Tuesday 6 July 2010

Charity Coffee Morning, 13 July 2010, Altrincham

Charity Coffee Morning
in aid of the Children's Adventure Farm Trust Charity (CAFT)
at Queenie Mumbles Cafe
Goose Green Altrincham WA14 1GB
on Tuesday 13 July 2010
between 10.30am and 12.30am
organised by Caroline Evers of Busy Bee Networking

Queenie Mumbles is donating 50% of the profits from coffees purchased during the event. Plus there is a raffle with some great prizes donated by Busy Bee network members and a number of other South Manchester based/local businesses. Silver Concierge itself has donated £ 100 worth of gifts towards helping this local charity.

Please can you either
- try to find some time to pop along for a coffee and buy a ticket so lending your support this incredible charity
- or spread the word about this event to friends and colleagues that will be able to attend that morning.

CAFT always appreciates any help that enables them to continue to provide activities and holidays for disadvantaged children.

How organised is your house? Take the test.

I’ve recently connected with Lesley Spellman who owns the Clutter Fairy and I will be including some of her articles here from time to time. Lesley, who provides her services throughout Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cheshire has very kindly offered a discount to Silver Concierge clients and website members. See below for more details.

How organised is your house? Take the test.

Studies suggest as a nation we waste up to thirty minutes a day looking for things, quite often frantically and turning the house upside down in the process.

Does that ten minutes before the school run sound familiar? The key to an organised home is knowing where everything is. It doesn’t matter what your style of living is, your belongings should be somewhere you can easily find them. So how in control are you?

Here’s a test to work it out. See how long it takes you to find the following.
Your spare car keys, your birth certificate, a full PE kit for your child (if you have one), the sellotape, your February credit card statement, the charger for your digital camera.

If thirty minutes goes by and you’re still looking, you’ve got some steps to take if you want an organised home.

If you manage to find everything in fifteen minutes, you’re doing well but there is still time being wasted that you could be spending doing something much more enjoyable.

Under ten minutes and you are totally in control and efficient. Well done!

So, if you’re in the first two categories, what can you do to change?

Take ten minutes out a couple of times a day to get things back to their rightful places.

In my house, I have a basket in my hall and anything that finds its way downstairs that shouldn’t be goes into the basket and the kids’ job is to empty it into the room it belongs in. That way, everything is where it should be. If it isn’t, there is a fair chance it will be in the basket. And finally, the kids have a good idea at least what room something should be in. It’s that easy!! A place for everything and everything in its place.

Is clutter taking over your life?

You really want to live clutter free - in fact you would give anything to have a calmer, more organised home, but you just don't know where or how to get started. Don't despair, help is at hand. The Clutter Fairy offers a confidential, hands-on decluttering service. Together, you will decide what stays and what goes and organise your belongings into a sensible system which works for you. After even just one session of decluttering, you can learn to love the home you live in again. For more info visit http://www.clutterfairy.co.uk

The Clutter Fairy is offering Silver Concierge customers a discount off their normal rates. To access the discount code you just need to join as a member on Silver Concierge's website and they will then send you the code you need to claim your discount from us.

Thursday 24 June 2010

Fruit Magic A great alternative gift to flowers

I've recently met Claire Arnold who owns Fruit Magic in Wilmslow. Her fruity creations are such an unusual alternative gift I just had to share them with our clients and here on our blog.

Claire hand carves fresh fruit bouquets to individuals requirements and deliver them.
She can also provide fruit creations for dinner parties, weddings and corporate events.

Here are just two examples of the gifts she creates - aren't they beautiful and deliciously tempting?





Click on Claire's website Fruit Magic if you would like to visit her webpage and see more of the service and products she offers to people around Cheshire and South Manchester

A Grand Day Out at Cheshire Show

" Record numbers of people have visited this year's Cheshire County Show. More than 80,000 enjoyed the vast rural festival under glorious blue skies and baking sun" Click here to read more about this article from the Manchester Evening News

Silver Concierge includes companionship services within the wide variety of practical assistance we offer and this Tuesday we were out and about with one of our clients so were amongst the 80,000 plus visitors to Cheshire Show 2010. Some of our clients don't want to attend certain events or activities by themselves or they haven't got access to transport. This is where our Companionship Service proves to be invaluable. We can take clients out to shows or exhibitions, to the theatre or cinema, we can go swimming or walking or out for a meal or a drink, host visits to or from friends or sometimes take clients to appointments - whatever the client wants to do. Sometimes we meet them at the venue or pick them up from home - the client decides.

Our client had not visited Cheshire Show for a number of years and asked us to take them this year. Having picked up our client and driven to the showground they enjoyed a cup of coffee whilst browing through the programme to decide what displays they wanted to see. A coup for the organisers came in the shape of a 33-metre Big Wheel - Britain's largest transportable observation wheel. The 144-capacity attraction is twice the size of the average Ferris wheel but there there was no time to go for a ride - too much to see on the list we had made !

We started off cheering on the Wilmslow Dog Training Group who had teams competing over an agility course. This was followed by a stirring display by the Band of the Brigade of Ghurkhas and followed up by the impressive sight of 4 packs of fox and drag hounds milling about together. The horses and hounds were being petted by dozens of children and adults in the arena before seeing the 80 plus hounds leading the horses around the arena with the horns blowing - an impressive sight of so many well behaved dogs running freely.

We then watched part of the motorcycle stunt act the Bolddog Lings Freestyle Team before heading off to see the magnicient floral displays in one of the side tents. We then had a stop for refreshments and a tour of the WI tent - they always put on a good spread. Having had a brief rummage around some of the trade stands our client then wished to visit the livestock rings where farmers and owners from across the north west competed proudly with their cattle, horses, sheep, goats and pigs in various categories.



Here is a short clip from You Tube giving some highlights of the show

We enjoyed watching a heavy horse class of mares with foals at foot and then later 4 teams of heavy horses pulling drays all plaited and gleaming before admiring all the different breeds of pigs and the cattle in the livestock tents before having a look at the Rare Breeds Society.

We also had time to sit on the grass and relax in the sunshine, both people and dog watching whilst enjoying a lovely icecream from Cheshire Farm Icecreambefore heading off to the food hall. We got to taste some products and then make some purchases from local growers before heading off home. A grand day out indeed - our client said that they had had an excellent day seeing all the things they had wanted to and had really enjoyed their visit.

If you haven't been to Cheshire Show before then put a reminder in your diary for June next year- it's well worth a visit for both adults and children. If you are interested in learning more about our companionship services; either for yourself or for a relative; then please contact us and discuss how we can help make life easier and more enjoyable.

Wednesday 28 April 2010

Planning a party before the end of August 2010 ? Want to be on MTV ?

We have just been contacted by Laura Hawkes who works for MTV. Laura is looking for anyone in South Manchester area or Cheshire who is going to hold a party for their offspring who are aged between 16 to 22 years old and who would like to take part in their programme " My Super Sweet"

Here is the press release from MTV including their contact details if you want to follow up their invitation. They are currently choosing which family parties to film and if you were chosen we are told that filming will be concluded between now and the end of August 2010.

If you are not interested in the MTV show we hope you enjoy the party you are in the process of planning and if you need a spare pair of hands then by all means contact us at Silver Concierge

PRESS RELEASE - MAVERICK TELEVISION COMMISSIONED BY MTV INTERNATIONAL TO PRODUCE MY SUPER SWEET

April 2010 MTV International has commissioned Maverick Television to extend the Super Sweet franchise with a new international commission earmarked for prime time.

Casting has just begun on the 10 x 30 minute series My Super Sweet which will have a post-watershed slot and a casting age of up to 21 for the first time. The ob doc series follows the journey of some of the world's most glamorous, extravagant and outrageous birthday celebrations - drinking in the privilege and excesses of some of the world's most aspirational party planners. Filming begins in May in the UK, Europe and beyond (locations tbc).

The series will air on more than 30 MTV channels around the world and is part of the network’s new content strategy focussed on commissioning and development for its international platforms.

David Booth (Vice-President, Content and Programming MTV Networks International) says:

"Super Sweet is a franchise that really resonates internationally and we wish to build on the franchise as part of our commitment to showcasing innovative and fun observational documentaries that highlight compelling lifestyles"

Executive producer for Maverick Television, Jilly Pearce, says:

“My Super Sweet is a really strong, internationally loved brand, and we’re excited to be taking the show in a new, edgy and glamorous direction for MTV. We’re looking forward to building on our successful factual entertainment output”.

The series producer for Maverick Television is Simone Haywood. Maverick produces the award-winning prime time series' How To Look Good Naked and Embarrassing Bodies for Channel 4; along with a number of other productions for a variety of broadcasters, Maverick has also produced the current ITV1 series Children’s Hospital. It has a double BAFTA award-winning New Media department, producing innovative multiplatform content.

For further information please contact:
Holly Palin, Head of Communications Maverick Television
020 7874 6676 / h.palin@mavericktv.co.uk

Anne Marie Kane, MTV Networks International
+1-212-786-2799 / annmarie.kane@mtvn.com

To apply to be on the show: mtvsupersweet@mavericktv.co.uk

Saturday 3 April 2010

It's Easter so time for a chocolate break

It's Easter so time for a chocolate break from all the household chores.

Here is a recipe for flourless chocolate brownies, courtesy of Nigella Lawson which is delicious and very easy to make. You would not know it is flourless so it is suitable for everyone who likes chocolate and cake - it does contains nuts though!

Ingredients:
225g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
225g butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
200g caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
150g ground almonds
100g chopped walnuts

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 170 C mark 3. Melt the chocolate and butter gently
over a low heat in a heavy-based saucepan (or wack it in the micro and melt
it gently that way)

2. Take the pan off the heat, mix in the vanilla and sugar and let it cool
a little (this is so that the eggs don't start cooking when you add them
in).

3. Beat the eggs into the pan along with the ground almonds and chopped
walnuts. Turn into a 24cm square baking tin, or most sensibly, use a foil
one (or line a baking tin with greased proof paper, which is what I did.)

4. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, by which time the top will have set
but the mixture will still be goey. (gently press with your finger and if
the top breaks then cook for a few minutes more). Once cooler, cut
carefully, four down, four across, into 16 squidgy yummy squares!




Have a piece with a cup of coffee or tea or we like to serve it as a dessert with a little fromage frais or creme freche and a few raspberries. You could freeze it but it never lasts long enough in our house to make it to the freezer !

Enjoy

Thursday 25 March 2010

" When I'm cleaning windows ....

Are you, or any of your contacts, looking for a first class window cleaning service ranging from a one off window clean through to weekly, fortnightly or monthly cleaning contract?

My contact, Richard and his team have developed a fantastic reputation for fast, friendly, efficient but above all professional work throughout the Manchester and Cheshire area. The service covers domestic and commercial properties from shops right through to prestigious homes. Windows can also be cleaned for apartment buildings or premises up to 5 floors.

The business has been established for over 15 years, is fully insured and can supply many references and my client wishes to expand his business even further.

So if you live or work in the Cheshire and Manchester area and require information about a professional window cleaning service then please send an email to admin@silverconcierge.co.uk including the following information

- your name
- contact telephone number
- the type of property to be cleaned/ number of windows
- the area location for the property to be quoted for ( a general location only e.g. Wilmslow. The actual address will only be required when we discuss your enquiry with you)

We will then contact you to discuss your requirements. We look forward to hearing from you.


best regards
Louise Barson www.silverconcierge.co.uk