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Essential House Upgrades to Consider This Year

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When you are considering renovating your home, it can be difficult to distinguish between the house upgrades that you need and those that you just really want. To ensure that your renovations are beneficial to your home and that you can eventually get a return on your investment, here are some of the best upgrade options that are available to you. 

1. Replacing Your Windows

Your windows can often be one of the most neglected features of your home, with upgrades to them often prioritized beneath flashier and more exciting alternatives. However, replacing your windows is paramount if you want to reduce your energy bills, to ensure that your house is safe and secure for years to come, and if you’re going to prevent issues such as damp and mould from creeping into your home. If you are looking to replace your windows, you should consider investing in ready made wooden windows from Timber Windows Direct, as these can be easily installed DIY while being custom made for the specifications of each individual space in your home. 

2. Updating Your Bathroom

To ensure that your bathroom remains a hygienic and easy-to-maintain room in your house, it should be high up on your list of potential upgrades. While pink and green bathrooms are now out-of-fashion, old bathrooms can also often be great breeders of mould and damp, especially if you have tiled walls and flooring or if the room is not well-ventilated. Some of the best bathroom updates that you should consider include installing energy-efficient appliances, such as low-flow showers and high-efficiency toilets, using marble on your walls rather than tiles to reduce issues with your grouting and sealant, and using pedestal sinks to disguise your plumbing. 

3. Spruce Up Your Kitchen

The next important room that you should consider upgrading is your kitchen. Kitchens can quickly become out-dated due to the fast-paced nature of technology innovation. To ensure that your kitchen area can keep up with the times, you should consider installing a range cooker or AGA to help you to cook high-quality dishes for a large number of people, and replace your devices with smart alternatives which can connect to your mobile phone. You should also consider installing a breakfast bar or island to help to create a more communal space, as well as help you to increase the preparation space and storage facilities in the room.

house upgrade, brand new kitchen

4. Landscape Your Garden

However, in all the excitement of your latest home renovations, you should not neglect your garden and the exterior of your home. This will ensure that you can create a relaxing extra living space that will make use of every inch of your home and allow you to bring nature closer. As well as hiring a landscape gardener to help you to create beautiful flower beds, paths, and water features, you should repair your fencing, paint your exterior walls, and install outdoor furniture to allow you to enjoy your garden to its maximum potential.

garden furniture

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My Sunday Snapshot and Ordinary Moments – Pool Time

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I’m sitting here while a gale is blowing outside, and yesterday it rained all day. But for most of the week the weather was glorious…and we got a pool! I’m sharing this weeks ordinary moments, sometimes the ordinary ones are the most special.

The pool, a great way to cool down on a hot day in June.

It hadn’t been a good couple of weeks. The kids were bored and refusing to do their school work. Everyone in the house was tetchy and moods were low. But then the sun shone, and it was splendid. I knew it was coming so I bought a pool from Argos. It was a big 8ft one, and Graham had to go out and buy a pump as the one we already had didn’t fit. He blew it up and then went to play his PS4. The kids put some water in from bottles because the hosepipe was broken. It didn’t work out too well.

The next day we got a new hose and the pool was filled. The Little Man was excited but the girls not so bothered. But once it was up it was way too tempting not to have a paddle at least. The Little man was in having a good time and eventually the girls joined him, they put on shorts and t-shirts because I hadn’t found their costumes.

Special Moments

Eldest son joined in with a paddle, and in the evening all five of my children were outside playing ball games, chatting, laughing and having fun. It felt like a very special moment. When you have five children of very different ages the bonding is very rare. When they do bond it’s usually over a video game they are playing together, so to have fun in the garden is even more rare.

The next day, the pool was filled even higher and the girls found their costumes and they all had a real good cool down. After a while the girls were fed up of their little brother’s ‘antics’ and gave up. Going back inside to resume their Youtube watching.

But the Little Man stayed in the pool and was joined by his Dad. They both lay there relaxing and the Little Man asked for some ‘zen’ music. Dad complied and they spent ten minutes just lying there. I was so jealous.

It was so lovely to see all my family have some fun over some hot sunny days in the garden. Who needs to go to a crowded beach!

My sunday snapshot
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The Ordinary Moments

How to stay healthy while stuck at home

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Maintaining your physical and mental health while stuck in lockdown can seem challenging at first. Many of the things you can normally rely on to make you feel good – going to the gym, family holidays, or even nights out with friends – are no longer available. Thankfully there are plenty of tips and tricks out there to help you adjust. 

Much of it comes back to retaining a sense of routine (or creating a new one). Read five quick tips on how to stay healthy at home below.   

Stay Healthy with Daily exercise

There are lots of ways to stay fit without stepping foot in a gym or sports hall. Many personal trainers are now offering free workouts online for you to join in with at home. Or you could weigh up your finances and kit out a home gym. 

stay healthy with daily exercise, home gym equipment including exercise mat and dumb bells.

But of course, exercising doesn’t always need to be so strenuous. Simply getting out for a short walk each day, especially if working or parenting full time, can be enough to clear your mind. 

Maintain a healthy diet

Whether you’re stuck at home with nothing to do or rushed off your feet as a key worker, eating a healthy diet may be the last thing on your mind. But making sure you’re getting enough of the good stuff at regular intervals is vital in fuelling your day. 

Lockdown could even be the perfect opportunity to hone your cooking skills. And by getting fresh, tasty produce delivered from local suppliers, you’ll be supporting your community too.  

stay healthy with fresh food, a chopping board of fresh vegetables ready to cook.

Look after your mental wellbeing

Emotional wellbeing has gained increased focus in recent years as awareness of mental health issues continues to grow. There’s lots you can do to look after yours, from yoga, to meditation, and getting better sleep.  

Research shows meditation is Britain’s most popular wellbeing therapy. There are plenty of apps out there to guide you through the process. 

Read, read, read

With international travel on hold for now, your next adventure could lie in the pages of a good book. Reading is an excellent way to pass time while focusing your mind – and it could make it easier to doze off at night too. 

If fiction isn’t your thing, see what reading material you can find to help learn a new skill.  

Check in with friends and family

Isolation doesn’t have to be isolating, The video conferencing software Zoom was downloaded 2.13m times when the UK lockdown was announced, and seeing a familiar face over the internet can go some way to restoring your sense of social connection.  

Arrange weekly catchups, host a virtual pub quiz, or take part in a cook-a-long. Whatever you decide on, you’ll feel better for talking to those you love. 

What’s helped you feel better while stuck at home? 

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Word of the Week 26 – Pool

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Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week. A nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. The idea of the linky is to reflect back on your past week and share it with us. It’s great if you can sum it up in a word or phrase, hence giving us your Word of the Week. My word this week is ‘pool’ and you can read more about that below.

I’m not totally strict on using just a word or phrase. But please try to stick to the theme of summing up your week.There are not too many rules with this linky, just remember to read at least another couple of posts in the link up after adding your link. I will read and comment on all posts and tweet them out for you. I also have a Pinterest board devoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts to Mix Please add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

MY WORD OF THE WEEK – Pool

Pool, Three children in a paddling pool in the back garden on a sunny day.

So last week it rained nearly all week, and this week we have had a heatwave. To be honest, I was really surprised that I could get a paddling pool from Argos. I really thought that with everyone being stuck in their garden then the pools would be sold out! This one is 8ft long, long enough for an adult to lie flat in, so perfect for my not so little kids.

The girls swimming costumes are packed away in a suitcase on top of my wardrobe and I couldn’t get it down. So they just put on some shorts and a t-shirts to go and sit in the pool. The Little Man’s swim shorts were readily available as he’d been swimming with his school just before lockdown.

I didn’t think they would be that interested, but they were outside nearly all day!

By late afternoon their older siblings had joined them in the garden. No1 Son had a paddle, and Eldest Daughter was a bit cruel in pushing Boo into the pool after she’d just got changed..oh dear! 🙂

I’d also bought a ball and Boo and ED played a game of passing the ball to each other combined with a word game. They had a lot of fun, and the other’s joined in too. Star sat on a deckchair with her feet in the pool until 8 pm. It’s amazing what a pool can do. It brought my family together, kept the young ones cool all day and provided them with non digital entertainment. We even had a power cut during the day which went unnoticed. The television is still playing up a little, but at least I got to watch the final of The Sewing Bee last night.

I know this is an account of only one day, but honestly, it was so lovely it has really made my week. The pool is ready for some more fun later. I may even be able to find the girl’s swimsuits.

p.s. It’s week 26! half way through the year already. Hold on everyone, we’ll soon be seeing the back of 2020. There have not been many years I’ve wanted to see the end of, but 2020 has been the pits so far hasn’t it?

Now, it’s over to you, what word or phrase sums up your week this week?

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How to Celebrate Your Anniversary While Social Distancing

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2020 has been a very strange and eventful year so far. We’ve all come to learn all about how to behave when there’s a deadly pathogen on the loose, and keeping two metres distant from those around us has become almost second nature. In fact, we may find it uncomfortable, or even anxiety-inducing, to be in close quarters with other people even after the lockdown has lifted and we’re all able to resume our previous lives. 

Of course, this all makes celebrating those special moments a little bit tricky. Weddings have been called off, funerals have been delayed, and birthday parties have been scaled back. 

Anniversaries, however, are a little bit different. As they’re usually celebrated by two people who might be cohabiting, or even sharing the same bed, the social distancing rules don’t apply.  

With that said, not all couples found themselves in this happy situation. If you were just at the early stages of a promising relationship when the lockdown kicked in, then adhering to the rules might have prevented you from spending time with your partner.

two wine bottles in the background with two glasses in front, celebrate

At the other end of the spectrum are couples for whom lockdown has been a particular strain. While you might have been cohabiting with a partner for years, being forced to spend every moment in the same building with them might have been a new experience. Familiarity, as the saying goes, can breed contempt. Throw the stress of housebound kids into the mix, and you’ve got a recipe for serious disquiet.

In either instance, an anniversary can represent an opportunity to remind each other exactly what you’re getting out of the relationship. If you’ve gotten into the same routine, then there are some ways you might use the occasion to break things up a little. So what can you do?

Recreate Special Moments

You’re not allowed to return to that restaurant where you went on your first date, or enjoyed your first meal as a married couple. But you can recreate the significant elements with a little bit of imagination and an online cookery instruction. Break out the best cutlery and light some candles. The nostalgia effect can be powerful, perhaps even encouraging you to spend time reminiscing about the past, and rediscovering why you’re together in the first place.

Invest in Gifts to Celebrate

Buying something for your significant other will help you to demonstrate just how much you care – especially if your gift is an unexpected one. A chocolate hamper will reliably go down well, especially if you’ve been eating well throughout the lockdown. Bunches of flowers tend to be similarly reliable – and it’ll help you keep your local florist in business, too.

Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy your special day.

flowers for anniversary

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