Fun with Duct Tape, Power Tools and Goose Down It must be the cooler weather: I've been "feathering my nest" over the past two weekends mostly by insulating things. Insulating the house: Already mentioned in my previous blog, I've been spending far too much time in the basement (a crawl space, really) wrapping water pipes in foam and pink stuff and going through several rolls of duct tape. Did you know that you can get duct tape in several designer colours? -- although I thought silver *was* the new brown. Anyway, my last, and I think final, purchase was two heating coils for my basement and first floor water pipes, which I'll use when (if) the temperature dips to and stops at -18 for an extended period. Insulating the plants: I bought so may lovely geraniums and brugmansia's this summer that it's a shame to let them die outside. I've constructed a series of shelves that sit right in front of my windows so that they get maximum sun exposure throughout the winter. My favourite is a shelf I built for my bedroom window, enabling me, for the first time, to have live plants in my bedroom. The kick for me is that I bought a cheap piece of pine and some wooden shelf brackets and used my handy jigsaw to cut some more-or-less even rounded edges. The whole thing is stained and varnished a lovely honey colour. Right now, a fuscia geranium is still in bloom on my newly extended window sill and it looks smashing. Insulating me: Two years ago, I invested in a feather bed, after experiencing them for the first time in a hotel in San Jose. Last year, I invested in a 100% goose down duvet, which keeps me absolutely toasty warm. Last weekend, I completed my little nest with two 100% goose down pillows. What's fabulous about them is that they don't get smushed, so your neck is always supported, but your cheek always has something soft and cushiony against it. My bed may now conceivabley be the most comfortable bed in the world.