02/04/2019 02/04/2019

All growth does not take place in sunlight

The best pillow. I had an epic sewing day, catching up possibly as much as two years of mending and hemming, which put a lot of clothes back into my wearable circulation. I also made this wonderful piece of embroidery into a pillow (case? sham? cover? cover.) -- pillow cover, complete with buttons to get it off the pillow for washing, done with the buttonholer!!

11/08/2018 11/08/2018

Grub generator reboot

(mild gross factor warning for very sensitive - grubs) My "new and improved" grub generator wasn't working. The original buckets were better. YouTube instructionals notwithstanding, the grubs don't walk up the vacuum hose. They don't negotiate the ridges very well. What they do do, is crawl around that flat ridge near the top of the Rubbermaid, and they have no trouble crawling straight up the sides of the plastic. They really make time too, it's sort of amazing.

02/07/2018 02/07/2018

The wheels on the coop go round and round

Silkieland, the new coop, has optional wheels now. I'd been moving it along laterally to give them fresh turf every couple days. I could scoot it sideways by running back and forth, back and forth, end to end, shifting it a few inches at a time. Moving it longways was out of the question - it is not drag-able. I just ran out of room to move it sideways, moving it from one tree barrier to another. Just in time, a treasured friend swooped in,

27/04/2018 27/04/2018

Grub Generator

On the inside of the tub, there's a vacuum cleaner hose with a bunch of holes cut in it (that part is a bit tough), held onto the side of tub with zipties. It's arranged at a slight angle in a spiral around the tub, for the grubs to climb along on their bid for freedom. Because they do that. Yep.It's a grub escalator. They will climb to the top like pilgrims, and then drop out, into the catchment bottle. Surprise, no guru!

04/04/2018 04/04/2018

I collect birdhouses now

I collect birdhouses now.Both functional (those are mounted in trees and look solid and functional) and decorative. I imagine festooning a couple of trees with a variety of bright little dangling birdhouses. And should anyone decide to occupy one of the decorative birdhouses, that's ok too. Some prefer style over function.

04/01/2018 04/01/2018

A stitch in time

09/06/2017 09/06/2017

Putting gutter on the Greenhouse

15/04/2017 15/04/2017

Newspaper "pots" for tomatoes.

I tried making some pots out of newspaper to pot up my tomatoes into. I rolled them around a bottle (half-sheet each), crunched in the paper on the bottom, slid the cylinder off the bottle, and then turned over the half inch at the "brim" to the outside. That´s what keeps them rolled.

30/01/2017 30/01/2017

Breakthrough Kefir hacks

I sewed a little bag out of nylon screen (like, bug screen), that fits into a mason mouth. Simple, open on top.Then the grains get rinsed off while they're in the bag! You don't have to chase after them. Genius!

12/01/2017 12/01/2017

How to be a Dumpster Diving ninja

Wanna join the craze, feel the rush, get utterly depressed by the unavoidable awareness of this society’s pointless waste?Dumpster Ninja Skills 101 - A Comprehensive Guide to the Cold Hard PrecautionsThink like a ninja, dress like a ninja

26/12/2016 26/12/2016

RECYCLING CALENDARS

2017 is a repeat of 2006, which was only ten years ago.Those 2016 calendars you just finished with come back around in 2044.

23/11/2016 23/11/2016

CHRISTMAS GIFT SACKS

Consider a reusable alternative to gift wrap. These use up scrap fabric, can be gifted back and forth, utilize waste, and frequently are part of the gift, as they might get used year-round to put things other than gifts in

09/05/2016 09/05/2016

Manual sewing

I wasn't expecting it to be quite so much of a total body workout. This century-old treadle sewing machine sews like it plans to sew for another hundred years. This machine scoffs at your mysterious bobbin issues.

19/07/2015 19/07/2015

VEGETABLE CHAINSAW BAR OIL

Every other kind of motor oil has specific protocols for disposal, but bar oil is designed to be lost during saw use. Just vaporized, sprayed out, and dripped on the ground. Lovely.Time to start using vegetable oil instead.