Category Archives: family

Enjoying A Day At The Races

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Horse-Racing

It is nice every once in a while to treat yourself, without the little ones, and spend some quality time with your friends.  So how about a day at the races?  This is the one time you can have the whole day to yourself, getting fully dressed up and sipping champagne, whilst soaking in the atmosphere and having a little flutter. Or how about having a family day out at the races?  These days the races are perfect entertainment for the whole family, and there are still plenty of meetings left in 2021. If you are interested in why you might enjoy a day at the races, then step this way.

Enjoying a Flutter

Horse racing is one of those sports that combine the excitement of the event, the frill of dressing up, and the chance of winning some money. Horse race betting doesn’t have to mean high stakes, or even be based on some superior knowledge, it can just be fun. If you want to take it seriously, you can study the form of the runners, and their last few performances before placing a bet, either online, or on the day. You may be acting on a tip from a friend or from the Racing Post, who use expert analysis to predict possible winners. You may just be like me, and choose a horse based on the name you like most (I’ve had a few Grand National winners from doing just this.)

Things to look out for when placing your bet are aspects like if the horse has had any previous wins, the horse’s age and weight, it’s top speed ratings, and its latest betting odds.  Handy tips to picking your horse are found easily on various websites, and information is also available at the racecourse itself.

If you are tempted to have a flutter, you just need to set your budget and boundaries, and it will make your day all the more interesting and exciting, and you could end up taking home a few extra pounds.

Upcoming Events

Of course, the biggest racing events of the year like the Grand National, Royal Ascot and The Derby have all taken place this year, but most courses still have regular meetings in 2021. Next week (30th September) sees the Great Autumn Meeting taking place at Warwick Racecourse, whilst if you want to plan a little further ahead, Uttoxeter Racecourse has a jump racing afternoon on Friday 29th October, which, if you want to take the family, is actually during half term.

If you enjoy your racing under floodlights, Kempton Park has an evening of floodlight racing next month, whilst there are also meets at Newmarket, Haydock Park and Epsom Downs, all before the end of September.

Ladies day

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Fashion at the races is all important.  You want to create that right look but need some inspiration.  Dress codes at race tracks usually advise that you dress as you would if you were going to a wedding.  You can get ideas on the formal dress you are looking for, to express your desired look.  Many ladies enjoy wearing hats, which range from the simple design to the flamboyant, which you can pick up at local department stores, or have specially made by a milliner.  Shoes come in a range of shapes and colours, and can be easily found online to compliment your outfit.  Handbags and the right jewellery are the accessories which can finish off your race outfit perfectly.

A family day

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Family days at the races include extra activities to keep your cherubs entertained throughout the day, from an appearance of their favourite children’s characters, bouncy castles, to interactive racing zones.  Whether you live close to a racecourse or are travelling, racecourse websites advise you as where to drive in and park onsite, or local bus and rail information, with many places offering shuttle buses taking you directly to the course, from the nearest stations and town centres.

If you are travelling you also might consider making a night of it, and staying in local accommodation.  Whatever your requirements you might want to splash out on a lavish hotel, to an affordable boutique bed and breakfast, or stay in local flats and rooms.  However you wish to spend it, a day out at the races is a way of having fun with your friends or entertaining your family.

 

A Life Insurance Policy Can Give You Peace Of Mind

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The saying happiness is a choice is too cliché but it is nonetheless true in many instances. Our life decisions help pave the way to either happiness or ruin, which means that prudence has to be exercised when making day to day choices. One such decision that we do need to make is how to prepare for the future, and while it may be morbid to think about our passing one day, many say it is a healthy attitude towards the reality of life. Hence, life insurance is becoming increasingly popular among young adults. Even people who have not yet started a family, or who haven’t yet left their 30’s are looking at term life insurance quotes for comparison, and many are setting up their policies earlier than ever before.

While life insurance is basically a preparation for the inevitable, it also provides benefits to people from day to day, including peace of mind.

Here are some of the ways of how life insurance can make people happy.

  1. Provides a Sense of Security for the Future

Security comprises a major part in peace of mind. The feeling of having a safety net, whatever may happen, gives a good feeling. Secure people are generally happy and they tend to appreciate the present more than those who opt to shoot in the dark and rely on luck. Having a life insurance provides such sense of security for people. It is said that many people in their late adulthood who have life insurance are reportedly happier than those who don’t.

  1. Gives Peace of Mind

Nothing compares to peace of mind. In fact, this is the top reason why people work hard and accumulate wealth. However, it seems elusive to some and many are quick to lose it. Buying life insurance gives a certain degree of peace of mind as it allows a person to secure his or her person. Knowing you will be taken cared of well upon your passing helps you feel prepared, and thus feel good about yourself. It also reduces the worries of future financial status and makes one enjoy their day to day life better.

  1. It’s a Way of Caring for Your Family

Family is one of the greatest things that can make you happy, and this happiness grows exponentially as one provides and cares for his loved ones. The same is true with life insurance. Buying yourself a life insurance plan is a portrayal of love to your family because you take the burden off of them when the time of your death comes. Life insurance will cover expenses upon death and this takes off a heavy financial load from your loved one’s shoulders. With it, you can also better enjoy your time with your family because you know everything is taken care of. A company like Fabric could be worth a look as they are a life insurance innovator that offers instant decisions and affordable policies. Fabric is perfect for absolutely anyone, but especially families and parents, who have realized the importance of planning ahead when it comes to their financial well-being and taking the stress out of their future.

Whatever other reasons may be on how life insurance contributes to your feelings of happiness, it is doubtlessly beneficial in the long run. This is why it is always better to buy a plan while it is still early on in life.

 

How To Create More Space In Your Current Home

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It is a common problem, particularly when a couple become a family. That dream home that you found is suddenly not big enough. As your family grows, you find that you need more bedrooms, more living space, a bigger kitchen because the space you have is no longer big enough to accommodate your needs. The answer seems to be to move to a bigger house, but you may not wish to do that, you may love your current home and like the area that you live in. In these cases the answer may be to extend your home.

Here are some of the ways that you could keep your dream home and make it work for you.

Accessory Dwelling Units

Accessory dwelling units are a brilliant way to create extra space in your home.An adu could be anything from transforming your garage into a new room, fixing the currently unused basement for living rather than just for storage, or actually creating a new dwelling in your garden space – maybe a granny flat for elderly parents to live on site and still have their own living space, but in the confines of your land and property.

If you are in the United States and are thinking of adding to your current building, you need to ensure your property can take the additional weight in the event of an earthquake or tremor. In these cases you can still add on, but would need to look at soft story seismic retrofitting to ensure any addition to your property was structurally safe.

A Loft Conversion

A loft conversion is a great idea if you are looking to create extra bedrooms and/or another bathroom. You are using a dead space in your roof and making it earn its keep. Loft conversions can be super spacious and also luxurious, and they can be bright and airy with the addition of Velux windows and blinds. A loft bedroom could be a fabulous space for a child’s bedroom, or a haven for a master bedroom, complete with an ensuite bathroom.

A mezzanine

If you don’t want a full loft conversion, you could create a large master bedroom in the form of a mezzanine. This is an intermediate floor that extends over a room, with the downstairs open to the double height ceiling. This is a brilliant idea if you are currently short of storage space in your bedroom as you then have a two tier bedroom, leaving a space for your bed, and lots more space for storage.

This is a great way to add a wow factor to your home.

An Extension

Moving downstairs, an extension to create extra rooms, or to expand current rooms like kitchen and living areas is a popular way to extend your space. Dependent on space, you could expand onto the back or the side of your home, maybe creating that family kitchen that you have always wanted, or adding another living room to make a space for the children to watch tv and play. Another popular use for an extension is to create a utilities room to house the washing machine/tumble dryer etc, thus freeing up space in your current kitchen.

A Conservatory

Conservatories do seem to have a sort of love/hate reputation, but I personally love them. A conservatory is a great choice if you have a beautiful garden and want to make the garden an extension of your home. Conservatories also make lovely dining rooms, again with the bonus of overlooking the garden. But a conservatory doesn’t have to be a large space, or limited to a large house. We have a conservatory on the side of our Victorian terrace that we use as a utilities room and this has been very useful.

Have you extended your home?