A gift from our London friends: a paper recycler, you use it to make little cylinders of combustible waste for your log fire, using newspapers, etc.
On the left, the old paper recycler. I've had it for ages, but only used it once because you have to wet the newspaper, mash it up and then put it into this block to compress it. You then have to dry out the paper brick thus created, which means it has to be stored somewhere warm for a while. On the right, the new one, basically a hollow cylinder (green) and a tamper (gold).
First, you make a cylinder out of a few sheets of the old newspaper, by wrapping it around the green tube, using the guide line as marked.
Then you tuck the overlapping end of the paper into the tube. You now have an empty paper cylinder, closed at one end, that is formed around the green metal one.
Then you fill the cylinder with combustible material, pretty much anything sensible will do. I used old paper. That old firework that failed to light would probably be a bad choice, as would petrol-soaked rags. It would also probably be a good idea to dispose of any old sulphur, charcoal and saltpetre that you have lying around, separately.
Tamp them all down until you get to the max fill marker on the tamper.
Release the green cylinder by pushing in with the tamper and pulling on the cylinder.
Then tuck the remaining end of the tube in, and you have a neat little cylider of combustible material for lighting the fire. You don't even have to wait for it to dry.
3 comments:
I love your blog, reading about your "stuff" at your beautiful home. It is very different from my life....
But this entry... I have come away with something even more interesting...
I used to make old paper logs... and I dressed exactly like you are here... except my favorite flannel was red.
Funny how things can be so different and still the same.
How cool, I want one! Any tips as to where I could get hold of one? Or could I 'bricole' one? ...hummm...
Shame re the soap nut tree/soil thing. Hoping my local soil will permit me to build a tiny curvy organic cob cottage...but that is another story...
I love that idea...and I know my chap would too.
Food in Britain really has come a long way since my childhood when everything was just boiled! And it just seems to get better and better as more people become passionate about it. I marvel at the progress we've made!! You can still find rubbish places to eat (in the provinces!!!) but at least now you don't have to look very hard to find something really tasty/finely cooked.
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