Dressing Your Home

Security system – that’s what your home needs!

“Home improvement” is a concept that applies to a huge range of activities and tasks. For some, the phrase “home improvement” brings to mind images of dads building shelving units or painting porches; for others, it can be about setting up a garden or putting up new wallpaper; and for many, it simply brings to mind the old television show with Tim Allen. Ultimately, home improvement can mean any number of things that, literally of course, improve the home. It may apply to cleaning out the garage, organizing the attic, buying a new couch, re-tiling a floor, etc. However, there is also a whole other side to home improvement that doesn’t always come to mind, because it does not represent something that specifically needs fixing or changing: a security system.

Most of the home improvement-related examples listed above are tasks that arise out of necessity. You build Read more…

Tags: Security System

Capay Valley farmers at crossroads in ‘Last Crop’

Follow Capay Valley farmers Annie and Jeff Main as they struggle to preserve Good Humus Produce, their small organic farm, in the documentary “The Last Crop.” The film will be screened from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking, in The Chronicle building at 925 Mission St.

Produced and directed by Chuck Schultz, the film explores the challenges facing family farms today and what the Mains are doing to preserve their land. Like other farming communities across the nation, Central California’s farmers are aging out and cashing in, placing the future of family farms such as the Mains’ at a crossroads. None of the Mains’ three children are interested in taking over the farm.

After the film, there will be a panel discussion with Annie and Jeff Main, Schultz, and Molly Bloom, California FarmLink’s North Coast regional coordinator. Serena Unger, senior policy consultant for American Farmland Trust, will moderate.

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Tags: Capay Valley Farmers, Crop, Last Crop, Valley Farmers

Understanding Geothermal Heating

For nearly two decades now, geothermal heating is one technology that has been begging for acceptance from the general public. Presently, little glimmers of hope are beginning to appear at the end of the tunnel for developers of this unique technology. This however is a result of change in attitudes and improvement in technologies. This does not mean that a lot of sales are being recorded as far as geothermal systems are concerned; it is just that there has been an increase in the number of people taking notice and actually making purchases of the system. This means that gradually, geothermal is gaining recognition and acceptance.   Geothermal heat pumps, also called ground-source pumps were actually invented in the 1940s. They were designed to make use of the earth’s constant temperature as exchange medium instead of making use of the outside air temperature. This is why geothermal heat pumps maintain 300% to 600% efficiencies on very cold nights unlike the air-source heating systems that do not exceed 175% to 250% efficiency. Yo

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Tags: Geothermal Heating, Heating

Dreamcatcher Alarm Clock Uses Water To Tell Time

Designer Vera Wiedermanns Dreamtime alarm clock is a beautiful and simplistic device that offers an alternative way to be woken up. Instead of a loud and annoying beeping the copper mobile that hangs down from the ceiling lets a hammer fall and strike it when it is time for you to get out of bed.

The alarm clock is powered by water which slowly drips from one container into the bowl beneath it as the hours pass by. Once it is empty and the bowl is full the hammer is released to make a loud but tuneful sound.

By filling the alarm clock with water we focus our attention on the duration of sleep. The task itself becomes a ritual which positively influences our rest. As opposed to the incessant ticking sound of a regular clock here time passes silently and purely mechanically. As the drops of water fall the glass bowl becomes lighter and finally lets the hammer fall. As the tone bounces between the singing bowls we are gently awakened and a new day begins.

Tags: Alarm Clock, Time

No-Nonsense Minimalism: Plywood Slot-Work Furniture Set

Sometimes design errs on the side of art, and sometimes it trends toward engineering this is definitely in the latter category.

Per The Turner Collective: Series 1A is a collection of minimalist objects, balancing objectivity, schematic clarity and inner logic, leading to a natural functionalism and geometric simplicity.

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