Oxley Woods Living

Life in an Oxley Woods eco house

 
 

Archive for the ‘Good stuff’ Category

 

Jack frost in the area

December 7, 2010

I know that for some Milton Keynes has a reputation as a concrete jungle. Just roads and a glass shopping centre. And this really couldn’t be much further from the truth.

I also know that the Oxley Woods development, despite its name, can appear quite “cold” to some in its design. But one of the reasons we moved here is the proximity to wildlife and nature, and with this cold snap we’re in, we took a very short walk to one of the local woods.

Here’s a few photos we took of the local area in the cold. Hope you like them!

So there you have it, Milton Keynes and surrounding areas in the cold. Perhaps not quite what you might expect? Unless you’re local, and you know what’s on our doorsteps!

Night of the Oxley Woods Living Dead…

November 1, 2010

Last night was Halloween. Some people really, really hate Halloween. But me, I love it!

Trick or Treat is often a controversial subject, but I love that too, and our kids (now seven and two) went on the rounds last night (with adult supervision), had a fantastic time, and managed to return with a booty of sweets and cakes that’ll last them through Christmas!

But we have a rule when it comes to raiding the neighbours for goodies, and it’s a fairly simple one. If you’ve got decorations up, or a pumpkin out, then expect a knock. If not, we’ll pass you by.

As much as I enjoy the dressing up, the going out "late at night" for the children, and all the spooky fun that goes with it, I do realise it’s not for everyone. I think it’s important to teach that respect to the kids as well.

I know some people consider trick or treat glorified begging. Or at least, that’s the reason they say they don’t like it. But it’s not. I think it’s actually a nice, sharing thing, a neighbourly thing, a fun thing!

We didn’t get many callers this year, I felt a little disappointed (even though we still ran out of supplies with the last callers!), but for all the naysayers, I really hope trick or treat goes from strength to strength, and more people get in the party spirit.

There aren’t enough reasons for neighbourhoods to join together in a bit of fun, and Halloween, if you respect the wishes of those who don’t want to partake, is a brilliant excuse to get out there, meet some people, and share some little gifts with each other’s kids (big ones included).

Spooktacular!

Eco cleaning for an eco kettle

October 19, 2010

A couple of years back, not long after we moved into Oxley Woods, our kettle blew up. It somehow frazzled itself, it was very old, and sadly, it had to go.

We replaced it with an eco kettle, the Kenwood Energy Sense Kettle to be precise, as it seemed the best of the bunch at the time, especially as I like tea, and tea likes properly boiling water, which many eco water heaters simply don’t do.

Anyway, after a while the boiling plate at the bottom started to look a bit nasty. It’s only limescale, but despite the inline water softener we have in these houses, it builds up quick. Not only does it look unpleasant, it can damage your kettle, and make them less efficient. Sucks doesn’t it.

We’d been bought a book on "green cleaning" and decided to check out what we can do to help the issue, and the solution, it turned out, was simple citric acid, purchased from the local John Lewis store for a few pounds.

We use a little sprinkling of this (it recommends a large dosage of about 1/3 a packet, but we use less every time) about every two or three months, and the results are amazing.

Here’s some before, during, and after photographs of the kettle this week. We left a little longer to highlight how this simple, 20 or so minute operation, can completely reinvigorate your ‘orrible looking, inefficiently running kettle.

Before the cleaning:

Up close and scaly:

Fizzing away:

Citric acid working its wonders:

Ta-da!

Good as new, almost:

Milton Keynes is bloomin’ lovely

October 8, 2010

Never one to miss out on a pun, Milton Keynes and the towns it engulfed as part of its creation and expansion have won a number of awards at this year’s regional Britain in Bloom ceremony.

Milton Keynes which is of course not officially a city, or really very big, won the gold award in the Best Large City category. It also won an award “Best Treatment of Roadsides and Roundabouts”, which is perhaps not surprising, if only through strength in numbers alone.

Milton Keynes will now represent “the region” (although it’s never that clear which region we belong to) in the National Britain in Bloom awards. So even if “our” football team cant win anything, at least our vegetation can.

More on the MK Council website.

Attack of the killer tomatoes

October 4, 2010

I’m ashamed to admit it, and I don’t want to spread fear panic and terror across the neighbourhood. But. We’ve created a monster!

Last year we had a bumper tomato crop, considering we only had a couple of plants, and it was lovely. This year, not so much so.

But, we have produced this…

To give you an idea of the intimidating size of the beast, the “little” tomato next to it is actually pretty much a regular sized tomato. It’s a gargantuan freak, and I’m getting shivers down my spine at the mere thought of trying to eat it.

If you don’t hear from my family or myself for a while, please, send help. The tomato got us. Apparently, they have form.