PALS is the patient advice and liaison service run by the NHS. PALS offers confidential advice, support and information on any health-related matters you may have. They provide a point of contact for patients, their families and their carers and give you advice on the complaints procedure if you want to proceed further.

They are there for help and advice so seek them out if you are truly unhappy with the treatment of yourself or a loved one.

Claim for medical negligence




This is probably something you only want to consider as a last resort but it is definitely something you should consider if things have gone wrong and you are not satisfied that your voice has been heard. You may not want to complain, after all, it's often not in the nature of us Brits, but also think, what if this incident isn't a first? If it is a genuine case of medical negligence complaining may stop it from happening again. So what is medical negligence?

Medical negligence is the breach of a legal duty of care owed to one person by another which results in damage being caused to that person. You can take action and claim compensation for this if you are the injured party. You can also claim if you are the next of kin of someone who died because of negligence or can’t take action themselves because they don’t have the capacity to do so.

Claiming for medical negligence needn’t be hard either. You may choose to make an official complaint through the NHS complaints procedure before taking legal action, but this isn’t completely necessary if you don’t wish to do so.

How do you know if what happened to you constitutes negligence?


These are some circumstances where a medical professional or authoritative body can be held negligent: a failure to diagnose your condition or making the wrong diagnosis; making an error during a routine procedure or operation; giving a patient the wrong medication; not getting informed consent before starting treatment and not warning about the risks of a particular treatment are examples.

However if you have suffered an injury because of medical treatment, this may be referred to as a ‘medical accident’ or ‘patient safety incident’ and doesn’t necessarily mean that your treatment was negligent. You will only be able to claim if you can prove that your treatment was carried out negligently which means the care you received fell below a medically acceptable standard and thus directly caused your injury.

I hope this helps you in the unlikely event something negative happens to you during a hospital stay and that you now know where to seek information and advice should this occur. For further information check out this article by the Citizen's Advice Bureau.

*Collaborative post

Stocking your wardrobe with the latest fashion collections can get very expensive very quickly, and if you are looking at the big designer brands, you could end up taking out a second mortgage if you are not careful! However, there are plenty of ways that you can save some cash on new clothes. In this article, I will look in more detail at some of the best methods to save you some serious cash.



Shop Other Collections

Many of the big fashion houses release alternative lines to make their clothes more accessible and affordable to consumers. To start off with, you could look into capsule collections which are a few standard pieces that are mass-produced to show off the work of the designer. Otherwise, you could look into the ‘bridge lines’ which are sold at more affordable price points. Ultimately, if you get too hung up on the name, you are less likely to save some cash.

Utilise Discount Websites

There are plenty of ‘flash sale’ websites out there that sell certain items at a heavily reduced rate for a short period of time. Of course, you will need to make sure that you sign up to alerts and act quickly as there are often limited quantities available. Search for discount codes online. There are a number of sites and a quick Google search will find you the best codes. You could also check out specialised discount code websites such as NetVoucherCodes.co.uk. Keep checking back regularly so that you have the best chance of grabbing the deal that you want. 

Shop in the Off Season

Shops sell things for the highest price when there is a big demand for them. Therefore, if you are going to be shopping for bikinis, the best time to do so is in the autumn, almost a year away. Similarly, if you are going to be shopping for warm jackets, you should be doing so when winter is coming to an end. With some organisation, you can save a lot of cash this way. Put some more work into this and you will make some serious savings.

Borrow Expensive Designer Goods

Rather than just buying something and wearing it once, you are much better off borrowing or renting designer goods. There are plenty of websites out there which are dedicated to this concept. If you do have any designer goods, you could always try to make some extra cash from them by advertising them online for other people to rent from you.

You don’t have to give up your fashion habit due to a lack of cash - you simply need to be a little bit smarter about the ways in which you are doing your shopping.

Do you shop in the sales or have a great way of saving money on fashion?

*Collaborative post

The Cotswolds is an area of England, famous for its picture postcard villages and bustling market towns. Full of chocolate box cottages, lush green countryside, and charming local pubs, it's what tourists typically think of as 'England' and it's no worse for that. 

It's a surprisingly large area of 800 square miles and covers five counties. Defined by its golden building and rolling hills, otherwise known as the 'wolds', it's well worth visiting to experience a slice of idyllic middle England.

Let's look at 5 Cotswold towns and villages you must visit on a trip to the area.

1. Bourton-on-the-Water



Bourton-on-the-Water is often called the Venice of the Cotswolds, as the River Windrush flows through its main street.  Although small, the town has various family-friendly attractions which are part of its appeal. You can visit Birdland, the Cotswold's Motor Museum, a maze and a model village.

During peak season it can get very busy with coach parties so be sure to visit mid-week if you don't want to be fighting to get a seat in a cafe.

2. Broadway



Broadway at the base of the Worcestershire hills is an affluent historic village. Ancient honey-coloured limestone period buildings with orderly horse chestnut trees line the grass-fringed verges of the historic 'broad way' High Street.

When I visited recently I enjoyed strolling down the high street, watching the people in the cafes and seeing the expensive cars parked outside. I spotted two Mclaren cars, a Lamborgini and a Ferrari! Broadway is much quieter than some of the other Cotswolds villages too such as Bourton-on-the-Water so it's a great place to visit even on the weekends.

3. Cirencester




Cirencester is a lovely market town, in East Gloucester, known as the Capital of the Cotswolds. In Roman times, it was the second largest town only to London.

There are lots of markets in the town and regular markets are held Monday and Fridays. There is the parish church of St John The Baptist to visit as well as the Corinium Museum of the Roman past. Cirencester Park, situated to the west of the town, this is a superb example of a forest style garden and is well worth a visit.




Woodstock is a little market town 8 miles away from Oxford. With antique shops, and art galleries, it's a wealthy little town and a lovely spot to stay when visiting Blenheim Palace.

Blenheim Palace is the major tourist attraction in the area and this English Country House with gardens is the principal residence of the Dukes of Marlborough. It's definitely worth the £24 admission price to experience the ostentatious interior and the beautiful gardens. 



If you want to tour the Cotswolds in style it's worth considering a chauffeured tour for a little luxury. You will certainly be travelling in style in a Mercedes whilst being able to admire the scenery from the passenger seat.

Tell me, have you been to the Cotswolds? Are there any towns and villages in the Cotswolds you can recommend?

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