Carry On

Well, I've been trying to come up with a decent post to counteract the past few but honestly, things still aren't going that well.  I'm sorry for all the downer posts and I suppose I shouldn't even try to post much of anything until things improve but I wanted to put something up that didn't contain some horrible information.  I thought I'd just put up a few photos but I've even had trouble finding anything interesting to photograph due to the terribly dreary, rainy weather we have had for countless days lately.  So, you get chicken pictures!
The ladies, at least, are doing well and I sold one more rooster for a decent price so now we have only the one, Gaucho, and the girls are much relieved.

We've been having one of our southern warm spells so the garden has been doing well.  I've harvested all the main heads from the broccoli so they are now putting out the side shoots.  With 16 plants I can harvest enough side shoots at once to make a dinner.  The chickens did get in the garden the other day, somehow, and ate about 1/3 of the bok choy before I discovered them but that's okay.  I had been giving them a head every other day anyway so they would have more greens.

Chigger and I have been going on many walks lately, even in the rain sometimes.  I am very, very ready for spring to be here.  I lost my enthusiasm for the Christmas season so we cut that all short and took everything down well before Epiphany and I'm actually cooking our New Year's meal today, because that got put off too.  After this, I am ready for a new season; ready for springtime!  However, the rain is coming back and they are predicting showers and storms for the next 3 or 4 days.  And the cold is coming back too.  I wish we could at least get a little snow if it's not going to be spring.

So, life marches on and I limp along behind it until I can catch my breath and get to feeling better. I took a little road trip to Atlanta the other day to pick up a load a clay and other supplies, so we have been getting out some.  I also bought a nice book on landscaping and have been pouring over that, planning some of the final gardens, walks, patios and such around the house.  Life will improve again but sometimes it just takes a while for the sun to come back out.

Better Days

I think this post will wrap up the subject of Shelter because there is not a lot more to say about the building of my house, but I am going to go over my strategies for maintenance and utilities, because that is a big part of it too.  Of course, most of ya'll know Allen and I built practically all of this house.  Besides collecting reclaimed material that was probably the next biggest factor in my saving so much money on this house.  I did everything I could possibly do myself and still continue to.  Now, once again, I know I have a bit of advantage but even if you pay someone to black in your house and do the finish work yourself, or just do the trim or whatever, it all helps.
I have also stated before that if you are doing any kind of house work, remodeling etc. and need to buy material please do NOT assume the big box stores are the cheapest.  I can't tell you how many times I have beaten their prices by going directly to a supply house.  You know, if you have a big plumbing project or whatever, go to a supply house.  They may be the same on say, pipe, but the big boxes will rip you a new one on the fittings and such.  Just check around.

In the area of maintenance, I save a great deal of money by making my own cleaning supplies.  All of these "convenience" supplies, like pre-packaged dusting clothes, are a bunch of crap that waste money.  I keep about 2 boxes each of baking soda and borax, a couple gallons of white vinegar and sometimes some natural pine cleaner.  I am also making a great lemon cleaner by infusing vinegar with discarded lemon peels.  Just strain and spray!  I also keep a bottle of rubbing alcohol, small bottle of ammonia, a few essential oils, some castile soap, salt etc.  Once you have these ingredients you can make practically any cleaner for pennies of what store bought cleaners cost.  And I know, everybody groans and whines, I don't have time to make my own stuff!!  I have a crappy old cast iron sink right now in the kitchen that stains very easy.  When it needs cleaning, I toss in a little borax, maybe a little squirt of soap and scrub with half a lemon or just the lemon peel!  Works great and you don't even have to mix it up beforehand.  Several years ago I bought a book by Casey Kellar called "The Complete Book of Natural Housekeeping".  This is a very complete book on cleaning almost anything with, you guessed it, natural substances that are cheap!  It takes me about 2 minutes to whip up a window cleaner, shower cleaner etc. and they work!  Some of your basic items, like borax, are not real cheap but you usually use them sparingly, so they last for a good while.  And yes, I get a lot of people whose eyes bug out when I say I don't buy cleaning stuff but I would dare say my house is cleaner and healthier than all those bleach drenched houses.   Oh, one other thing, and I know some of you are going to hate me for this but I'm going to say it anyway.  I let my cat stay in the house but she is very clean (she gets an occasional bath) and rarely has an accident on the floor etc.  Chigger stays outside.  It boggles my mind how many people these days let their animals, several of them even, stay inside like kids and let them piss and shit all over that house to the point that they have to get the steam cleaners in to clean the house and then complain that they are short of money.  I'll admit I have brought a chicken into my house on occasion for doctoring but nothing stays and I never have to pay for cleaning.  No flea bombing, no carpet cleaning or replacing!, very little allergy expense, no furniture replacement where Fido had a panic attack.  And that's all I'll say about that.

Another way that I save, and even make money sometimes, is in seasonal decluttering spells.  About twice a year I go through the house and gather stuff that I'm not using going by the year or 6-month rule.  If I haven't used it or worn it in 6 months or so it goes.  This is a great way to pick up a little cash actually but I have to admit, you need to be a little ruthless in your purging to make much money.  Most people however, have enough crap stored up in there house to afford to be a little ruthless. Now, there are some things, of course, that don't get tossed.  I mean, I have a few tools that rarely get used but when I need them, I need them; like that gawd awful motorized tamp.  I'm talking about crap I know I'll never really use and don't really want.  Anyway, I go through everything and it either goes in a yard sale pile or an Ebay or consignment pile.  At this point I have just about yard saled myself out of most of that stuff but in the past that was a great way to make a little cash.  Now days I have sorted out a number of items too good for a yard sale and am slowly selling them on Ebay.  I'm not getting rich but it does make for some extra cash.  Usually I just let the money collect in my PayPal account and then when I have a decent amount I pull it out for a bill or to buy something I do need.  Yes, I know PayPal does take a little and sometimes is a butt but you don't have to use them.  I have also scoped out a couple of consignment shops in town that I may take some stuff to that would be a pain to ship.  If you have a good eye for collectibles and such you can often go to yard sales or thrift stores to buy and then resale at a profit but the key is to actually resale the item and not let them collect. 

Utilities are another area where a little diligence can save you some money.   So, for that reason we still hang clothes out to dry, as dryers use an enormous amount of power.  I bought all Energy Star appliances for the house.  I replaced many of the light bulbs with the new fluorescent type that severely cut usage but am still in a bit of a quandary over those because they use mercury.  We are about to install a solar water preheater.  I'm very excited about that and will show ya'll all the details when it happens.  Of course, my house is a passive solar which works so well.  I am working on installing room darkening blinds on the few, small, west windows I have.  You wouldn't believe how much this helps keep a room cool.  I installed one in the pantry and it works very well.  I had tried the window film but just was not impressed with that.
I do kinda splurge on internet service but have almost no home phone service and rely on my cell phone.  Lots of people don't even have land lines anymore.  I've told ya'll my cell phone philosophy several times too!  The cheaper the better!  I want to get a call and send a call, no camera, no texting, none of that crap!  But that is a very personal choice. Of course, since I'm on my spring water I have no water bill or sewer or trash pick-up to pay for.  Since we recycle, reuse, compost or have reduced so, we produce very little trash, and the little bags we do make are taken out on roads trips and dumped in public dumpers.  And yes, we make sure they are for public use. 

So, I guess that covers the area of Shelter; maybe I didn't forget anything? 

Everyone's A Critic

 I stopped by our relatively small, local library the other day and was slightly surprised to see this book on the shelves, so I promptly snatched it up.  I had been wanting to read it for some time and was delighted to see they had the book.  Actually, our library, though small, has a pretty darn good variety and selection of books, especially on gardening, homesteading and such.  So.  What did I think of the book?  If you are at all interested in gardening, homesteading, permaculture and/ or our environment I would highly recommend the book.  It's a delight to read and even though the facts presented are quite sobering you don't get the feeling you're being flogged about the head and shoulders.  The parts about the turkeys alone are hysterical but it also provides a generous amount of meat to chew on for days (pun only slightly intended).  For instance, one passage states:  "If every U.S. citizen ate one meal per week from local, organic food, we would save 1.1 million BARRELS of oil every week."  Now, that just floored me.  One meal a week.  1.1 barrels a week!  Now, I realize that for what seems like the majority of people, they couldn't give a shit about saving any oil.  They want cheap food now and really do not care one whit about where it comes from.  I've had 'em tell me to my face and be proud of it.  But, for those of us who do care and who are concerned about our food and environment and actually see the connection, that is an astounding revelation, or it was to me anyway.  I mean, I understood that growing your own food would save oil, etc but 1.1 barrels a week? and just for one meal.  I also understand there would be a lot of skeptics out there who would say, how can they prove that statistic?  Well, they actually do give some hard figures and when you realize that petroleum is used to not only run farm equipment, ship food and all but to make fertilizers, pesticides, etc etc. it starts to make sense.

So, it got me to thinking....what activity can we, as concerned people, do that makes the most difference to the health of our world and ourselves?  Now of course, you want to participate in more than one but I hear people going on all the time about if you really want to save the earth we must all be on solar power, electric cars and yada, yada, yada.  I know a number of people who live off-grid, non-consumer based lives but yet, don't grow a large percentage of their food.  This gives me pause.  I'm not saying they are buying all their stuff from California or Mexico but it has really made me think lately.  Especially down here in the south where we have such a long growing season.  Now, I hope to one day be off grid or at least produce some of my own power and this is a fine goal.  But it costs a lot of money at first.  I know a lot of people that drive electric cars or hybrids but they still must use power generated by conventional means.  Most of the off grid people I know are not the ones with the electric cars.  Both can be pricey so I guess you sometimes have to choose.  Anyway.  I know tons of people, places that recycle, reuse and all that and that's wonderful.  But what is the number one action we can take that makes the most difference per person?  I think it's to grow or source locally, a very high percentage of your own food.  We must eat and often several times a day.  If everything you put in your mouth (food that is) has been shipped hundreds of miles, what does that all add up to?  It's freakin' crazy to me when I finally started thinking about it.
Now,  I realize not everyone has the amount of land I have or even lives in a house.  Millions live in apartments and such but for those of us who do have the room it seems a no-brainer to me and it's something that will have a major impact for relatively little start up costs, as opposed to say, going off grid.  And yes, of course, nobody can produce everything they need and I'm not saying we should.  I have no problem with importing a few things.  Humans have traded spices and foods since the beginning.  Make a little money for you, I get a treat I can't make myself...But for us to grow tomatoes down the road and ship them to Wisconsin while we turn around and import ours from California??  Wha???
Since reading this book I decided to challenge myself to find local products to supply what I can't grow or make myself and I have been pleasantly surprised by what I've found.  Alabama makes a lot of stuff!!  I actually found an organic diary!  Well, two actually.  One is in south Alabama and too far to drive but they sell their products in Birmingham ,where I go frequently.  And yes, it is shipped in but 150 miles is a helluva lot better than 600.  And I know their milk is from their cows and their cows only, not cows from Texas and Canada and God only knows where else.  The other diary is much closer, well within driving distance for me, but it has actually been easier to get this other milk for now, as I was already in Birmingham.  It is a bit more expensive but with all the money I save growing my own food, and not buying junk, I have plenty of money to buy the milk.  Plus, I can take a gallon and make my own yogurt and maybe even some cheese as I don't keep a lot of milk for just drinking.  The photo above shows just a few things I already had that is produced locally or in our state.  We make lots of honey and various syrups.  Of course we produce cornmeal and grits!  And only the white cornmeal; southerners know better than to use that yellow crap.  My sister knows a man that grows wheat and corn for grinding on a commercial scale and our state even grows rice!  Not a tremendous amount but some.  I am very fortunate to live in a county that produces tons of fruit.  Apples, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, melons, pecans (yeah, that's a nut), blackberries and much, much more.  Yes, I hope to grow much of this myself one day but for now I can get it within just a few miles.  As I mentioned in the beginning, we want to go solar soon too but until then, I think I'm going to put much more effort into producing my own food or sourcing it locally.  I was meaning to anyway, but this gives me a lot more motivation.  Oh yeah!!  and to this end...I'm going to start growing my own tea!  Annie's Tea Plantation!  Lots of people say, what???  the tea plant is Camillia Sinesis; it's in the camellia family!  Our state flower!! lol! DUH on me!  I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner!
So what do ya'll think?  What do you think is one activity that really makes the most difference to us and our environment?

All Good Books

Over the few years that I have lived on my little homestead here, I have collected a few books that have really come in handy and I thought some of ya'll might find them interesting if you don't already know about them.  Especially if you are geared towards the gardening, homesteading kinda movement.  I think a couple of them are pretty standard to most people who garden seriously but there was one or two that might not be that popular.  I can't really say that I use anyone more than the others; they all get referenced regularly.  And I have several more good ones on the same subjects.  I just thought these 4 were kinda the best overall.
I think everybody is familiar with Rodale's organic gardening books and for good reason.  I use this book a lot!  Great info on all kinds of stuff, even if you've been gardening for a while.  It has good illustrations and diagrams too. 
I think there are several variations of John Seymour's book on self-sufficiency but I like this one a lot.  My only complaint would be that it contains so much information on so many subjects that it sometimes leaves a bit to be desired in depth of information.  For instance, the section on making pottery just kinda glosses over the process.  Not really enough info for someone new to the craft.  I do really like his gardening strategies for each season and that is outlined well and how to best use the land you have, whether it's 1 or 20 acres.  I consult the gardening sections a lot.  It also gives you a lot of ideas for truly being self-sufficient; producing energy, reducing wastes, raising food etc.
Story's Guide to Raising Chickens is great too.  It gives really good overall info on everything from hatching chicks to cooking the chickens.  Good diagrams and illustrations too.  I also supplement this book with The Chicken Health Handbook, which is a bit more technical but full of good info.  I've never had any problem with my chooks that I couldn't figure out using one of these books.  Not that we have much problems with them but anyway..
Last, but not least by any means, is the Reader's Digest book, Homemade.  This is not a book I've seen espoused much but I love it.  There are recipes for everything in this book!  food, cosmetics, animal treats, cleaning supplies, art supplies and on and on and all of them designed to save you money and go easy on the planet.  It also has a huge section on home health remedies and gardening tips and products.  I have used and/ or made much of the stuff in the book and it's always worked, been luscious, effective or what have you.  I highly recommend this one whether you live on 200 acres or in a ultra urban apartment.  Even if you are not into "green" that much, the recipes etc. are not so out there that you don't want to fool with making them.  They might require having some dried herbs etc. on hand but everything is really easy to make and usually pretty quick.  And relatively cheap!  It has a to-die-for rice pudding recipe in it that I am going to post soon.  I really, really like this book.  And no, they didn't pay me to say that!

Do any of you have a similar book that you would recommend?

All Good Books

Well, let me just say that you people really know how to squash a girl's ego! More interested in a bunch of stupid books than when I'm trying to show ya'll I can get gussied up! Dang! Of course , the other realization hit me too...if ya'll are just trying to get a better look at the house, trim, siding or whatever in the photos just say, "hey! get your skank ass out of the way and show us a better picture of what you're working on!" Don't worry about hurting my feelings or anything. I've told ya'll several times, construction workers don't have feelings and mine were bludgeoned to death a long time ago. We don't have feelings and would never tease or pick on anybody or something to that effect.
Maybe ya'll are just curious if an ol' knuckle-dragger such as myself could possibly even read books. Hey, I got one of those college de-grees even! Ok, I'm just being a butt hole.
Since you all were wondering though, I'll show you what kind of books I do read. These are not all of them however. I have a stack of technical books down in my studio for glaze formulating and such. I have a few in the bedroom......and that's where they belong....and no, you don't get to see those. I always have a small stack of books on the coffee table that I am currently going through. I have another bookcase that has a small collection of cookbooks in it.
I don't covet many material possessions. I don't care a whole lot for jewelry, fancy clothes or knick-knack kinda crap but books and music are essential. Because I don't care a lot for material things, I keep a fairly sparse house but I hoard books. If I realize my ultimate goal of building the other half of the house, it will contain a small library.
So, let's see what we have here. That's not a snake Mya, it's a hand forged door knocker that I have yet to install on the front door! Anyway, these are some of my pottery books and various other craft and art books. Stained glass, soap-making, mosaics and on and on. Also, quite a few on restoration techniques. I don't read much fiction at all. The vast majority of these are technical or how-to books. What? Ya'll thought I just popped out knowing how to do all this crap? I do seem to have been born with the ability to replicate anything I see. So, if I see a craft done once, in person or in a book, I can usually turn around and do it. Because of that, I have always thought I would have made a great counterfeiter.
Yes, there are some books on spirituality, dreams, palmistry and such.
Here, we have a little fiction, natural health, gardening and various approaches to living naturally. And yes, I arrange my books to some degree, by subject. Oh, I enjoy Joseph Campbell's writings and some mystery books. Not so much murder mystery but like, unexplained or unsolved phenomenon. If you will notice up in the top right corner, there is the boxed set of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. They are all first edition and signed by her. They belonged to my late brother and I have no idea what to do with them. I kinda hate to part with them since they were his (and I don't have many things of his) but I'm not really interested in them otherwise and someone who collects Anne Rice things would probably like to have them.
Several of the bigger art books were gifts from former lovers in my younger days. Nowadays I rarely get a book as a gift. Hhhmm, that's kinda interesting. Hadn't really thought about that before.
So, there you have it....what kinds of books do ya'll like? Have any of these?

Gloomy Sunday

These photos don't look gloomy but they were taken last weekend I believe. This weekend is drizzly rainy and dark but not too cold. It has been raining on and off for several days now and we are all very glad. So maybe it's not so gloomy after all. I actually had to go into work today as someone from our company has to be on the job if a subcontractor works, so I was the lucky one to get to go in. Anyway, I have been working on some stuff at the house but not anything really big or exciting. I ran some trim around the windows and worked on getting more of a temporary kitchen set up. Things are going well; just not enough money coming in fast enough to do some of the big projects that I need to do. You can see from these photos a little better the amount of sunlight that comes in. The book that I went by said that for people in our region, we should not have any more than 7% (of your square footage) in glass on the south side. I think that is actually a little slim. I think I could have gone with 10% and done OK. Of course, unless I just ran windows solid across the back, I could not have gotten too many more in. I did need some wall space. This is taken from the other side of the living area. There is a lot of work still to be done. This wall obviously needs sheathing and the tile work done and I think I will build a small hearth under the little heater. I am not really satisfied with the supplemental heating of the house. Even at 70 degrees inside the house still just feels cold. So, by way of an experiment and at Allen's insistence, we started heating the underside of the house, the basement area and turned this heater in the house way down. We put a propane heater under the house and directly under the bathroom where I had poured a small concrete slab for the water pump that did not end up going there. Well, the results have been astounding. That slate floor in the bathroom heated up (and the bedroom floor too) and it just warmed that whole area so incredibly. Before, that slate was so cold I could hardly stand to step on it. I knew it would be cold before I installed it but it seemed to chill the entire space. Now, it is so nice. When I have it heated you can't pry Grendal off that floor with a crow bar. I even laid down on it myself. It is really amazing how much difference having a warm floor makes. It warms the whole floor too; even out in the living room etc. Now, I have noticed that at 67-68 degrees the house actually feels warmer. I think that psychologically, having cold feet makes you cold all over. I was afraid that this would double my gas costs but the heater in the living room rarely comes on when the one in the basement is going so I think that it will not add that much at all.
I'm thinking now that if I install a good, efficient wood burning stove under the house and some vents in the floor, I could heat the house very nicely at very little cost. And on days that I don't feel like fooling with the wood stove I still have my gas back up. There is plenty of head room for such and it's all on concrete down there. I just need to figure out where to vent the smoke from a wood burning stove. I don't want it coming up right beside the house. As I mentioned before, I would also like to preheat my water through the use of a wood stove because that would save money on the water heater and I am also having some trouble with condensation in the house. The water going into the toilet and kitchen cold water line is SO cold the tank on the toilet and water lines sweat almost constantly.
I tried to get a decent photo of the bath since it has gotten a little more completed but there is not much room. This will one day be the guest bath so Pablo, if you and Libby come visit, this will be for you. I'll make Grendal stay on the other side.

So, What's On Your Coffee Table?

I normally have many more books stacked here and on the floor under the table too but I tidied up the other day. I try to keep a very clean space but I love books! Now, most all of my books are instructional or art books, cookbooks and the like. I don't read a lot of fiction. I do like some science fiction and some mystery books though. Of course, lately I have been pouring over house books for ideas. What color for the outside of the house, tile work, interior colors etc. etc. The 3 books on the left are some very nice ceramic art books. Wonderful work there! On the other side I have some of my catalogs (another indulgence) from seed companies, hardware suppliers etc. Oh, and that new one on stone work in gardens. The glass candy dish was my aunt Corinne's. It is sadly devoid of any chocolate. The little square dish in the middle is a raku ceramic piece made by a fairly well known artist, Richard Hirsh. Back when I was in college he did a workshop at our department and I was one of two student assistants. He made the dishes as part of his demo and gave me this one. In that dish is a pocket knife Allen have me years ago and a smooth stone I found down on my property. The little book is "The Art of Wordly Wisdom". I believe it was written over 400 years ago. Great book; still very relevant. The bottle with the white cap is some great hand salve made by an electrician that we know. I think it is mostly just beeswax and olive oil. Works wonders on winter dry hands. There is also a piece of square quartz I found on the job and some roofing nails. I often come home with nails in my pockets.
Well, the house is progressing. Allen hooked up the new water filter but they did not ship the filter media so the filter is just bypassed for now. It is always something. I am still trying to find out where the media is and what is going on. I painted both living room walls and cleaned and waxed the steel truss. It looks great and now I can take the scaffold down! I will be so happy to get that out of the house. It looks like it will still be Dec. 12th, 13th before my propane tank is delivered and hooked up so no permanent heat yet. There are so many little things to do such as window trim all around, I need to finish the pantry walls. I still have just a little tile work in the shower yet and a small area of slate to install in the bathroom. I thought at first I was going to have a built in shelving unit there but changed my mind. I need to build the bathroom vanity and install the sink. I can also install the speakers in the living room now. Hey, but we got the ceiling fans working properly! We found a transformer type controller that had high enough amperage to run both fans but low enough that there is actually a definite difference in the speeds. I was given one controller but the amperage was so high that there was essentially no difference in speeds. It was just on (and very fast) or off. Electrical things confound me so I did not realize these fans could pose such a problem. I'll try to get some more photos soon. I want to get straighten out some so I can throw soon. I would like to make some pottery for Christmas gifts but am being very cautious about actually having time. Oh, yeah, I painted the front door but you can't see it until I am completely done and it is decorated for Christmas! I have become so frustrated with not having time to work on the outside of the house that I actually dreamed the other night that I just started painting the Tyvek. I couldn't stand looking at that white paper anymore. Allen asked me what I was doing and I just told him to go away and let me do it. After I move in, I think the next big project is going to be the siding.