To all of you who have left a comment recently...

I am so sorry but I can't make Blogger let me reply!

I can post a new blog post, I can publish your comments but...I can't reply to what you say! I click on the "reply" link and ...nothing happens.

Sorry !

I do appreciate your lovely comments and when I am allowed, I WILL reply!

Compostwoman xxx

Chick update - 4 weeks old today

Nutmeg and her two chicks. They are four weeks old today :)

See how big they are!




I think the black one ( a Copper Black Marans) may be a cockerel

I'm not yet sure about the blond one (Wheaten Marans x Cream Legbar)

Whatever, they are very entertaining and Nutmeg continues to be a superb mum to them :)

Let there be Light(s)

 
One of the things I dislike about growing older is the way I find it hard to see later at night - my eyes are getting tired by then!  I find now that to read or craft I need extra lighting to aid me and I guess I am not alone in this.

When Compostman renovated the sitting room we had long conversations as to whether we should alter the lighting but decided what we had, was just right for us  - a couple of ceiling mounted pendant lamps and some adjustable wall lamps - all of which can be independently on or off. We also have a small table lamp which provides a dim glow - usually this is on when we are all watching a film and just want a bit of light to see, so as not to tread on a sleeping cat :)
 
It is important to get lighting right for your needs and which fits in with the design of your home and there are some very helpful websites who give good advice about lighting. Here  is the Channel 4 website about lighting design and here is the Energy Saving  Trust site about using  energy saving lighting. I found both of these interesting and helpful.


The pendant lights in most houses are there to provide what designers call "ambient or background lighting" - a substitute for natural daylight. I was surprised to learn that the idea that we should light our rooms with one or at most two pendant lights is a hangover from the days of gas lamps.

I remember in my childhood home ( a large, high ceiling Victorian town house) we still had gas lamp fittings on the walls and we also had a number of beautiful chandeliers, made of crystal, which I was fascinated by. When we were considering new lighting here, I was quite tempted to get some modern versions of crystal lighting, but we have a smallish, Edwardian cottage, rather than a large Victorian, four storey town house so I decided against it. Part of me still hankers after a fabulous crystal chandelier as a centrepiece, though!

Anyway, although gas lighting is long gone from most houses, the idea of pendant lighting remains. The trouble is that, if you only have one or two overhead sources of light, this can cause problems.  Overhead lights alone can create a bland, flat effect in a room but if you use this more general lighting mixed with some other types, you can end up with a room well lit  for all sorts of uses. Usually the background lighting is augmented by such things as wall lights, downlighters, uplighters and standard lamps.We have a mixture of different types here, and it seems to work well for us. 

For example, if I am working in the sitting room during the day  I am lucky enough to have a North and two East facing windows providing lots of natural light. As it gets darker the main overhead lights can be turned on,  and there are also the wall mounted lamps which shine on certain areas of the sofas, this allows me to read or crochet while the rest of the room can be darker. The rest of the family can watch TV, while I can do my reading or crafting. Two other wall lamps provide similar "islands" of light for other people to read, if they wish.

When I am working at the table, reading, writing, painting, sewing, quilting or cutting out, as well as a pendant light overhead I can have one of the wall lights shine onto my work. I also have an excellent adjustable floor standing lamp which shines, over my shoulder, if needed. Compostman bought it for me as a Christmas present.

This, and the wall lamps are called "task lighting" by designers.

Task lighting, however, needs careful placement for best effect. You should apparently always place the lamp opposite your writing hand or you'll be working in your own shadow. The beam of the light should fall on your working area and not reflect onto your computer screen or paper. Common sense, really!

Compostman and I have had similar conversations about lighting in every room we have renovated - we always take the opportunity to rethink the lighting as it can make such a difference to the functionality and usefulness of a room.

So, in our kitchen we have fluorescent overhead lights and some under the cupboard downlighters which are similar to some in the Mail Order Lighting endon lighting range, so there is always lots of light to see what we are doing when cooking.

In our bedroom ( newly refurbished, as I have mentioned several times :)  ) we have three triple, adjustable downlighters on the ceiling. These are really useful, can be operated separately and can also be dimmed. One of them is over the bed head, so one of us can read while the other goes to sleep in the dark :)

If you are thinking of renovating any room, or even redecorating, it is always worth considering what your lighting needs might be. There are many useful guides to lighting around, I mentioned a couple earlier on and  I found this BBC site to be helpful so I knew what "buzz words" to use! There are also many online sellers of lights - I found the huge range of different stock carried by Mail Order Lighting was very helpful, when browsing for ideas.


What do other people use as lighting? Do any of you use specialist craft lamps? If so, are they any help?

And the winner of the @Wellspoultryltd giveaway is...

As promised, I took all the names ( 16 people! Thank you all so much for entering !)  and I put them in the open top feeder  Wells Poultry very kindly sent to me.

I then shut my eyes and stuck my hand in and drew out three slips of paper 

And the winners of the   2.5 kg Delux Plastic Outdoor Feeder  are
 

Frugal Mum of 3
Flymac 
and Sue F ( from Facebook)

Congratulations and well done! If you could email me on Compostwoman@the-compostbin.com, I will send your email details to Mark at Wells Poultry so he can arrange delivery of your   2.5 kg Delux Plastic Outdoor Feeder

And thank you to all those who entered, even though you did not win anything this time. I really appreciate you leaving a comment and entering :)

Many thanks...

to all of you for your lovely comments and good wishes. Compostgirl is very touched by your kindness, as are Compostman and I.

Her hand is not quite so painful today, but she has to avoid all sports and using it for at least two weeks as well as no "two handed" stuff for another couple of weeks. She has a dressing and bandage on the hand and has to keep it elevated in a sling, so can't use it much or get it wet at all. The outreach nurse is visiting us tomorrow ( still can't get over this! A home visit!)  to dress her hand so we shall see how things are going, then.

We are doing some things for her that she can't manage one handed, although she is coping really well and doing as much as she can.

Once again, thank you all :) You are all lovely :)