Curly Tales

Show us your favorite local band.
Submitted by Soup.

Loving the 3 Daft Monkeys who have been the line up act for the Levellers 2 years running (maybe more, though I didn't know them back then) at the Beautiful Days festival.

3daftmonkeys

and for a good jump up & down - bouncing yer arse off the walls - in a kind of Madness-esque sort of manner it has to be Rudi's Message who are unsigned as of yet, but fabulous nonetheless.

Rudi's message

Who knew it, but THIS little gadget really does make you think! 

Efergy-meter

John's anniversary present showed up on Wednesday and to be frank, I didn't expect much from it.  He set it up immediately, even rushing to the shop for a few AAA batteries (which weren't rechargeable - we do need to get a new charger that acepts sizes other than AA!)  A little clip attches round the live feed wire on your electic box and then transmits your energy consumption to the above wireless display, updating every 6 seconds.  It took next to no time to get to grips with, and by 9pm I was seriously annoyed with being told off for my frivolous trips to the fridge, which were costing him a fortune!  Ha!

The funny thing is, when he'd gone to work the next morning I found myself flicking through the manual quickly and then ended up carrying the efergy round with me most of the day!  It really does make you think about the energy you're using.  I marked a 4 bank extension with TV,DVD,VIDEO and as it has seperate switches I can turn the power off each completely when not in use - no more standby charges.  If I had to go to the fridge, I got out everything I'd need at once and not put anything back till it was all ready to go back in, so the compressor had to work less hard to get the fridge back up to temp and this was clearly visible on the efergy.  I boiled the kettle with just one cup of water when I needed a brew.  Silly little things, but they make such a huge difference!  Next thing I did was to investigate my carbon footprint and this site was really helpful.  The efergy will calculate it in more detail for us, so I think we'll wait till we've got a month's worth of data before coming to calculate it.  However, the site had other information that got me thinking...such as, mobile phone chargers continue to supply a charge even when your mobile is not being charged!  Now - I'm the world's worst culprit when it comes to forgetting to charge my phone, I'm useless with a mobile, I really am.  But this little snippet of info will make sure I never forget to take the plug out after I'm done charging, I'd end up paying the electic for an uncharged mobile for weeks if I weren't careful!

John's pretty clear he's more for saving money than saving the planet, whereas I'm probably split 50/50.  I do reduce, reuse, recycle!  I am trying my best to buy green and think about my actions, but I have a long way to go before reaching Felicity Kendall's Good Life!  The one thing the efergy has done is made us recognise we can make a difference - to our electric bill and to the environment - and has made us unanimous about sorting out a wind turbine and solar panels.  The price of the turbines is gradually falling and the efergy will brilliantly tell us exactly what size we need to provide us with free electric!  I'm not quite sure on the planning permission side of things yet - the neighbours may not be thrilled if we position a windmill on top of our roof, but we're in a fantastic position for wind power...nothing but miles of valleys and fields in front of us, it can be quite blustery!  I wonder if we could rig up several mini turbines, like glittering pinwheels aloft our rooftop...?

So.  There we have it - a bold step towards a greener life.  I've asked John if I can start buying long flowing skirts and smock tops but it seems this was pushing it a little too far...for the moment.

HIS and HERS

Mr & Mrs Dullsville this year...he can clock off how much energy I'm burning with my new pressie though! ;D

So much to do this week...so little time!!!  Just writing this for my own organisational needs more than anything but feel free to read and thank your lucky stars you don't live close enough for me to nag you to butter my baps ;)

Wed 22nd     Go shopping for christening outfits for all of us

                    Buy new tablecloth & runner...and other pink accessories if I see any!

                    Borrow champagne glasses from MIL

                    Express bottle of milk for tonight

                    Get on top of the laundry

                    Pack bag & drop LJ off to sleep at his nana's

                    Get ready - going out for dinner with my Uncle & his partner

Thur 23rd       Collect LJ & borrow carpet cleaner, do the whole of downstairs

                     Buy anniversary presents

                     Tesco shop

                     Book car for SIL online

                     Cut the lawns

                     Express bottle of milk for tonight

                    Get boys & myself ready - going out for dinner with SIL

Fri 24th         Housework as usual, make sure no laundry stacked up

                    Drop sweets down to shop

                    Stock check sweets & make out new order

                    Sort out guest room for Jim

                    Collect Jim from train station

                    Pick up bottle of something nice for babysitters!  (M&D)

                    Express bottle of milk to leave for Jake

                    Get ready - out for dinner with Jim & the gang

Sat 25th       Happy anniversary to us!

                   Give list of fruit & veg to John to bring home after work

                   Make & prepare as much as possible for buffet tomorrow

                   Get house looking good, blow up balloons, etc

                   Have a bath & beautify myself!

                   Do a late night Tesco shop for booze & all the nibbles

                   Set out glasses & booze

Sun 26th     Prepare final bits for buffet

                  Express bottle or two

                  Get ready - christening at 11am

                  Back home - whack oven on, bake off quiches

                  Try to chill out & enjoy the party!

Show us what you're drinking.

Water n Apple Juice

OK peeps.  I have a laundry crisis here.  My tie dye top somehow managed to find its way into my whites and now all my boys have pink clothes!  EEEEEK!  (Stop sniggering).

I've dunked the affected items into a sinkful of cold water with a dash of salt, a scoop of Vanish Oxiaction and a dissolved dishwasher tablet.  (And they say the internet can give you too much information!) I wondered if any of these things would actually work, then came to the conclusion they may work better in combination!  Hmmm...can't remember whether my chemistry skills used to be any cop at school, if the sink starts to eminate green smoke I'll pull the plug.

Anyway - if all of this fails - is there any other remedy you know of??  Phil - I already know your answer will be sunshine but this is going to be my plan C when I'm hanging them on the line to dry! lol!

Ahhh the joys of being a housewife.

John told me he'd seen the news on this recently, it sounded amazing and I went to look it out on Youtube for myself.  Unbelievable!  If you've not already watched this, have a look!  Let it buffer first, it's a long one.

Twinkle Twinkle Chocolate Button

How I wonder Butcher's Shop

How I wonder Butcher's Shop

How I wonder Butcher's Shop

Twinkle Twinkle Chocolate Button

How I wonder Butcher's Shop

Happy 3rd Birthday sunshine boy!

Party at 1pm and daddy will be home I promise!  It's a good job you fell fast asleep in your dinner at 5.30pm last night really...I know you woke daddy up at 2am wanting to play and then spent an hour messing around in your bedroom, but at least you're still flat out on your floor (snuggled in your duvet) and I can get on with preparing!  When you wake up, we'll have breakfast and I won't remind you it's your birthday...in the hope that daddy will be home soon after and he can watch as you open your presents.  He'd like that!

Three small years, yet I feel I've always had you.  Have a great day darling boy - love you lots and lots.  Mummy, Daddy and Baby Jake xxx