A moment that changed me: I went to Kew Gardens – and found a place of safety after homelessness and drug addiction

I’d had a very tough few years after my father died, living on the streets and sleeping with one eye open. But as I looked at a tulip tree that day, my love of gardening came flooding back

I spent the early 00s living in my family home in west London, caring for my elderly father. When he died, in February 2015, I lost my home. When you’re on the streets, you have to sleep with one eye open in case people try to steal your things, so you end up being on alert 24 hours a day. The effect of living like that means you often look for distraction and I soon began spending time with other homeless people who were drinking and using drugs. I started smoking crack and heroin, and drinking heavily. My days all began to look the same: trying to stay warm, get into shelters, eat and score the next fix.

When Covid hit in early 2020, things became really hard – people were getting ill on the street and it felt sometimes as if we had been abandoned. Eventually, I was relocated to a hotel room in Putney during the lockdowns and while I was there I started working with a housing charity, who got me a flat in Mortlake, Richmond upon Thames. By September 2021, I was finally off the streets and I knew that meant I also had to get clean, otherwise my place would become a crack den.

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* This article was originally published here

5 cleaning projects for a snowy day

Take advantage of the indoors by knocking out one of these tasks.

* This article was originally published here

* This article was originally published here

* This article was originally published here

5 cleaning projects for a snowy day

Take advantage of the indoors by knocking out one of these tasks.

* This article was originally published here

* This article was originally published here

5 cleaning projects for a snowy day

Take advantage of the indoors by knocking out one of these tasks.

* This article was originally published here

Nostalgic memories of home and a carefree childhood | Letters

Readers respond to Michael Rosen’s reminisces on where he was brought up

The home I grew up in had, like Michael Rosen’s, a geyser over the bath (My shirts reeked of onions; my father hated the ‘phoney Tudor windows’. That flat will always mean home, 24 December). Only my mother was brave enough to light it, as it made explosive noises when exposed to flame. That was in the bathroom, the only room in the flat without a coal fire. Our flat was on the top floor of a corner house in Kingly Street, behind Liberty in Regent Street, London, and once had clearly been the servants’ quarters of a great house.

It had high windows and many rooms, and the kitchen had a huge built-in dresser, an enormous sink and a dumb waiter. In front of the kitchen range was a large sofa, and there was a big table at which my mother and aunt sat and sewed jackets for Savile Row firms, and I later did my homework.

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* This article was originally published here

* This article was originally published here

Nostalgic memories of home and a carefree childhood | Letters

Readers respond to Michael Rosen’s reminisces on where he was brought up

The home I grew up in had, like Michael Rosen’s, a geyser over the bath (My shirts reeked of onions; my father hated the ‘phoney Tudor windows’. That flat will always mean home, 24 December). Only my mother was brave enough to light it, as it made explosive noises when exposed to flame. That was in the bathroom, the only room in the flat without a coal fire. Our flat was on the top floor of a corner house in Kingly Street, behind Liberty in Regent Street, London, and once had clearly been the servants’ quarters of a great house.

It had high windows and many rooms, and the kitchen had a huge built-in dresser, an enormous sink and a dumb waiter. In front of the kitchen range was a large sofa, and there was a big table at which my mother and aunt sat and sewed jackets for Savile Row firms, and I later did my homework.

Continue reading...

* This article was originally published here

The 6 grossest spots in your home, and how to clean them

Pro tips for combating E. coli, dust, pink slime and other nasties around your house.

* This article was originally published here

5 lessons pro organizers have learned from clients

Pro organizers and designers get paid to solve people’s home problems. But they also pick up tips and tricks from their clients along the way.

* This article was originally published here

* This article was originally published here

* This article was originally published here