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It’s not illegal to DIY

diy not1
When I was a kid, electronics and appliances came ready for the end user to repair when necessary, radios and TVs had vacuum tube that you could replace, warranties weren’t voided as a result of breaking the seal on the case. Now days, most electronics are made to be disposable, or you are forced to send it or take it to a licensed, authorized professional to get something repaired.

Being an independent lady, when I’m told there is something I can’t do, that makes me try even harder. Last summer I got a tablet,the idea was to use less power than my laptop, this was a https://amzn.to/214uoqL, it was refurbished and worked well. But lately the battery hadn’t been holding a charge, it got your the point where energy plugged in with a full charge, it would lose power quickly, I could forget about trying to use it off the charger. Since it was refurbished and I’d had it for a while, I decided to change out the battery myself.

They are not supposed to have an end user changeable battery, but a quick search on Amazon let me know I could purchase a new https://amzn.to/1tdzA0R inexpensively, and a quick check on YouTube showed me how to do it. I ordered this battery, I didn’t need the one with a video included so that saved me some money. A few days later I had the package. It came with tools, they were cheap, but they did the job.

I had trouble getting the case cracked open, PB helped get it started, once apart it was just a matter of a few tiny screws and a few ribbon cables to remove the battery, reverse the process to install the new battery and I was in business. I did make one mistake, I didn’t have the battery cable completely seated, it booted up but immediately shut off, I took it apart and checked everything, once I fully seated the battery connection, it worked just fine.

I had a 50% charge, so I fully charged it and after rigorous testing, it works great, I am happy with it. I will be doing this for my smaller https://amzn.to/1tdApa8 soon, I am noticing that battery is holding less of a charge. What about you? Have you replaced something that you weren’t supposed to be able to do? …

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May 31, 2016 No Comments

A woman living off-grid

As a woman living off-grid, I can speak definitively about this. But apparently I’m not the average woman. Many women I speak to, they tend to say things like “that is wonderful but I could never live like that…”, I suppose they think I’m living like a cave woman. I can assure you that I do not live like a cave woman, but I am more comfortable with a level of primitiveness (is that even a word? It us now, LOL) that most city dwellers might not find pleasant.

I watched this video talking specifically about this subject, I will say that I personally agree with most of what they discussed, but some of it, we’ll IMHO I think they have some learning ahead of them.

Guys, this is where you can skip ahead or skip altogether if you wish, though if you are planning on bringing along some female company, these are things you will deal with directly or indirectly. Either way, you have been warned. :)

The monthly curse, I like the use of the menstrual cup, I have one, I’ve used it, but with my age comes that other M, menopause, so that is becoming less and less of an issue for me, and for that I am eternally grateful. The thing I personally don’t agree with is the requirement of a daily shower. Especially if you have limited water, if you have to haul it in and such. Of course if you have unlimited water, a well or some other source and have the fuel to heat the water, then daily showers are fine, but for many living off-grid, it’s a luxury that is best saved up for when it’s more necessary.

For me, I’m quite happy taking a sponge bath everyday, I take a full on shower once a week or so, of course if I do something that makes me grimy, yes I’ll take a shower as needed. In the summer I’m likely to hop in the shower and just do a quick rinse between regular showers. But I do not require a daily, full on shower. No I don’t stink, I don’t look dirty, I do work in the public so I have to be presentable. I also don’t wear makeup or bling, it’s just my personal choice, to each their own. :)

Here is the video, watch and enjoy.
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May 29, 2016 3 Comments
Communities

Life updates in west Texas

20160519_141825Things have been going pretty well here in the SkyCastle, summer is definitely knocking, warm to hot days, cool to cold nights… The rainy season seems to be trying to start early. I even got caught in a fairly heavy hail storm last week between towns, I pulled over because I couldn’t see and the road was nearly white with ice. But a little farther and I cleared the storm OK.

I took my laptop to town to get it sent away for repair, I had spilled sweet coffee in it a few months ago, it finally quit booting up altogether. Fortunately I had purchased an oops drops & spills warranty through Square Trade, I am so impressed with them. They overnighted a box for me to return it in, complete with a prepaid return label.

I handed it to the FedEx driver at 3pm, Square Trade had it in Dallas the following day. A few days later, they said they might not be able to get the parts to fix it, then another few days later, they confirmed that fact, they immediately cut me a check for the purchase price I paid for it.

I emailed them to ask what they do with the data in the hard drive, they never replied to my email, but a few days later, I received a box that contained the hard drive! Yes, I am impressed and happy.

Now I have the task to pick out another laptop, I’ve been using my tablet, but for writing, it’s nowhere as easy to use, I can type fast on a regular keyboard, but on a tablet, I just don’t have those crazy thumb skills I see all the teens & 20somethigs doing.

In this same week, I finally got a haircut, it’s only been 2 years, the lady who does it is a jewel, Im sure we chatted longer than she worked on my hair… You can see my way picture above, a rare selfie showing off my new trim.

I hope to have my new laptop in hand in the next couple of weeks, I have some fun and serious things to do with it, more about that later.…

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May 27, 2016 No Comments
Communities

Solar panels Suspected cause of Fire

A spate of reports across the world pinpoint faulty solar installations as the cause of serious house fires. Badly installed isolators are just one of the possible issues. The problems worsen when it is not possible to shut off the solar power after the fire has started.

But there are positive sides to sad tales of homes being immolated by faulty solar: Here is one from Will Elrick in Australia

“In a moment without realising, a community not seen, then suddenly a community rallying around and are ready and waiting to help pick up the pieces.

About five weeks ago our house which we had only lived in for three months burned to the ground and everything was lost.

We are relatively new to the area and do not really know many people. We lived off the grid and in an isolated area; hence no-one saw the fire until my partner came home to find the house burned to the ground.

It was then our lives were changed. With this tragedy (it is still shocking to be writing this) we have found such amazing people around, and to be quite honest I am not sure where we would be without the community and their generosity.

The reason I am writing this, is that we would like to say thank you; thank you for your help, generosity and outright kindness.

Luckily we were insured (thank goodness) and this has highlighted the importance of this.

Another point to consider when living off the grid is solar. If anyone has solar please get a check up and make sure an expert comes and gives you a ticket of health. We will never really know what started our fire but the investigation found that a strong possibility was that the fire started from our solar system. I think solar is one of the future ways for energy production however like all types of technology it needs to be installed properly and checked regularly.

We were lucky in some ways as a large bushfire could have started but, because of the fire prevention work we did this was not the case. It is also important for the other property owners around the area and also the animal and plant kingdoms that we reside with that they weren’t affected.

Again we would like to say thank you to our community, without your generosity and help life would be a lot different.

It is interesting that the fire affected us both differently; I still feel a huge sense of loss and sadness particularly for my partner as she had collected things from all over the world. She feels a sense of sadness but at the same time knows that life’s plans are never totally determined by us, as outside influences play such a large part in the world; but indeed how we react to them and the …

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May 26, 2016 No Comments
Communities

Root cellars

rootcellar
With spring in the air, summer right around the corner, many of our gardens are booming with lots of produce, much of it we eat right away, but it’s nice to be able to save some for later in the year, that’s where root cellars come in handy, they keep the temperatures moderated (not too hot, not too cold) and keep the humidity consistent so our fruits and veg stay fresh longer.

Root cellars, as the name indicates are dug into the ground, if you have a hill or slope you can incorporate that into your design making it unnecessary to dig a hole but rather tunnel into the hill. You can also place a structure on top of the ground and pile dirt around the sides, even over the top if it’s strong enough.

There are many ways to create a root cellar, from creating a large walk in space to burying an old fridge or freezer in the ground. Here are a couple of ways to do it. Do you have a root cellar? If so, how do you use it and how do you like it?

https://youtu.be/C32MqyE26w4

https://youtu.be/9FElJ1PLzoQ

https://youtu.be/aLM6rWmQxic




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May 19, 2016 No Comments
Communities

Cheap wood burning stove kit

woodburningkit
I know it’s spring going into summer for most of us, but winter is coming, I am always on the lookout for other ways to keep warm, this is a standard 55 gallon drum wood burning stove conversion, actually this one is a a double 55 gallon kit, using two 55 gallon drums stacked one upon another. Of course this isn’t anything new, but in this video, there are some interesting tweaks added to the system to improve how it works.

Don’t forget, winter will roll back around before you know it, and if you are looking for a way to keep your space warm, consider trying this method. If you have one of these type setups now, let me know how it works for you.

https://youtu.be/poH2GE-of6I




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May 17, 2016 No Comments
Self-Sufficiency

Modern old school wind power

windmill01

 

Wind power, here in the US and other countries, we use wind power on small and large scale, mostly to generate electricity, but the Dutch really harnessed wind power long before the era of electricity. As I watch these two videos, I see an orchestra of gears and cogs playing out a symphony of work in beauty, grace and power.

There is an elegant play of massive wood timbers and steel, pushing, pulling, vibrating, it’s almost a living thing, needing constant tending to tighten and loosen, to bring into and away from the wind. I am fascinated by how this works, and even though I’m a major homebody if I were to travel somewhere, I’d love to see one of these windmills in action.

https://youtu.be/9BjFjKeYKDo

https://youtu.be/Q6FxG3ll-lw

And just for fun, this is about those iconic wooden shoes
https://youtu.be/A_obyjejWBo




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May 15, 2016 No Comments
Communities

Motivation

motivation

There are many things that motivate us, motivation is neither positive or negative, though many think of it as a positive thing, but it isn’t necessarily good or bad, it just is… let me give you an example, if you see a large rock rolling toward you, then you are motivated to move out of the way.

We humans tend to be lazy, we take the path of least resistance (much like electricity), often we aren’t motivated to move, or do something, even if it’s something we wish to do, until something happens to force us to act. What sorts of things tend to motivate you? Are you self motivated? Or do you wait for circumstances to force you to move?

I thought of something this week that really struck a chord, I want it to be my motivation to achieve my goals from now on. Let’s say you found you that you have a terminal disease and you are going to die tomorrow, there is nothing you can do to prevent this from happening, you have 24 hours to think about your life and what you have done with it. You take a piece of paper, you create 2 columns on the paper, in the first column you write “I’m glad I _________”, and in the second column you write “I wish I had ______________”, then you fill in the columns with what you are glad you did and what you wished you had done, not so much what you wish you could own, but what you wish you could have done.

Which column will be longer? I suspect it’s the second, “I wish I had…” column. You have the chance right now to create that page with your achievements and your wishes, don’t wait for some major life change to think about these things, the time is NOW, you will never get another NOW, each second is another NOW slipping by.

Why do I write so much about these things? It’s simple, I want you to live your dreams, if there is something you really want to do, then it’s up to you to do that, you have to figure out how to achieve your dreams, it’s easier to sit and live the life you are living now, living paycheck to paycheck, paying your bills, riding the treadmill of life, it’s time to step off of that treadmill and start living for yourself. What are your dreams?




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May 13, 2016 No Comments
Communities

Strawbale gardening dangerous?

strawbale

I have always loved the idea of using straw or hay, lots of it in my garden as a thick mulch, I follow the Ruth Stout methods of gardening. Then came strawbale gardening, planting directly in the strawbale itself, I witnessed one of these gardens planted by a neighbor who had very rocky soil and couldn’t grow anything before, her tiny strawbale garden exploded with veg, it was very happy there.

Now I discover that with all the pesticides and poisons that are being sprayed, it’s now a problem for those of us who just want to garden using straw or hay. I was under the assumption that if you got something that was used for animal food and bedding that it must be safe, turns out I was making huge and incorrect assumptions.

It seems that it is common practice for the farmers to spray their fields with weed killer and pesticides, it’s apparently not a major issue for the animals eating it, though honestly I can’t see how it can be good for them. But once these contaminated bales hit your soil, they can and do affect how your are able (or not) to grow your food. What you thought was safe and organic is not so safe to use.

What can you do? You must find out the history behind that bale of hay or straw before purchase, find an organic grower and stick with them, yes it may cost you more, but how much is your health worth? You might even be able to get a better price on “old” or spoiled hay or straw from an organic grower.

You can learn more about this here:
https://thegrownetwork.com/hidden-dangers-straw-bale-gardening/




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May 8, 2016 1 Comment

Hunting in the evening

I went hunting tonight, my quarry is small and hard to find, unless you have the right equipment. I only bagged one this evening, it was a bit too cool for them to be very active, a young one was in my path and I stomped it to smithereens.

My quarry tonight was the not so humble scorpion. This is a creature that has plagued us since our first summer out here in the desert. I tend to be a live and let live kind of gal, but when they come into my house, fall on me (and my dogs) and sting, that’s when I declare war.

We don’t have the really painful (and deadly) ones, just the small brown ones, they do pack a punch though, I found out the hard way.

I know all the wild creatures out here have their place, but I’d rather they stay outside. We had our first scorpion of the season inside the SkyCastle just a few weeks ago, it was crawling across the ceiling and dropped right on Zoe’s nose, (one of my dogs), fortunately it didn’t sting her and she didn’t mess with it after she shook it off. And equally fortunately, we saw it happen and was able to put it out of its misery before it caused us any misery.

With the warmer weather comes the bugs, and we live in a very buggy place, it’s one of the things I like about winter, no bugs to speak of. But as soon as the weather warms up, especially at night, out they come. I even saw a couple of Junebugs, a whole month early, of course there are a plethora of moths and other flying & crawling critters that seek any crack or opening to come inside.

I knew that scorpions light up (fluoresce) under blacklight (UV light), they glow like a cheap kids toy, the great part is they don’t seem to know they are glowing and don’t try to get away, that gives me a few extra seconds to take aim with my boot. My light of choice is a 51 LED UV flashlight, it doesn’t seem to put out much visible light, which is a good thing, it puts out just enough visible light to be able to see where I’m walking, and when it hits a scorpion, the light that comes back is sooooo bright!

I haven’t actively hunted the scorpions in the past couple of years like I did the first year I started, I put a pretty good dent in their population that first summer. I don’t want to kill all of them, just the ones that are within striking distance of the SkyCastle. I suspect I’ll be doing much more hunting this year.

What is your nemesis in the warmer months?




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May 5, 2016 No Comments
Communities

Updates on the SkyCastle

Building up and across is what PB (Primitive Bob) likes to do, here is an update on 2 of his projects, works in progress, or Bobbage as we like to call it around here.

The first of the two is the bridge, it had been put on hold for most of the winter, the plan is to eventually be able to drive across it, for now it’s a walking bridge. To recap, the frame of the bridge was made from the frame/chassis of a defunct mobile home that was being dismantled up the road from us. It was pulled across the seasonal creekbed, PB added some plywood decking so we could walk across it. The support beneath is concrete that is dug down quite far into the creekbed, it has already withstood some heavy storms and the accompanying water deluge.

We had a shorter trailer that was used to bring the last load of our stuff from the DFW area of TX to our west TX home, PB hauled that frame over the bridge and extended the bridge quite a bit. As you can see from the pictures he didn’t have any room for mistakes, the wheels were only touching the edges of the bridge by a few inches. But in true Bobbage he did it, all by himself, he tends to wait until I’m gone to work to do these things.

13062468_1166132996770124_688542997766637128_n 13007359_1166133023436788_942396514659602694_n 13010799_1166132913436799_3454666008883106648_n 13062150_1166132883436802_4791162076841722127_n 13062273_1166132916770132_4669597588294971546_n

You can read more about the bridge here
https://off-grid.net/a-bridge-to-bobbage/
https://off-grid.net/bobbage-bridge-update/
The second project is hardening the front door, making it even more castle like. PB wanted the stairs to draw up and by golly, he has done it. Not only do they draw up, you can do it one handed thanks to the counter weight. Of course, like everything else, this is a work in progress. There are essentially two doors, one glass door, then the stairs then a heavy wooden gate, the stairs-once raised become sandwiched between the two doors.

Here are PB’s own words describing this feat of engineering
“This was a test to see if I could raise the steps and film it all without falling off the porch. Success! A little refinement and clean up and it’ll be in the history books. The chain and sheave blocks will be replaced with a streamlined counter weight soon, probly a 4 inch pipe stub,12 inches long filled with sand. The ‘C’ clip came loose in one bearing. The glass door in the video is dirty/foggy, so that birds and dogs and old white guys can see it. I’ll try to get a better video soon. (the glass door must be closed to raise the steps)”

Watch the video and enjoy, I especially love the sound of the stairs moving up and down, sounds like a creepy old scary movie :)
https://youtu.be/4xjEDz2d52k




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April 30, 2016 No Comments
Communities

Montana retreat near Canadian border

If you want to unplug and enjoy the breathtaking scenery that Montana has to offer, head to The North Fork. Located only a mile from Glacier National Park and three miles from the Canadian border, this small community operates on off-grid generators and solar power, with no cell phone reception for miles.

“That’s exactly why we chose to build here,” said Bill, owner of a three-level log home. What attracted Bill and his wife Luann to the area is also what created a unique challenge for builder Scott Leigh. “To get to the site, we had to drive 60 miles up a gravel road, sometimes in terrible weather, and then have no cell phone reception the entire time we were there,” Scott said. To minimize the difficult commute, he would stay onsite with his workers four days a week and then drive back to his office on Friday and gather more building materials.

The layout and design of the three-bedroom, three-bath log home was a collaborative effort that included Scott, Bill and Luann and designer Eric Bachofner whose company provided the 12-inch Swedish cope, hand-hewn lodgepole pine logs.

Because the site had an unspoiled view of Kintla Peak in Glacier National Park, the scenery was a major influence on the design. “Bill’s big push was centered on how the house was oriented,” said Scott. “He wanted the bay windows to face the mountain range, so we sat out there together with a compass and the floor plans and made it happen.”

The other key essential was a dining bay with 14-foot ceilings that Bill saw on another floor plan and wanted to incorporate into his own log home. The room features large windows with a 270-degree view of the horizon. Western larch logs provide structural support for the roof, but also create a unique “speckled” design leading up to the ceiling.

Not to be outdone by the dining bay, the kitchen boasts amazing views that “look straight out into Lewis and Clark country,” according to Bill, and is decorated to transition seamlessly into the dining and great rooms in the home’s open design.

To complement the logs, Kurt Kress was brought in to create the kitchen’s custom cabinetry from knotty alder. He applied several layers of stain, glaze and lacquer before heavily distressing the doors to give them an antiqued look. He chose a deep brown hue with green undertones that plays off the copper farm sink framed with two handmade newel posts. Seeded-glass panels were inserted into several upper cabinets as accents. Crema Bordeaux granite countertops complete the rich look of the space with copper features that mirror the same accents found throughout the home.

If you want to disconnect from the wired world, Bill and Luann’s home is certainly the place to do it. And you couldn’t ask for a better backdrop than some of the most spectacular …

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April 29, 2016 No Comments