The people on the bottom level of these units on my street do Christmas lights every year! Just wish the rest of the units got involved!

A sliding door is just a big window, and if correctly built in (check if the glass is the correct sized for the door if a bit old) with the correct sized lintels this should not be a big problem as the loads would be transferred to the sides, allowing the door to slide easily. Silicon spray (being a Yachtie were we use this stuff everywhere), we now use silicone spray on all our windows in our 1930 home and the windows glide across with one finger before they used to tilt when trying to open them. I would place the door head up to line up with the others and one thing you might consider is placing a window seat, (rebate the bottom channels into the window seat) and have the window seat in and out, place a cushion over the entire seat, should be fantastic and if the deck is built, than no balustrade is required. If it is a stacker slider, i would do the seat for the entire length. So instead of looking a bit funny they will think it was supposed to be like that. We should all think outside the square more often. RAM

We spend Christmas Eve watching Carols by Candlelight and preparing for Christmas Day. We bake sweets, ice gingerbread and wrap all our last minute gifts. Christmas Day is then spent sharing a breakfast of traditional Italian cake in the early hours of the morning and opening gifts. We then head to Church and assist with a lunch and gift giving for those not as fortunate as us and then head home for a big Italian/South African feast and backyard cricket!

I warm my plates sometimes with a damp square of kitchen paper in between. The water in the paper heats up and does the trick. I always do scrambled eggs but I use half power and stir after 45 seconds then after 20 secs and so on until done. I par boil vegetables for roasting and soups to save time. We keep our bread in the freezer and defrost before use, also rolls, banana bread, un-iced cake etc. I've heated up a wet face cloth to wipe my grandkids' faces rather than wait for the hot water to come through. More energy efficient. If my coffee or tea goes cool when I'm on the phone I'll reheat it for 20 secs.