Douglas Alpenstock

I have a couple of root canals for teeth that could not otherwise be saved. And a crown over a live tooth. All of these things work, though they are not cheap. However I need to eat something other than smoothies through a straw, so over the years the work has been done.

Ask anyone with dentures and they will say: keep your own teeth if you can!

r ransom wrote:Trying to understand thingiverse and alternatives that are open to Canadians.
...While looking for something else, I stumbled on https://www.thingiverse.com/

It's very cool.  But it looks like a lot of projects are limited to residents of the USA - both free and not free files.

Are there other sites like thingiverse around that are more Canadian friendly?

It's worth trying a VPN that spoofs your location. Often that gives you access to stuff that is weirdly restricted (thanks legal department!). I have used TunnelBear for odds and ends in the past -- they offer a free basic data level that is useful.

Err, Maryam Green -- have you considered that the wild card for success might be ... people? I know you have specified community, but what I mean are people who are still capable and have time on their hands.

Specifically, consider retired people who want to stay engaged with their community. Or a person with a disability who wants to have a sense of purpose and worth.

These people will happily stop by and water your community garden. That's easy! Be advised, though, that any personal engagement may entail 20 minutes of stories and memories, not related to the watering of the carrots which takes 45 seconds.

Around here, there are collection bins for recycling styrofoam. I assume they make them into packing peanuts.

I notice that foam slabs used for insulation are quite stable and do not "shed" little bits everywhere like the stuff they use as packing material for shipping. Maybe they melt them together more? Or the original granules are smaller?

Nancy Reading wrote:For example it depends on why you are adding the amendment - is it a one off creating soil from dirt event? In that case double digging to remove compaction might be a perfectly reasonable, if strenuous, activity. I did this to create my garden beds in my main growing area and still think in this situation it was the best thing to do. That initial disturbance to make slightly raised beds added air and organic matter into the soil and improved the texture deep down, which would otherwise I believe have taken many years of vigorous deep rooting plants.

I agree with Nancy. If the soil has little organic matter to sustain soil life ("dirt"), a dramatic intervention is worthwhile to kickstart the whole process.

Also, there are varying degrees of "disturbance." Some are far less damaging to soil life (limited mixing), and beneficial in other ways (e.g., water infiltration, aeration, drainage).

Nancy Reading wrote:Slightly off on a tangent, but I have a friend who once worked in the gas industry in the UK testing stoves, and some of these ornamental fires actually managed to cool the rooms rather than heating them due to the draughts I suppose....

Yes, without an outside air intake the combustion air has to come from somewhere.

We installed a natural gas fireplace in an upstairs open fireplace (which was horrible, didn't draw well, pure cosmetic junk). The exhaust flue has a companion intake for outside air for combustion -- both running up the same chimney. It's an engineered system, and it works. (We also went with the more expensive unit that can operate without grid electricity; since our natural gas grid is largely independent of the electrical grid, it made sense.)

From my perspective, the battery systems are not quite there yet. So I'm plugging along with my well-aged internal combustion vehicles for the time being.

However, the battery technologies that are poised to scale up into mass production are quite amazing. I think these will be the game changers.

Tina Sanders wrote:

Reading everyone's posts is making me rethink having another chimney installed. Seems like it would solve a lot of problems to have a small wood stove with its own chimney. Just seems like it would be complicated since there are rooms above. I don't know how big the current chimney is.

I agree, this would be a much better solution. It's not a cheap option, but it would be safe and reliable.

There is much that can go wrong with improvised setups; mine would only be used a few days to get me through a winter storm so my pipes don't freeze if the power goes out. It's not a long-term setup.

If your chimney is big enough, an installer could put a stainless steel liner up it and tie in a wood stove or an insert with a cooking surface. If it has a glass window, you'd have the ambiance too.

Kate Muller wrote:The casual dinner party will make a huge social comeback.

LOL! Oh, that's brilliant. Nicely done!

Hugo Morvan wrote:My almost favorite tool just broke, my hori-hori.
Rip hori-hori.
For years you’ve faithfully helped me maintain the right direction on my project. Always by my side, always ready to cut, dig or pry. Never not ready, no whing. Never a dull moment, always sharp.
I will miss you. Bey bey hori!

Your faithful hori-hori will be remembered with honour. Ka'pla!