tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15704659120001828212012-01-31T20:21:23.496+10:00jo turnernoreply@blogger.comBlogger101100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570465912000182821.post-50740783300814357952012-01-30T19:50:00.005+10:002012-01-30T20:06:00.566+10:00

There's a school of thought that says we should seal up buildings like Tutankhamun's tomb in order to make them energy efficient, and I believe that's right to a certain extent. Even in fairly benign climates like the subtropics, leaks in uninsulated timber floors, and around doors and windows will allow the building envelope to vary in comfort levels (mainly too cold in winter).  But I wonder

jo turnernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570465912000182821.post-54799094279457495802012-01-30T17:44:00.007+10:002012-01-30T19:52:04.333+10:00

Look, I don't mean to be personal, but it's something I've been thinking about a bit lately with this cloudy, rainy weather.  If my plumbing layout at No 16 wasn't so minimalist, I'd have been having a lot of luke-warm showers over the past week or two as the less-than-HOT hot water from the tank cooled even more on the way to the shower. My solar hot water tank doesn't have a booster connected

jo turnernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570465912000182821.post-63714657916500888702011-08-13T23:10:00.005+10:002011-08-26T10:05:30.059+10:00

Let's face it - any of us with an ounce of foodie in us, fairly drools at the thought of an old fashioned kitchen with rows of jars containing all sorts of homemade pickles, preserves and other unidentifyable (but tasty) oddities. But how many of today's living spaces are equipped for even the most basic DIY cook-adventurer, let alone anyone packing a set of Mason Jars? My friend

jo turnernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570465912000182821.post-75512246458994692502010-06-10T07:44:00.008+10:002011-11-14T19:40:29.600+10:00

... (and literally "don't know when I'll be back again") On Sunday I was offered a job (working with my sister) at Wadeye, about 5 hrs SW of Darwin, starting immediately - well Mon week. So I'm madly throwing things into a packing box for either a few months or a few years (OK, in reality it's probably not years)  and as of last night my 'essentials' consisted of seeds, permaculure books,

jo turnernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570465912000182821.post-71329143964193985882010-06-05T13:23:00.006+10:002011-08-13T23:04:56.373+10:00

We're only a couple of weeks away from the shortest day of the year, when the sun is as low in the sky as it's going to get for the rest of the year (about 40 degrees off the horizon at midday, here on the Coast), and due to a nasty little design habit I picked up in the 90's, my thoughts often stray to lighting and shadows as they move around the house, and everything takes on a very 'winter

jo turnernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570465912000182821.post-66674077129438075302010-05-02T13:01:00.014+10:002010-05-02T14:32:23.261+10:00

Is it possible to be in love with an appliance? I've always had a thing for my fridge. In 2003, I put as much thought into the purchase of a new fridge, as most countries would give to their foreign trade policies, and today it remains one of the very few 'new' things I own (in that it was something I bought new) but  it uses half of all the electricity I use in my house on a daily basis! I

jo turnernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570465912000182821.post-48442046684402762032010-04-29T21:31:00.002+10:002010-04-30T15:14:03.602+10:00

Some girls buy perfume and shoes - I've just bought a Power Mate Lite - and as that old credit card ad used to say, "I never leave home without it".When I'm not using it for home assessments, I've been plugging it into anything that will stand still long enough at home, to measure power consumption. Dad made an early departure in the Winnebago on Tuesday - wonder if the two are related? (He's

jo turnernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570465912000182821.post-31347805554572029852010-04-22T15:08:00.000+10:002010-04-23T10:12:23.708+10:00

Autumn in this part of the world, really kicks Spring's a**!The wet from up North has all but gone, the days are calm and the evening's have started to get that edge to them, that make you hunt around for the bed socks. A fantastic time of year to be outside - but this year I'm paying the price for ignoring the golden rule of the subtropics: don't turn your back on the garden for a minute,

jo turnernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570465912000182821.post-23295004669682874952010-04-15T10:40:00.000+10:002012-01-30T18:17:50.000+10:00

I have never been quite this interested sunny weather before (ok, for food growing yes, and maybe for few years in my early 20's but that generally involved the beach and copious amounts of coconut oil....) But for the last few days I've been running out to the driveway with notebook and pen as soon as the sun comes out from behind the clouds. You see as of last Friday, I became the proud owner

jo turnernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1570465912000182821.post-34820112642427200192009-11-01T17:55:00.000+10:002009-11-18T07:47:46.525+10:00

In 2003 I did something that raised the blood pressure of several family members and close friends - I bought a house - a 'knock-down' - that a lot of people would bulldoze without looking twice. Even though it was facing the right way and had strong 'bones', it had had more dodgy plastic surgery than Donatella Versace in it's 80 years or so. Plus, I get the feeling it had also been involved in

jo turnernoreply@blogger.com0