Alison Cork’sfinishing touches
A weekly guide to the bestbargains for the home and garden
Sunday November 27, 2005The Observer
ÃÂ
Home-spun hints
The website www.hintsandthings.com dispenses advice on just about every household matter you could imagine,from florists’ tips to interior design, expert advice for Aga owners, safetyinformation and how to keep important household records. Run by a dedicatedenthusiast (as opposed to a corporate interest), this is an endearing andhelpful site.
ÃÂ
MILESMENDOZA’S WEBSITE OF THE DAY |
ÃÂ
Hintsand Things (17/05/04)A site crammed full of genuinely useful tips and advice, put together byself-proclaimed ‘plump, old, grey wrinkly’ June Jackson with the aim of’sharing all those little pearls of wisdom that used to be passed fromgeneration to generation’. You’ll find tips on topics as diverse as basicpiano repair, finding missing contact lenses, vehicle maintenance andselling yourself in a job interview. June is clearly a genius who knowseverything, and I wish she lived round the corner from me, so I could popround for a spot of advice and a nice cup of (perfectly brewed) tea!
HINTS ANDTHINGS HELPSÃÂ READERÃÂ
WITH HOT WATER PUMPÃÂ
ÃÂ
I want totell Hintsandthings readers what a great service June is providing.
On 17thAugust I sent June an email asking her if she could help me find the answerto a question I had regardingmy central heating boiler.ÃÂ
I had a newcentral heating system put in last year. The boiler is a ValliantTHERMOcompact, pretty standard kind I think. My problemÃÂ was that inorder to get the water to heat up they installed a pump which makesa harrowing noise every time I turned on the ÃÂ hotwater tap in the sink either in the kitchen or the bathroom. The noise itwas making was horrible and I had to do something about it.ÃÂ
June repliedto me within a few hours asking me some relevant questions such as the nameof the manufacturer of the pump and when I told her she then pointed me inthe direction of their website.ÃÂ
I calledStuart Turner Limited and after I told the very helpful technical man whichpump the contractors had fitted he immediately told me that it this pump wasfive times too powerful for my needs and I should see about fitting a lesspowerful one. I asked him if he couldÃÂ recommended a plumber, which hedid. The plumber kindly agreed to purchase the pump and fit it on Tuesday6th September 2005 at 9am. ÃÂ
Well I’m gladto say the plumber came and fitted the pumpÃÂ with a minimum of fuss. Itis amazingly quiet. All you can hear now when you turn on the hot water tapsis the water running.ÃÂ
Success andall thanks to June’s website and kind help.
ÃÂ
LawrenceBiren
ÃÂ
Internet Web Guide Magazine (October)-
ÃÂ
HintsAndThings.co.uk
June Jackson describes herself as a “plump, old, grey wrinkly living in the south ofEngland.” It may be more or less true, but a complete description would have toinclude webmaster. Her web location, Hints and Things, is a collection of hints and tipson a variety of subjects such as explanations of basic cooking, knitting, sewing,gardening terms, advice on cutting costs, games, brain teasers, daily quotes and a lotmore useful information. Above all, June Jackson is a cool old lady!
ÃÂ
Waitrose – Site of the Day
ÃÂ
Hints and ThingsThis is the labour of love of June Jackson, a woman from the south of England who hascreated a great site which she uses to share all those little pearls of wisdom that werepreviously passed on by word of mouth. The tips are arranged in easy-to-follow sections,so you can find the help you need quickly and easily. You can also share your favouritetips with a friend, and sign up for a free monthly e-zine that will be delivered to yourinbox each month.
ÃÂ
As you know, we haveàalready been chosen as oneof the “sites of the week”àon theDailyTelegraph website and featured in that paper and also included in Yahoo’s “What’sNew”.ÃÂ
ÃÂ
|
Head straight for the Utility Room onthis engaging site which specialises in folk remedies,common sense and an occasional touch of the surreal.
Typical tip: Keep your shower cubiclesparkling by waxing it with car wax after you’ve washed it.Just don’t use Turtle Wax, because it’s green.
ÃÂ
|
What we liked:
June Jackson’s site offers the kind of advice youmight have got from your grandma, involving glycerine and peroxideas well as lateral thinking. It also reminds us of that great10-minute TV show Trade Secrets.
‘If you clean the outside of windowsvertically and the inside horizontally,’ says one hint, ‘you will beable to tell which side any smears are on.’
There are lots of tips from site visitors, plusan A-Z of quick, simple solutions. See our interview with June tofind out more about how and why she set up the site.
What we didn’t like: The webmistress admits thatnot all tips have been tested. If you’ve burnt a saucepan, forexample, you should ‘put in some baking soda and Avon SkinSoft whilestill hot. Emma Phillips assures me this works!’ Hmm.
But is Emma Phillips a local stain-removal guru,or just some madwoman with a house full of mutilated kitchenware?And what does she moisturise with? We should be told.
Verdict
Keeping your home clean & tidy can be a full timejob, this site could help to reduce your workload…
|
|