From selling books to buying chisels - it's all about reducing waste.
Heads & Dovetails
Jamie and Gill are both passionate about reducing waste and sustainability. In this episode they cover a range of topics from Japanese blacksmiths to how they do what they can to reuse things but are always looking to do and learn more. Jamie starts by telling Gill he has bought some very good chisels made by Japanese blacksmith Masters and how they recycle old iron from discarded bridge frameworks. Gill is wanting to purchase some chisels and had immediately gone to Amazon to look for some. She's learning from Jamie about how to find used items that are actually better value than simply...
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From raised beds to Japanese artists
Heads & Dovetails
Being British Jamie and Gill just had to chat about the weather but it had allowed Gill to get out in the garden over the weekend and Jamie into his shed for a short while. Jamie tells Gill he really likes her new raised beds, having seen lots of photos on socila media of her making them. He says they remind him of previous times. Gill explains the reason for posting so many photos on Instagram of each stage is that so many peole have asked her in the past how she does them and to explain what the no dig method is and how to do it. Gill brings up one of her bug bears for discussion and...
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From overnight accommodation issues to Patreon
Heads & Dovetails
Gill and her husband Clive like to support small independent businesses when they can. Recently they spent a couple of night's away in 2 different pub type accommodation. The second one was holding a private 30th birthday event and their room right above it overlooking the glass dome in the ceiling. Consequently they got to 'enjoy' the disco lights and loud music! Gill and Jamie discuss the dilemma of a small business and the pros and cons of should they pre-warn guests when they book or what could be done to mitigate the situation. Gill goes on to tell how they made the best of the...
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From moments in time to vices (of the woodworking kind!)
Heads & Dovetails
As Gill's son was born on this day she can recall every detail about day, even the weather. Jamie and Gill chat about 'time lining' and how we use specific incidences, like covid, to help us pin point when things happened and we cross reference that with other people's time lines. Jamie uses an example of how we might use things only specific to us so you might say 'no it had to be before then because I remember I was in my old car'. Jamie gives an update on his next briquette experiment and Gill is happy to report on some progress with their our subsidence issue and all that it...
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From sleep and books to resin and socks!
Heads & Dovetails
Jamie overslept so was a bit late for recording this week's episode. Hence Gill and Jamie chat about how important sleep is to our minds and bodies. A lack of sleep can lead to other conditions being misdiagnosed which are actually symptoms of being sleep deprived. Gill tells Jamie about the book she was given for her birthday, 'Teaching the World to Sleep' by David Lee, following the webinar she had booked onto last year. Jamie asks about the type of books Gill likes to read which is quite a range from: fiction and non fiction, particularly biographies to more science based, philosphical...
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From car parts to car insurance.
Heads & Dovetails
Having had an 'advisory' for new brake pads on its service Gill booked their car in to get them replaced only to discover it needed a new caliper as well as the old one fell apart! The price of parts has rocketed and Jamie and Gill discuss the 'pros and cons' of new cars, buying them on finance and how buyers can be left horrified at costs to replace basic parts like tyres! We discuss the knock on impact of these rising costs as to why everyone's car insurance has increased so much. They discuss some of the possible reasons why cars are so differnt nowadays and need to be so big. With...
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From Happy New Year to drying logs for a project.
Heads & Dovetails
Gill explains why she doesn't do new year's resolutions but takes time to reflect on the year gone and focus on what she did achieve rather than what she didn't. Too many people end the year thinking about those things they didn't achieve! Jamie agrees and says it's better to simply let them go and look focus forward. Jamie asks Gill about how she finds people respond to her when she goes for her walks without a dog. She explains how it still means that she gets to chat to people for that very reason as they ask where her dog is and she's made several new friends. Jamie says he's...
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From Scams to flame throwing on furniture!
Heads & Dovetails
Gill starts off the episode relating the story of hwo she very nearly falling for a scam whilst advertising her refurbished furniture on FB Marketplace. As a result of multiple attempts at the same scam she's deleted the adverts and going to research another avenue to sell them that feels much better to her. Flea amrkets and independent stores are on her research list - they take her furniture as stock, display and sell it and get a commission. Jame has possbily had a little too much fun taking a flame thrower to his furniture turning the wood black! And now seems to want to have a...
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From technology and AI to Conkers laundry liquid!
Heads & Dovetails
Jamie has discovered that one of his videos on YouTube has suddenly get a lot of views and he has no idea why. He mentions how a chat with someone made him realise he was earning the equivalent of a mini pension from his channel. We discuss how fast things can change and what we think may earn us money in our old age with social media may well not even exist with the way technology marches on with things like AI taking over a lot of roles. With all the electric we now need or will need we swap stories about log burners and the future - will it involve returning to the things we did in the...
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From Sleep to Washing Machines!
Heads & Dovetails
Jamie and Gill both listened to Diary of a CEO's podcast with Tim Spector on ultra processed foods and how this impacts on our lives these days. They chat about how clever marketing from big corporates can havre us fooled into believing things are healthy when they're not. As they discuss modern life Gill talks about a webinar she attended all about sleep - it was entitled "Sleep in people living with the symptoms of menopause'. However it went into depth about sleep and how we need to get the 'scaffolding' around sleep correct to aid women suffering with symptoms of the menopause. We...
info_outlineAt the start of the podcast Jamie is busy applying E45 to his head and Gill tells him that she found out she was allergic to it whilst going through her cancer treatment. This lead to them chatting about having cancer as Jamie's wife has also been through it. Jamie tells what it was like for him supporting his wife and Gill explains the very different approach she took and how that lead to her writing her book 'Beliefs Bing and Me. The Active Role I took to tackle Cancer'. They chat about how important they think taking a slower path in life is over being in the 'rat race', especially these days.