The Simple Life: A solar oven from leftovers, for leftovers

Our back deck gets so hot in the summer I can fry eggs.

Not that I ever have tried to myself, but my youngest son did. Two eggs, sunny side up, using cardboard covered with tin foil.

Recently, after supplying old windows to a local reader for her cold frame project, she sent me a photo of her own version of a solar oven.


She said:

“My first attempt at cooking rice in the solar oven - I left it for 7 hours in (March) sunshine and the cavity between the tyre and the glass reached 80 degrees F which wasn't that hot...  The water inside the jar was hot though and the rice smelt like cooking rice does, so I'm not totally discouraged. I'll keep you posted ;)”

I thought it seemed pretty ingenious.


And after looking at another solar oven at a link she provided I decided to build my own.

How hard could it be to heat up a few leftovers on my back deck while I'm sipping a cold home brew?

I have leftover windows and cedar too from the never-ending reno. All I need is some type of insulating material. I’ll figure it out this week or next, once the last of my birdhouses is nailed together.

I”ll keep you posted too:)

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Do you, or would you, use a solar oven once in awhile?

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Will chickens in the back yard soon out-number dogs?

Let’s just suppose...

...various fuels become scarce and costly

...factory farm meat and eggs become too expensive to mass produce and distribute

...I walk out back, smell fried eggs and sausage, peek over the fence and see my neighbour cooking breakfast on the BBQ

...I also notice he has a few chickens, two pigs and a cow wandering about under the watchful eye of his dog

I’m pretty sure I’d say, “Hey, Jason. You’ve made a good start at home grown meat production. Great idea.”

(I don't think 'meat production' would ever include his retriever. Gilmore is a very nice dog. Always happy).

I’d like to see a few chickens (or ducks, goats, rabbits etc.) next door, in my own yard or local common area - as a way to wean ourselves off excessive use of fossil fuels.

Years ago my dad kept chickens, to help feed seven mouths, and I helped expand his coop. I didn’t realize then that the experience might one day come in handy.


[Original chicken coop at left end of our barn: watercolour by Edith Harrison]

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As times get tougher, would you consider your own chicken coop, rabbit pen etc.?

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Are we in a recession yet? Is Canada recession proof?

Do I dare look at my investment portfolio?

Was that sound of a loud flush from my bathroom or the bank around the corner?

Or both?

So many questions.

I wish I could say I never worry about finances because I retired with a guaranteed pension and think I have my financial house in order (is that even possible now?) and, according to our Prime Minister, we aren’t in a recession because he would have told us already.

But I do worry on occasion.


We have an old economy dependent upon cheap fossil fuels, a PM who strongly supports ‘business-as-usual’, an environment that may soon be beyond repair and close to heaping greater costs upon our heads, and an invisible, ineffective Conservative Minister of the Environment - you know, old what’s his name.

And so I try to think of ways to get good and ready to face the tough times and hard rains ahead.

Can I save money by becoming more self-reliant in the kitchen?


["A True Canadian cooks oatmeal and whole wheat pancakes."]

Can I lower my needs related to clothing?

Can I sell things I don’t use or need very often and not replace them with things I’d like or want?

Can I learn to enjoy simpler pleasures?

To be continued...

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Live Small and Prosper: re Houses, how small is big enough?

What would it take to get me out of my 1,050 sq. ft. house (not incl. almost equal-sized basement, 100 sq. ft porch and 360 sq. ft. deck) and into something smaller?

Would someone have to twist my arm, bribe me with cash, put chocolates on my pillow or throw in a big-screen TV?

No, on all counts (though I wouldn’t turn down a large bag of chocolates kisses), because as far as I’m concerned, the smaller the house the fewer expenses, household jobs and renos I’d have to face for the rest of my environmentally-friendlier life.

But how small can I go and still feel it’s big enough for my very important collection of stuff?

While reading Heat by George Monbiot I came across a sentence [see A Quote That Clicked; side panel] that inspired me to draw a few more experimental floor plans for small homes inside the back cover. My favourite is of a 900 sq. ft. model (heated with a geothermal unit) with half the basement space and 750 sq. ft. of porch and deck space.


And, lo and behold, after only a few conversations my wife is showing a bit of interest too. Usually I have to talk about one of my ideas non-stop for a year or more before I wear her down.

But can we live comfortably with a 34 per cent reduction of indoor living space?

I’m not sure but I think I know how I can find out.

Stay tuned.

[In the meantime, please amuse yourself with a post about a $1,350 corn flake and an even more expensive bowl of cow-country oatmeal.]

Rising Global Temperatures: I’ll live on a boat in San Francisco

Ever since I read about a family that lived on a houseboat in San Francisco Harbor I’ve wanted to pull up roots, sell off all my property and possessions, move west in a covered wagon and do the same.

Chances are I’d have a cooler quality of life as global temperatures continue to rise because, according to NASA’s records, the oceans aren’t warming as quickly as the land.


If I lived on a boat would I need an air-conditioner? Cooler water temperatures would help moderate the comfort in my small, tidy, living-room/bedroom/galley/dining-room/basement/bathroom, right?


Sure hope so, because as long as I’m on the water I might as well go whole hog and live off the grid.

Anything’s possible, right?

[see another NASA graph at Four Mugs and a Crock]