Garden Furniture

Having a garage is one of the most abused privileges I have encountered in all my years of owning a house.  I have one that is huge – a double width and slightly longer than standard.  By rights I should be able to put my car in the garage at night.  Of course, this plan … Read more

Ah, the first signs that spring could well be on it’s delayed way have begun.  There is much bird activity outside – the various food containers I’ve been hanging out are being visited more frequently and at last it seems as though my efforts are paying off.  There is nothing quite as spirit enhancing than … Read more

What do we mean by an efficient home interior – it can mean all kinds of things these days.  I take it that the home has got serously good triple glazing in very modern frames – the latest version of what we used to know as upvc.  They will be neat, completely sturdy but unobtrusive.  … Read more

What we all think of as efficient homes and lights is actually a matter of opinion in many cases.  I remember rather casually telling someone that our gas fire at home was an efficient – big mistake – this chap was a proper engineer, one who’d got degrees coming out of his ears and knew … Read more

I happily hold membership of the three main heritage charities in the uk.  Although I don’t make as much use of the cards as I could, it fills me with a warm glow that I am helping to maintain some of the most important and lovely properties on this earth.  They have such a hard … Read more

An efficient home interior is just one of the things we are all urged to acquire these days.  An efficient exterior would be just as useful int erms of limiting our wastage of utilities.  I have always wondered about the need for those huge patio heaters that were all the rage a couple of years … Read more

On a recent trip out to a somewhat more rural location than my home town, I was quite taken with the eforts the owner of our hired cottage had gone to to make sure the utilities were not squandered away at her expense.  There were various devices in place to ensure the heating came on … Read more

We hear such a lot about changing over supply companies, the big switch that the government has spearheaded but seems rather slow to be taking off.  There are obviously good reasons to make a switch over to a cheaper company, they never seem able to offer the special low deals to their existing loyal customer … Read more

There is something unsettled about the weather lately.  Not so good for getting out the oak garden furniture.  But when it gets dark it’s often still warm enough to stop outside a while.  At least the outdoor lighting schemes will be well  used.  The week before last we had torrential rain every day and there … Read more

What do we mean by efficient homes – that is such a good question.  One man’s efficiency is another man’s mean streak.  There is no doubt at all in my mind that we use far too much energy in the wrong areas.  You only have to go for a walk in the evening to see … Read more