Giving nature a home...

… is the tagline for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). But giving nature a home is not just about feeding the birds.

You can create a garden that is ideal for wildlife but still be nice to look at and a space for the family to use as well.

The idea of a nature-friendly garden is to provide food and shelter for a variety of different species in order to improve biodiversity. After all, on new housing developments things can end up looking the same and seem a bit sterile.

The RSPB’s website has some great ideas for ways in which you can give nature a home in your own back yard. Its list of garden activities provides a comprehensive guide and has plenty of tips and advice for growing food for moths, making a home for frogs and toads or opening a bird café.

You can filter by your type of garden, what kinds of wildlife you want to help, the difficulty of the activity and how long it will take you to complete.

Here are some other things that you can consider:

• Build a swift box
• Build a bat box
• Build a bumble bee B&B
• Build a bug hotel
• Create a compost heap
• Grow an insect-friendly wildflower garden

It all depends on how creative you’re feeling. The website includes full details and instructions for each project.

Visit https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/give-nature-a-home-in-your-garden/garden-activities/ for details.

Our survey now gives you more chances to win!

We have extended the closing date for the survey into house-buying that we are running with our sister company Larkfleet Homes and leading media organisations.

You now have until 30 July to let us know what you think about houses and housebuilders – and to put your name into a draw to win £500.

We have created an online questionnaire here (www.tiny.cc/larkfleet-survey) to capture the thoughts and experiences of people who have bought – or who are trying to buy – a new home.

It takes less than ten minutes to complete and, as an incentive to take part, we are offering a £500 prize to one lucky winner. People who are willing to take part in a brief follow-up telephone survey will be entered into a second draw for an additional £500 prize.

Larkfleet Homes CEO Karl Hick said: “We are keen to hear from anyone currently searching for a new house or who has purchased a new house in the past twelve months.

“Whether your search and purchase involved a brand-new home or an established property, and whether you looked at a Larkfleet home or not, your views will help to shape the way we meet the needs of home buyers in the future.”

Enjoy the Summer Season with Allison Homes

At Allison Homes, we love the summer season – but we don’t like to slosh about in wellies in farmers' fields.

We are more focussed on the finer things. Here are some of the summer events that make up the traditional British Summer season which we think you may enjoy.

Nevill Holt Opera – 14-30 June - Features performances of Mozart’s La Nozze di Figaro and Thomas Ades’ Powder her Face. Click here for details and ticket information.

Glyndebourne – 19 May-26 August - Glyndebourne is quintessentially English and well-established as part of the summer season. It’s a must for all classical music fans. There is a programme of six operas during the course of the festival. Booking is now open.

Royal Ascot – 19-23 June - This is one of the world’s most famous horse racing meetings. Highlights include the Queen’s parade and fine horse racing. Visit the course website for more.

Wimbledon fortnight – 2-15 July - Enjoy tennis and strawberries and cream in South West London. Click here for more details.

Henley Royal Regatta – 4-8 July - This rowing event, held annually on the Thames, attracts thousands and is regarded as one of the most important social events of the season. Visit the regatta website to find out how you can join in.

Barclaycard British Summertime – 6-14 July - Set in London’s Hyde Park this music festival features the UK’s leading bands and singers. Organised by AEG Live the event features headline acts including Michael Buble and Bruno Mars.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed 12-15 July and the Goodwood Revival 7-9 September both celebrate the best in motorsport and automotive heritage past and present.

Dorset Seafood Festival – 14-15 July - It’s the UK’s largest free seafood festival. Visitors to Weymouth Harbour will be able to enjoy all kinds of sea food and see demonstrations from top chefs.

Qatar Goodwood Festival – 31 July-4 August -‘Glorious Goodwood’ is one of the flagship events of the season.

Cowes Week – 4-11 August - This is for all you sailing enthusiasts out there

Of course if you can’t visit any of these events there is plenty of coverage on the television and radio for armchair fans.

And our show homes are open all summer!

Pack the perfect picnic

As the Spring slowly gives way to Summer and the warm air is abuzz the Allison Homes team starts to venture into the great outdoors for picnics. What better way to enjoy the countryside or a local park than organising a lovely picnic with friends and family?

Pick a sheltered location in a dappled woodland glade, a wild flower meadow, next to babbling brook, river or canal, by a lake or on the Downs. We are spoiled for choice in the beautiful British countryside.

When you've found the ideal location, look around for a level spot that is not in an animal field or on top of an ants' nest for example.

What about the menu? It’s easy to fall back on pre-packed supermarket foods but try to avoid this if you can.

Food: The BBC Good Food website has some great ideas for packing the perfect picnic. Why not try some chorizo Scotch quails eggs, mini pork pies with piccalilli or a pork and rabbit pie.?

Take some salads. New potato with chives and spring onions is a classic. You could change it a bit and use sweet potato instead.

Chicken and chorizo combinations are great. Here are a few other recipes to give you some inspiration.

Take crusty bread and a nice ripe brie and pair then food with a cider to drink.

For desserts try summer fruit salads or Eton mess. What about water melon cut into chunks or a simple cake?

Drinks could include sparkling wines of your choice, a chilled rose or a full-bodied red, elderflower and cucumber G&Ts or Pimm’s. Or you could take some refreshing alcohol-free cordials.

Once you have planned your location and got your food together, you need to think about what you’re going to pack your picnic in and what utensils you will need.

A good blanket is essential. Pack your picnic into a classic wicker basket or use a more modern picnic set – especially good with an eye to food safety. John Lewis, Next, M&S and Joules all do some lovely classic wicker picnic sets.

If you want to go a little more up market try the Castleton Home set or Fortnum and Mason’s four person set.

For some more modern picnic-ware that won’t break the bank try Domu.

However good the location, the food and the company, you probably won't spend all day on your picnic - so why not fit a trip to a show home into your schedule for the day? Well, we would say that, of course - but, really, why not?

Classy treats for Fathers’ Day

Fathers’ Day is just around the corner. While it’s less well observed than Mothers’ Day, even us chaps deserve a bit of a pamper once in a while.

Fathers’ Day has its origins in the United States. There are two versions of the first Fathers’ Day.

According to some accounts, the first Father’s Day was celebrated in Washington state on June 19, 1910 after a lady called Sonora Smart Dodd came up with the idea of honouring and celebrating her Civil War veteran widowed father while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon at church in 1909. He brought up six children by himself on their small farm in Washington. Sonora initially suggested June 5th, the anniversary of her father’s death to be the designated day to celebrate Father’s Day, but the celebration in Spokane, Washington was deferred to the third Sunday in June.

The other has it that the first Fathers’ Day was celebrated in Fairmont, West Virginia on July 5, 1908 when Grace Golden Clayton suggested to the Methodist minister that services be held to celebrate fathers after a deadly mine explosion killed 361 men.

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recommended that Father’s Day become a national holiday. But it wasn’t until 1966 that Lyndon B. Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as the official day to celebrate Father’s Day. It took another six years until Father’s Day was officially recognized as a national holiday in the US.

More recently other countries have followed suit and the third Sunday in June has been designated as Father’s Day in the UK and many other countries around the world.

Now you know a little of the origins of Father’s Day, here are a few ideas to help you give the dad in your life a bit of treat this coming Sunday.

Not on the High Street has plenty of ideas including loads of things for those on a budget.

The website Menkind has some unusual and classic gifts that your Dad might actually like.

The Independent has also published a list of fashionable gifts that are sure to go down well.

Books can also go down well. For the history buff the Top 10 has some interesting stuff including Arnhem by Anthony Beevor and Spitfire by Tom Holland. For the fiction lover there is Anthony Horowitz’ latest James Bond outing Forever and a Day, or Stephen King’s The Outsider.

And for the father who is relocating, why not have a look at one of our show homes and then take him out for a pub lunch?

Whatever you do have a great day! Happy Father’s Day from the team at Allison Homes.

The future of housebuilding?

At Allison Homes we like to think that we have got our fingers on the pulse when it comes to innovative house building.

But even we can’t beat the futuristic new houses that are set to be built in the city of Eindhoven in the Netherlands later this year.

The new houses will be built from concrete using 3D printing techniques. According to The Eindhoven University of Technology, which is behind the project, 3D-printing using concrete is a potential game changer in the building industry. It means that homes can be constructed in almost any shape or colour. New homes could be customised to each buyer’s requirements.

3D printing is also a highly sustainable method of construction because much less concrete is needed thereby reducing the CO2 emissions originating from cement production.

The first house, which will be a single-floor house, is expected to be ready for occupation mid-2019. The other four houses will be multi-storey houses. The concrete dwellings will be subject to normal building regulations and will meet the demands of current-day occupants concerning comfort, lay-out, quality and pricing.

The five houses will be built consecutively. The building elements of the first house will all be printed by the concrete printer at the university. As the project progresses the 3D concrete printing will be carried out on the construction site, further reducing CO2 emissions and transport costs associated with transporting materials to the site.

It will be some years before we’re building houses like this in the UK. But it gives you an insight into how the future of housebuilding is shaping up.

Allison Homes sponsors Priors Hall Right Royal Event

The team at Allison Homes is helping the Priors Hall Park Neighbourhood Committee put on a right royal event this weekend to celebrate the Queen’s official birthday.

The weekend of fun will kick off with a Mad Hatter’s Tea party from 3:30PM and 6:30PM. Fun for all the family will include a tea party with delicious food held in a themed marquee surrounded with Alice in Wonderland props.

There will be a fancy-dress competition with prizes for the best prince, princess and Alice in Wonderland character judged by DJ Charlie Stone.

Charlie will keep the tunes playing throughout the afternoon and there will be performances from local schools to keep everyone entertained. Other attractions will include children’s games and competitions, a bouncy castle, face painting, a street boules competition, ballroom, Latin and Salsa taster sessions.

For the thirsty there will be a licensed bar selling artisan beers and ciders and there will be stalls selling soft drinks, candy floss, chocolates and sweets, arts and crafts. There really is something for all the family.

There will also be a full programme of events in the evening including bands, solo artists and other performers staged in the Festival Amphitheatre from 6:30PM to 9:30PM. Bands include ‘North London’s number one party band Back to Square One, Jo Collins and Friends and acoustic duo Two Piece Temple.

A grand prize raffle will round off the evening.

Members of the Allison Homes team will be on hand throughout the afternoon to dish out goody bags.

Come along early to avoid missing out. We’ll see you there!