Don’t Fret About Debt-writer in residence!

I’ve been asked to write some blog posts for a website called Don’t Fret About Debt, that aims, as the name suggests, to help people get clear of debt. I was asked to come up with some suggestions to help people save money, while Making Do and Mending, and I’m their ‘featured writer’ for a … Continue reading →

Chocolate Cake

The Gods must have been smiling on me the other day, as after school, the Smalls played together so nicely-no squabbling, poking or teasing-very lovely indeed. To celebrate the occasion (and in a vain attempt to reinforce the idea that this is the kind of behaviour that we want…) I decided to make pudding. At … Continue reading →

And the Winner Is….

Not us, not this time. I am of course referring to the winner of the Great Energy Race (you remember when I went a bit crazy blogging every day about energy saving…) that we took part in for the Observer Ethical Awards. Last night was the Green Carpet Awards Ceremony, and I donned my new, … Continue reading →

A Lightbulb Moment….

Regular readers can’t fail to have noticed that we took part in the Great Energy Race last month. As part of this, we extolled the virtues of LED lights, and discovered that if we swapped all our halogen bulbs for LEDs, then we would use 13 times less energy for our lighting. That’s pretty mind … Continue reading →

They Think It’s All Over…

Phew! We’ve done it. The end of the B&Q Great Energy Race for this years Observer Ethical Awards. Thankyou so much for all your brilliant, inspiring and helpful comments-they have helped to make the whole thing truly interactive. Hopefully through the (seemingly endless) blog posts, tweets, Facebook updates, and even the odd Radio appearance, everybody has … Continue reading →

Live Better, Save Energy

I blogged a few weeks ago, before the Great Energy Race started (was there a time when I wasn’t so obsessed with all things with energy..?!) about the Guardian’s Live Better site on their online paper. It is fabulous. Each month, they are focussing on a different aspect of sustainable living. Last month was all … Continue reading →

(Sun)Shiny Happy People

Here we go. Not just one guest post from hubby for the Great Energy Race, but lots! Here is another. This may be the last, so make the most of it. This post is not so much about saving energy, but about where we get our energy from, i.e. the sun! And actually, it may … Continue reading →

Q.I

Having been sorely disappointed by the energy monitor we borrowed from the library (it never really worked, most of the time the display just showed dashed lines, and when it did, it was very insensitive), I put out an appeal for a plug in device that tells you how much energy an appliance is using. … Continue reading →

Science Hour #2

Here we go then, safety specs on, for another enthralling science experiment from the Make Do and Mend household… This time, science fans, we are investigating (like the hard-hitting investigative journos we are) claims that our new Eco Shower Head does what it says on the pack. AND it’s a guest post from hubby. I … Continue reading →

It ain’t half hot mum…

Hot water. Isn’t it awesome? And how lucky are we to have it on tap? But it comes at a price. Both in terms of energy and cold hard cash. So today for the Great Energy Race, I am looking at how can we use less of it, without feeling the chill…? Hot Water Generation … Continue reading →