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Living With Less…

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…privacy that is.
There’s nothing like using the toilet while sitting 3-5 feet away from your sweetie, especially when doing something particulary smelly. In one respect, we have lots of privacy, heck we don’t have blinds or shades or any sort on our windows, for the most part, no one can “sneak” up on us, we have trained all of our friends to honk and/or holler well before they get to our place, they all understand and comply. Besides, with the cabin being so high off the ground, anyone walking up wouldn’t be able to see in, short of someone sitting across the mountain with binoculars or telescope, we don’t have to worry much about anyone seeing us inside the cabin no matter what state of dress (or undress) we may be in. If someone were to go to the trouble to try to spy on us, Lord help them for what they will see, they deserve what they get! In the words of Jerry Seinfeld, “There is good naked and there is bad naked…” nuff said. :)
Living as we have for the last 9 months, Bob and I have gotten particulary close, living in one room for most of the time, you either have to adapt or kill, so we chose to adapt. LOL
Along with making sure you have all the equiment and food to survive, one other thing to consider before moving to and living in a place like this is how well do you get along with your partner? Many couples live nearly separate lives, generally both of them have to work, you spend most of your day separate from your partner, upon getting home, there are so many things to do before bed time, make dinner, clean up, get ready for the next day… if you have a family that takes even more time. Living as we do, we are together nearly 24/7, with the excepetions of the days I’m at the store (usually 2 days a week) and the rare occasions when one of us leaves to go to something, we are generally together most of the time. Fortunately Bob and I do not have a problem with this, we are so much alike in our thoughts, likes and dislikes, we do just fine being together as much as we are. We also understand that each of us needs our “private time”, and we are pretty good at giving it to one another. I have been reading several blogs about people moving to or living in remote places like Alaska, living in small, one room cabins, I think it takes a special breed of people to be able to do it, and not go nutty, or maybe one has to be a bit nutty to survive, I don’t know…
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September 12, 2008 3 Comments

DIY Water Filter – Update (Edited-More Info Added)

WooHoo I scored!!! I found the original author/creator’s PDF that shows in detail, including pix, how to make the water filter using terracotta clay. Here is the link to the download:, rightclick the link and download it:

https://wretha.googlepages.com/ClayPotFilter_final_web.pdf

I should get paid for researching on the internet… I don’t know how I do it, but I almost always seem to find what I am looking for, sometimes it happens like this time, while looking for something else, I run across something that I have been previously trying to find. Today, while looking up another person who writes on off-grid subjects, one of her articles turned out to be exactly what I have been looking for, a way to make your own terracotta pot for a water filter, this has an actual recipe for the clay, you don’t need a kiln (a MAJOR plus!) and I believe most people would be able to do this. Here is the article, it can be found here https://off-grid.net/2008/06/19/cheap-water-filter-for-everyone/
check it out!



Cheap Water Filter for Everyone

Section: 
 — by Kelly Mead @ 19 Jun 2008



The Australian National University (ANU) scientist Tony Flynn has developed a process to create water filters from commonly available materials. The materials need to also be fired, which can be done without a kiln or other western technology, by using common manure.
An estimated 80% of all sickness in this world can be attributed to unsafe water and sanitation according to the World Health Organization (WHO). That can be seen in the annual 1.5 billion episodes of diarrhea in children under the age of 5, with about four million of those being fatal.
Since historically water filters have had to be imported to developing nations, which means increased cost and reduced availability for the populace. With the new filter design made from common place materials available in even the most remote places.
“These filters are a hollow ceramic vessel filled with charcoal. They are intended to filter out suspended silt and bacteria. However, at around $US5 each, they’re too expensive for individuals in many developing communities to consider purchasing,” stated Mr Flynn. “They are very simple to explain and demonstrate and can be made by anyone, anywhere. They don’t require any Western technology. All you need is terracotta clay, some used coffee grounds or tea leaves, a compliant cow and a match,” Mr Flynn continued “Everyone has a right to clean water, these filters have the potential to enable anyone in the world to drink water safely.”
Filter production is simple:
  • A handful of crushed dry clay
  • A handful of common organic material, such as coffee grounds, rice hulls, or used tea leaves
  • Add water, just enough to make a stiff biscuit dough like mixture
  • Shape into a cylinder shaped pot closed on one end
  • Dry it in sun
  • Place dried filter on a layer of
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September 10, 2008 12 Comments

Garden Update

Garden spray update: 

The concoction I made up to spray on the garden worked, at least as far as the bugs are concerned. It’s been raining the last 2 days so I couldn’t get out and check it until today, I went into the garden cage, walked straight to the okra, these had been infested with aphids and were being farmed by little black ants. I looked at the okra leaves that had been encrusted with aphids, all I could see was dead aphids, hundreds, maybe even thousands of them… The ants were still walking around on the ground, I didn’t see any on the plants, I need to get back out there and dust with diatomaceous earth, especially around the ground where the ants are coming in. I didn’t look around much, but I didn’t notice any grasshoppers either, I’ll look in more detail next time I go out there. The plants look great too, I always worry that I might be making my mixtures too strong and might burn my plants, but apparently I got it right, strong enough to kill the bugs, not too strong for the plants. :)
To recap, here is what I mixed up and how I applied it:
In a one gallon container I mixed
1 cap full of mouthwash (generic Listerine type, plain-not flavored)
4-5 tablespoons blackstrap moleasses
1 palmfull of Epsom Salt
1 palmfull of powdered milk
1-2 hard squirts of Ivory dish soap
I filled the container half way with water, then I mixed everything with my hand until I couldn’t feel anything granular, once mixed, I filled the gallon container the rest of the way with water. I put this into a small hand held pump sprayer, I was able to fill it 3-4 times with the mixture, I sprayed the plants with the mix making sure to get the underside of the leaves (where many bugs hide).  The spray is along the lines of Jerry Baker’s recipes and Howard Garrett (the Dirt Doctor) recipes, more leaning toward Jerry’s stuff, if you don’t know about them, look them up by name. I love being able to use things I have around the house, non-toxic, inexpensive and it works. :)

Wretha

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September 9, 2008 4 Comments

Garden Work, Seeds, Farmer Ants

Garden
Today I worked in the garden, I have been getting the sweetest tasting cherry tomatoes from my garden, they almost don’t have a chance to get into the cabin, I eat them almost as fast as I pick them. I believe I took care of the problem I was having with bloggom end rot (EDIT that should be blossom end rot, not bloggom end rot, a Freudian slip?), the tomatoes that already had the start of blossom end rot of course couldn’t be saved (I tried to cut the rot off, but the rot seemed to go quite a way through). The tomatoes that were still green, are now turning red with no sign of blossom end rot.
I went out and gathered seeds from the plants that I have let go to seed. I got a quart baggie full of raddish seed pods, one full of sweet peas and another half full of spinach seeds. I left the peas and the raddishes inside the pods, they are completely dry, later on this winter, when the weather prohibits me from going outside, I’ll liberate the seeds from their pods. For now, they will be just fine. As I picked these seeds, I removed the spent plants, for now I just tossed them into the corner, procrastination gets me, I know… I’ll work on them later… While I was seeding the spinach, I noticed one leaf that looked different from the other leaves, then it moved, it had legs, it was a praying mantis, about 3 inches long. I took it and tossed it along with the spent plant into the corner. I was saving it’s life, I was going to do some spraying later, and the spray was going to contain soap, I wanted to kill out the grasshoppers, not the mantis. While I was seeding the plants, I noticed a multitude of black ants drawling on my okra plants, not on anything else, upon closer inspection, it seems that the ants were doing a bit of farming themselves, they were “keeping” aphids. On several of the larger okra leaves, the ones with the most ants crawling on them were incrusted with aphids on the bottom. The ants actually bring the aphids to the plants, protect them, they harvest the liquid that the aphids exude, it’s a waste product from sucking the juices from the plants, the exuded liquid is sweet and the ants love it. My okra hadn’t started to really suffer, yet, if I hadn’t caught it, they might have gotten weak, diseased and would have given me fewer okra pods. Eventually the ants would have moved the aphids to other plants. 
I made up a mixture for a spray, I didn’t really measure anything, I poured about a capfull of mouthwash (generic Listerine type, plain-not flavored), a handful of Epsoms salt (magneseum), about 2 handfulls of
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September 8, 2008 2 Comments

Fellow Bloggers

I would like to point those of you toward an interesting blog, that is if you aren’t already a reader of this blog, it’s https://journeyinthewoods.blogspot.com/, it’s written by a man named Tys and it’s about he and his wife Melissa. I first “met” Tys on a Yahoo group all about composting toilets, I hadn’t yet made the move to my high desert mountain home, I had many questions about composting or sawdust toilets, Tys was one of the first people to reply to my queries and had a lot of advice and experience to pass on. He was a big help, and I appreciated it very much.

Since that time, I have found his blog, it’s all about his life living “in the woods”, he and his wife have carved out quite a place for themselves and have a great time living their lives. They are both very hard workers, you can see pix of them working hard on their projects and having fun. Check them out, you will enjoy it very much, I know I do! :)
Wretha

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September 6, 2008 No Comments

Yuck, Political Stuff…

OK, I really hoped that I would be able to stay away from political stuff, at least I don’t want it to become the main focus of my blog, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. I read this today and it scares the hell out of me, if this is true, or even partially true.. well I’ll leave it up to you to come up with your own opinion. I got the link from https://www.internet-grocer.net
actually from their newsletter, I strongly suggest that if you aren’t already signed up, that you get that way. Here is the link and the message (sorry for the format, that is the only way I could legally post the message here, if it’s too much to deal with, just click on the link to read the whole thing):

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https://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=305420655186700

Michelle’s Boot Camps For Radicals from Investor’s Business Daily

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Wretha

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September 6, 2008 8 Comments
Community

Chicago Foragers


Born to Eat Wild A foraging session at Red Oak Nature Center in Batavia is a chance to meet the local varieties of garlic-mustard plants as much as other locatarians. Holding the delicate branches with one hand, one member of the group glides her fingers along the seedpods and pushes a bunch of tiny black seeds into her bag, reports Time Out Chicago.

In the spring, the now long-gone leaves can be used to make a mean pesto, it points out. But later in the year, the ground-up seeds will add kick to salad dressings, mayonnaise, even curries.…

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September 4, 2008 No Comments

Small House Plans

OK, so you have a property, but no home on it, or maybe you have been looking for land, a place away from the city, away from the crowds, but if it already has a home on it, the price skyrockets, you could afford to get land with no home, now what? Assuming your land (or potential land) is located in a place with no or few building codes, you can build your own home, that’s what we did, and we were able to use recycled materials, making the costs minimal. Bob didn’t have a “plan”, though he had a rough idea of what he wanted to end up with. For those with no idea how to start, I have found a couple of small home plans to get you started, these are designed to be low cost and easy to build, you can use new materials, used materials or a combination of each. Here are the links:

This one was printed in ’95 so the prices they list are out of date, but it should still be pretty cost effective to build.
This one is really good, it will cost you only $5.00 for the plans to build this cabin, it’s not too much to ask, and it helps to support the author, LaMar. LaMar lives in this cabin, he lives off-grid full time, he will answer any questions you may have, check it out, there are lots of pictures.
I’ll search out more small house plans and post them here, look for the updates.
Wretha


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September 4, 2008 6 Comments

Sarah Palin

I just finished watching Sarah Palin on TV, (yes, I had to go to my neighbor’s house to do it…what do you think we have excess power for things like TV???) Anyhoo, I think she is cute, a powerhouse, and will make one heck of a VP, and the other thing I noticed about her, she reminds me of Peggy Hill! :) Sarah Palin looks like Peggy Hill, and she sounds like Peggy Hill, or should that be Peggy Hill looks and sounds like Sarah Palin? Can’t wait to see her in office.

Peggy Hill for Vice President!

Wretha

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September 4, 2008 4 Comments
Community

Sun goes down on solar subsidies


Susbidies being cut everywhere Last month was bad news for the solar industry in the US.

For some years investment tax credits (ITCs) of 30% capped at $2,000 per home have incentivised households to take the jump to a more sustainable energy source, while businesses had an equivalent uncapped credit.

But with the scheme set to expire on 31 December, the Senate has blocked a renewal bill eight times.

The loss of these incentive payouts from the federal government could affect much more than the number of houses powered by the sun. …

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September 3, 2008 No Comments

Donkeys, Deer, Tomatoes and a Marine

All is well here on the mountain, my Dad is enjoying the peace and solitude, and the various animals running around. A couple of days ago a herd of donkeys strolled through behind the cabin, we counted 9 of them, it was quite exciting to see them up close and personal, it’s amazing how large they really are, they aren’t the small burro variety, these are nearly as big as a horse.

The mule deer are starting to come down to the lower elevations, we have seen many of them walking around too, I even saw “Notch” a couple of days ago (Notch is a female mule deer, she has a distinctive notch in her ear and is easy to pick out from the other deer), I haven’t seen her in over a month, I was very happy to see that she is alive and well.

My garden is doing pretty good, through some of the plants are looking rather ratty, I have let the spinach and some of the lettuce go to seed, they are looking particularly tattered, but I’ll get some good seed from them. I noticed that I am getting blossom end rot on my tomatoes, I looked it up today to see what I can do about it, it seems that it’s caused by a lack of calcium and/or low moisture, since we have been getting plenty of rain, that leaves the calcium issue. So I took a hand full of Tums (the green ones that Bob doesn’t like), I crushed them up, next I added a cup (or so) of powdered milk and about half a cup of Epsom salt, I mixed it all together and put a handful at the base of each tomato plant, it began to rain as I was walking back to the cabin so it should get watered in good, hopefully this will do the trick, the Tums are rich in calcium, the milk has calcium too, the Epsom salt has magnesium in it, that is needed for the plant to be able to take up and use the calcium. This fall and winter, when the garden is done, I really need to get some good stuff into the earth, I know a lady on the next mountain who has a horse, she said I could have all the manure I want, I’m sure I’ll take advantage of her offer… :)

Bob’s son came by yesterday and spent the night, he had to leave today, but it was a good visit. His son is in the Marines, he is stationed in California, he got a few days off, flew to Dallas, visited his mom and other family, got his truck and a few of his things that he had left behind, he drove to our place, got here yesterday evening, made it in good time. I was very …

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September 2, 2008 4 Comments
Community

Disgraced Canadian MP joins Green Party


Wilson family: nothing Green about him VANCOUVER, British Columbia – A Canadian MP who has been rejected by his own party, joined the country’s fledgling Green Party on Saturday.

Blair Wilson MP is apparently a total scumbag who represents one of the country’s mst marginal seats and this is almost certainly an own-goal by Green Party leader Elizabeth May.

“Today we make history,” said May. Yes, but for all the wrong reasons. Wilson has no record at all of support or even interest in green issues.…

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September 1, 2008 No Comments