Christmas is obviously a wonderful time for the whole family but I am convinced that it is cats which benefit the most from the season of goodwill. The festive season gives our feline friends absolutely everything that they crave – tasty food, new things to play with and endless opportunities to annoy their owners. Or is that just my cat?
If you keep chickens in your garden then you will probably be enjoying the gorgeous fresh eggs. But you may also wish to hatch some eggs and chickens don’t always prove to be the best mothers. If the hen is even slightly neglectful then the eggs will never hatch. It can be best to take responsibility for incubating the eggs yourself. Here’s what you need to do.
Continue reading Your Incubator and How to Incubate Chicken Eggs
In the summer months, there is nothing better than spending a relaxing evening in the garden. That is until you are covered in insect bites! Those itchy and often painful bites are enough to ruin even the best party and can be quite an ordeal for those who suffer allergic reactions. Whilst mosquitos in the UK are not carriers of nasty diseases like malaria and the Zika virus, that doesn’t mean they are welcome visitors. Continue reading How to Keep Mosquitos Out of Your Garden
If your home is broken into then this is an extremely traumatic event. You may lose costly possessions and items of sentimental value. Your home could be vandalised and you will be left feeling vulnerable. It is easy to imagine potential intruders creeping around in your back garden and trying to gain access through one of your windows. But the truth is that many burglars will enter your home through your front door. Continue reading Is Your Front Door an Invitation to Intruders?
In recent years skinny and super skinny jeans have ruled the roost. Roomier styles like boyfriend jeans have had brief flirtations with popularity but spray on styles still predominate. In a world of skimpy fits and low waists iconic favourites like the Levi’s 501 have faded into the background. They have never quite gone away, though, and remain popular with an older generation who wore them in their heyday. Now, however, something of a renaissance could be on the cards.
Continue reading The Renaissance of Levi’s 501 Jeans
Most Sports enthusiasts can indulge in their hobby regularly. Skiers are generally not so fortunate. Even those lucky enough to live in a ski resort. Skiing is obviously a seasonal activity which is confined to the winter months and in any case many skiers don’t live close to the slopes. With the high cost of the holidays and the need to take time off work, skiers are often confined to just one trip each year. The only way to squeeze in another winter break is to travel at the weekend but that has its own problems. Continue reading The Best Ski Resorts for a Weekend Break
The world is big place and so there are thousands and thousands of place names to remember. It would be impossible for anyone to know the name and whereabouts of every place on earth. This can lead to potential difficulties for travellers and with many destinations having similar or identical names there is plenty of potential for confusion. Geographical misconceptions can be hilarious but they can also be very costly. Continue reading Disastrous Geography
In the winter it’s the idea of curling up next to a crackling fire with a good book and a warm drink that we look forward to. In the summer it’s a BBQ or campfire that catches our attention. What is it that makes us so drawn to the flames? Why do we feel ourselves relax when we are near the hearth?
Home Sweet Home
When I was growing up I was lucky enough to live in a house that had an open fire. It wasn’t a particularly old house, 1930’s perhaps, and the building itself had been chopped and changed over the years, but one thing had remained at the centre of it all – the fireplace. I loved helping my dad collect and chop up firewood and then watching my mum expertly lay out the newspaper, fire lighters, twigs and logs ready to be lit as the night drew in. I remember the way the match would spark into life and the flames would be carefully nurtured into a fully fledged roaring fire.
As the heat went up through the chimney walls, not only did the open fire seem to warm the entire house better than the central heating ever could, it also provided us kids with some wonderful roasted treats. A personal favourite would be crumpets cooked over the fire with lashings of butter.
Moving On
Having now ‘grown up’ and moved on into a few different properties (without chimneys) I have made various attempts to recreate the idea of a real fire which is so often the focal point of a room and a desirable feature in a house. From a rather ancient free standing electric flame affect fire that I positioned on top of some reclaimed marble slabs to make it look more like a hearth, to a real stack of logs embedded in the alcove to give a decorative feature that relates to having an open fire; there is nothing that quite lives up to having the real thing.
There is something homely and comforting to hear the crackle of the open fire and watch the flames lapping around the wood or coal. I can quite easily be entranced by it and have often wondered what is behind our love affair with an open fire?
Primitive Needs
When watching survival programmes on TV we often hear that there are several basic things we need to keep going including fire, water, food and shelter. Fire is one of those core things for survival. It is thought that since humans first discovered the benefits of fire and were able to control it, our evolution took a turning point.
Warmth = A fire provided heat to warm us and also provided light so that we can continue activities after the sun had set.
Food = A fire allowed us to start cooking food such as meats
Security = Many animals are afraid of fire which meant that the flames could help protect us from attacks. The smoke from a fire is also thought to help keep insects away.
Social = The fire would become a central point to gather, warm up, eat, feel safe and eventually communicate.
Nowadays we still use an open fire in similar ways to our ancestors. All across the globe humans are still drawn to social gatherings around a fire, such as telling stories around a campfire with marshmallows in hand, to keeping warm with friends in a specially built BBQ hut or around a firepit. Even those that are not able to have access to a real fire still feel the benefits of a modern alternative such as a virtual fire downloaded on their smart TV. There are even some studies that seem to support the idea that humans relax around an open fire. So perhaps our attraction is coming from something primal within us all?
You may think that you are not familiar with the artist Jack Vettriano but the truth is that you probably are. His work has proved incredibly popular, particularly in the UK, and his painting entitled The Singing Butler at one time topped the list of the highest selling prints in this country. You will know the picture even if you didn’t know who painted it. It would be fair to say that it is everywhere! Continue reading Jack Vettriano
I watched an interesting documentary about caravans the other day. Well when I say Interesting, I mean that it threw up some interesting information about the history of British travel habits rather than that the subject of caravans is particularly riveting! Caravans had their heyday in the 50’s and 60’s and enabled the masses to travel far further than their finances would otherwise have allowed. Eventually, however, the caravans themselves were superseded by another kind of holiday – the package tour. Continue reading Caravans, Package Tours and the Internet – How our Holiday Habits Have Changed
