I leave a lamp on permanently on my landing, yes I know it's bad for the planet not to mention my budget but that's what you get for living in a 250 year old house with too little natural light.

Weekly? Oh, how I wish it were only weekly. I'm out there nearly every day culling the three-cornered leek that has reappeared as a thick blanket despite me culling it in the first spring I was here, in my new house, then finding it had reappeared hugely aggressively last year and now, in my third spring, it's even thicker and even more widespread - and is now not only in the flower beds but also in the lawn, thick along the edge, scattered within it. Front and back. It takes about two hours to clear about a square yard - digging under the bulbs; banging off the (very good, I've been told) soil in which there are always several earthworms which I need to hang on to (obviously); then picking out the tiniest bulbs left behind. I don't think I can ever finish it this year - as happened last year - which means the problem will go on for decades. I don't really have the time (I need to work, I need a life beyond digging and clearing). The only solution I can think of is to bring in help but my budget won't allow that. I value having lawn so paving it over isn't an option. I will have less planting space, which will eventually mean less weeding, but it's not something I can do right now - I've too much to do to bring the indoors up to date. I disagree with Jo DP. The previous owners had a keep it wild policy and now I have this big problem with a massively invasive plant. And, yes, I have tried using it in recipes - it really isn't worth the effort of keeping it under control (to have a limited supply). I'm an experienced and adventurous cook and three-cornered leek is an overrated ingredient, even though it's free and in my garden.

We keep all of our sharp knives in their own drawer, which has a magnetic bar to keep them in place and to stop them from rubbing on each other and losing their edge. I can't bear too much clutter out on the worktop. Besides, if a murdering maniac bursts in, I don't want to make it too easy for him. I'd like to think by the time, he's opened all the drawers to find the knives, the police will have arrived. LOL

Speaking from London I copy the habits of hot countries. Blinds have to be down before the sun hits the windows, then open the windows through the flat, not necessarily so much on the side being hit on the sun. Create a through draft from front to back, obviously windows have to be shut when you are out but leave blinds down or curtains closed then too. I have an old mansion flat and live on the ground floor so there are some inbuilt advantages from the solid walls and position. Energy required, me walking backwards and forwards closing blinds and opening and shutting windows. With the forecasts of ever increasing energy prices and warmer climate we need to design in low energy cooling methods as well as heating. In the future we may need to use our chimneys to bring in cold air at night to cool buildings as is done traditionally in the middle east.