The threat of frost is not quite over, our Turtle Mats are still adorning our windscreens, tufty-side down to keep them ice free (thanks for the tip Susan), but there is definitely more of a spring in our step.

The Turtle Mat garden, although quietly coming to life, is seeing some impressive bird activity already. Amongst our usual winter visitors – finches, robins and blue tits, we have spotted yellow hammers and a great spotted woodpecker, so twitching here is almost a full time job!

We’ll try to keep you up-to-date on our visitors in future posts, with a few snaps if they’ll stay put long enough.

We missed the opportunity to plant bulbs in autumn so the garden isn’t as colourful as it could be – we’re reliant on several different coloured Cornus for a bit of zing.

We’re thinking daffies for next year so if any of you have any favourite varieties you could recommend – please let us know by commenting on this post. (more…)

Image by ChiefBraun via Flickr

Making your home environmentally friendly can be a truly motivating process. Not only you will be helping to save the planet from pollution, but you’ll be also making savings for your budget by using less energy.

You might want to start by something extremely simple. Make it a house rule that everybody turns out all lights anytime they leave a room. You can also do something as simple as getting up earlier everyday – this will prevent using the artificial light and also save money and energy. (more…)