I don’t know, I guess it’s valuable to do this every now and again; there’s only finite space in the house and with five of us sharing the space now, it’s all going to become a premium I guess as the kids get older we can get rid of the baby stuff, whether it’s baby clothes or baby proofing; but then I’m sure there will be other things to take their place

Anyway, we may get the service as it’s free, but hopefully it won’t mean that we end up with some huge list of things that need doing.

Anyway, we cleaned it all out, starting by throwing away all the expired medicine, then sorting out what was left. Camille got a nice unit with small drawers which was just great for sorting things out. Now, let’s see how long it takes before it’s a mess again!

Isn’t it funny how Spring comes along and you feel the need to clean up. I’ve already cleaned up my desk at work and yesterday was sorting out some of the accumulated junk that I’m sure I would never need. It’s funny how you tend to put things aside sometimes on the basis that you may use them one day, things like ball point pen caps or single socks or the toys you get in Kinder eggs or even those samples of acne scar creams you though you might need some day.

Sometimes you just need to take a deep breath and throw that stuff away, safe in the knowledge that you can always find a substitute or buy a new one if you ever need it.

How do YOU deal with stress?

photo credit: Stuart Conner

We’ve had a great mortgage so far, paying an interest rate of just under 1%. It was a tracker mortgage, and with the Bank of England interest rate dropping to 0.5% everything was nice and bright. The only problem is that those low mortgage were a thing of the past, so we’re going to struggle to find something good now. Luckily I don’t need to use any credit repair services as my credit rating should be nice and fine. The problem is that the mortgage market has really gone to pot and anything below 3% is hard to find. I did notice a 1.99% one at HSBC, so I might just pop in and have a chat …

I guess there’s still the choice of going for a fixed or tracker mortgage, but I’m pretty sure that the interest rate will stay low for the foreseeable future, so I’m betting on a tracker in the near future. So, who’s your mortgage with, would you recommend them?

It’s a great photo, isn’t it? We’ve taken a couple of good photos recently, the only problem is that the house is a bit of a mess. It’s pretty hard to keep the house tidy with a four year old and twin babies, but we’re slowly getting there. The easier to keep clean possibly is the kitchen. Not that we have one of these modern jobbies with a free-standing centre unit and one of those stone sinks. It’s just a normal kitchen, but everything has it’s place and the kids don’t play there much.

Soon the kids will be old enough to clean the house .. can’t wait

Just finished watching a show on TV called Britain’s Worst Home. The reason it stuck in my mind is that one guy had a house full of computers, computer bits and all sort of peripherals. I recognised a Spectrum, a VIC 20, an Amiga … then I stopped myself. If I recognised all those different bits of kit I was running a danger of ending up the same way. I have an assortment of laptops in various states of disrepair. Heck I even have an mmf drawer from when we used to run The Joke Shop.

Anyway, these programs are interesting, because they show you how bad things can get. I know it will never be that bad though

photo credit: *Sally M*

I love the way our house feels in Winter. “It’s cold out there, but it’s warm in here”, as George Michael would have said; and that just describes it down to a T. It’s cold and rainy out, but I’m sitting here in our living room, with the fire on and it’s nice an cosy. It’s actually quite nice what a couple of discount rugs can do to a place. They add a splash of colour and add to the general warmth of the place.

That’s one of the things I love about being in the Isle of Man. The houses are so nice and cosy in Winter. Very different from what I remember Malta to be like

Have you ever stopped to wonder how much technology we have around the house. I’m not talking about computers, TVs, DVD players and everywhere else you expect to find technology. But there are things we tend to rely on in other parts of the house. There are visible ones like dishwashers and washing machines; and other less visible ones, like a boiler and or a water softener.

And the amount of technology will only rise in the future. Things like automation around the house, monitoring power usage and intelligent devices will just get more and more prevalent. I guess the question is, will Google be the one behind it?