2016 is almost at an end and I really won’t be sorry to see the back of it! Losing my Dad to lung cancer less than 2 weeks after diagnosis in May has had a huge impact on us all and at times I’ve felt totally lost. Participating in the Live LAGOM project has been a welcome distraction and is giving me something positive to focus on at a really horrible time.
So, my Live LAGOM New Years Resolution was to save even more money on our energy bills. I aim to do this with the assistance of LED light bulbs and I have now successfully installed them in all light and lamp fittings (had to buy a deeper lampshade for our living room as the Koppla converter made the bulb creep above the shade and half blinded me). We opted for two 1000 lumen bulbs in the kitchen and what a difference they’ve made – I can actually see what I’m cooking and the kids can see what they’re eating!!!!
In addition, I’m using my own ‘real’ flame battery candles which give our living room a nice warm glow on an evening (I can’t use the real thing as we have 2 very inquisitive cats and I really don’t fancy seeing how fast the fire brigade can get to us). They are operated using Ladda rechargeable batteries (I’ve actually been back and bought more since my shopping trip) and have inbuilt timers so they switch themselves on/off at the same time every evening. I also used Ladda batteries in my Christmas lights (we had low-key Christmas decorations this year with a twig tree). I recharge the batteries in the Storhogen storage charger which I have to say, is the dogs danglies! The ‘candles’ with the help of our existing throws, which I use rather than turning the thermostat up whenever possible, give our living room a cosy warm feel on dark winter nights.
We are all using Koppla 3 gang socket with 2 USB ports – these are safer than our old sockets as they have an on/off switch and allow us to charge mobile and tablet at the same time without using up sockets. I had bought 2 Ledberg LED lighting strips to provide lighting for my sons when gaming, in the event the eldest decided against having one in his corner of the room but the youngest loves his and I made use of the second one by attaching it to the back of our bedhead…I love the fact that I can change the static colour according to my mood or allow it to change colour, either way I find it very calming when I find time to chill.
The kids are all using their Bellahare bottles for water which great on 2 counts – they will save me £100+ a year AND will reduce our previous practice of recycling 15 plastic bottles a week (based on term time usage that’s a staggering 570 plastic bottles that we won’t be going for recycling in 2017) and importantly, they don’t leak!!
The Pressa hangers have come into their own this week….I got them as I was wanting to reduce my tumble dryer usage, unfortunately my SECOND replacement tumble dryer from Hotpoint has gone kaput 😡 and will be out of action until the engineer arrives next Wednesday. Having a North facing garden means NOTHING dries on our washing line during the winter months so, our socks/undies are now hanging from the Pressa hangers on the rads – I won’t be saving money there as I’ve had to have heating on for the rads but at least we’ve been able to dry our smalls 😁
Spare bedding and soft toys have gone into Dimpa bags which have gone into the loft freeing up space in our wardrobe and under daughter’s bed….on the subject of which, we got a bargain in the Bargain Corner this week – 2 Malm under bed storage drawers which are on castors which were £20 instead of £40! They make great shoe storage (if you’re a bit of an Emelda like me and my daughter)!
Operation Daughter’s Bedroom is underway….it’s a very small space and we bought a 4×4 Kallax unit, Linmonn desktop, Adils legs to give her more storage which would allow her to use her sewing machine. The boxes are still on the landing as we’ve decided we are going to do it for the long term and that means putting laminate flooring down to replace her makeup marked carpet. We’ve bought the laminate flooring, just trying to arrange for someone to fit it….we’ve got a chap coming to give us a quote this week and hopefully work will start shortly after. In the meantime, we have now transformed the cupboard of doom (aka The Dumping Ground) into a workable wardrobe which, using Bitrade unit and Komplement rail, has been a resounding success and I’m currently painting walls as we’re having a change of colour scheme! Stupidly, I didn’t take any ‘before’ photos of her room but if all goes to plan, it is going to be quite a transformation!
Think I’ve probably bored you all enough for now, so until next time…..
Menopausal Mama 