Julia Gillard, Prime Minister
Hurrah! Something other than myself to write about.
A big part of me wants to send a sympathy card to Kevin Rudd (former PM). I don’t think it’s fair that he got booted. It certainly isn’t fair how visceral people have become about him. He did some great things, and no-one could have predicted the events of the last twenty-four hours.
But I’m still glad he’s gone. He was unpopular for pushing things through over-quickly, and for failing on various issues. There’s one thing, though, that trumps all: the world.
In Australia, we’re aware that an election is coming up. Tony Abbott (opposition leader) is a loose cannon – infamous for saying hilariously offensive remarks – and I shudder to think how he’d deal with power. But Kevin Rudd broke our hearts on climate change. I don’t know if he would have been able to actually make real change, but he gave up too early.
So now we have the unique opportunity to vote “none of the above”. We get to vote for Rudd’s party, while simultaneously punishing him for not fighting hard enough for “the greatest moral challenge of our time.”
Gillard has kept her integrity intact – so far. She consistently and emphatically backed Rudd until others asked her to challenge him. Then she spoke to him in person before she did anything official. Many believe that her party would have been voted out if she hadn’t stepped up, so she’s done the best thing for her party. I respect that.
So all our hopes are now pinned on her. And yes, it’s cool she’s a woman, but I deeply hope that’s not why she’s our new Prime Minister (because that would be sexist). My overwhelming impression is that she is competent. I like a competent PM. And she’s our best hope for better environmental responsibility – so she has my vote.
#166: New Year’s Resolution in another month
*deep breath*
I promise, for a period of four weeks, to eat for maximum digestive health in the following ways:
1. Begin each day with a tall glass of tepid water (with a squeeze of lemon), then fifteen minutes’ exercise – all before breakfast.
2. Continue exercising six days a week, except when I’m sick.
3. Drink over a litre of water each day, in addition to other liquids.
4. Eat every meal and snack at a table (not the couch), and remain upright for half an hour after every meal. Take small mouthfuls and chew them properly before swallowing.
5. Never go four waking hours without eating something (and eat small meals).
6. Eat five vegetables (at least one green) and two fruits each day (tomatoes, pumpkin and avocado can fall into either group – my resolution, my rules – and chickpeas are a vegetable).
7. Eat 50 grams or less of chocolate/lollies each day (a giant or deep-fried meal counts as 30 grams, and savoury snacks count as 20g). I’ll have nothing unhealthy for at least the first seven days, beginning today.
8. No soft drink and no artificial sweeteners.
9. I’ll attempt to go without iron tablets – instead I’ll have a vitamin C at breakfast and dinner (dinner is when I tend to eat meat, which is the most absorbable source of iron followed by chicken or fish). I am anaemic, so it’s likely I’ll have to take the tablets, but we’ll see.
10. At least one high-fibre food each day, and at least one does-something-cool-for-your-gut food each day.
High fibre:
bananas, berries, avocado, oranges, figs, pumpkin, mango, pear, prunes/plums
lentils
zucchini, brocolli, carrots, green beans, celery, potato
wholegrain foods eg brown rice, brown bread
nuts
Does cool stuff:
mint
tofu
fish
garlic
ginger
grapefruit, apples
cabbage, celery
Here’s all the fresh fruit and vegetables I have in my house (after a mighty preparatory shop), plus some other good gut foods:
At the back there’s high-fibre breakfast cereal, wholegrain rice, chickpeas, tuna, ginger, garlic, tomato, hommus and garlic, mint, beetroot, grape juice, and lemon juice.
On the left there’s pumpkin, carrot, celery, potato, cauliflower, green beans, brocolli, choko, red and yellow capsicum, squash, zucchini, onions, mushrooms and sweet potato.
On the right there’s tomato, avocado, bananas, strawberries, apples, mandarins, grapes and dried figs.
Best new year’s resolution ever! Although. . . I already have a pounding headache from caffeine withdrawal (I estimate it’ll last three days), and I want to kill folks. Oh well.
Today’s vegetables: carrots and garlicky hommus (ie chickpeas) for morning tea; avocado spread on bread with lunch; beans, squash and mushrooms cooked in butter with herbs and last-minute chunks of cream cheese for dinner (which also had a bit of tinned tomato and green capsicum in it).
Today’s fruit: Strawberries and some apple for afternoon tea; probably a mandarin for dessert.
Today’s cool food: fish (tuna for dinner).
Today’s fibre: green beans.
Play along at home: Pick one item off the above list and see if you can join me for a week. Any vegie tastes better if it’s fried in butter and garlic.
S#92: Road Trip
Look at a map. Australia is big. Now look at an orange-peel style map (less pretty, more accurate) and take another look.
Australia is big.
In Australia, road trips historically result in drinking your friend’s urine, and possibly using their mummified corpse as a shade cloth. This might be why road trips in Austalia are epic and life threatening rather than fodder for a hilarious comedy (with the exception of Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Bran Nue Day). But I digress.
Because even Bear Grylls describes urine as “not my favourite”, MY road trip was from Canberra to Sydney, on a very nice, very safe, very well-travelled road with beautiful scenery all the way (and no desert). The journey only takes three or four hours (depending on which part of Sydney you want), and there’s plenty to see along the way:
1. The amazing disappearing lake.
Lake George is only thirty kilometres from Canberra (sometimes I drive there and back, because there’s a pretty lookout and it’s nice to get out of the city without having to go far). Every so often, it disappears. Completely. I’ve driven past it many times when the water was right up against the Federal Highway. But for the last eight years, it’s looked like this:
For several years now, it’s been used to graze sheep. More recently it’s been populated by three zebras in an effort to encourage drivers to “Stop, Revive, Survive”. A part of me suspects that drivers who didn’t stop and rest would see zebras, get distracted, drive off the embankment into the dead lake, and end their lives with a curious zebra looking at them. But what a way to go, right?
We didn’t see the zebras, but we saw something even more impressive: water. The far corner had a genuine body of water – perhaps a kilometre long. The rest of the basin looked like this:
At various times it’s contained fish, bombs (seriously! Don’t you just love military testing?) and corpses (although it’s only 1-7 metres deep at the best of times, it’s a killer). It’s also very salty. Rumours abound that it’s secretly linked to Lake Titikaka in South America, but that is clearly just an excuse to say “titikaka” with impunity. It’s possible that it is actually linked to Yass River, but who cares about that? The original name for it is Wirriwa, meaning “bad water”.
2. The amazing disappearing sculpture.
In November last year, CJ dropped me off at the small town of Collector to meet some writers. It was one of the most terrifying nights of my life. Dust shrouded the moon and stars, and the town appeared deserted. There are no streetlights. The only light spilled from the door of the skeleton- and spider-filled pub (called the Bushranger pub due to a historical gun battle – the kind with unquiet ghosts). We drove along the rough road through the centre of town, and just as we passed the pub faces sprang out of the pool of darkness on the other side of the road. Faces that weren’t quite human.
We’d stumbled across one of the most fantastic and endangered sculptures in the world: Dreamer’s Gate.
It is twenty-four metres long and seven metres high (that’s 120 feet by 35 feet).
It is endangered because the artist is not an engineer (and also not a lawyer or diplomat). The sculpture is literally rubbish – made from scrap materials and chicken wire and concrete. It’s also not stable, and may fall at any time (possibly onto the neighbour’s house – I spoke to a neighbour, and she is Not Happy). The town has begun legal action against the artist – so visit it now, before the dream falls or is destroyed.
3. The amazing moving sheep.
Yep, it’s a giant sheep. It used to be closer to the road, and now it’s in Goulburn. I’m unclear on the reason why they moved it, but I do know it was quite a day. You can go inside and look out through its eyes.
4. The unforgotten soldiers.
Each rest stops along the way is named for someone awarded the Victoria Cross. So stop at one, stretch your legs, and remember someone who sacrificed so much.
5. The amazing unforgettable city.
I hear Sydney has, like, some stuff in it.
Play along at home: Drive from Canberra to Sydney. Or just read Bill Bryson’s “Down Under”. It’s hilarious.
Tomorrow: Make a New Year’s resolution in another month.
Thursday: Three-Ingedient Thursday.
Friday: The godparents (hi guys!)
#159: Go to a wedding
Strange but true: I have a phobia of weddings. But on Saturday one of CJ’s cousins was married to the love of her life, so we drove up to Sydney to join the fun.
The groom promised, among other things, that “although we sometimes fight like Batman and Two-Face, I know we’ll always laugh about it afterwards – like Harlequin and the Joker.” The bride promised, among other things, “not to tune out when you talk about soccer, football, or Batman.”
Ah, l’amore.
Sure enough, the instant the bride appeared I was sold. A wedding is such a courageous declaration of love and faith that it’s impossible to stay unmoved. Plus CJ’s family is hilarious. His mother has three sisters, and each one is fascinating, intelligent, and definitely going to end up thinly-disguised in one of my books one day (including CJ’s mum. And her mum).
At their mother’s 80th, three of the sisters stole the eldest’s phone and took photos of their bellies for her to discover later (the eldest is very much the grown-up of the family). I’m pretty sure the mum did too. At my own wedding (after CJ and I had excused ourselves), my mum and CJ’s mum were talking, and my mum said, “Who IS that woman falling over, over there?”
CJ’s mum then said the immortal words, “That’s my sister.”
Fantastic.
CJ’s family has certain bogan tendencies (Aussie bogan, which tends to involve the non-ironic application of ug boots and fake tans), so the Macarena, the Nutbush, and “Mickey” were all pulled out during the reception, but luckily they also played plenty of Queen, Pink and Michael Buble (and Taylor Swift, which I confess I enjoyed). When dinner was well and truly done, fairy lights lit up the roof in circles and a disco ball threw stars across the ceiling. There were delicious pink cocktails, far too much food, two very cute lesbian couples, several small children in dresses and button-up shirts, and aunts (and thus Louise) on the dance floor. In other words, it had everything a wedding should have.
Play along at home: Next time you’re invited to a wedding, go for it. Ride the rollercoaster and wish for the best.
Coming soon: Visit godparents
Road Trip
Three-Ingredient Thursday
Community Classes
and surprises (for me, too)
S#82: Old School
Jeepers! Gosh! Yippee! Buck up!
I cannot describe to you in any Earth language how relieved I am to have finished today’s awesomeness – reading the Trixie Belden adventure “Mystery on Cobbett’s Island” and the even more thrilling “Gay Dolphin Adventure”. My original squeamishness (and jealousy that I wasn’t born into an era where this. . . stuff. . . was considered to be at a publishable standard) soon turned to horrified laughter. Then just horror. Then helpless laughter. And horror again. *repeat for hours*
Here’s a quick taste of what I’ve been through (Trixie is first):
Observe the rising tension:
“Gleeps,” said Trixie worriedly, “we’d better get going before it hits the island!”
“I’m wondering if we ought to turn back,” added Miss Trask apprehensively.
Observe the incredibly natural voice of this minor character (because minor characters talk like this – seriously. All of them. Villains are similar, but with scowling):
“One of the purtiest spots on the island – that is, on a clear day. Don’t look like we’ll get a clearin’ for some time to come, what with this east wind blowin’ and all.”
And the equivalent from “The Gay Dolphin Adventure”:
“You’ll have been worried maybe,” he went on, “and I’m right sorry I be late, but start she wouldn’t, and I’m not much of a hand at they engines. But we be all right now.”
And back to our heroic Trixie (who, incidentally, is described as being easily mistaken for her brother) as she tends to the caretaker after he breaks his leg. Observe the edginess:
“It’s my leg. . . I’m afraid it’s broken, because every time I try to get up or move, it hurts like the very dev—I mean, like the very blazes!”
Observe the subtle nuances of character:
Dr Holmes was a big man with graying bushy hair and shaggy brows. As he worked, he made gruff noises and said, “Hmmm, hmmm.”
. . . . . . His eyes twinkled merrily. Trixie, who had at first been apprehensive, now realized that Dr Holmes’ gruff manner covered a kindly, good-humored personality.
Observe the totally necessary use of adjectives:
“I’m sorry,” said Peter penitently.
Observe the power of a wide-ranging vocabulary:
“I can taste those ephemeral doughnuts now.”
“Ephemeral?” Jim repeated quizzically.
“Yes, it means anything that’s short-lived or lasts only a day, and when I’m around, jelly doughnuts are sure ephemeral,” Mart chuckled.
Everyone groaned loudly at Mart’s attempted wit. [I know I did.]
And finally, the clever and original use of simile:
“My legs are shaking like leaves,” Trixie confessed.
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. . . who or what is “The Gay Dolphin”?
I’m sad to say it’s not an actual dolphin (happy or otherwise), but a ramshackle smuggler’s hotel brimming with secret passageways and hidey-holes. On the up side, the hotel has a sign with a dolphin on it, about which the main character comments:
“Look at the look in his eye, Jon. No wonder they call him gay.”
Both books feature mystery-solving kids who have secret clubs. Both books involve a search for hidden treasure. Both feature terrifying storms, and a lot of rainy days during which the kids sit around and discuss the plot.
In “The Gay Dolphin Adventure” we are introduced to two of the three baddies almost immediately. The first is Clearly Suspicious By Golly because (a) she is unmarried despite being over thirty, (b) she is overweight, (c) she has short hair, and (d) she wears a particularly unattractive orange scarf. Zounds!
It’s worth noting that after telling off the baddies (and thus causing them to leave the county, apparently – because stubborn kids are so heck darn terrifying to master criminals), the heroic pack of kids stumbles across the treasure by accident. The end. (Really.) Oh! And the vital clue (which turned out to be completely irrelevant, despite being the cause of every single conflict in the book) was from the Bible – giving the kids an advantage, since they knew the Bible and the baddies didn’t. That’s right kids – if YOU pay attention in Sunday school, you too may soon stumble across some illegally aquired diamonds and get to keep them for yourself! Hurrah!
The other baddie description is so priceless I had to reproduce it here:
“He wore a most sinister hat – the sort of hat that nobody who isn’t sinister wears. He had very black sloping eyebrows, if you know what I mean, and a very small sloping moustache thing on his lip. . . I tell you what I think he is, Jon. . . I think he’s in a band somewhere and I don’t think he’s English either. . .”
This whole experience was, technically, against the Geneva Convention, but Steff Metal turned out to be right in the end (she recommended reading old, awful books to cheer oneself up). It was very VERY funny.
Tomorrow: Go to a wedding.
#158: Day of Rest
“Do not kill” is, for most of us, a no-brainer. Ditto for “do not steal”, “do not commit adultery” and we all know that “do not covet” is a good theory. This entry is about the forgotten commandment of the famous ten.
Those of you who are Christian will be pretty familiar with the old testament of the Bible (ie, until Jesus arrives). For those who aren’t, this is pretty much how it goes:
1. God creates world, warns people not to do such-and-such or there’ll be trouble.
2. People do such-and-such. There’s trouble.
3. God warns people not to do such-and-such or there’ll be trouble.
*repeat 2 and 3*
One of the interesting things about the old testament is that one of the ten commandments is the sabbath – a day off every week. And that’s the one that people simply can’t handle – over and over and over. God yells at them for that a LOT.
Once the new testament starts, the reasonably simple sabbath instructions (don’t work, worship God instead) are so itemised that Jesus’ disciples get in trouble with the religious authorities for rolling wheat grains in their hands for a snack as they walk through a field. Why? Because rolling grain between their hands is considered work. Jesus rolls his eyes (I assume) and says, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.”
So since it’s for our benefit, why don’t we do it? Because stopping work for one day is HARD. I’ve been having regular sabbaths for almost ten years. Since it’s for my benefit, I make up the rules the day before – but “no work” features every time.
Yesterday I didn’t do dishes. I didn’t put things away or clean things up. I didn’t write (the blog entry was one I’d prepared earlier). I didn’t exercise. Instead I read a book, ate chocolate, watched TV, daydreamed (which in my case is indistinguishable from prayer) and defrosted leftovers for dinner instead of cooking. Sabbaths are usually really fun until about 9pm, when I run out of fun things to do and start wishing I could do work. I do find that the next day is usually brilliant – things in my head and in my life just work better.
Play along at home: It’s harder than it looks – if you go with the schedule of the ancient Jews, you make the day before your sabbath “preparation day”. It’s a GOOD idea.
There’s a day off in it for you.
Hope is the hardest drug to kick
Scientists have pointed out that emotions and brain chemicals are so closely linked that one can lead to another – eg taking a pill in the morning can cause you to yell at your dad that night (you honestly believe it’s because he burnt dinner, but it’s really because of the pill).
A mental disorder means the chemicals are screwed up. So I work really hard not to yell at people when I’m sure they deserve it – because they’re not the real reason I feel bad (almost always).
But when I get incorrect positive emotions, it really sucks.
Last night I was so sure Publisher B would call today that I found it hard to sleep. I was aware it was irrational, but I couldn’t shake the feeling.
And so here we are, at 6pm. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened.
Again.
#154: Play the chocolate game
CJ just had a birthday. In the course of conversation, I discovered something truly horrific. He had never played the chocolate game.
There are a lot of chocolate games, I know. I’m referring to the one in which players sit in a circle around a large block of chocolate, rolling a pair of dice. Whenever someone rolls a double, they must don various items of clothing, then neatly slice off a square of chocolate and eat it with a knife and fork. Unless, of course, someone else rolls a double and they must quickly pass on the clothing, chocolate and cutlery.
We made each other put on rubber gloves and a fedora.
There wasn’t nearly so much violence as I remembered, probably because we’re GROWN-UPS now and we can go buy our own darn chocolate any time we want to. I was uncannily lucky with the dice, which was particularly silly since I’m in the process of losing weight. Bah!
We polished off a large block with consummate ease, all the same.
Play along at home: Next time you have a party, play the game. I’m sure you can play it with other substances if that’s more your thing.
Coming very soon (probably Sunday): I have finished reading the Trixie Belden and “The Gay Dolphin Adventure”. You’re gonna love the results.
“VAMPIRE DIARIES” story so far:
3
Woke up totally gross. Had a shower then realised I’m, like, a vampire now. My friend Sammy’s gonna be SO jealous!
*
Spent all day looking for a mirror that works. This sucks! Also I feel super hungry, and I get the feeling celery won’t fix this craving.
4
Killed a guy. He was, like, totally delicious!
5
Killed an old lady. Yuck, now my breath smells of mothballs.
6
Called Sammy. Said I’m totally a vampire.
She giggled, “You mean a vamp, right?”
“No! Well. . . that too.”
*
Sammy brought her new boyfriend over. SERIOUSLY yum. I know it seems rude to eat him, but I’m, like, evil now. He was finger-licking good.
*
Sammy had a totally unfair tantrum over me eating Bill. “I’m going to tell on you!” she said.
I said, “Who to? I’d sure love to eat a cop.”
7
Went outside. Got serious sunburn – like, with charring. I’m so buying spray tans from now on.
*
Sammy left a message on my machine. “My new friend Bunny’s totally going to get you. AND I have a new boyfriend, anyway. So there.”
*
Too embarrassed to go out with my skin looking so bad. Put off eating Sammy’s hot new treat until tomorrow.
8
Misty day. Went to Sammy’s house. The boyfriend was there, and BIG. They fought me off with frypans and a cricket bat. Stupid humans!
*
Hungry. Soooooo hungry. Almost as bad as doing the Atkins diet all over again. Stupid sun is out!
*
Ate Rover. Feel sick to my stomach, but I think that’s indigestion. Bad dog.
9
Short blonde at the door. My stomach rumbled. “Won’t you come in?” She smiled sweetly, and showed me what she had. A pointy stick.
*
I asked, “What’s that for? Making a tiny fence?”
She smiled, “I’m Bunny. I hear you don’t like sunshine.”
“But I do like visitors.”
*
I leapt for her throat. She slapped me aside, laughing. I grabbed for her pointy stick and she drove it into my belly. Ow! I ran.
10
Great. Now I’m stuck in a sewer hiding from someone called Bunny. I’m totally hungry, and my top is RUINED.
*
So hungry for so long, and no weight loss. That’s IT. I’m going to kill Bunny. And Sammy. And her big cricketer boyfriend.
*
I creep to Sammy’s house and Bunny is there. They’re sharpening weapons and laughing. I feel scared. Luckily, Sammy has a dog. Had.
11
I realise now that hiding in Sammy’s treehouse wasn’t a good idea. Sammy and whatsisface are climbing the ladder – and the sun’s out.
*
I kick the boy in the face and he flies backwards. Sammy screams, but no one hears. He doesn’t get up. I drag Sammy inside by the hair.
*
Sammy punches me right where Bunny stabbed me – and it doesn’t hurt a bit. I knock her out against the trunk and drink deeply. She’s spicy.
12
I wake up when my little finger catches fire from a hole in the treehouse roof. Sammy and her boy are glaring at me – alive. And Bunny. Oh.
*
“We drugged you,” says Bunny, “so you’ll tell us who made you a vamp.”
“Hollywood?” I slur.
Bunny rolls her eyes: “VampIRE.”
“Oh! I dunno.”
*
Bunny says, “Male? Female?”
“I didn’t see.”
She paces: “Where were you that night?”
“Um. . . at a club.”
“Right. Tomorrow we’ll go there.”
13
Bunny and Sammy leave my hands tied for our trip downtown to hunt my sire. The club is all flashing lights and skin. Hungry!
*
I spot my sire by smell – and by the fact that he’s flirting with a particularly delicious-looking redhead. Bunny sees where I’m looking.
*
“Mort!” I yell, “watch out!”
His head snaps up. Bunny shoves me aside and I run for it, hoping Mort gets away. He’s seriously hot.
14
I discovered I could find Mort by smell. Cool (and a bit gross.) He was in a really dorky lair with a bunch of others. “Hi again,” I said.
*
“Did I sire you?” said Mort.
I said, “Yep.”
“Was I really drunk?”
“Well – yes. Is your name really Mort?”
“Uh huh. Definitely not Bill.”
*
“I suppose you have questions about all this,” said Bill/Mort.
I said, “Oh! So many. First, what are vampires wearing this season?”
15
These other vampires don’t understand what being a vampire is all about: looking this good forever. And killing, of course (I suppose.)
*
That reminds me, I could do with a snack. If I can’t lose weight, I can’t gain it either. This vampire thing is to die for!
*
Ate a schoolkid on their way home. Feel MUCH better now, thank you. Even if some of the kid got stuck in my teeth. HOW embarrassing!
16
I still gotta kill Sammy and Bunny and whatsisface. It should be easy now they don’t have a dog. Not that Fifi was the guard dog type.
*
Sammy’s neighbour’s at home. I knock at the door and she opens it. “Myf?” I say.
She says, “Oh hello dear. Won’t you come in?”
*
Nom nom.
17
My new hideout is a little floral, but I like it. Sammy and Bunny never separate, but whatsisface comes and goes.
*
The bigger they are, the more blood for me to drink. Right? Right!
Unfortunately, Myf didn’t keep any decent weapons. Just cats.
*
Pretty sure throwing cats at whatsisface won’t kill him. I gotta be smart. Gotta think of a good plan. The kind that doesn’t get me killed.
18
Screw plans. Sick of an all-cat diet, I followed whatsisface until he was out of sight of Sammy’s house. Then I grabbed him from behind.
*
He threw me into a rose bush, but wasn’t smart enough to run away. I bounded out fangs first and got him. He struggled, but passed out.
*
Mort appeared. “If you were trying to turn him undead, you should have fed him some of your blood.”
“Oh. So turning him over won’t work?”
#157: DIY Green your home
The “y” above may be a teensy exaggeration.
Yesterday most of Australia celebrated the Queen’s Birthday (much like New Zealand did one week earlier). Other than a slew of geeky partying options (scroll down for details), this means one thing for couples everywhere: The To-Do List.
Is there anything more wonderful than having a husband home all day with nothing to do but obey your every whim?
*author ducks and covers*
Every Winter and every Summer, I try to do one thing that makes our house cost less in heating or cooling. Probably the most useful thing we did was make wooden frames for all the windows and cover them in clear plastic. It’s a form of double-glazing that can be taken out when you want to open a window, and put back later. Our bills so far have been $250 less than in the first six months of last year!
Yesterday, CJ installed an internal cat door in the laundry. The laundry is one of the coldest places in the house, and is never heated. It’s also where the cats have their food (and litter tray), which means the door needs to stay open all the time. And naturally, the cats push it wide open every time they go in and out, coldifying our whole house. No longer! CJ cracked out the goggles and power tools yesterday with great effect.
Before:
After:
Now we can keep the laundry door closed all Winter, saving on heating bills and environmental destruction – and the cat smells are kept hidden, too. Considering all I did was hold a torch so CJ could see better, the pay-off versus effort is enormous.
Play along at home: Do you have a window with no curtains? A hole under the front door? An office that takes three hours to warm up? Then get curtains, or a door snake, or work on your laptop in a smaller room for a while. Or share your own excellent heat- and environment-saving tips in the comments.
Felicity Banks 