As more and more people look for easy and inexpensive ways to create their own housing, one good method people have discovered are shipping containers. These are inexpensive and relatively easy to find and have delivered, with a just a little forethought one can use one of more of these above ground, or below ground to create a great living space.…
Spring is on its way, we have had some warm days, t-shirt and shorts kind of warm, living in far west Texas, we are pretty spoilt (not spoiled but spoilt). There is a cold front coming through though, a little while ago, just after dark, I could hear PB out by the wood pile giving the chainsaw a short workout.
Living in the high desert, we can have snow in May and have had, a couple of years back we had a blizzard on May 1. I have noticed our oak trees turning colors, our trees don’t lose their leaves in fall, but remain green all winter, they turn color, fall off and grow back in a matter of a few weeks usually just before the rainy season hits. This year it seems to be happening early, that either means our trees are confused, or we are going to have an early wet spring, I am hoping for the latter.…
With all the controversy over guns, some places do not allow you to own a gun or make it so difficult to own one that it’s next to impossible to have one, and the fact that some people just don’t want the responsibility of gun ownership, but would still like to be able to defend themselves or hunt, or even just target practice for fun, a bow and arrow is the next best thing, it’s quiet, often more legal to own and possess. It’s also stealthy, you can shoot an arrow with no one hearing you, you can shoot in the city without worrying about ordinances. You still must be careful, you can hurt or even kill someone if you are careless, but with the proper training and practice, you can use a bow and arrow for nearly anything you could use a gun to do.…
During this last major cold snap, I heard a story on NPR (National Public Radio), it’s the only radio station we can pick up out here, it’s quite a bit left leaning for our tastes, but we take that into consideration when we listen, especially to the news stories.
So this story was about (yet another) major cold snap that was about to hit major parts of the USA, there were going to be states of emergency declared because of the snow, ice and very low temps. There were going to be school and business closings.
The thing that really caught my attention, the thing that surprised me (but probably shouldn’t have) is the talk about “runs on the stores”, they were preparing for, get this, being potentially shut in for, …
Just before Christmas, I received a device called an ArkPak. It’s referred to as “The world’s most advanced battery box”. And that is exactly what it is, it’s a portable battery box, inverter, smart charger all in one.
A couple of months ago, I began testing a battery desulfator called the Wizbang Plus, it’s a simple device that you attach to your batteries, it creates an electric pulse that essentially “knocks” the sulfation off of the plates inside the batteries. Sulfation is the reason why batteries eventually fail. They hold less and less of a charge until they need to be replaced.
When I first hooked up the desulfator, I used it on 2 separate systems, an older battery on one and newer batteries on another. On the older battery, I’ll say that it seemed to work better, I could see a significant difference, enough that I am going to keep it hooked up, it is a slow process though. …
This absolutely falls under the “How cool is that!” category… I have seen lots of sheds, workshops and homes made out of shipping containers, some are buried in the ground, most just sit on the ground, some people are creative with them and create an entire home out of multiple containers. Most can be found in rural areas of the USA…
This has to the the most interesting one I have seen to date. These folks owned a small (read TINY) lot in NY, after lots of work and convincing, they created their home with several of these containers stacked up, it’s modern looking, it’s sleek, it’s clean and it works!…
I watched this video just a few days ago, it shows how someone can live off-grid without living in a primitive manner, of course this takes money, it’s a tradeoff, it’s possible to go off-grid on the cheap, my hubby and I are proof that this possible. But if you do have some money to invest, you can live every bit as “normal” as anyone else who lives on grid.…
This Is What Happens When A Woman Gets Sick Of Divorce And Mortgages. And It’s Brilliant.
Macy Miller is an architect from Idaho that had a BIG dream about a tiny house. She had always wanted a place of her own, but the thought of a mortgage sickened her after she lost her home to foreclosure after getting divorced. So, her dream revolved around building a compact, but beautiful home. For two years, Macy worked on the 196 square-foot home, dedicating her free time to building the small paradise. Finally, construction has finished on her little hideaway… and it’s hard not to be jealous of this place, no matter how small it looks on the outside. After all, it only cost about $11,000.
This Reddit user’s dad did something with a hunk of junk that quite possibly made him the coolest person on the planet. He decided to buy an old fire rescue truck that was formerly used by German fire departments and tinker with it. However, he wasn’t interested in restoring the vehicle or keeping it as a collector’s item… instead, he did something much cooler with it.
Christmas is over and the after Christmas sales have started, one thing to grab up now before they all vanish is LED light strings, yes the ones that are sold for Christmas lighting, they are being marked down right now, stores have to make room for the next big holiday, meaning that you can get some major bargains right now.
All month long, I have been looking at my local Alco store (it’s like a small Target/dollar store with less stuff), I have been eyeballing the LED Christmas light strings, but have been biding my time knowing the price would drop dramatically after Christmas. Sure enough, a few days ago when I dropped in, I made a beeline to the back of the store for their Christmas section, I saw the sign, ALL CHRISTMAS DECORATION 50% OFF, that’s all I needed.…
I love cooking, nearly anything, but until very recently I have kept my cooking adventures within the walls of the sky castle, a few weeks ago I got bit by the BBQ/grill bug. It all started out innocently enough, we had a small, very small table top charcoal grill, it wasn’t really large enough, but it was a good start. Next we dusted off the tall smoker that could be used as a grill by moving the charcoal pan up to the top, it wasn’t much better than the smaller grill, but by then I knew I really wanted to have a more permanent setup so PB went to work building a grill for me.…
