The Pool Room

The Pool Room: where all the good stuff ends up

  • Using TFT01 2.2″ Display With Arduino Uno R3

    How to drive a 2.2″ TFT01 colour display from an Arduino Uno R3 using the UTFT graphics library.

  • How To Stream Video From Mac To iPad For Free

    I got an iPad a while ago, and I’ve found it to be an awesome tool. The only thing I’ve really wished for that it lacks is the ability to play videos directly from iTunes on my Mac over the network. You can do this between PCs, and my AppleTV can stream videos from iTunes,…

  • Family Bonding Day

    Today was a huge family bonding day, although we didn’t all spend it together. Megan and Grace went up to Sydney with the Peterborough school for the Rotary Club of Turramurra and Pathfinders Jumbo Flight. Qantas donated the use of a jumbo jet, pilots and cabin crew donated their time, and Rotarian volunteers provided ground…

  • Sustainable Illawarra Super Challenge

    We have signed up for the [Sustainable Illawarra Super Challenge](http://www.sustainableillawarra.com.au/The-SuperChallenge.html), and Monday night was the official launch of the programme. The idea is for 120 households across the Illawarra to spend the next 12 months moving towards a more sustainable lifestyle. Sustainable Illawarra provides participants with information, workshops, guidance and resources (as well as some…

  • Mint Pesto Recipe

    Here’s one I haven’t tried yet, but I do have a lot of mint and parsley at the moment so maybe I will soon. ###Ingredients – 1 cup chopped mint leaves – 1 cup chopped parsley – 1 clove garlic – 1/4 cup olive oil – 1/4 cup vegetable oil ###Directions In a food processor,…

  • Wicking Beds

    **NOTE:** I have moved this post to my other blog, [Green-Change.com](http://green-change.com), as it fits in better with that blog’s theme of suburban sustainability. For futher updates check out [Wicking Beds – Water Efficient Gardening](http://green-change.com/2009/05/01/wicking-beds-water-efficient-gardening/). A wicking garden bed uses a waterproof container or layer below the soil surface to form an underground reservoir of water.…

  • Magic In The Garden

    What I love most about this photo is that Sarah actually disappeared into her bedroom to get dressed for gardening, and this is what she came out in. Click to embiggen.

  • Growing Mushrooms From Mushroom Compost

    In July I took my trailer up to the mushroom farm to get a load of mushroom compost. It was $2.60/bag, and I got 16 bags for $40. I was really just thinking of using it on the garden as a mulch layer at that stage. When I got home, though, I realised there were…

  • Soil Blockers

    **Note:** Updated and expanded versions of the information in this post are available at my other site, [Green-Change.com](http://green-change.com): – [Soil Blockers](http://green-change.com/2010/03/25/soil-blockers/) – [Soil Block Recipes](http://green-change.com/2010/03/26/soil-blocker-recipes/) (including my own recipe) – [Soil Blocker Resources](http://green-change.com/) (coming soon) I recently bought a [soil blocker from Peddler’s Wagon](http://www.peddlerswagon.com/p-107-soil-block-maker-4-blocks.aspx) with some birthday money. It was way cheaper to get it…

  • The Chicken Ark

    An updated version of this post is available over on my suburban green living blog, Green Change: [Chicken Ark Plans](http://green-change.com/2008/11/17/chicken-ark-plans) When thinking about a coop for our chickens to live in, we wanted something practical, non-permanent, and space-efficient. Looking around the net, the [‘chicken ark’ or ‘chicken tractor’](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tractor) concept seemed the best for our needs.…