Come and enjoy a blitz in Baston this weekend

Come and visit the new show home at The Croft in Baston this weekend and enjoy the village’s Baston in the Blitz event.

Baston in the Blitz, held on the weekend of 4th and 5th August, is a WWII themed extravaganza.

There will be more than 60 trade stalls, some 70 display groups and over 500 WWII re-enactors putting on 1940’s themed depictions over the weekend.

The team from The Croft will be on hand with a stall at the event. They will be running a prize draw too, with the star prize being a Pimm’s hamper.

As well as a thrilling battle re-enactment, there will be plenty of food and drink on offer in addition to music shows, presentations, a Punch & Judy show, a Dambusters presentation and George Formby experience among other attractions.

Visit http://www.bastonblitz.org/Programme2018.htm for full details.

While you’re at the event, pop down to The Croft. You’ll be able to enter the prize draw and enjoy plenty of other goodies. We will also be offering free flooring on any plot purchase at The Croft up until 18 August.

If you are looking for a new home in a community-spirited, friendly and tranquil village that offers age-exclusive living for busy modern lifestyles, then The Croft, Baston is for you.

The Croft is brought to you by our sister company Larkfleet Homes.

The second phase of development at The Croft at Baston is a small development of new homes in this tranquil village in south Lincolnshire. It sits alongside the highly successful fully-sold first phase, extending the community but keeping it at a modest scale.

Baston is a vibrant community with a range of community activities, clubs and societies to get involved with.

The Croft at Baston is not just a place to live. It offers a lifestyle of possibilities, leaving you with more time and energy to do the things you enjoy doing, every day, within a bustling community environment.

Make your life your own at The Croft at Baston - a stylish development surrounded by beautiful grounds, with a variety of facilities and services close by to suit your lifestyle.

Call our sales office today on 07917 761020 or visit http://larkfleethomes.co.uk/the-croft-baston

12 tips for saving water in the garden

As we continue to swelter in one of the longest spells of hot weather for years, spare a thought for the garden. Lawns are a scorched golden-brown, flower beds are parched and the vegetable plot is starting to look like a war zone.

Some of you will have had the hosepipe out for a while now. Forget about the grass, it will revive come the next significant rainfall. But the flowers and veg still need regular watering.

The problem of course is that we are facing a ban on the use of hosepipes in the garden if this dry weather keeps up for much longer. There is already a hosepipe ban in force in the north west of England and it’s only a matter of time before we have one in the East Midlands and East Anglia - normally the driest parts of the country.

Here are our tips for beating the ban and keeping your garden in great condition during the hot weather:

• Water less; most mature plants will survive a dry spell
• Adjust your lawnmower to cut your grass longer – this will shade the roots from the sun
• Leave cuttings on the lawn – they will form a mulch to protect and feed the grass
• Keep lawns and beds weed-free, but avoid turning soil during dry weather
• Water seedlings and planters around the roots early in the morning or in the cooler evenings
• Mulch around your borders: this will keep your soil cooler and deter weeds
• Avoid deep or large paddling pools and re-use the water for plants in the evening
• Invest in a water butt and use the water as much as possible
• Use a watering can
• Save cooled grey water from baths and showers and use to water around the roots of plants – not leaves - and avoid using water with too much soap or household detergent in
• Use a water retaining gel in pots and hanging baskets
• Plant flowers and vegetables that require less water

Ideas for great a summer weekend

School’s out, but many parents are still working. If you’re stuck at work, how do you make the most of the time with your kids over the summer? That’s what weekends are for.

Here are a few ideas for things to do over the next six weeks of the summer holidays.

Are you a countryside enthusiast? Do enjoy country pursuits? Then the Game Fair could be just the thing for a weekend of fun and shopping. This year it is being held at Ragley Hall in Warwickshire from Friday 27 July until Sunday 29 July. There’s plenty to see and do, not just hunting, shooting and fishing. There's even a ‘Go Wild’ kids’ zone

If you have an ‘Astronut’ in the family, the National Space Centre in Leicester could be just the place for a weekend visit. The centre is open from 10:00 until 17:00 on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the summer. This summer they're taking a journey through the secret world of gases. 

Why not enjoy a spot of camping in the heart of England at Belvoir Castle? Located in Woolsthorpe by the Dirty Duck Public House on the Grantham Canal, it is perfectly situated for exploring the Viking Way walk and the surrounding areas.

Looking for something really imaginative to do? Go and get befuddled at BeWILDerwood in Norfolk. You’ll encounter some intriguing characters including Boggles, Twiggles, the Thornyclod Spider and vegetarian Crocklebogs, as you and your family enjoy traditional, imaginative and outdoor play together. Visit https://www.bewilderwood.co.uk/ for more details and plan your day out.

The well-known Alton Towers is a great family choice for summer holiday fun. All ages are catered for. CBeebies Land is hosting Bings’ Picnic and there’s loads on offer for older children and adults alike.

You could also head to the LEGOLAND Windsor Resort. The park is open from 09:30 to 18:00 every day throughout the summer. There is so much to see and do that you certainly won’t be bored

House hunting? Come and visit one of our show homes in Collingham, Corby or Pinchbeck near Spalding. We are open on weekends throughout the summer holidays.

Whatever you’re doing, have a great summer.

Outdoor workouts for summer fitness

Health experts agree that we need more exercise. There is plenty of evidence showing that aerobic outdoor exercise like running and cycling has enormous health benefits.

Benefits include reducing stress and improving mental health, not to mention our overall cardiovascular fitness.

Summer is a great time to get outdoors, enjoy the warm weather and get some quality exercise at the same time. And, let's face it, it’s much easier to motivate yourself when the sun is shining.

There are plenty of options. Go for a brisk walk or a jog in the park – whatever takes your fancy. Long slow cardio exercise is a great way to lose the pounds.

At Allison Homes we have developments in Collingham, Corby and Spalding which are all within easy reach of open spaces where you can do your outdoor workouts.

Here are some ideas for things that you could try.

Collingham Community Park in the centre of Collingham has plenty to keep the kids amused, but there is also an array of adult outdoor gym equipment to use.

If you are into cycling, you can find some of the best countryside and roads for cycling in Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire. Rutland Water is nearby with plenty of cycle ways and footpaths, not mention lots of other opportunities to get out in the fresh air and exercise.

Parks often have outdoor gym equipment – you could devise a few routines like these to help with your general fitness. Weldon Woodland Park near our Oakley Rise development has footpaths, grassland walks and an outdoor fitness trail.

Running is one of the easiest forms of outdoor exercise. Following a training plan for any distance will have terrific benefits for your health. There are plenty of footpaths around our developments if you’re looking to pound the pavements. Slightly further afield there are parks and countryside trails to walk, jog and run along.

These are just a few of the things you can do in and around Allison Homes’ developments, so get out and about, enjoy the summer weather and get fit at the same time.

If you are thinking of moving to a new home, and your priority is having plenty of open space around you in which to exercise, then look no further than our developments at Oakley Rise in Corby, Pinchbeck Fields near Spalding or Collingham Brook in Collingham.

Time’s running out on your chance to win £1,000

Time is nearly up on our customer survey. Now is the time to act if you want to be in with a chance of winning £1,000 for you and your family. You’ve got until 31 July to take part in our survey to get the thoughts and experiences of discerning house buyers like you.

Go to www.tiny.cc/larkfleet-survey to take part in the survey.

Complete our survey and we will enter you into our prize draw for a chance to win £500. Agree to a follow up interview and you will be entered in a second draw to win a further £500.

The Allison Homes team is always working to develop new ways to provide the best possible products and services for our customers. We want to know what house buyers really think of the housing market and what they want from housebuilders like us.

To help us, we teamed up with First Time Buyer Magazine, What House and What Mortgage to develop and deliver this comprehensive survey to find out what you, our customer, is really looking for in a new home.

The survey covers everything from the type of property people are looking to buy or have bought (whether it’s for their own use or an investment) through to topics such as location, size and energy efficiency.

It takes less than ten minutes to complete at www.tiny.cc/larkfleet-survey. The survey is being managed by independent marketing company OlsenMetrix Marketing and all the data collected will be anonymous.

Summer home security tips

Home security can be an issue at any time of the year. During the summer months, however, the security of your home can be easily compromised.

A lot of us keep doors and windows open in hot weather to keep air flowing around the house. This can be an open invitation to an opportunist housebreaker, especially if we forget to close them before we go out – so be extra vigilant.

Here are some tips to help you make sure your home is secure during the heatwave. 

• Don’t leave windows open that are easily accessible from, for example, a flat roof.
• Don’t leave anything, such as a ladder, visible or accessible that could help an intruder get through a window.
• Don’t leave windows open that face on to a street, particularly on ground floor level.
• Always close windows and lock up when you leave the house – even if you’re just going into the back garden.
• Pay attention to which windows you leave open at night. Make sure they are not accessible from outside.
• The key to keeping cool is moving air. Consider using fans instead of opening your windows.

Here is some more advice from Cambridgeshire Constabulary about preventing burglary.

It includes a few handy hints about taking steps to prevent crime while you are away on holiday.

Perfect summer recipes

While we’re sweltering through one of the warmest summers we have had for a while perhaps the last thing we want for dinner is stodgy traditional fare. Boiled beef and carrots anyone?

Perhaps not. What about fresh seafood, fruit and salads? Fresh fish is an excellent summer choice. Sea bass and mackerel with herbs served with fresh vegetables are a great choice.

You could serve other seafoods such as prawns, or lobster if the budget will stretch to it.

Barbecue is a summer favourite. Go for some high-quality beef if you are looking to impress. Try a succulent sirloin or rib eye of beef.

We have trawled the web and found a few websites that are just bursting with epicurean inspiration.

The Great British Chefs website has some terrific ideas for entertaining this summer – inside or out.

This is a great time of year for all you dessert lovers. With so much summer fruit around try Peach Melba, Eton Mess or Summer Pudding. You could also create a delicious jelly using Pimm’s and serve it with a palette-cleansing sorbet.

The key to a summer supper is to keep it light and ‘herby’. Try these summer recipes from the BBC Good Food website.

This website has a great list of ingredients that will give you the full flavour of summer. Savour the best the season offers if you are feeling adventurous in the kitchen.

And don’t forget other summer favourites like these soups, salads and trifles from Delia Smith.

We think that you will find plenty to tickle the palette with these choices. To work up an appetite why not come long and visit one of our show homes this summer?

Go Promming this summer

The BBC Proms starts today and runs throughout the summer until 8 September.

The Proms is a summer-long classical music festival based at the Royal Albert Hall with something for all you classical music fans to enjoy.

The First Night at the Proms features an all-British line up featuring two major responses to WWI; Holst’s The Planets (1918) and Vaughan William’s choral work Toward the Unknown Region.

A work by Ann Meredith called Five Telegrams draws on communications sent by young soldiers in 1918 and features specially produced digital projections.

The Proms, or Promenade Concerts, have their origins in the pleasure gardens of 18th Century London. Moving to indoor venues in Victorian London, the Proms were designed by impresario Robert Newman to popularise concert music to a wider audience, and he achieved that aim with the assistance of conductor Henry Wood with the first Prom in 1895.

Following Newman’s death in 1927 the running of the concerts was taken over by the BBC.

This year there are 75 different concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, including the famous Last Night of the Proms, and a series of related events such as the BBC’s Proms in the Park held in Hyde Park.

The Last Night of the Proms has a party atmosphere and will feature the music of Stanford, Parry and Elgar – think Songs of the Sea and Pomp and Circumstance.

For a full calendar of events, ticket sales, social media and broadcast details visit the BBC Proms website.

There's so much on the radio and TV that you could enjoy hosting your own Proms Party. Get your guests to dress as if they were attending the Royal Albert Hall and serve champagne, Pimms and cocktail food.

10 tips for caring for pets and animals in the hot weather

A lot us may be feeling the heat this summer. But spare a thought for your pets. Dogs in particular can suffer when the weather gets hot. Here are our top 10 tips to help you help your animals keep their cool this summer.

• Never leave animals in hot cars, conservatories, outbuildings or caravans, even for a short while.
• Make sure your pets have access to fresh drinking water. You could put ice cubes in the water to keep it cool.
• Put an animal friendly sun cream on exposed parts of your pets’ skin.
• Walk your dogs in the morning or in the evening. Avoid taking them out for a walk in the hottest part of the day to prevent them burning their paws on the tarmac or getting heat stroke.
• If you have fish or amphibians, keep their tanks out of direct sunlight.
• Keep your ponds topped up and create shaded areas for fish by planting aquatic plants such as lilies.
• If you have caged birds keep them out of direct sunlight and ensure aviaries have shaded areas.
• Make sure your birds have access to clean, fresh drinking and bathing water.
• Help garden wildlife by providing fresh water for drinking. Keep it clean and topped up.
• Set up a paddling pool in the garden that your dog can splash around in.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has some more excellent advice on caring for pets, farm animals and wildlife of all kinds on its website.

Top 10 outdoor games to play in your garden

Now that the sun has got his hat on and he's come out to play it’s time for you to go out to play in the garden. You might not always want to get out the paddling pool or the water balloons. You can play these classic garden games and stay dry.

Here are the Allison Homes top 10 classic garden games for you to enjoy this summer.

1. Quoits – the classic deck game of hand and eye coordination where you try to get rope hoops over pegs to score points.
2. Skittles – another classic and there are several versions of the game available online.
3. Rounders – rounders is a great game but you will need to have some space to play. If there isn’t enough room in the garden, why not nip down to the local park?
4. Kwik Cricket – this is also a great game for all the family but, like rounders, you’re going to need some space to play in.
5. Giant Snakes and Ladders – the kids will love this classic game, upsized with a sticky board just for outdoors. There are also versions with inflatable game pieces available.
6. Croquet – this might sound painfully posh, but it’s a lot of fun to play, especially if you are having a few friends around for an al fresco party.
7. French Cricket – this is a favourite with younger and older children alike and you won’t need anywhere near as much space as you will for Rounders or Kwik Cricket.
8. Giant Jenga – using giant wooden blocks making ‘tumble towers’ is a lot of fun. There are several versions of this classic available online.
9. Twister – Twister is a classic party game and ideally suited for playing outside on the lawn. Guaranteed to liven up any BBQ.
10. Swing Ball – this is a fun game for the competitive members of your family. You could have your own Wimbledon knock out in your own back garden.

There are plenty of places to find these classics. Online, simply look at Amazon, Ebay or any one of a hundred specilaist retailers. On the high street, you could try your independent toy shop, although these are becoming increasingly rare these days, or visit your local garden centre.

Is the ‘Waitrose effect’ reversing?

It’s been documented that living near a Waitrose supermarket can boost house prices. But what happens when the high-end supermarket leaves your area?

It’s called the “Waitrose effect”. Studies have shown that living near to a branch of the high-end supermarket can add thousands of pounds to the value of your home. Just last month research from Lloyds Bank found that homes in the same postcode as a Waitrose cost on average £43,571 more than those in the wider town in which they’re located. Living near a Marks & Spencer or Sainsbury’s can boost house prices by £40,135 and £32,707 respectively but it’s Waitrose that has the biggest impact.

So, what happens then when your local Waitrose closes down? It’s a question some homeowners may be asking themselves following the news that the supermarket is set to close some of its stores in the wake of a profit warning issued by the John Lewis Partnership.

While some high-end outlets tend to be positioned in more affluent areas property values are unlikely to plummet as a result of Waitrose vacating the area according to emoov.co.uk.

While the general decline of a high-street may impact the local market, these desirable shop spaces will no doubt be repopulated by another business. This is already happening in some areas where former Waitrose premises are being taken over by the likes of the Co Op and Aldi.

That’s good news for homeowners as the Lloyds Bank survey also revealed properties near an Aldi have seen their values rise by 15 per cent over the past four years.

Paula Higgins of the HomeOwners Alliance summed up the situation, “While the amount added to the value of your home can be even greater if located next to a brand which is perceived as upmarket, there are many other drivers of house prices beyond having a high-end supermarket on your doorstep. The most important thing here is that large flagship stores near your home aren’t left empty. ”

Let’s have a look at some of the stores that you can find around some of our developments.

Pinchbeck Fields, Spalding – Morrisons
Oakley Rise, Corby – Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, Tesco, M&S, Weldon Supermarket
Collingham Brook – Co Op, Morrisons, Asda, Lidl, Sainsburys

As you can see, there are plenty of options for grocery shopping around our developments and prices as a result are unlikely to be adversely affected by the departure of a flagship supermarket any time soon!

‘Staycations’ are the in-thing this summer

As the British summer weather becomes increasingly reliable, more and more of us are staying at home to holiday rather than travel abroad.

Especially since the current heatwave is set to continue for a few more weeks.

There are some great destinations in the UK for a holiday – from Cornwall to the Western Isles. But staying in the UK for holiday comes with its own problems, particularly when it comes to insurance.

According to recent research over 60 per cent of people who stayed in the UK did not insure themselves adequately.

You wouldn’t dream of going abroad without adequate insurance. But millions of holiday makers are potentially at risk during their summer staycations should something go wrong such as a missed train, loss or damage of personal items, or hotel cancellations, according to personal lines insurer Liverpool Victoria.

Things that you can get cover for a staycation include cancellation; personal effects/baggage, medical emergency, travel delay/abandonment and personal liability.

But where can you go? With award-winning beaches, internationally acclaimed cultural and historical attractions and 15 national parks, the British Isles have something for everyone.

Go here for a list of Britain’s best beaches and resorts.

If you prefer being more active and hillwalking and rambling are more your thing here is information about what the UK’s national parks have to offer.

If a city break is more your cup of tea this blog has more information.

And everywhere you turn in the UK there is culture and history to enjoy.

You might even visit a showhome or two while you are away!

Summer books for the beach

July is here, the school year is almost over and many of us are looking forward to the beach, either here in the UK or further afield.

Even if you’re simply spending time at home in the garden soaking up the sun what better way to pass the time than by catching up on your reading.

Whether you’re into history, art, sport, literary fiction or a quick ‘pot boiler’, we’ve got something here for you.

Fiction

• Lincoln in the Bardo - George Saunders
• Warlight – Michael Ondaatje
• Circe – Madelaine Miller
• The Ministry of Utmost Happiness – Arundhati Roy
• The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock – Imogen Hermes Gowar
• Ordinary People – Diana Evans
• The Shepherd’s Hut – Tim Winton
• The Only Story – Julian Barnes
• The Lido – Libby Page
• Fear – Dirk Kurbjuweit
• Friend Request – Laura Marshall

Non-fiction

• Arnhem – Anthony Beevor
• First Man in – Ant Middleton
• Factfulness – Hans Rosling
• Spitfire – John Nichol
• Everything I know About Love – Dolly Alderton
• Ikigai – Hector Garcia & Francesc Miralles
• The Language of Kindness – Christie Watson
• Lose Weight for Good – Tom Kerridge
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*@k
• Coming Home – Fern Britton
• The Summer of Impossible Things – Rowan Coleman
• Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls – Elena Favilli & Francesca Cavallo

Children and Young Adult 

• Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi
• The Moxie – Jennifer Mathieu
• The Start of You and Me – Emery Lord
• Not if I Save you First – Ally Carter
• One of us is Lying – Karen McManus
• The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas
• The Kissing Booth – Beth Reekles
• Letters from the Lighthouse – Emma Carroll
• The Legend of Podkin One-Ear – Kieran Larwood
• See you in the Cosmos – Jack Cheng
• The Girl Who Drank the Moon – Kelly Barnhill
• The Book of Dust – Philip Pullman

There are some great titles in here. There’s nothing wrong with getting your books online, but if you can, and there is one where you live, do consider using your independent bookshop.

Hope you have a great time this summer.