Articles and advice on cycling, technology, home efficiency and more

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These pages are written and managed by John & Julii Swindells, and we take every effort to ensure their accuracy, relevance and engagement. If you don't think this is the case at any point, please contact us and explain where you think that we're going wrong. Otherwise, happy browsing!

The Old Seeds Experiment

Gardening 30 Apr 2009

What to do with all those old seeds kicking about in the potting shed? Here's what I've decided to do with mine: I mixed them all up in a tub ...

The Laurel Hedge Must GO!

Gardening 28 Apr 2009

We have a thick, tall laurel hedge on our front border, and have decided to get rid of it. The laurel hedge is detrimental to wildlife, and ...

Our New Hedge Is Planted

Gardening 28 Apr 2009

Here is the list of bare root hedging that we've just bought from Felthorpe Nurseries: 5x Hornbeam @£0.65 each 10x Hazel @£0 ...

Pictures of George Brainard and Robert Brainard

The Brainard Name 26 Apr 2009

George Brainard, fixing his car: 1950 Robert Brainard and sons (Lauren and Larrie), 1963

New Piece of Coffee Drinking Hardware

Life at Mindcom 24 Apr 2009

This is the mug everyone will want in years to come, you mark my words! Blurtit while you drink!

OAuth so Awful!

Web Programming 24 Apr 2009

In the space of a fortnight, Twitter has suffered two nasty vulnerabilites that allow unauthorised account access. First it was a user's ability ...

Swinny.net Looks a Little Different

Web Programming 23 Apr 2009

This web site has been revamped - but only from the front end. I have tidied up the header and made the colour scheme more neutral. I have ...

Bulk-Buy Seeds at 50% Discount

Share Your Seeds! 10 Apr 2009

Our local garden centre in North Norfolk sells bulk quantities of seeds, at around 50% the per-seed price of seed packets. Quantities are in ...

Smashed Up Rear Mech

Giant SCR 1.0 12 Mar 2009

I've just managed to completely mangle the rear mech on my road bike. It's part of a Shimano 105 groupset, on a Giant bike and around a year ...

Heating Oil Ordered

Heating Oil: A Buyer's Guide 11 Mar 2009

1000L of oil ordered from Goff Petroleum ( Norwich : 01603 410861) which will deliver oil to all of the south east of England. The quote was ...

FEC0FF

Computer Programming 21 Feb 2009

body,table,tbody,tr,td,div,#Header,#Content,#Footer { background-color:#fec0ff; background:#fec0ff; border:0px; } As a tribute ...

Meter Readings Being Fiddled?

Electricity 21 Feb 2009

Our latest statement from Good Energy shows a three-month estimated consumption of 836kWh, at a rate of 15.16p/kWh. It then shows an actual ...

Wind Farm Radar Problems May Have Solution

Wind Turbines 14 Feb 2009

Cambridge Consultants (Cleantec) believes it has developed a solution to 'radar blindness' caused by wind turbines. Existing radar systems ...

Good Energy RHI (Renewal Heat Incentive) Scheme

Solar PV Electricity 14 Feb 2009

Good Energy announces its Renewable Heat Incentive scheme, so homeowners can earn cash back from their solar installations. They profile a ...

Not So Expensive Sofa

House and Home 10 Feb 2009

This is our old three-seater sofa that we want to give away. It sags somewhat and is patched up, but the frame is very solid.