The expression “My Home is My Castle” captures like no other the importance of having a home and what this means to the people who own such a home as well as the people who live in it. A home is a source of comfort, of cherished memories, and of accomplishment and pride – and it is a source of strength. You can rest and recuperate at home and you can enjoy the peace that surrounds you in your own four walls.
If it weren’t for the noise, that is.
Noise is all around us. Sometimes it seems there is no escaping it. Noise can cause countless complaints and illnesses – ranging from sleep disorders, to high blood pressure and a variety of other stress related conditions.
And it’s something that is set to keep the courts busy – nocturnal rows with rowdy neighbours, clashes with local establishments, local businesses and local authorities are keeping millions of people awake at night and stopping them from getting a good night’s rest. It’s no small wonder then that many people who are thinking of building a house show a keen interest in ways of making sure that their home is insulated against the hustle and bustle around us and that they are eager to stop their newbuild from turning into a home from hell.
When was the last time you boarded a plane? Do you recall experiencing any uncomfortable side effects during or after a long-distance flight? No, nothing dramatic like a sudden bout of amnesia and being blissfully unaware of who you are. Or a panic attack because you were strangely unable to peel off your graduated compression stockings. No, something less disturbing and something more familiar like a sore throat perhaps, a stuffy nose, dry, irritated, eyes and itchy skin or raw, red knuckles and chapped lips and hands? 
There are a fair number of sites and places where you would expect to find one of our multipurpose, pop-up 
If you start thinking way back you can certainly remember the old, dark and bulky wooden furniture which dominated lots of the living rooms of the generation of our grandparents or even parents. Usually they were used to accommodate the exclusive china set, the crystal glasses or the sterling cutlery. Unfortunately, these pieces of furniture often turned the living-room into a dark and rather unwelcoming place and the younger generation just thought they were hideous!
But there are several hardened species which can flourish as far north as the Arctic Circle and as far south as Antarctica. Of the 30,000 or so different species of orchid known to man there is a small number which are deemed especially collectable. Rothschild’s Slipper, an orchid that takes as long as 15 years to grow, can fetch prices upwards of 5000 US dollars per stem.