Tuesday's Tip

Have you ever had a bird poo on you? ... No? Well I have, on quite a few occasions, just a pity that the 'luck' doesn't fall with it!.  Recently I was in town on a beautiful sunny day when I was hit with the unfriendly fire, right down my cheek and neatly landed, down my t-shirt, inbetween my boobs.  I had to ask Mr World if a bird just poo'd on me as I wasn't quite sure just what had happened, it was all so quick.  He looked at me and we both burst out laughing, Yip, it was bulls eye.  I was just so thankful that it never went all over my hair or clothes, yes it was disgusting having poo down my chest but it was a hard lump, as apposed to the runny version, so ....okay I know - enough poo talk, you get the gist.  Just to add though... yes, I did play the lottery that evening, and no, I never won anything, nor did I even match one number, so was I lucky having a bird poo on me? I think not.

Today's Tip

Bird Droppings: to clean them off outdoors, simply spray it with full strength vinegar and wipe off, or spray onto cloth first then wipe.

Whilst you have the vinegar out why not clean your plastic garden furniture, spray with the vinegar and this will remove mildew and any build up of dirt.  The vinegar should also prevent the mildew reappearing for a while.

Hope you have a lucky day ;0)

Tuesday's Tip

We're into our 4th week of our summer holidays now, and surprisingly I have not pulled any of my hair out ...yet! ha ha.  Although I may start very soon, but not because the kids are playing up, I've discovered these strange long, thick, curly, white hairs which Mr World described as fishing wire - nice eh!  My 'normal' hair is long, brown and wavy... these little long buggers are multiplying and fast.  I liked my white hairs when they were well hidden under my fringe however on finding one of the fishing wires attached to my head, springing straight up,  I soon realised they are all over.  Hmm, am I bothered? I really don't know.  I suffer from 'know one can tell my age, or even guess close'.  You see I still get asked for I.D. when buying alcohol (so does that mean I look 17?)  I went to the bookies a couple of weeks ago (to place a bet for some else, not me honest!) and was refused as I didn't appear to be 25, and yet last weekend one of Mr World's friends I was introduced to, although he knew Mr World was younger than me, placed me at around 40!  I'd like to think that I have a youthful look but with a wise old head on my shoulders lol ;0)

Back to the summer holidays... Today's tip is a boredom buster.  Make a board game.  It doesn't take as long as you'd think and the only limit is your imagination. 

We started with an A3 size of paper, if you don't have a large piece then you could use a sheet of wrapping, wall paper or tape 4x A4 pages together.  While we were having a chat about what we would like to have in our game, we designed the counters.  Miss World had a good idea to use buttons on them, gives little fingers something to grab onto when counting out their turn.  Once you have the counters you can draw the squares to fit your counters.

We decided a house for the start, going over a river, through a play park and ice cream was the finish.  Not wanting the kids to get bored too quickly we didn't make a plan, just dived straight in and started drawing, colouring and used some stamps for quickness too.

Making forfeit cards was a good idea too as these can be changed or added too.  I found having 32 squares keeps it short enough to hold young ones attention.  If you don't have a dice available either use an old box or cut out a hexagon from card and push a cocktail stick through the middle using it as a spinner.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway ... a handy Pouch for a Nintendo DS, scroll down to the end of the tutorial and all I'm asking is you leave a comment.  Hope you're enjoying you're week... and my real age? 34 well for now- it's my birthday soon. :0)

Tuesday's Tips

Little tip about batteries today.  Don't throw them out when you they run out as it depends on what they are being used to power.  For example when your Wii controllers begin to stop working there could be enough power left in the battery to run a clock for a few months.  Although remember not to mix old and new batteries together though, as they can ignite, rupture or leak... nasty stuff!! :0(

Hand Felted Wall Clock by Kelly Connor Designs at Folksy.com

Well worth a try and remember not to put batteries in with the household rubbish.  They need to be disposed of correctly, as they contain elements which are hazardous to the environment.  Whilst the exact chemical make-up varies from type to type, most batteries contain heavy metals, which are the main cause for environmental concern. When disposed of incorrectly, these heavy metals may leak into the ground when the battery casing corrodes. This can contribute to soil and water pollution and endanger wildlife. Cadmium, for example, can be toxic to aquatic invertebrates and can bio-accumulate in fish, which damages ecosystems and makes them unfit for human consumption. Some batteries, such as button cell batteries, also contain mercury, which has similarly hazardous properties.  So save our poor wee planet and do the right thing, dispose of batteries correctly.  Here's a link to Recycle Now, where you can find out where you can safely put your batteries.

Tuesday's Tips

I've spent the last few days phoning various companies customer services departments chasing up queries.  I'm sure I'm not alone in being frustrated with how long you can remain on hold, or in a queue, before you get to speak to somebody, never mind being passed about from one department to another.  Although I am always very (maybe sometimes overly) polite, as it does get you a long way when having to speak to operators, and you'll be amazed at what they'll do for you if you treat them with respect, no one like to be abused.  My father always said to get anywhere in life 'kill them with kindness'.  Now I'm not quite sure how that comes across to you, but he said it with good intention, I guess it's an alternative to manners costs nothing.

Waiting for my Sweetheart 8x8" print from Lola's Room on Folksy

click on the picture to check out more of her fabulous photographes.

I hate how all the telephone numbers are 0870 or 0845 numbers, which aren't exactly cheap, and if they had an 01... number I could get it free in my call plan.  So I thought I'd let you know a way to find out alternative numbers either 01 and some even have 0800 free phone numbers.

SAYNOTO0870.COM

You can search through a website called SAY NO TO 0870.  One of the Companies I looked up was for the catalogue I use.  I simply typed in the Company name and it gave me alternative 01 number and a FREE phone number, and all the companies various listed phone numbers.  Another bonus is that you don't have to register with this site, it's instant and free - oh how I love that word.       Aah I'm a very happy bunny now ;0)

Tuesday's Tip

... on a Tuesday this week!! Yah for me ;0)

This week I'm giving you an incite to how I organise my week.  Since I gave up the 9 to 5 rat race, I initially found it difficult to keep track of which month it was, never mind which day.  Slowly each day moulded into the next, and as a result I have become a slave to my calender.  Without it I would become forgetful (okay, more so than I am already) and unorganised.  Now if I'm unorganised then it creates stress and anxiety for me, and I've learnt over the years that although I work very well under pressure, I can not do stress and anxiety.  So I've learnt to adapt a routine which works for me.  Most days have tasks assigned to them, but it's not regimented and certainly doesn't take me hours, I like making my life simple, easy and with little effort possible.  Apparently it only takes 28 days to do something repeatedly before it becomes a habit.

 

Mondays  I usually do my grocery shopping on a Tuesday, so on a Monday I'll clean out the fridge, plan a menu for the week ahead and creating a shopping list from this.  Because I clean out the fridge every Monday (or day before my shop) it doesn't take me long to do, I know exactly whats in there and therefor less waste as I take note of use by dates.  Menu planning can be daunting at first, and take a while to get to grips with, if you find this then keep your weekly menus and rotate them on a monthly basis.  You can easily change one day a week where you try something new out so as not to become too boring and predictable.

Menu Planning Tips

* Ask your family what their favourite meal is.  If you have older children, then why not get them to cook this one night a week. 

* Have one night where dinner can be rustled up very quickly, all of us have our days when we're just too tired, there's nothing wrong with good old beans on toast or baked potatoes.  Of course cooking double the quantity and freezing half the previous week is good for these nights too.

* Pick one chicken dish, beef, vegetarian, pasta and  fish to keep variety.

* I have two pudding nights a week, it keeps it a nice treat, we have them on the same days each week (Tues & Friday, Sunday we're at my mums) it gives us all something to look forward to, and there's no arguments! as the kids don't expect pudding every time they clear their plates. 

* You could have themed days, or weeks, ie: Italian, Chinese,

* Slow cooker, if you have people eating at different times then a slow cooker meal is perfect, it keeps dinner hot and no over cooking, also there's very little washing up to do as all prep is done in the morning.

The photos I've used are from Accidental Vix and Love from Beth who are on Folksy
Just click on the pictures to take you to their shops.

As always I'd love to hear your ideas too,
I'm no expert and there's always room for improvement!!

Tuesday's Tips

... on a Wednesday ;0)

A couple of quick tips today.  Now to many of you my tips may seem obvious or something you've always done, but as I'm still settling into my role of housekeeper and Mum, I'm just sharing the little things that have helped me along my way. 

I'm a reasonably good cook, but I don't feel very confident in the kitchen, however I have no problem with baking and I love it, love it, love it.  I love baking with the kids too, they do all the hard work while I manage the 'damage control limitation', putting all the ingredients away and washing up as we go along. 

So back to the cooking, I was boiling eggs for our salad at the weekend, and one of them cracked.  My eggs were at room temperature, I don't store them in the fridge like most people seem to do, I don't know why I don't, other than they look pretty in the wicker basket I have, hmm now I've written that I'm not sure that's good enough reason not to chill them lol.  When I put the eggs in the boiling water I always dip them in and out a couple of times to get the eggs used to the heat, but alas one burst.  Then I was told to add salt to stop the egg white leaking out all over the pan and sticking to the other eggs and it worked a treat.  This is one tip I'll be using again as I always have one egg that cracks in the pan, I also boil one more egg than I need - as a just in case.  Before my salt episode I kept trying vinegar but it never worked for me.  I maybe should have paid more attention, all those years ago, in Home Economics class and I probably would have known this.

To accompany the salad, we had bread which was not as fresh as when bought, again somebody came to the rescue and sprinkled a little water over it, wrapped the bread in tin foil and put it in the oven for about 10minutes and voila lovely warm 'fresh' bread again.  Oh I do love summer salads, almost as much as winter soups.

I'd appreciate any tips you'd like to share, maybe you could do a guest spot giving some of your favourite tips and tricks you've used? 

Hope you have a happy Wednesday x

Tuesday's Tips

I love seeing a load of white washing drying on the line, only problem I have is my whites are not as brilliant white as the day they were bought, more like a pale grey! Not all of them go that way, but once in a while I have been known to throw all the colours in together for quickness and my whites loose their sparkle.  My Nana would not be amused with me I bet, her wash day is a Friday, always has been, slaving over the wash tub all day.  When I bought my first home I inherited my grandparents old twin tub, and boy was that fun!  I grew to love it though, as I was very grateful I didn't have to hand wash everything.  Certainly makes me appreciate how much efficient my current washing machine is.

Shameless plug for my peg bag ;0)

And so to today's Tuesday Tip # 1

This is for an overnight soak.  Put your washing into the machine, along with a scoop of Napisan and your usual washing powder.  (I haven't used Napisan since my children were babies and had forgotten all about it.)  Start your machine on your normal cycle.  Once the machine has gone through most of the cycle, but is still full of water, and before it begins to spin, turn the machine off.  The whites will now sit in the solution overnight and in the morning you can switch the machine back on to complete the cycle.

All sounds very easy...I've yet to try it but Napisan is on my grocery list now so I'll let you know next week how I get on.  And if that fails...

Tuesday Tip # 2

If the above doesn't work for you and your underwear is still that awful grey colour then there's still hope.  Soak them in water overnight with 8 tea bags, and in the morning you should have lovely 'nude' coloured underwear.

Well worth a try I think...any one for tea?

Tuesday's Tip - reducing air pollution

Am I the only person who didn't fully understand the importance of indoor plants?  I have done a bit of reading into this and have found out some interesting facts.  Now I do remember, albeit vaguely, learning about plants and how they increase oxygen levels some 20 'odd' years ago!.  I've discovered that the first body of people to compile a list of air cleaning plants was NASA, (yes, really) they were researching ways to clean air in space stations.

Compared to buying an air purifying machine, plant are by far cheaper, costs less to run and will probably last longer than any machine.  Recommendations are approximately one plant for each 100 square feet in your home.  Bad chemicals such as formaldehyde, tetrachloride and benzene, can be totally eliminated when soil microbes and plant roots work together.  Pretty amazing stuff if you ask me.

TUESDAYS TIP

Ivy plants         keep an Ivy plant in your kitchen to offset
                         benzene from your gas hob.
Spider plants    absorb formaldehyde from new paper, books,
                         cardboard and computers.

Both these plants absorb fumes from carbon monoxide, oils and gasoline.

For more reading here's a link. 

I'd love to hear your stories about which plants you have in your home and why? 

Tuesday's Tip

First a quick update on my previous post...promise i won't bore you ...

The Eco friendly weedkiller.  3 weeks later and although 2 weeds have appeared, I can assure you there was more like 52 when I first started.  So I'm over the moon how it's worked.  I applied another lot of salt and boiling water, this time only to the 2 weeds I removed.  So this tip has a huge thumbs up, and I'll definitely be carrying on with this.

Secondly the loo roll air freshener, I found it worked really well.  My bathroom door is always open so the smell would have been stronger had it been kept shut, however I've no complaints as it did work a treat.  The lovely Sue, from Lynwoodcrafts, kindly pointed out that care should be taken when using oil in it's pure form, or the person using the last few sheets may get a surprise.  I wouldn't want to be responsible for any burnt or itchy bottoms.  ;0)

And so to today...not so much of a tip, but it's something I've done for as long as I can remember.  When filling up the tumble dryer (aah now, tumble dryers aren't the most eco friendly things, but needs must sometimes)  anyway... I always clear away the lint (fluffy stuff)...a) because if your machine is fluff free it performs better and more importantly b) I put it in the garden for the birds to use, they use it to line their nests.

 I sometimes pop it on the hedge beside the bird feeders, other days I just chuck it in the garden (depends on the mood - of me, not the birds!) either way I've seen them use it on many an occasion.  If you have tried any of my tips, I'd love to hear if they worked for you.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy

I'm not a big fan of housework, but I do have to live in a clean house.  I can't relax in the evening knowing there's housework to be done, yes I know 'it'll still be there tomorrow' and 'no one ever died wishing that their home was cleaner'.  Once upon a time I was obsessed with having a clean & tidy home - looking back on those days though I had no other focus, unlike now where playing with the kids, spending quality time with my partner and having me time (my crafting) is top of the list.  So in my effort to cut as many corners as possible and end up with the same results, this is one of my favourite cleaning tips. 

My microwave is used mainly to heat up left overs and the obligatory baked beans, somehow I always manage to buy exploding beans which just love to plaster themselves all over the insides.  So the easiest way I've found to clean the grime is to use lemon juice, and very, very little elbow grease.

I put about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in a little microwave bowl, place it inside on the turntable and switch it on for 2 minutes.  Take a damp cloth and wipe down, if the splatters don't come off easily, then put the bowl with the lemon back in and reheat for another 30secs to minute, repeat as necessary.  All being well it should take no time to clean. 

BEFORE: a very embarrassing picture of the inside ceiling of my microwave.

AFTER: all I did was one quick wipe to demonstrate how easy removing the splatters is,

of course you can take more time to get it uber clean.

Please take care as the lemon can become very hot, the measurements and times used are suitable to me and I cannot accept responsibility for any mishaps,my tips are given in good faith.

Tuesday's Tip

After the sucess of my ECO weed killer last week, which is still weed free YIPEE!! (jumping and punching the air with delight) I thought I'd try out another one this week.  I have a head full of what I deem usefull ...others may say useless... facts, tips and tricks I've collected over the years...at least it's not a head full of nits!  With 2 kids in primary school we've had one visit and I never want to see the little b***ers again!  3 weeks of itching hell and endless laundry washing...oh I could rant on and on...mother's not checking heads...ARGH!

Anyway, back to the here and now...a tip I've always meant to try is the bathroom air freshner one.  You add a few drops of essential oil to the inside of your toilet roll tube.  Then each time the loo roll is used, as it turns it should release a beautiful fragrance into the air.  Sounds too good to be true eh, I'll try it out and let you know how it goes.

Not the most glamorous photo for my blog !

Killing weeds the KIND way

Getting into the garden again feels fantastic! Now there are loads of things I love about winter, hats, scarves, slipper socks, candles, homemade soup, soft fleecy blankets, hotwater bottles, mulled wine...ooh I could go on and on but back to the here and now...

This bit of paving gives me endless hours of back breaking weeding, so this year is going to WILL be different.  In the blink of an eye (a few days anyway) it looks overgrown and neglected, and then I spend too much time weeding and none of the nurturing my garden craves.

Ta Da...now I want it to stay this way, at least for a while longer, so I am road testing a new weed killer.

ECO FRIENDLY WEED KILLER

...for the weeds which love your patio (or wonky paving slabs!)...

All you need is SALT and BOILING WATER

Carefully spread salt between the cracks and then pour boiling water over.

It's now been 2 days since I salted and no re-growth to be seen so far, early days though, I'll keep you posted on progress.  Taking of re-growth, wonder if it works on hairy legs ? ;0)