Home and Garden – Page 7

Consumerism Gone Mad!

Last week I had the rare opportunity to go shopping without kids! It was bliss; no disappearing acts, no moaning for food nor pleading for me to buy her some hideously branded toy that she’ll never play with. Shopping is usually a bit of a blur for me as I’m always in such a rush to get in and out before anyone gets hurt. As I was strolling around at a leisurely pace I started to notice some rather strange, verging on ridiculous, items on the shelves….

An egg boiler: What’s wrong with a pot of boiling water? Christ, even I can boil and egg.

Onion preserver: Cling film springs to mind.

Quilt clips: It’s really not that hard to change a duvet cover. My husband can even do it on his own in less than a minute!

Silicone Egg Poachers: You can even buy a nifty little gadget to lift them out of the pot. See comment above re pot of boiling water.

Toaster Bags: This had to be the most ridiculous. I’m sure my cleaner would appreciate them but isn’t that what the crumb tray is for and it’s really not that hard to empty.

As a society do we have more money than sense? Is this an example of consumerism gone mad? Are we that lazy? Useless? Stupid? I can’t help thinking that there’s demand for these products or manufacturers wouldn’t produce them.

What’s the most ridiculous item you’ve ever seen?

1 in 3 children in London do not own a book!

I was absolutely horrified to read in a paper a few weeks ago, that 1 in 3 children in London do not own a book! One child, when asked to bring a book into school, brought an Argos catalogue as this was the only book in the house. Bloody hell! I believe this stems to busy parents, economics and the advent of technology. Kids prefer an X-box/Playstation to a book any day. I’m not pointing fingers, as working parents ourselves, we’re guilty as well but personally I think this is very sad.

My hubby and I are not book worms, it’s not that we can’t read we just don’t read a lot, we prefer online magazines, newspapers, twitter and blogs. I also belong to a book club and have done so for 10 years but to be honest I rarely make it through a book.

However, ever since Madame was very young we’ve always emphasized reading and read her 3 books every night religiously, unless it’s a really long one then maybe only two. Even when we can’t be arsed and skip a few pages, sadly she’s at the age now that she pulls us up on it! As an ex-teacher you’ll be amazed at the benefits of reading to your kids for a mere 10 minutes a night. Sorry, I’ll get off my soapbox now!

Like with anything, including wine, moderation is the key. I’m an IT consultant who works in education and have done so for the past 10+ years. I don’t know how many times I’ve said that technology is to compliment what you’re doing and not to replace. My daughter is 3.5 and is a complete whizz on my iphone, I have it loaded up with games, music and videos for her…but the difference is they all have an educational element, she’s none the wiser. You won’t find Angry birds on my phone.

Nothing compares to breaking the spine on a new book, turning the pages and losing yourself!

This weekend, we sorted out Madame’s reading corner. I was inspired by Trapped in North Jersey. We’re very limited on space but I think it’s perfect. They’re picture ledges from Ikea (115cm) and only £8 each, bargain! What do you think?

Personalised Gifts

My hubby took this photo of Madame when we were on holiday in Wales recently. I love it. I hate to admit it but he always manages to get better photos than me on his iphone. He thinks its skill and struts around like a proud peacock, but I’m convinced he has different camera software on his iphone. Anyhow, we had it put onto a canvas for our photo display in the kitchen which some of you may have spotted in my Kitchen Tour.

Unfortunately, when my mum was here recently from Canada she took a liking to it, so much that she took it with her when she left!!! Now there was a gaping hole in our display.

Coincidentally, the team at Bags of Love contacted us and asked us if we wanted to review one of their canvases! Result.

This isn’t the first time I’ve used Bags of Love for canvases. Quite a few years ago I had three done of some stunning photos I took when on holiday in Jordan. Unfortunately, it involved my ex so they have been relegated to the loft. Normally, I would have buzzed them but they are such good quality I can’t bring myself too. I’m thinking I can use the frames for something else.

The new canvas arrived and we are truly impressed with it. It does seem a bit darker than the last one but that’s down to the poor quality of the image and not the folks at Bags of Love. I also like the fact that it’s not as deep as the other one, the other one was a couple of inches thick (sorry for the imperial measure). The service was also very quick. I think it arrived in a couple of days. I’m not sure how much this one would have cost but I just had a quick look on the site and the prices look reasonable and they have a 2 for 1 deal on at the moment.

In addition, to photo canvases they also do personalised gifts, designer bedding and photo montages.

So what do you think?

Tour of my kitchen!

There was a meme going around awhile ago, unfortunately, I wasn’t tagged, but you know me, I decided to do it anyhow. The only rule was that you didn’t clean the kitchen beforehand…..*ahem*

Don’t get too excited, we live 20 minutes from London and you don’t get much bang for your buck!!!

I don’t want to formally tag anyone but would love to see @chickenruby, @annieqpr, @dadyougeek and @geekmummy’s kitchens.

Our Royal Wedding Street Party

I don’t live on one of the prettiest streets but it’s one of the friendliest by far. The mums have a Facebook Group, we often meet for drinks and a take-away in the evenings, when a new baby arrives on the street everyone swarms to give them a warm welcome, you can often see people chatting in the street and we do have a street party every year. However, this year was even more special.

The men on the street, started to filter out onto the street at 8 am to help hang the 350m of bunting, erect the bandstand and sort out the tables. The party kicked off around 1pm. We had a band, a cake baking competition, which a couple of woman who have lived on the street for 50 years judged, a hat decorating contest for the kids, a giant ‘flip-flop’ piñata, pin the tail on the Corgi and a burly ex navy officer painted the children’s faces along with a few of the young at heart adults! But for the most part the kids just loved running loose in the street, it took me back to the 70s.

It was an absolutely brilliant day, a great chance to catch up with everyone and meet a few new people. I can’t wait till the Jubilee next year!