Freshly Social

Gardens are probably the most underappreciated parts of our houses as we retreat indoors and turn on the lights to watch DVDs or potter around the house and shun the good weather. But gardens provide us with something the interior of the house never will: the smell of cut grass after the rain, the African earth beneath our feet and the stars above our heads.

Venturing outside needn’t be strictly kept to daylight hours. With adequate garden lighting you can transform your dark, uninviting back yard into an oasis of light and, thanks to advances in solar energy and energy efficient lighting, you don’t have to pay a fortune in electricity to do so.

Solar lights

MPs are very like celebrities, in that their reputation is a fragile thing, one month they can be adorned with praise and showered with popularity, the next month their names are dragged through the mud by the media and they are sent hate mail by the public for undue expenses. Like both celebrities and MPS, any high profile person’s name is their own brand but rather than managing the reputation of a company they need to keep their names free from negative associations. This is a unique blurring of lines between the professional and the personal, which is probably why politician’s messy personal lives always get mixed up in their politics.

Gone are the days when buying a Star War’s bedspread for your children’s beds and tacking up a few posters on your little darlings’ bedroom walls would transform an ordinary room into a themed bedroom. Nowadays, the children’s theme bed options are endless, promising every child an escape into their very own fantasy world every time they go to bed. There are children wooden ship beds and two-storey pink princess castles available, as well as an endless variety of car theme beds. Parents can even opt to buy a themed double bed to really spoil their child.

The Princess and the Pea

With the current energy crisis on the one hand, and the economic crisis on the other, most of us feel caught between a rock and a hard place. In this day and age it is becoming increasingly important to find ways to maintain our lifestyles in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way and, as a result, you find more people turning to sustainable energy sources like solar power systems.

Another Eskom price hike…

Last year, Eskom increased electricity prices by 14.2%, and then by an additional 13.3%. This year, Eskom increased electricity prices yet again, but this time the increase was even greater at 31.3%, resulting in emptier wallets for your average Joe. Compounded with the current economic crisis, consumers are presented with an ever increasing gap between available income and conventional power expenses. Faced with these very real crises, installing solar power systems in your house as buffer against future Eskom price hikes and economic turmoil, is the only logical step.

There is a world out there of which many people are ignorant, and without the necessity of hosting a top-end event, of which many people will remain ignorant. It is a world of luxury portable toilets that mocks the kind of mobile loos with which the common man, the man on the street is familiar. This is not a world bereft of space, characterised by hot, cramped conditions and a form uniquely designed to channel ungodly aromas. There are no latrines overflowing with spit-through toilet paper (and other things) while none remains on the roll. Luxury portable toilets are wholly unfamiliar with the chemical smell of urinal cakes.

Here’s why:

Shining mirrors and fresh flowers are standard in Luxury Portable Toilets

London is renowned for its interest in theatre and film, cloudy weather and intermittent heat waves and an overwhelming number of pubs. People come from all over the world to experience the atmosphere of a proper British pub. And nowhere is the experience more worthwhile than Putney where pubs of all shapes, sizes and ages abound and you can find a mix of good old fashioned pint of ale, refined wines, nutritious pub grub and sophisticated dining.

Some of the more unique and highly recommended pubs in Putney include:

•    The Duke’s Head: At 8 Lower Richmond Road, Putney, the pub is suffused with ye olde worlde charm; original fireplaces and gleaming woodwork, but youngsters will also enjoy the basement pub, which often boasts live music, while a private room with a lovely view of the river caters to large groups and private parties.

The idiom, a ‘man’s house is his castle’, should be changed to ‘a man’s (or indeed woman’s) bed is his castle’. The modern human is a creature of luxury and comfort, we love feather duvets, soft dressing gowns and toasty warm towels straight out of the dryer and our beds are central to this lifestyle.  King-sized beds have not only been developed to provide people with the epitome of comfort but also to be a family place, where children can play and parents can eat their breakfast off trays. And the king-size bed boasts a long and pretty interesting history.

The king-size bed in ancient times

Tutankhamen’s bed

The sea is one of the most powerful and dangerous forces not yet tamed by man. Most believe it never will be, yet since our earliest days we have sailed the seas with crafts of various design; all in order to tame the savage beast. This spirit of adventure still lives on in us today, but we have since learned to treat the sea with a healthy dose of respect. Over the years we have gathered invaluable tips and tricks in order to charter yachts of ever-increasing sophistication and design. However, the yacht itself is only as safe as the skipper who charters it, and for this reason our modern skippers belong to sailing schools and boast various certificates of competence like the one earned after completing the RYA Day Skipper Course, for instance.

In South Africa, we have one great resource that we haven’t even come close to utilising properly and that is our many days of frequent sunshine; and thanks to the temperate climate, it should be easy to reduce your household carbon footprint. Here are some easy ways to reduce your carbon footprint without having to compromise on your comfortable lifestyle. And something to remember if you’re not the altruistic type: reduced carbon footprints often translate into reduced utility bills.

Laundry

If you know how to hay fever-proof your home, you can feel better and wean yourself off Sinutab in a matter of days.

Spring is the worst month for allergy sufferers but if you don’t allergy-proof your home, you could end up sniffing and sneezing all through the year. Dust, bathroom mould, too many soft furnishings and pet hair are all allergy triggers in your home, which means that minimalism and air purifiers are your friends. Embrace tiles and shun carpets, pack away your knickknacks, redundant scatter cushions and net curtains.

Old air conditioner units and vacuum cleaners which haven’t had their dust traps properly cleaned can also aggravate the problem. But the good news is that if you use air conditioning correctly and keep the windows closed during the spring, it can greatly alleviate your symptoms. Most portable air conditioners come with filters but you can also buy air purifiers to clean dust and pollen from the air. Many air purifiers can be attached to your home’s heating and cooling systems and can remove as much as 97% of all allergens from the air.