Four pounds, really? Well that's music to my ears.

"I really want a guitar", said the little man, a few months ago, in amongst his list of other things that a five year old really, really wants."Yes, yes" I said, adding it to my own mental list known as 'yeah, yeah, that's nice...mention it five more times in the next six months and I'll know that you really really - yes really really - want it'.Now guitars don't come cheap and even second hand ones on eBay can be a small fortune if they are just left to gather dust when a child's keen interest amounts to nothing more than a flavour of the month idea.  So even though a guitar has been mooted...

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Look who's decluttering for EACH's Treehouse appeal!

I hope BBC Radio Suffolk's James Hazell isn't planning to sell off his producer Sally Burch at the massive car boot sale they've organised  [So James, you'd better ask Sal to get off that table pretty sharpish, before someone snaps her up!]Regular listeners will already know that BBC Radio Suffolk is supporting the East Anglian Children's Hospice Treehouse Appeal, to help raise £3 million for a much needed new hospice to be built in Ipswich. Presenters have been getting up to allsorts including dragonboat racing, cycling challenges and getting into training to climb Mount Kilmanjaro. ...

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Swapping rubbish for compost with Dev and Dave

As Compost Awareness Week comes to an end, I thought I'd take the opportunity to partake in a spot of awareness-raising of my own ....and well...show you some of my compost.And here's a closer look....starting with the new bed I planted up this afternoon with some fantastic soil improver, courtesy of three chickens who love to poop and a compost bin called Plastic Dev that can take it!   After a year of breaking down, it's lost all its fragrance and simply looks like good quality compost, which I mixed with earth from the garden and spread onto the bed, ready to transplant some day-lilies...

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Guest Post, by Julie Day on her Rubbish Diet Challenge

Author Julie Day, with her debut book, Rosie and the Sick SchoolToday I am delighted to feature a guest post by Romance and Children's writer Julie Day, who stumbled over the Rubbish Diet Challenge, via Mrs Green's blog at My Zero Waste, and decided to give it a go.  As well as slimming her bin, Julie has been putting pressure on her local council to improve plastics recycling.  Over on her blog, she has been busy documenting the progress of her Lewisham household, which comprises herself and her mum and has already reached Week 5 of her challenge.   Aiming to slim down to...

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Submit a renewable idea to win £1000 and support the WWF

I love a clever and worthwhile social media campaign don't you? And the latest one to hit my radar is the Renewable Idea website that has just been launched by carton producer Tetra Pak and WWF, the environmental charity that you might also recognise as being the creator of the highly successful Earth Hour campaign.   WWF-UK is working to save the unique Russian Caucasus forests, habitats of rare and unique species, through developing and promoting sustainable forest management.The aim of this new website is to raise the profile of the significance of buying products made from renewable...

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