moved

The house move went really well last weekend thanks to a sterling effort from all involved :) This weekend we've been decorating the front bedroom ready for when our new bed arrives. The decorating on sunday was done standing on one foot, since I tripped on the hoover and broke a toe, whoops. It's now a lovely shade of purple - perhaps we could get it colour matched at the paint mixer in B&Q? Front room's starting to look fab. We've even done a really trendy feature wall (the one we put wallpaper on because the wall behind was too rubbish to paint, but not rubbish enough to get re-plastered).

bamboo

We've had hemp. We've had organic cotton. Now a new weapon in the war against regular cotton - Bamboo.

Regular cotton is a very needy crop and uses huge quantities of pesticides etc which remain in the material and can transfer into your body through your skin, as well as poisoning the people growing it and their local environment.

Bamboo doesn't require pesticides to grow well. The makers of bamboo clothing claim that the fabric made from it is as strong as cotton, but as solf as cashmere or silk. Due to compounds the plant uses to protect itself, the fabric is also anti bacterial and antifungal, so no more stinky socks. It's also cheap to produce, so no crazy price tags on the finished items.

Have a look at bamboo clothes at http://www.shirtsofbamboo.com/index.php

farming up

Here's a curious solution to food miles - grow your food next door to Tesco. It's called vertical farming and the buildings are apparently cheap to construct. Food miles are set to be the next big thing coming in on the heels of the massive surge of people buying organic and this could either be a tool to bring food production closer to home, or a symptom of our continuing need for everything we consume to be produced in a factory. Supermarkets will like it, but will farmers?

singing in the library

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihr3pJj-sJw check this out!!!

Moving date

We finally have a date when we can move into our new house - hurrah. All being well the house will be all ours on the 14th September. We're stocking up on beer to wash down the bacon sarnies for the helpful folk who've volunteered to come help :) Not long now.

Callum's christening

Last weekend we went to the christening of Matt's little brother Christopher's baby Callum. The photos came out a bit rubbish unfortunately because we didn't have enough battery left for flash. One piccie did come out nicely though - Matt's big sister Emma's baby Peter, with grandad Tim. The babies are only a couple of weeks apart in age, but are incredibly different in size, looks and temperament. Callum's tin, dark haired and chilled out with a knack for projectile vomiting, while Peter's a big fiery redhead who likes nothing better than to pull your hair and poke you in the eye with a toy. Aren't babies great :P