Tomfooloree's Profile

My mom and grandma also sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on the leftover pastry. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so the last time I made pie I rolled out the leftover pastry, used a little (car-shaped) cookie cutter, buttered the pastry and sprinkled with shaved cheddar and a little salt. I think I liked the little cheesy cars more than the pie!

Airing out the bed is more hygienic than making it right away. Cheryl Mendelson (the author of "Home Comforts: The Art & Science of Keeping House") says:

"While you are sleeping, you breathe about two pounds of moisture, along with breath odors and flocks of microorganisms, into the air, your pillow and your bedding. You also perspire, perhaps a cup's worth, and exude skin oils and body smells. And you use up the room's oxygen and replace it with exhaled carbon dioxide. When there are two or more people in the bed or the room, these effects are multiplied. All this explains why, if you sleep with closed windows, the room has a characteristic stale morning smell (although you might not perceive it until you leave for a few minutes and then return.) Unless you leave the bedcovers pulled down and the windows open for an hour or two, the moisture you have left in the bed either does not evaporate or evaporates very slowly, which makes for an environment in pillows and mattress in which dust mites, molds, and other microbial life have more of an opportunity to multiply. Opening the windows lets in new air to dilute the pollutants (microbial and particulate), carry them off, and bring in fresh supplies of oxygen."

(um... EX-hale. But, I have to agree with her).

Vancouver has the same law. Unless you're grandfathered in, a new fireplace must be gas. We installed one last year and though it doesn't have the scent or the crackling sound a 'real' fire has, there are so many other advantages... the very least being the ease of flicking a switch to turn it on and off. Not so bad!

Antimatt: there are so many uses for the Inhabit dwellings! If I wanted to camp I'd use a tent, certainly, but if I wanted a guest house or a studio space in my yard, a tent would simply be depressing (and the neighbours wouldn't be too pleased, either).

I think this is a brilliant idea and I don't know about the USA, but in Canada a 100 sq. ft. structure doesn't require a permit.