When we’re all at home during lockdown, many of us are taking this opportunity to finally tackle those household spaces that are in desperate need of tidying up. When it comes to spring cleaning, projects typically involve a bit of washing, decluttering and reorganizing. To this end, here are some top tips and links for spring cleaning that are sure to help you save space and freshen up areas in your home.
Tips for a Full Household Spring Clean
If you are determined to scrub the house from top to toe as part of a lockdown spring clean, then check out the YouTube video above for great cleaning life hacks featuring Mrs Hinch and Lynsey Queen of Clean. They’ll show you how to freshen up grubby doors with fabric softener, refresh a smelly mattresses with bicarbonate of soda and keep your toothbrush free from toilet germs. For more household cleaning hacks from Mrs Lynch visit her YouTube and Instagram account or ClickHERE.
For more cleaning tips from Lynsey Queen of Clean visit her blog by clicking HERE.
Organise Your Fridge and Freezer
We all agree that it’s important to keep our fridge and freezer clean to avoid bad smells and maintain good food hygiene. It’s also important however, to keep your fridge and freezer organised. Why? A well organised fridge and freezer is important because it actually saves you money. How many of us end up throwing out food and wasting money because we forgot about an item we couldn’t see tucked behind the milk and cheese? For top tips on keeping a clean, organised and economical fridge and freezer, follow these links and watch organization guru Justine Pattinson advise on containers, hygiene and space. Click HERE and HERE
Organise Your Clothes
When it comes to organizing drawers and wardrobes of clothes, it’s all about folding and the folding guru is Marie Kondo, a professional organizer from Japan who has revolutionized the way millions of people declutter and organise their homes all over the world through her website (konmari.com), books and a series on Netflix. To master the Marie Kondo method of folding clothes to save space, Click HERE.
Mother’s Day is Sunday March 14th next, (forget it at your peril).
Here in Ireland and the UK, Mother’s Day always falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent, owing to its initial Christian origins. Mother’s Day, as we know it currently here in Ireland, certainly is now-a-days more commercial ; evolving as it once did from “Mothering Sunday”.
Centuries ago, people who worked away from home, often as domestic staff, would return home to their Mother Church, once a year, on Mothering Sunday. As well as visiting their Mother Church, people would visit their home and their mothers.
Over time, the practice of bringing a gift of flowers to one’s mother became tradition. Eventually, Mothering Sunday developed into Mother’s Day and quite rightly the celebration of Mothers as we know it today.
DIY Gifts for Mother’s Day.
Lockdown has placed limits on the gifts many of us typically purchase for Mother’s Day. With shops closed and movements restricted, many of us are turning to DIY gifts for Mother’s Day. Hereunder are 5 DIY gift ideas to help acknowledge and celebrate our wonderful Mums, demonstrating our appreciation for everything they do for us.
(1)Create a Mother’s Day Chocolate Bar Poem. This is a thrifty, but thoughtful, gift that costs no more than the price of a few chocolate bars. Follow this link HERE for examples and ideas for your own Chocolate Bar Poems.
(2)A Homemade Bouquet of Flowers. Spring is here and with it has arrived some of our most cherished flowers. Of the many flower varieties on view in our gardens at present, the daffodil and tulip are great choices for a homemade bouquet or flower arrangement. Alternatively pick up some flowers in your local supermarket and combine them into a homemade arrangement. Visit YouTube for lots of tips on homemade bouquets and flower arranging. Click HERE to find a video specifically dealing with the arranging of daffodils and tulips.
(3)Bake Something Sweet. There’s nothing quite like home baking and many of us are baking more during lockdown. Why not treat Mum to a delicious cake, some cupcakes or some cookies for Mother’s Day? If you are looking for great baking recipes check out Cupcake Gemma on YouTube HERE.
(4)Cook Mum A Special Meal. There’s nothing like getting served up a delicious meal. In many houses Mums do a lot of the cooking so why not give them a day off from cooking meals on Mother’s Day? You could treat your mum to breakfast in bed, a brunch or a delicious dinner. If you’re looking for recipe ideas, check the YouTube Channel of Wexford born Gemma Stafford. Now living in the USA, Gemma’s Cooking channel is one of the most successful on YouTube with 2.55 million subscribers. View HERE.
(5)A Homemade Mother’s Day Card. Any mum will tell you that a Mother’s Day card with a heartfelt message is always treasured. Check out this great YouTube video with 24 ideas for incredible and easy to make Mother’s Day cards using everyday materials. Check this out by clicking HERE
During lockdown many of us are discovering the joys of baking as a pastime, not to mention the self-sufficiency and satisfaction gleaned from making something from scratch.
One item we’d surely all like to master is the art of bread making. There’s nothing like the taste and smell of freshly made bread in your own home. What’s more; during lockdown, being able to make your own bread saves an almost daily visit to your local food store – helping us to keep that bit safer.
Many of us, however, avoid making bread thinking it’s too difficult, but we at Thurles.info are here to help. We have tracked down and tested what is arguably one of the easiest recipes for making bread you could find.
You don’t even need a weighing scales to measure ingredients, just a pint glass!
Ingredients to make an easy and delicious Irish soda bread: 1 pintglassof coarse flour. 1 pint glass of white flour. 3/4 pint of buttermilk. Enough salt to coat the bottom of a pint glass. Enough bread soda to coat the bottom of a pint glass. Enough butter to coat the bottom of a pint glass, (or about 4 teaspoons).
With level 5 restrictions set to stay in place until at least April, many people are taking up new, stay safe, hobbies; chief among them knitting and crochet.
As well as the personal pride and satisfaction one gets from creating something from scratch, knitting and crocheting have other great benefits.
Research confirms, what many knitting and crochet enthusiasts already knew, that knitting and crocheting is great for our mental health. The repetitive nature of knitting and crocheting reduces anxiety and increases a sense of calm and well-being. Knitting and crocheting also have valuable social benefits, because they bring together people who share an interest in these crafts.
Where to Start? YouTube offers thousands of videos on beginning to knit and crochet, but the one we recommend is the HappyBerry Knitting and Crocheting Channel. The presenter uses craft materials, terms and measurements used in Ireland and presents clear and easy guides on how to get started.
Knitting for Absolute Beginners. For step by step clear demonstrations on basic knitting stitches and patterns, visit the YouTube channel by clicking HERE.
Crochet for Absolute Beginners. For easy to follow tutorials on the basic crochet stitches, as well as great beginner crochet projects, visit the YouTube Channel by clicking HERE
Top Tip. ALDI regularly offer ‘special buy’ crafting events. Watch out for great deals on wool and needles in your local Thurles ALDI store, located at Kickham Street, Thurles, soon.
Share Your Ideas. If you have recently come across any good videos or websites dedicated to knitting or crochet post a comment on this website and share your link.
The Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Ms Hildegarde Naughton, (FG Teachta Dála for the Galway West constituency since 2016), has announced an extension in the exemption that allows for those aged over 70 years old, to apply for a driving licence, without the need to provide a medical report.
Her decision comes following the current surge of Covid-19 cases and in order to ease the burden on Irish medical services.
This decision means that persons of 70 years of age, or over, can apply for to renew their current driving licence without the need to submit a medical report. Same is based on the condition that they do not have an identified or specified illness and are not applying for a licence to drive a truck or a passenger carrier, e.g. a busor similar category.
This measure will now eliminate the need for drivers over the age of 70 years from having to make an unnecessary journey to their local GP or congregate at their National Driver Licence Service centre.
Those over 70 years old, can view the 4b category on their current driving licence, to check the licence expiry date.
Recent Comments