Let there be Light(s)

 
One of the things I dislike about growing older is the way I find it hard to see later at night - my eyes are getting tired by then!  I find now that to read or craft I need extra lighting to aid me and I guess I am not alone in this.

When Compostman renovated the sitting room we had long conversations as to whether we should alter the lighting but decided what we had, was just right for us  - a couple of ceiling mounted pendant lamps and some adjustable wall lamps - all of which can be independently on or off. We also have a small table lamp which provides a dim glow - usually this is on when we are all watching a film and just want a bit of light to see, so as not to tread on a sleeping cat :)
 
It is important to get lighting right for your needs and which fits in with the design of your home and there are some very helpful websites who give good advice about lighting. Here  is the Channel 4 website about lighting design and here is the Energy Saving  Trust site about using  energy saving lighting. I found both of these interesting and helpful.


The pendant lights in most houses are there to provide what designers call "ambient or background lighting" - a substitute for natural daylight. I was surprised to learn that the idea that we should light our rooms with one or at most two pendant lights is a hangover from the days of gas lamps.

I remember in my childhood home ( a large, high ceiling Victorian town house) we still had gas lamp fittings on the walls and we also had a number of beautiful chandeliers, made of crystal, which I was fascinated by. When we were considering new lighting here, I was quite tempted to get some modern versions of crystal lighting, but we have a smallish, Edwardian cottage, rather than a large Victorian, four storey town house so I decided against it. Part of me still hankers after a fabulous crystal chandelier as a centrepiece, though!

Anyway, although gas lighting is long gone from most houses, the idea of pendant lighting remains. The trouble is that, if you only have one or two overhead sources of light, this can cause problems.  Overhead lights alone can create a bland, flat effect in a room but if you use this more general lighting mixed with some other types, you can end up with a room well lit  for all sorts of uses. Usually the background lighting is augmented by such things as wall lights, downlighters, uplighters and standard lamps.We have a mixture of different types here, and it seems to work well for us. 

For example, if I am working in the sitting room during the day  I am lucky enough to have a North and two East facing windows providing lots of natural light. As it gets darker the main overhead lights can be turned on,  and there are also the wall mounted lamps which shine on certain areas of the sofas, this allows me to read or crochet while the rest of the room can be darker. The rest of the family can watch TV, while I can do my reading or crafting. Two other wall lamps provide similar "islands" of light for other people to read, if they wish.

When I am working at the table, reading, writing, painting, sewing, quilting or cutting out, as well as a pendant light overhead I can have one of the wall lights shine onto my work. I also have an excellent adjustable floor standing lamp which shines, over my shoulder, if needed. Compostman bought it for me as a Christmas present.

This, and the wall lamps are called "task lighting" by designers.

Task lighting, however, needs careful placement for best effect. You should apparently always place the lamp opposite your writing hand or you'll be working in your own shadow. The beam of the light should fall on your working area and not reflect onto your computer screen or paper. Common sense, really!

Compostman and I have had similar conversations about lighting in every room we have renovated - we always take the opportunity to rethink the lighting as it can make such a difference to the functionality and usefulness of a room.

So, in our kitchen we have fluorescent overhead lights and some under the cupboard downlighters which are similar to some in the Mail Order Lighting endon lighting range, so there is always lots of light to see what we are doing when cooking.

In our bedroom ( newly refurbished, as I have mentioned several times :)  ) we have three triple, adjustable downlighters on the ceiling. These are really useful, can be operated separately and can also be dimmed. One of them is over the bed head, so one of us can read while the other goes to sleep in the dark :)

If you are thinking of renovating any room, or even redecorating, it is always worth considering what your lighting needs might be. There are many useful guides to lighting around, I mentioned a couple earlier on and  I found this BBC site to be helpful so I knew what "buzz words" to use! There are also many online sellers of lights - I found the huge range of different stock carried by Mail Order Lighting was very helpful, when browsing for ideas.


What do other people use as lighting? Do any of you use specialist craft lamps? If so, are they any help?

Progress in the garden :)

 I am really excited at the moment as finally, finally we see some progress in the garden redesign :)

 
Compostman has got the JCB going again (he is SUCH a star) and has been busy.

This is a bindweed and geum infested bed which has been dug out with very little effort on our part, because we used the JCB instead of a spade. I sort of think I ought to feel bad about using fossil fuels to dig this, when I should be using my own muscle power and a spade and wheelbarrow - but my aching back is telling me to shut up, so I will.

One thing all this outdoor stuff has shown me is that I need to get a pair of decent wellingtons. It rained a lot  when we were doing this work and I waded through some water and found my wellies leak. I hate wet feet! I am also suffering a lot from cold feet and my broken foot hurts more if it gets cold and wet, so I am thinking of getting a pair of Muck boots, ideal for cold feet sufferers like me. The one that appeals is the Arctic Sport, which should really help to keep my feet warm and dry.

Any one else got a pair of these? What are they like?

I salvaged lots of bulbs and plants during the digging out of this bed and I have put them in pots and will see if any bindweed was transplanted with them. If none comes up then next year they can be moved into the new beds, which we will be creating in the next few weeks. I also have a lot of plants which I have been given over the last few months as well as bulbs and have been taking a lot of cuttings, so the polytunnel is pretty full at the moment.

This is all such fun! Its like the build up day at Hampton Court Flower Show, here at the moment!

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This is a bed full of mint which is absolutely covered in bees, flies, butterflies, hornets and wasps all buzzing around it. Delightful to watch :)

Which reminds me of  another thing I spotted when looking at the  Internet Gardener website. A lovely and unusual  hexagonal interlocking terracotta herb planter  I love the shape and design of this and after our momentous experience this summer with the Tree Bumblebees in the bird nest box,  will be buying it to plant up on the NEW PATIO ( yes, really!) which will be dug and done in the next few weeks :) You can see what it looks like if you go to my Pinterest "Dream Gardens " board.

In a few more weeks I will have the patio I have longed for, for so many years :)  And I can put Olive trees in terracotta pots on it and have some nice garden furniture to sit on. And admire the view.

 But first we have to build it :) Work starts this week :)