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Snow on the Sky Castle

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One of the things I enjoy about the area where we live is we get all kinds of weather, even some extremes, but none of it lasts very long, our winters are mild compared to the rest of the country. We get snow a few times a winter, it’s usually a few inches and doesn’t last very long, it’s just enough to turn all of us into children again.

Last week we had such an event, fortunately I didn’t have to venture out in my vehicle and was able to stay home and enjoy the snow while it lasted. Our biggest “problem” during such times is making sure we have enough wood to burn in the woodstove to keep warm. PB kept us well stocked and kept the Sky Castle toasty warm.…

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Vince’s not so tiny home

My not-so-tiny house
Vince took a page from LaMar Alexander’s book and videos and built his own semi-small house, by most standards this is a small home,  measuring in at: 640 sq ft, 2 floors 16X16, attic 8X16 at a total cost of around $3500. His property, 7 acres was $5500, he was able to pay that off over the winter and spent the following summer saving his money to put into building his cabin. Much like we did, he was able to find sources of free materials. With the help of his family and friends he was able to get his cabin in the dry in about 2 months, he still has the inside and finish work to do, but I’d say he has done a very good job and will have a wonderful and debt free place to live when it’s completed.
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Flower pot heater, does it work?

flower pot heater

The last couple of winters have been very hard for those of us living in the USA, the so called “polar vortexes” have come down from above, of course when I was growing up, these were referred to as a cold front, I suppose now they have to make it sound more newsworthy… at any rate, the winters are cold cold cold, many rely on grid power to keep their homes warm, even those who have natural gas, their heating units still rely on electricity to run and circulate the heat. It’s always a good idea to have at least one alternative means of heating your home should the power go out, ideally you should have multiple backup means of heating your home, or at least one room to get you through in the worst case scenario.…

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500 square feet

500sqft

500 square feet, for some, that’s a decent walk in closet, but not for this couple, Robert Cole and his partner Kelly Casthena, they live there with their black lab, happy as clams. They would have to be, living in such close quarters, any unhappiness would not stay hidden for long.…

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Community

Kicked my freezer-fridge conversion out

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Not away, but outside, I’m still using it, but with the colder temps and the more overcast days, I decided to let nature work for me instead of against me. A couple of weeks ago, PB moved the chest freezer to fridge conversion out on the front porch, it’s right next to the grill, it seems my front porch is really turning into an outdoor kitchen minus the plumbing.…

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Community

Deep winter for the Sky Castle

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This is our 8th year living out here, we have fallen into a comfortable routine, the summers have its advantages, longer days, warm weather (cool nights for sleeping), getting more done during the longer daylight hours, but there are downsides, such as the critters, bugs, spiders and other creepy crawlies that are active in the warmer weather.…

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Community

Vandwelling

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Modern technology, we have shunned much of it, but sometimes it’s a great thing to have around, the internet, FaceBook and the such, these things allow us to communicate, to keep in touch with, and to find those we lost track of.

In this case, I reached out on FaceBook, searching for a long lost friend, a person I knew back when I was not even a teenager. I found her and discovered she is living a parallel life to us, living off-grid, but her life is mobile, she is a gypsy at heart.…

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Alternative uses for Reflectix

I’ve been seeing this material called Reflectix, it’s basically bubblewrap encased in aluminized mylar on both sides, it has insulative properties. It was originally created to be used as insulation in buildings, garages and such. Since this product is flexible like a fabric as opposed to being ridged, I wondered if this could be used in some clothing, shoes and such to help keep you warm without having to resort to bulky, thick layers…. I look in my mukluk style booties and there is a reflective foil layer beneath the sole, I don’t know if it is a bubblewrap product, but the foil layer is there.…

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Community

New Slow City by William Powers

powersThe Slow Movement is slowly becoming mainstream.

Several years ago, William (Bill) Powers, after a decade in international aid work, embarked upon an experiment. He spent a year in a one-room cabin without running water or electricity in a farm in North Carolina, subtitled “off the grid and beyond the American dream”, he wrote a diary in his green-living memoir “Twelve By Twelve”. Now, in New Slow City, Powers decides to up the ante. While it might be easy to craft a simpler life far away from the neuroses of modern-day urban life, is it at all possible to live by the deeper principles of Twelve By Twelve smack-bang in the middle of Manhattan’s obsession with speed?…

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Livin’ large by goin’ small

large-small

I am fascinated by the tiny home or tiny house movement, I have lived in fairly small spaces for a number of years, first living in a single wide, 14×70 mobile home, that started me on my journey to living with and in less. PB and I are good at living in tight quarters, we rarely bump into each other, even with the 2 dogs, we get along pretty well.…

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Living in a shed? Why not?

Food, water and shelter are 3 of the main requirements to live, today we will talk about shelter, your home. Many of us don’t have the finances to buy a house outright, personally I wouldn’t recommend getting a mortgage for a home, that is major debt. So if you want your own home, what are some other options? One option is to buy a shed or workshop type building and finish it out as a home.…

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Community

Should homeowners with solar panels pay to maintain electrical grid?

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The costs of solar energy are plummeting, and now are about on par with the electricity generated at big power plants. This new reality intensifies a long-running business and regulatory battle, between the mainline electric utility companies and newer firms that provide solar systems for homeowners’ rooftops. Sometimes the rivalry looks more like hardball politics than marketplace economics.…

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