Making perfect coffee with the pour-over method

Until a couple of years ago, I thought the only simple way to make good fresh coffee was to use a cafetiere. But then on a visit to the wonderful Monmouth Coffee in Covent Garden I noticed that they use the pour-over method… and the end result is delicious, as well as being really smooth in texture and completely free of grounds.

You’ll need a ceramic filter holder. Monmouth sells them, but they’re cheaper at the Algerian coffee store on Old Compton Street.

The paper filters aren’t expensive and they’re available at most supermarkets.

Pour boiling water into your mug first to heat it; this makes a big difference to how hot your coffee will be. Discard that water and then place the filter holder on top of your mug and insert a filter paper. I like to use two dessert spoons’ worth of ground coffee and add water that’s just off the boil. Try to use a (careful) swirling motion as you pour the water onto the ground coffee. The coffee will inflate a little and then subside as the water drains through, and then you’ll probably need to add a little more water.

The used filter paper and used coffee makes a neat package to throw away or add to your composting. Much easier than cleaning out a cafetiere.

I hope you enjoy your coffee made this way.

Sorry, fruit flies, you have to go

I’ve had house plants for years and never a fruit fly in sight. Then one day these little beasts were all over my plants, especially my spider plants. A Google search threw up several suggested remedies, some of which sounded a lot of hassle – who really wants to wash their plants in bleach?

My strategy was to start with the easiest solution first and work up the list from there. Luckily for me (and hopefully for you) the first solution I tried worked. I left my plants outside overnight - making sure to do this when a frost wasn’t expected - and in the morning the fruit flies were gone.

I almost miss them now. Almost.

Cut down your contractual working week from 5 days to 4 days… without losing 20% of your pay

In my team at work a few months ago, the opportunity arose for one of us to reduce from being employed five days to just four days, if we wanted to. This would mean a shift from being required to work 35 hours to being required only to work 28 hours, with an accompanying 20% cut in gross pay, of course.

It wasn’t an easy decision. On the one hand, I have lots of interests and projects outside of work that I usually feel I don’t have enough time for, like making music. On the other hand, there are lots of interesting opportunities at work, and you can’t really say yes to them all when you’re working part-time.

Everyone’s situation is different, and I appreciate that some people can’t afford to go part-time, but that’s what I decided to do. I’m fortunate to be at a stage where I don’t have a mortgage anymore, and I live a reasonably simple life that doesn’t necessitate a huge income.

One of the deciding factors for me was the realisation that a 20% drop in gross pay (i.e. before tax) doesn’t mean a 20% drop in take-home pay. In fact, I’m only about 17% worse off. This is because UK taxation works on a sliding scale: the first chunk of your earnings are tax-free, then you pay a certain percentage of tax on the next block of your pay, and a higher proportion on the next block. Dropping from five days to four meant I was effectively shifting most of my pay into the zero and lower-rate tax bands.

I’m happy with my new work-life arrangement. I try to be as productive as possible on my “day off”, because I can see in my pay exactly how much it costs me to have that day to myself. I use the time to get on with my own projects: things I wouldn’t be able to do just in a lunchbreak or that I would be too tired to do at the end of a working day. But when the sunshine aligns itself with my day off, I do sometimes allow myself a couple of hours in the garden with a book and a coffee… and that’s worth every penny.

Exhibition posters are a fraction of the price of lithographic prints

Last year I bought an Art Fund pass, which meant I could get entry to lots of major art exhibitions at 50% off the full price, or – in some cases – for free. I’m a little fickle about visual art - my favourite artist tends to be whichever one I last saw exhibited. I fall in love with one or two images at each exhibition and then want to own them and be able to decorate my home with them.

But a lithographic print at a reasonable size (around A2 or above) can be as much as £200, which is a lot of money to me. Plus, I’m not sure that these prints hold their value particularly well – I noticed there was a run of Ravilious lithographs being stocked by various high-end retailers a couple of years ago, and they didn’t exactly fly off the shelves (even though Ravilious’s work is wonderful, of course). The answer, for me, is to buy exhibition posters instead. They’re usually around £6 and a standard A2 size, which means you can pop your poster into an affordable off-the-peg frame from somewhere like Ikea, Habitat or John Lewis. 

I guess not everyone wants the name of the gallery and exhibition emblazoned across the artwork, but I rather like it – the layout and typography is usually pretty classy, and the whole thing acts as a nice reminder of having seen the show.

Here’s an exhibition poster from a show I saw last year and loved. It hangs in my living room and gladdens my heart daily.

How to hide an ugly fence... quite quickly

What can you do to cover up an ugly bare new fence? I was faced with this problem a few months ago.

The fence between me and my neighbour was badly in need of replacing and she had kindly offered to arrange to have the work done. My side of the fence was smothered in ivy; I’d planted it 16 years before and hadn’t imagined it would grow so big, or that I would still be living in the same house all that time later. The ivy was really out of control – it needed a “haircut” every two weeks in summer – and there’s no way the fence could have been replaced without ripping out the growth anyway. So I cleared it all, which took a couple of afternoons, and then the fence was replaced.

The new fence comprised creosote orange panels set between concrete posts. Not exactly a thing of beauty! I knew I would be depressed if I had to look at it for too long, so I needed climbing plants that would smother it fairly quickly but without being as rampant as the ivy. I chose a clematis montana and a honeysuckle. I bought plants of a decent size from my local nursery, paying about £12 for each. (In the past I’ve used those £2.99 climbing plants you get from supermarkets in the UK – they’re great value, but very small. I think you save yourself at least a year of growing time by spending a few pounds more.)

My new plants went into the ground in November 2014, and of course there wasn’t much sign of life initially. But now – in April 2015 – they’re really starting to scramble up the trellis I installed for them. They must have spent the winter putting down some good roots.

In just another year or two, they’ll have caught up with some climbers I planted a few years ago on the opposite side of the garden.

And look, the orangeness does fade after a couple of years!