astronauts need lunchboxes too!

There I was thinking that astronauts existed only on freeze-dried powders and tubes of food paste, but apparently not.  Watching a documentary about the space shuttle I was interested to find out that the astronauts all got to choose their favourite sandwich to go into space with them.  The "house mother"  who looks after the crew in the days preceding the launch then ensures that each astronaut has a packed lunch under their seat at lift off which they can then tuck into when they reach orbit! 

What a pity I hadn't known sooner I could have sent NASA a full set of our space lunchboxes perhaps even lunchboxes personalised with each crew members' names and photo.

I guess its too late now the shuttle programme has stopped.  Maybe Mr Putin would like some for the Russian rockets?

green deal assessment day part II

So, actually our green deal assessment and epc were completed some time ago now (it was November I think), its just that I hadn't published the post for some reason, and when I did I could not be bothered to re-write it to reflect the passage of time.

So, in the intervening period has anything happened as a result of the assessment?  Well, yes and no.  Nothing has actually happened yet (apart from the installation of 9 LED spots in the kitchen), but progress is being made to a point where next week we will be having external wall insulation installed.

I'm sure this type of delay is not typical amongst people going through the green deal process but I would not be surprised if a fair number of people take at least this long to actually achieve anything or just give up entirely because I have found the system complex and offputting to say the least.

To be fair a large chunk of the delay was caused by a requirement to obtain planning permission from Dartmoor National Park Authority for the proposed insulation.  This took us to mid January to obtain (and added a couple of hundred pounds to our costs).  But once that was received I thought it was going to be a straight forward matter to press ahead with the insulation.  HOW WRONG I WAS!

Green deal assessment day

So today we had our green deal assessment.  This actually comprised a two part process in which the assessor first produced an epc for the house and then went on to produce our green deal assessment.

Well, he would have if technical problems had not intervened to prevent the completion of the actual green deal assessment.

It was a lengthy, albeit painless process.  The assessor arrived at about 9.15 and left just after 2.30 (with a half hour break).   Substantial time was taken to record the number of light fittings, completing a floor plan of the property, check walls, windows, chimneys, floors, loft and our boiler and central heating system.

The outcome of the epc process was not a surprise, the house sneaking into the D category.  Energy saving recommendations included fitting low energy bulbs (which I have now done in the kitchen (Ill pot about this later), topping up the loft insulation and more interestingly, installation of external wall insulation.

Green deal assessment booked

I'm so fed up with paying npower £250 a month to heat and light our home that I've booked a green deal assessment for later this week to see if there is any way we can reduce our current spend on utilities.  

I've just sent the assessor a big bundle of information including the old epc, gas and electricity bills so let's see what he comes up with on Thursday.  I'm hoping it will be something a bit more interesting than just changing some lightbulbs to crappy energy efficient ones.

Planning a trip to deep space (well Leicester)

I'm very excited by the prospect of a trip to the National Space Centre a venue which should appeal enormously to our two older boys (and if I'm honest is right up my street as well). 

Of course as part of the trip I'm carefully planning which lunchboxes to take with us for the long journey:  Fortunately Lunchboxesetc.co.uk produce a fine range of Space Lunchboxes which will be perfect (note to the buyer at the NSC - if you want to stock the lunchboxes in your gift shop just give us a call!).  At the moment I can't decide between the Space shuttle on the launch pad lunchbox:

or the amazing solar system view lunchbox:

I'm not sure about filling them with space food though!

Two new personalised lunchboxes now available on lunchboxesetc

Just on time for the oncoming back to school season I've had a burst of creativity and introduced a couple of new designs of personalised lunchboxes.  These new designs might just appeal more to girls than to our male customers but don't let our opinion sway you - take a look yourselves:

Here is our new Owl Lunchbox:

And here is our new cupcake personalised lunchbox:

Each design is £12.99 plus P&P.  To order, simply visit www.lunchboxesetc.co.uk and enter the name or message you would like us to print on the lunchbox when ordering.

Our lunchboxes are made in the UK from food-safe plastic and measure approximately 23cm long, 19 cm high and 10cm deep.  The hinged lid folds flat which makes it very easy to eat from the lunchbox.

Don't forget when ordering your lunchbox, you can also add a personalised PE bag to you order for only £9.99!

sports day beckons...

Off to school sports day in a few minutes - first for two years after last year's event was rained off twice!  No chance of that today its about 30 degrees in the shade.....best take a chilled lunchbox full of drinks!