Moving…

I am merging my personal blog and that of my children, so this blog will not be updated after today.

Our new(ish) blog (still a wordpress blog) is called Little Snowdon and you can find it on http://www.littlesnowdon.co.uk/

Thank you for your time and I look forward to seeing you on our new website.

Lost/Stolen Kindle

Tags

stolen kindle

I had my Kindle stolen yesterday along with my handbag. It’s in the same pouch as in the picture below.

I’ve searched online for ways to get it back but there aren’t a lot of help available. But there are things a Kindle owner can do to make it easier for their devices to be identified (And hopefully returned to them).

1. DO NOT DEREGISTER YOUR KINDLE! Just take your payment details off your Amazon account so no one can buy books in your name. If you deregister your device, it makes it possible for the thief to register the device in their own account. So keeping it registered to you makes it somewhat useless. They will be forced to read the stuff you have there.

2. SEND A DOCUMENT WITH YOUR CONTACT DETAIL IF LOST. Yes, you can stick something on the device but those can be removed. Whereas if your device have your contact details, you’ve just made it possible to have it returned to you. I sent something like this to my Kindle (this is how it looks like on my Kindle App on my phone). Sure they can archive the document but it will still be there.

3. HAVE AMAZON TO BLACKLIST IT. If you contact Amazon, they will blacklist your device. So do this only after a couple of days. This way, you gave the person who have it to see the document with your details and contact you. After the device is blacklisted, the person who have the Kindle will then be unable to open any content or books on the device. And by chance, if the device is found & returned to you, you can contact Amazon again to have it reinstated.

Chat with an Amazon customer service.

Making their own lunch

Tags

kids kitchen

Today is my fast day and I don’t eat lunch or dinner. To prevent me from eating (tasting what I’m cooking), I decided to teach the kids some easy way to cook their own meal. The simplest dish I can think of is pizza. Once you have the dough and what you want to put on top ready, it’s VERY EASY. We try different topping experiments all the time and today seems to be the no meat pizza. My son says he is cooking dinner tonight and said that he’ll make tomato & courgettes gratin with sun-dried tomato pesto. This is an experimental version so wish him luck!

 

Spring has sprung

Tags

HOME, house, interiors, spring clean

The sun finally made it’s appearance in London! And the best thing to do to start the new season is to clean up. After being stuck during winter did you notice the top parts of the kitchen furniture/appliance to be sticky? A while ago, I often hate cleaning that bit. It is very frustrating and using the scrub and soap doesn’t seem to help. When we were renovating, I discovered sugar soap. It is really cheap, odourless and very efficient in getting rid of everything greasy on many surfaces. So armed with a pair of gloves (a must when using this product), a piece of cloth and the sugar soap, I got rid of the remainders of winter. You can find this product from DIY shops like Wicks.

I am slowly adding framed pictures on this wall, the most recent is the one of my husband when he graduated his doctorate degree. There are now several frames waiting  for the pictures in the house as I keep on finding nice ones second hand from the charity shop.

Also, the shelf in the hallway was the old DVD shelf we used. Instead of throwing it away, I put it in the hall and stored all the books that I am selling on Amazon.  I do not know what to do with the other shelf though. There isn’t any space left to put it.

My DIY projects – sofa, lampshade & cushions

We installed two of these, one on each side of the old fireplace. It now stored all the DVDs and magazines.  These are my stuff. The only permanent display are the cameras. All the rest depends on the mood it seems. 🙂

My desk. The noticeboards needs a bit tidying. It is very useful when one doesn’t want to miss and lose things. Will update this board soon 🙂

Tasks update

Tags

Family, task

I’ve just update my children’s task chart and I think they are ready for independence lessons like learning to cook simple meals and folding their own clothes.

I’ve also kept the performance bonus & fines to reward their hard work as well as letting them know what happens when they don’t do well. They’re too big for stickers so their weekly allowance get hit.

There is a reason why I am teaching them simple cooking lessons. That is twice a week, my husband and I do not eat. And when I prepare dinner for the children, I get really tempted to nibble here and there so in the end the fast days wouldn’t work. By letting them cook their own food, they will learn a skill and I will keep to my fast day. Easy meals do not need to be unhealthy. My kids will be taught cutting, seasoning, steam cooking and using the oven. I don’t trust them with the stove yet so it should be fun looking for easy recipes for them.

So this easter holiday should be the perfect time to implement these changes. Should be an interesting week for us all 🙂