Tag Archives: solar electricity

The Oven Saga

by . Posted on
16 Jun

Well, the never-ending saga here seems to be the oven.  I was so excited when we finally installed my new oven in my sparkling new kitchen a week or so before the wedding.  But everyone involved in the baking of the blueberry tarts for the wedding feast (Jane, Marcel, Shirley and me) soon discovered that the bugger didn’t work!  Whether it was a faulty item or whether it was the solar system that it didn’t like, the truth is that we have had endless toing and froing with the manufacturer and reseller since we got back from honeymoon.  The thing is that gas ovens aren’t just  gas – no, no, they have electric fans, electronic ignition, electronic thermostats and every other bell and whistle you can possibly imagine which consume megawatts of electricity – presumably all designed hand in hand with the fossil fuel companies to keep us raping the planet, guzzling mindlessly and pouring megatons of carbon into the atmosphere . . . (really, don’t get me started!!)

Anyway, I had to go into full battle mode but FINALLY the people who sold us the stove – ‘The Good Guys’ agreed to give us a full refund plus $500 for my pains!!  And then I went online searching, searching, searching for a replacement.  I thought I found the answer to my prayers in Queensland so bought it and had it shipped down here.  Picked it up from TNT in Port Macquarie with great excitement (baked potatoes at last!) but when we got it home and unpacked the pathetic wrappings it had clearly been dropped and the front glass was shattered into smithereens.  Oh well, back to the drawing board.  As it turned out the bloody thing had an element which lit the gas – which drained even more power from the system so I am stymied once more.
We have been wracking our brains and the closest we have come to some sort of solution is a camping oven – all gas, piezo ignition, but the trouble is, they only have a 30L capacity (tiny) and we want 80L.  Any ideas, my brilliant friends, as we now have a gaping hole in the kitchen and my baked potato craving gets stronger by the day . . .

Real Rural Aussie Expats

by . Posted on
05 May

I went to an initial Pilates session to see if I liked it.  Mainly the woman just talked to me about being pregnant, but then we did eventually get down and do some floor work.  I didn’t really understand what I was  doing or why, and it didn’t feel like much at the time, but I sure felt the pain in the morning!  Still, she didn’t give me a programme to do, or a sense of what I was trying to achieve and I definitely didn’t feel like I’d done any sort of workout (you know me, I come from the ‘no pain, no gain’ Jane Fonda style of exercise) . . . think I’ll stick to yoga, thank you very much, so have been harassing poor Rosie for a pregnancy regime.

On Friday I made the long drive up to Ballina on the Far North Coast to spend the weekend with a client, finally meeting her and her husband, attending, assessing and addressing a two day course of hers to  forge a plan of action for the future.  7 hours door to door was a bore but thank God for my little Tom Tom sat nav which warned me about all the speed cameras, told me how far away I was so we could all plan accordingly, and generally got me there safe and sound and in one piece.  Angela Davison (www.thehorseherbalist.com) lives on a 100 acre bush block in true ageing hippy style (despite the fact that she is a down-to-earth pragmatist of the northern England variety!).  She lives in a hexagonal home made of mud brick and 200 year old timbers from the old whaling station at Byron Bay.  The loo is an outdoor long drop, and rainwater rationing is very strict.  Four huge dogs in the house give off that distinctive odour, but there are some gorgeous antiques and at least I was allowed to just wee on the lawn for my hourly nocturnal antics.
It was FREEZING!!  These are people who don’t believe in closing doors and like to live an outside/inside life.  But I was amazed to find that their solar system supported electric blankets (just wait til I tell my husband!) and so as well as loading my bed with every blanket in the house, I had the hitherto unheard of comfort of getting into a toasty warm bed at night – lovely!  Actually, I have been sleeping really badly recently – what with all the visits to the loo and the electric dreams, so on the Saturday night Angela dosed me up with some of her proprietary ‘Settle Petal’ and at last I started to relax.  On Sunday night I slept properly for the first time since we came back from honeymoon, and in the morning my belly had popped out!!  Bizarre!  I went to bed looking like me, and woke up pregnant!
The course was interesting but poor Angela had the full critique on Saturday night, and was chagrined when her husband (who had been filming it) agreed with all my comments (and up til now he has resented my control over her business life!).  Never mind, she’s tough, and while I was snoring my way through the night she was thinking it all through!  Sunday was much better and on Monday we had the day in the office to organise all her email marketing, computer filing, and assess product packaging etc.  On Tuesday morning we wrapped up the outstandings and I left for a speedy visit to Byron Bay to check out a teepee manufacturer and the very lovely www.natureschild.com.au where they have all the organic nappies and essential paraphernalia little miss is apparently going to need when she touches down on planet earth.
Then home, late and weary to a newly sanded and varnished sitting room,  kitchen and bathroom floors and both dog and husband ecstatic to see me.  How nice to come home to a warm house, a warm heart and a warm welcome . . . .
Angela and students on the Equine First Aid course . . .