FREE HEAT: Let the sun shine in.

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There's nothing like geting things for free. I'm a big fan of free heat in winter. 

Every square metre of glass hit directly by the sun delivers about 1kWh of heat. That's like having a one bar radiator (old school style heating) in the room. For free!

To be clear - the sun has to hit the windows for the heat to get in, It's through the East facing windows in the morning, the North facing ones during the day and for the winter, those West facing ones actually are a small bonus.

Chicken Canberra App

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Welcome to the home of Chick-in Canberra.

We have a small scratching of happy hens who, during the COVID 19 cluckdown, have grown fond of visiting unfeathered friends of the local neighbourhood.

Despite the restrictions on gatherings in the ACT, the chickens are able to keep their social distance and adhere to strict safety r-egg-ulations.

Condensation ... a tropical subject in the middle of winter

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It's the time of the year where you wonder why you get so much condensation on your windows. 

Condensation happens when warm moist air in your home hits a cold surface.  It turns from a water vapour (water as a gas) and becomes water droplets on cold surfaces. Windows are often the first place you will notice it but it will also be on cold uninsulated walls, metal window frames and sometimes even door-handles.

1MW: 1 Million Women LOVE EARTH FESTIVAL

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In celebration of the fabulous work that 1MW have been doing for the past 10 years they're having a 'Love Earth' birthday bash in Sydney this weekend.

I'll be presenting a workshop on how to set up a simple worm farm for waste warriors/worriers.

If you don't know the work of 1MW - sign up now. They are doing excellent things (in many ways just like worms - quiet revolution and evolution).

 

Armenian Nutmeg Cake

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My mum made this cake in the 80's. It's got a bit of magic about it in that you make a crumble-like mixture with the sugar, flour and butter then press half of it in the bottom of a tin to make a delicious shortbread base then with the other half you add freshly grated nutmeg milk, eggs and nuts and pour over the base. It is a winner all around ... and to my knowledge contains no Armenians nor has any link with Armenia!

Electric Dreams - How a heated throw rug had me heating my words.

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I’ve always found comedy in the excessive production of utterly useless electric appliances. The butterfly tin opener replaced by the electric can opener, ugg boots replaced by heated slippers, a trip to the pie shop replaced by a pie making machine and only a few years ago rug-crocheting grannies were trumped by the introduction of the heated electric throw blanket.

It's just like an electric blanket but instead of being restricted to your bed, you can use it anywhere there is a powerpoint! 

Oh, how I mocked the early adopters of that technology.  What would our pioneering grand-women make of such folly?