If you’re ever planning a trip into the wilderness, here are a few ideas to make sure your trip is a safe and pleasant one. In some places, weather can change very rapidly. Getting to know the signs for approaching storms or changing weather conditions is very helpful. During electrical storms, it’s best to find shelter in a densely forested area at a lower altitude.

. You could retain 85-90% of the energy from hot water that is normally wasted when it goes down the drain, by installing a drain-water heat recovery system. This system passes the waste hot water from showers, sinks, and washing machine through a heat exchange to heat the incoming hot water to your hot tank. That is bound to reduce energy usage.

. I’m Flipy the Penguin… Flipo the Penguin: And I’m Flipo the Penguin. Flipy the Penguin: In the autumn time, there is always a bountiful supply of fresh chestnuts. It is very easily digested, being high in carbohydrates and low in oil content. Flipo the Penguin: Chestnuts are the only nuts that contain vitamin C. These tasty nuts can be boiled, roasted and pureed for use in savory dishes with grains, beans and fruits and vegetables… Flipy the Penguin: You can even add them to your breakfast cereal! Flipo the Penguin: Bon appetit! .

. If you have citrus trees in your garden, every 3 months you could water them with 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt mixed with one gallon of water. Or if you have many plants, you can sprinkle a small handful of salt around the roots, then water right after that. Later you will enjoy a bountiful supply of fresh citrus.

. And here’s a little tip today on how to keep you and our little house spider friends happy. Spiders may fall into your bathtubs and sinks. Due to the slippery surface, they cannot get out. To help the spider, you might like to put up a spider ladder to give the little spiders an escape route. This is something you can have fun making with the children. Make them a little ladder or slide that they can grip on to and hang it from your taps, making sure it reaches to the bottom of the bath. They will be grateful to you.

I am Shellie the Turtle, here to give you some tips on saving water. With water being one of the most precious God given things on the planet, it’s good to conserve it whenever we can. By using rainwater for toilet flushing, laundry and garden use, we could substantially reduce our use of water. Installing a rain water tank is a great way to save rain water. But in the meantime, we can have a couple of water barrels outside our house collecting rain from the guttering off the roof. This will save hundreds of gallons of rain water for your garden, washing your car and other jobs around the garden.

. I’m Billy the Goat. I’m sure we all love a nice peaceful night’s sleep at the end of a productive day. The scent of lavender can have a calming effect on us. You can have the flower itself in your room, or use the lavender oil. Sweet dreams… Thank you for tuning in, .

I am Rufie the Dog and I have the most fun when I go camping with my family in the beautiful outdoors. They found that when you have to walk with a back pack, it is best to not overload it, as this can cause you to lean forward to compensate for the extra weight. Also choose a good backpack with wide straps for comfort and the right size for you to manage. All this will help make your holiday an enjoyable one.

. Halo, I am Oinky the Piglet, and I love being in the country and in the garden. As gardening is a year round job, you can help keep your hands soft and moisturized by liberally applying hand cream before putting on your gardening gloves. .

. I’m Skippy the Rabbit. My family and I are going green. We’re looking out for the environment by getting products made of recycled material. You might want to look on the package for certain terms like recycled content, post-consumer materials, and processed chlorine-free.

I’m Mooyi the Cow, with an energy tip of the day. Did you know that compact fluorescent light bulbs are much more efficient than an incandescent light bulb? That is because they use about one-fourth of the energy and last about 10 times longer! I looove them.

Green tea has many uses and one of them is it can help relieve toothache. Chewing on the dry green tea leaves has been known to help reduce the pain until you can go to a dentist.

. It’s Billy the Goat here, and I found these two great organizations www.computeraid.org and www.computersforcharity.org.uk. They re-furbish your old computers to a high standard and donate them to charities, acommunity groups and schools in Africa. This is a great way to re-cycle your appliances; what a good idea! .

I am M’Caw the Parrot. Sometimes we can inadvertently burn the rice when cooking it. If this happens, just place a piece of bread crust on top of the rice. Put the lid back on for 5 minutes or so, and the bread will absorb the burnt taste from the rice.

. I’m Lionardo the Lion. When you go camping with some friends for a period of time, you may want to prepare a special emergency bag including matches, a flashlight, a silver emergency blanket, a lightweight raincoat and a whistle. These basic items can come very handy.