Home and Garden

There’s no doubt about it; winter is well and truly on its way, bringing bitter winds and icy temperatures.

Keeping the house warm during the long winter months can cause energy bills to soar, leaving some families with the difficult choice between heating their homes, or buying essential food and household items. The annual quest to fend off the winter’s chill also risks significant damage to our environment, using valuable natural resources and releasing harmful waste products into the atmosphere.

So what’s the answer?

Practical solutions for keeping heating bills down

As well as ensuring that families stay snug, maintaining a warm home also vastly reduces a person’s susceptibility to certain ‘winter’ illnesses, such as coughs, colds, and influenza. This is especially important for the very young, elderly, or infirm; keeping warm during the winter is essential for maintaining health, and it is important that heating ideas be as cost effective as possible to limit the impact on tighter budgets. Staying cozy can also vastly improve a person’s mood during the darker days of the year, and discourage us from reaching for the high-calorie ‘comfort’ foods we crave. (more…)

I guess, you know what I mean when I say a hardware store. For some reasons, I sometimes love going to the nearest hardware store in our area. It is around 25 kilometers away and I need around 15-20 minutes driving there. I drive on this so-called back road because there is no highway going there.

This afternoon, we went to this hardware store to buy a new door lock. The one installed in our new door was the one taken from our old door and it was so hard to lock and open it. Yesterday, one of the keys was broken inside the lock due to its hardness in opening it. This is one of the reasons why we went to the hardware store today. (more…)

The golden month of October is finally here!  Since I came back from my recent trip in Italy,  there are a lot of things I need to do at home. One of the very important  thing  to do is  autumn clean-up.   One of the tasks I need to do is to  clean my working area which is my computer room.  A tornado hit it since I came back from my trip. I am actually starting the organization this morning but since I also did some things, I was not  able to finish.

Dried leaves that needs to be cleaned-up in our garden. Autumn is finally here!

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Wow October is finally here! I did not realized that we already entered another month. It is probably because I was busy gallivanting in Tuscany, Italy. Yes, I just came back from that wonderful trip and wish I was still there enjoying the warm weather. The next time, I come back in Tuscany, I would love to drive one of those used motorhomes to explore the beauty of this region. I hope it will happen soon! (more…)

There are many kinds of   appliances or  objects  that are use to produce heat or warmth during winter season.  In many countries where winter occurs, especially in Europe  or North America, homeowners  are using heaters to  make their homes warm during cold winter season.

In a household or domestic setting, heaters are usually appliances whose purpose is to generate heating (i.e. warmth). Other types of heaters are Ovens and Furnaces.

My question is, what kind of heaters are you using at home during winter season?  If you ask me what we are using, I would say, we are using a wood pellet oven and  electric  heaters. I would like to discuss first about our pellet oven and how it works. (more…)

During the early 2000s, people associate LED lights with highly customized vehicles, most especially race-car capable sedans. It’s because of movies like Fast and Furious, wherein you would rarely see a car that didn’t have any kind of customization, why people no longer think of huge trailer trucks when they hear LED lighting. (more…)

Another home improvement took place. It is still not fully finish but  we are happy that we finally dismantled the old door and replaced it with a new one. Well, it is not actually an old door. We bought it in 2010 but the door deformed a bit for some reasons. Since it has a 5-year warranty, we complained about it and the company  replaced it without any question.

Ooops, I forgot to turn on the flash in my camera.  Our new door  still needs some finishing.

We actually both a lot from this company who sells  all kinds of doors and windows. They deliver in some parts of Europe and since we found the price quite competitive, we decided to buy from them all of our new windows and the main door.  The windows we bought from them are all good. It is a 3-layered glass windows and we are quite contented with it. (more…)

Food, clothing and shelter. These are known as human’s basic needs. Everyone needs a roof above one’s head and a place to park tired and weary bodies after a day’s work.

Recently, due to issues of over-population and inadequate land space in the metropolis, more real estate developers and even homeowners have embraced condominium living.

Today’s condominiums come in various types and sizes — from multi-storey high rise buildings to mid-rise or mid-level apartment or flat types and from 21 square meters studio units to large 3 bedroom units. (more…)

I am currently drinking a cup of chocolate flavored cappuccino because  the  weather is asking me to do it. lolz! It  is really getting cold now, one of the signs that autumn or fall season is here.  How I wish  the sun will still shine in the next days. Oh well, what can I do if this  is the decision of Mother Nature but agree to it!

These are some of the tulips from our garden last spring season. I love it! You can also see the castle tower at the background. Wow a garden near the castle, I feel lucky!

I am doing the so-called last minute gardening of  the season. Last  weekend, I was planting some flowers and to be  exact 63  tulips bulbs  all in all. I am making it ready for next year’s  spring time. This is the perfect time of the year to plant  these lovely tulips especially if you live in the  Northern Hemisphere. I already have over a hundred of it in our garden but I still want to plant more. (more…)

What are uPVC Windows?

uPVC stands for un-plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride which is a chemical mixture of carbon, chlorine and hydrogen. uPVC windows are growing in popularity around the world and come in various colors and styles to suit different properties. There are many advantages of installing uPVC windows such as security, insulation, durable and affordable. In this article, we’ll look at benefits and the different types of uPVC windows.

Benefits of uPVC Windows

Energy Efficiency

uPVC windows are very good insulators helping home owners save on their energy bills. Stay warm in winter and cool in summer with uPVC. They look like painted timber but since no trees are used in the manufacturing process, they have relatively less impact on the environment. uPVC is also recyclable and comes with an excellent warranty of 30 years or even lifetime for some brands. (more…)