Purple Haze

I didn't really notice until recently that I have, apparently, such a penchant for purple flowers!  I really like red too but don't have as many of those.  Or I guess they just are not blooming at this time of the year.

So, I'm feeling a little better, although not totally over the debacle of that last show.  I finally got in to see the rheumatologist this past Friday, after waiting on that appointment for about 6 months.  Unfortunately, it seems not to have gone so well..  I could be wrong and it was just my mood talking but I don't think so really.  I was hurting pretty bad the day of the appointment and then had to sit for over an hour past my appointed time because he was late.  Actually, I only sat a little.  I literally could not take that pain so I stood in the waiting room and in the exam room.  No one seemed to notice.

I was rather amazed by it all because I've never had a bad experience at Kirklin but this one made up for all the others I guess.  The nurse's aide acted like she wished she was anywhere on this earth but at work, the doctor never acknowledged being late, no apologies for the wait and had about as much personality as a washrag.  I tried my best to be friendly and even joke around a little but that went over about like a turd in a punch bowl.  The doc ordered several blood tests and some X-rays but told me basically, not to get my hopes up for a diagnosis.  He said only about 50% of the time do these tests show anything conclusive so it was pretty much a crap shoot.  That was nice although I guess it was good that he was honest about it.
The lady who did my X-rays was super nice though and that helped some. 
 

So, I think I have pretty much given up on going to the doctor.  I don't see the point of it anymore.  I went this time because I was thinking that, if I ever need in the future to apply for disability, having an actual diagnosis is paramount.  And, of course, I was hoping that maybe there could be some treatment besides an ablation or just something I could use on occasion for this pain. But, it appears that once you say you don't want to take steroids that they kinda just write you off.  Or something; hell I don't know.  No one but Dr. Nabors has ever even asked me what was I doing for pain and they are quite aware that I am in a fair amount of pain on a regular basis.  Maybe they think I'm gunning for narcotics?  I guess that is probably common these days but not the case with me.  This doctor did seem kinda surprised that even the pain clinic didn't do anything for me or offer me any alternative besides the ablation.  They did drug test me and even after finding out I had nothing in my system still did not suggest any other treatment.  They did charge the hell out of me though and my wonderful insurance decided that they would only pay a fraction of it, so now I'm still paying off a visit that was basically for me to pee in a cup and talk to 2 doctors for maybe 20 minutes combined. 

And please know that I am NOT ranting against the doctors (well, a couple of them I am) ; it's mainly the insurance's system of only caring about how much money they can make.  I have met several really good doctors, I have great respect for those.  Dr. Nabors and my gynecologist, Dr. Summers.  Two great guys that truly care.  But I've met some shit heads too, to be fair.  They are in every profession.  And I suspect that liability has gotten so that nobody is willing to say anything definitive or give you any treatment unless some test show practically 100% positive results.  I also realize you don't want somebody that just blabs out everything like one doctor I went to that suggested (out loud to me) that I had everything from a brain tumor to hepatitis.  But I don't see where it's unreasonable to say, well, we've ruled out all this, and it really looks like it could be this, so let's try a little bit of this treatment and just see if it helps any.  Not this shrugging of shoulders, no advice and wanting me to come back in 4 weeks so they can shrug their shoulders again and charge me for it.  If I could just get something to help me out on these occasional bad migraines I get I would be ecstatic.
I also realize that I may not be expressing myself correctly to these doctors to indicate my need.  I have come to see that I don't always interact socially the way most people do and there could be some problem there, but I don't know what else to do.

So, that is ultimately the final straw.  I simply can't afford to go to the docs anymore for not even a suggestion of help.  Heck, I don't know that I could afford to go even if they did a little.  My insurance company has raised my premiums the past 2 years to the point that I truly can't afford to pay for much of anything above my monthly statement.  Couple that with the fact they don't fully cover many blood tests now and have stricter policies about what applies to your deductible.  I used to never have problems meeting my deductible but last year, despite what all I went through, I only met about one third of it.  And that's the real kick in the teeth and shows you just how screwed up our healthcare is (and how corrupt).  The pain and issues with my bones and such keep me from fully working as much as I normally could at times.  I don't work as much, I don't produce as much, I can't sell as much, therefore I don't make as much money.  So I can't afford to pay so much for medical care that might could help me get back to where I could work as much, so that I could better afford to pay for it.  Got that?  What a racket!

And before anyone suggest I sign up for the new ACA insurance...I've already tried, two years in a row.  They said I made too much money for me to qualify for a subsidy, which is the only way I could afford the new policies they want everyone to switch to.  Which, by the way, cover less than I have now (no dental) and would raise my deductible on some of them.  Nothing about our healthcare system was "reformed"; what a total joke.  The only thing that changed was that now, more people get government assistance to pay for their insurance.  And I'm sincerely happy that those people get help.  But those of us in the middle areas are getting screwed over more than ever, especially if you are self-employed.  Insurance and medical costs are just as high, if not higher, than they ever were.  That is why you can literally travel to another country, have surgery or whatever treatment (and good treatment too!), hang around for a while to visit the sites and come home, cheaper than you could have it done here at home.  Now, I don't know about you...but to me, something just ain't right about that.

So, that's my mini-rant I've had on my mind for some time now.  Basically, I've just said, fuck it.  I'll try to take care of it myself.  I'm truly grateful to the 2 doctors that have tried to help but unfortunately, my issues are not their specialty.  Well, Klippel-Feil is nobody's specialty!  No one even knows what it is.  So, I've been doing much research and am trying to go as anti-inflammatory as possible in my diet and supplements.  This new doctor did mark "non-specific spondylitis" on my chart too (which I had to look for; he would not tell me), so I'm just gonna kinda go with that and assume those treatments I can do myself, like exercise and diet.  I know an excellent, local herbalist who has helped me out in the past and I'll get some stuff from him too.  I'm now taking about 5,000mg of fish oil a day with curcumin and MSM.  There's some other stuff too but that's the brunt of it for inflammation.  And I have got to get religious about my stretching exercises, which did help some and keep up my regular aerobic and weight-bearing exercise, which helps prevent bone loss.  I've done real good in that regard!  I'm very proud to say I've lost about 25 pounds and hope to lose another 10 maybe!  Yay me!  I'm also avoiding milk and most milk products, peanuts and wheat.  It has definitely helped to stop the milk and we'll see about the rest.

In other news, we finally got the whole garden planted but I still have to mulch everything.  I'll try to do a garden post soon.  And we might have a few new additions to our flock...and maybe one subtraction!

I hope everybody our there is doing well!

Rather Be

My plan was to have this great new post about what all I've done since the last one (since it's been a while) and how incredibly well things are working out now!  Instead, I've had some rather interesting side effects from all the steroids, threw my back out in addition to my "butt joint" and topped it off by getting bit by a spider today!!  Yay me!
Have I mentioned how sick I am of all this?  And all that crap about 'what doesn't kill you will make you stronger..'  Mmm yeah.  I'm plenty strong enough now, m'kay.  Thanks.
I was actually sort of enjoying the initial steroid side effects; the great mood I was telling ya'll about a few days back.  Yeah!  That was great!  Had a little hyper hyper going on there...which, considering what a slug I have been the past year or so, was great.  I could deal with that.  Then I realized my blood pressure was running like 160/105.  Oooh, not good.  It has come down a fair amount but unfortunately, so did my mood!!  What fun!!  Insomnia!  Panic, anxiety and best of all....paranoia!!  I finally had a lightning bolt of clarity during one 3:00 a.m attack and realized all this lined up with the steroid shots, meds and inhaler.  I knew steroids had some bad side effects but didn't realized it could do that, so I looked up some research in various medical journals....what d'ya know!??  80% of people given steroids in large doses have psychological repercussions.  Holy shit Batman!  Cancel the pelvic injection.  No way in HELL I am going to get that now.

So, now I'm back to just mechanically trying to ease the pain.  In other words, I don't sit down unless I have to.   So, I threw enough to do a firing but had to change out one element in the kiln before I could do that.  We partially dissembled the kiln so I wouldn't have to bend over very much to replace the element.  And guess what?...I still threw my lower back out!!  God I love the excitement of my life!  .  All while shuffling around like a pissed off Quasimodo.  Now I can't sit down and can't stand up straight!!  And, I'm out of muscle relaxers!!  All I can say is thank God for Benedryl and Xanax.  Now, ya'll know I hate to take prescription drugs but sometimes you just have to say, fuck it.  I break the Xanax down into forths but I've been carving those things up with pharmacological precision.

Now then.  We get to today and I managed to get the bisque fire unloaded and was working on wiping down the pieces in preparation for waxing the feet and all for glazing.  Oh, and all this weekend my one big store has called every. day. to let me know they are really needed stuff.  No pressure or anything though.  So, I'm wiping pots and have some tunes going on the radio that when something grabbed my finger when I grabbed up the next mug to clean!  I don't know what is it but it hurts and it was just a thousand wonders I did not sling the mug and everything else across the room as I screamed and, of course, jerked upright and caused my back to commence killing me again.  I looked down on the floor and it was a damn spider!!  That little shit had grabbed my finger with all he was worth and proceeded to bite the living hell out of it.  Believe it or not I did not squish it's little body into oblivion.  I trapped his sorry ass in a glass and proceeded to scare the shit out of it!  Nah, just kidding.  I did capture it so we could look it up and make sure it was not poisonous and that my whole left arm was not going to rot off.  And yes, it was my left hand and I am left-handed.  So, after applying some sting medicine, and it did feel just like a bee sting, we determined that it was just a wolf spider and I took it out to a stump near the edge of the woods.  It turned to look up at me and raised it's 2 front legs in a defiant salute.  I saluted back with a double one finger and warned it to stay away from the house from now on.
And now, I sit.  Well, sort of.  Actually, I kind of list to port.  Sore all over with a stinging, hurting thumb.  Until tomorrow, when I get to go have my annual pelvic exam...better known as the Pap smear.  That's right...after all this shit, I have an appointment tomorrow to let another doctor scrape cells out of my hoohaa and mash my boobs in a machine.

So, I know this is Life's twisted way of testing me....or punishing me....however you want to look at it.  It is not lost on me.  I spit my disdain.  I fart in it's general direction.  I will endeavor to persevere.   But there better be a damn golden egg waiting out there for me or some shit.  Sack of money... lottery win.  I'm not choosy.

Bad Weather Blues

This photo was taken during our last week of oh, so wonderful, just warm enough weather.  Yesterday and Sunday were also in that category and I relished it as much as I could but the incoming cold, wet front got the best of me and I had to "take to the bed", as some southerners would say.  I stayed outside as long as I could yesterday but my head began to pound so that I finally gave it up.  We had a little rain last night and today was spitefully cold and dreary, the past week's warmth a very distant memory now.  I guess the abruptness of the season's change was a shock to my system and I have hurt all over like somebody beat me.  I almost wish somebody would beat me.  Then I could at least get in a few licks myself to help my feelings.  As it is now I have nothing to take my frustrations out on.  Maybe I should take up boxing...

I finished another restoration project, which I'll hopefully deliver tomorrow, but I'm still feeling a little down.  I really don't know what to do.  See, to make a decent living as a potter, you have to produce a huge volume of work and be able to distribute that work.  Either through shows, which are very strenuous, or having other people sell it.  None of the meds I've tried are relieving my pain any where near enough to allow me to sit for more than a few minutes at a time and throw.  I struggle to produce enough to satisfy one store and even that store is not selling the amount that they used to.  Seems like sales are down noticeably this year all around.  Plus, I think I'm bored as hell with it all.

The kicker is this and it really hit me this past week: if I ever want to build the rest of my house, and I really, really do, I'm going to have to significantly raise my income level.  I just cannot save enough money with these sporadic sales.  And I don't think it's going to be through pottery or any job where I have to sit a lot.  I can get more restoration jobs but, of course, that often involves driving a lot.  Not always but some.  I feel so stuck and helpless.  I know there is a solution but it's eluding me at the moment.  Well, the solution would be not to hurt so much, and I'm working on that, but I still have to work.  Oh, and it would help if we could win the lottery...Maybe it's a combination of several things.  Income that is.  Restoration work when I can get it and then other art sales when I have time.  I don't know, I just feel like ranting a little.  And yes, I KNOW that the BFA is going to get on to me about another depressing post but I am depressed dammit!!  And I feel like wallowing in it for a little while!!  So you just pipe down smarty pants..!!  I'll get over it in a few days.

The BFD is going to refer me to a rheumatologist I think, so maybe something will come of that.  Gah!!!!  I am just so frustrated and irritated and pissed off right now.!!  Did I say that already?  And I know I'm not alone and many, many people have it much worse than me...so I don't need reminding of that.  Sometimes you just need to bitch a little, you know?  I'll be back later with a happier post I swear!

Crabsody In Blue

   I'll warn you straight off the bat that this is going to be a rant.  And it will probably contain some ugly language.  You know, I realize I get cranky sometimes when I'm hurting but if one more person tells me that I'll just feel all better when I "go back to work", I'm gonna knock the livin' shit out of them.  You'll feel better when you go back to work...you just need to work.....when are you going back to work?....  No, I'll feel better when I knock the livin' shit out of you.
   First off, this is one of the most idiotic statements I've ever heard.  If you feel bad due to injury or illness, rest is what makes you feel better.  Right?  Not driving almost an hour one way to some town job when your ass hurts so bad you can't stand to sit for long periods, "working" some job and then driving that hour home.  Of course, I know activity does often help, as does getting out a bit, but it implies that I feel bad because I've apparently become so depressed and lazy laying around all day.  I feel bad in my mind, not in my body because you know, if it was my body actually the problem, well then rest would help.. 
   As many of ya'll know I've been working on a restoration job lately, which I'm really enjoying and happy to be doing, but has it made me all bouncy and pain free??  Hell no.  I hurt like shit sometimes.  Still.

Secondly, it implies that I've been laying on my ass the past 2 1/2 years, not working.  You know, I don't know what it is about people that they want to insist if you work at home you are not really working.  I suspect it has a lot to do with jealousy that they don't have the back bone to work a job that makes them happy or they let somebody ruin their life by bullying them out of a job they really wanted.  Gotta conform!!!  Gotta do work like everybody else where you hate your job and can't wait for the weekend!!  Yes, the truth is out...I've laid on my ass this whole time.  I have no idea how two loads of pottery makes it into Birmingham every 30 days about and the garden gets planted and worked and harvested and the animals looked after.  And if people don't think that's work then they need to come spend a couple days with me, especially in this summer heat.  They'll be running back to those weeny office jobs in no time.  Granted, I do not work like I used to.  I used to do 3 loads of pottery a month or more.  At times the garden gets let go a little and I've not put up as much food as I would have liked to, so I'll be the first to admit I'm not as productive as I would like.  But I thought a job was something you made money from and I get 1-3 checks a month from my sales.  But it's apparently not a "real" job.  It's not work, because hey!!  work makes you feel good!!  It miraculously unfuses the vertebrae in your neck.  Well, that or it makes you vomit from your head hurting so bad because you worked on something overhead for just a little too long. 

I'm not really sure where it comes from or when it started but our society has a real problem when it comes to people who have physical issues or maybe need a little assistance and I have often found that the people that claim to be the most compassionate are actually the most mean-spirited.  Of course, all of my good readers are kind, caring folks but I wanted to include a link to a great article I read that explains a lot of how I feel but in a more......um... polite manner.  Here is the article.  It's very interesting because they include a small bit of an interview with Kevin Sorbo (played Hercules) and his health struggles and how people so unfairly judge younger folks especially who struggle physically.  People seem to think that if they have never heard of a condition or if "you don't look sick", well, then by God, you're lying and just want attention!!  Well, I think if that was the case we would figure out pretty quickly that once almost everyone immediately abandons you when you feel bad, then ooh.... hey, we're not getting attention so we'll go back to being normal.

I also love it when they try to tell you why you feel bad.  It's especially maddening considering my past employment.  "Well, you just breathed some fumes when you used to work construction".  Yes, I breathed fumes and it fused my neck bones together.  I'll be sure to tell my doctor that one next time I go in.  Oh, oh, oh!!! and then they say, "well, you just worked too hard when you were younger!" and then in the next breath tell you how you apparently need to go back to doing that kind of work because, you guessed it!!... "you'll feel better!!"

I know that I actually have a mild case of Klippel-Feil and I really feel for those that are worse off than me.  Some of those poor people, I don't see how they even get around, but then they do have the advantage of having such deformities that people don't question whether they feel bad.  'Course, that doesn't help their pain.  I also feel for the ones who have no family or friends that support them and you'd be surprised at the number of them that don't.  I have found out first hand, if you can't do for people any more, you are quickly forgotten.  I'm fortunate to have a couple of great friends who are very helpful to me.

So please, if you know someone who suffers from an invisible illness or disability, please cut 'em a little slack.  You don't have to understand their condition or have even ever heard of it before.  Invite them out to lunch or take them lunch one day.  Just sit and have a cup of tea or offer to stop by the grocery store for them.  I KNOW they would appreciate it.

And here's a picture of a nosy little chicken because I like it and I'm cultivating that same expression for the next time somebody says something stupid to me about my health!!

Strange Ways

As I alluded to in yesterday's post, our society seems to have divided up into 2 different camps on the environmental front.  If you listen to our media anyway, who uses nothing but extreme examples and knee-jerk reaction headlines to pit us against one another.  On one side, you're some hippy wannabe named StarFlower running around your yurt in dreds and a tinfoil cap, scrounging mushrooms out of the woods and riding your bike on your only occasional forays into civilization.  On the other side, you're some bloated Bubba running around your 5,000 square foot McMansion buying everything cheap, plastic bauble you can find, scarfing feedlot meat at every turn and throwing it all out the window next week as you drive down the road in your gas-guzzling tank.  Reality for the vast majority is somewhere in the middle, maybe leaning slightly to one side or the other.
I used 2 extreme examples yesterday, that do exist, but they are few and, in their sanctimonious clouds, they are not going to change.  I like to believe that the majority of people want a clean environment, not only for themselves but for their children, and are willing to do some work towards that end or change some of their ways when presented with real facts.  Especially if it saves them some bucks!  Money talks you know.  It's a fact also that a lot of environmental damage comes from industry and those businesses have to adhere to certain regulations to contain the damage they can cause.  But I submit that society itself, especially with it's rampant use of disposable products and the like, are responsible for a great deal of environmental loss.  It only takes a good look at Chernobyl, DDT, the Gulf Oil Spill and The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, amongst many other examples, to back up both of these claims.  Earth has it's own cycles that we have absolutely no understanding of, despite our arrogance that we do, but Mankind does a horrible amount of damage on it's own.
If you look at the incredible amount of energy and products that are produced and used by the millions of people in this country alone, we have to know that what we do in our own lives can drastically affect our environment when all put together...good or bad.  So, here's my list of a few things that we can all do (there's many more!) to some extent to help our earth breathe a little easier.  And maybe our pocketbooks too!

1.  Buy local food, or better yet, grow as much as you can yourself.  I realize not everyone can do the garden thing but a great many can buy from local farmers.  If all Americans would eat just one local meal a week it would save 1.1 million barrels of oil for that week.
2.  Choose Energy Star appliances when it's time to replace or get new ones.  I bought all Energy Star appliances when I started furnishing this house, and they are pretty good, but they have even better ones now.
3.  Carpool or bike if possible and if not that, at least combine all your trips to town.  When I go to Birmingham to deliver pottery it's usually an all-day thing.  In addition to the pottery, I drop off recycling, make a run by my favorite grocery store (or 2) and sometimes the hardware store or whatever if I need materials for the house.
4.  Add solar elements to your house if at all possible and this can be as simple as solar powered battery or phone chargers, solar security lights, etc.  Yes, big solar is expensive but the prices are getting better and some stuff you can do yourself.  One big goal for me this year is to get the solar hot water going here.
5.  Stop using disposable containers, bags, or practically anything disposable.  Some people seem to think this is akin to asking them to pull gold nuggets out of their butt but it's not that hard.  (The disposable stuff, not the nuggets).  Buy some good glass storage or tupperware and use it!  Keep cloth grocery bags in your car!  Get a stainless steel water bottle!  It's easy!
6.  Recycle!!  Everything!  Many grocery stores even offer recycling for those pesky things like styrofoam and #5 plastics.  If we happen to get any I just rinse them and put them away in a little dedicated bin until the next time I'm going to that store.  Don't believe recycling helps that much?  Go here.
7.  Use natural cleaners that you make yourself.  Now, this saves a ton of money and you can find recipes everywhere.  Just Google 'natural cleaner recipes'.  And yes, they do work. 
8.  Compost!  Many items in our regular trash can be turned into great dirt!
9.  Wash laundry in cold or warm water instead of hot.  Clothes and color will last longer too.
10.  Open your curtains and blinds and use natural light whenever possible!  That's one thing I love about my house; we really don't have to turn on any lights until dark.
11.  Turn your computer and other electronics completely off at night.  I also recently found out that laptops use 80% less energy than desktops.  I had no idea!  I've got to look into switching!
12.  Pay bills online.  Not only does this save paper and stamps but it helps me greatly in avoiding late fees.
13.  Stop unwanted junk mail and catalogs.
14.  Hang laundry out to dry instead of using a dryer.  I know not everyone can do this but if you can it's a huge energy saver.  And yes, I know some people don't like the stiff clothes.  A little secret of mine; I do fluff them in the dryer, especially towels, for about 5 minutes to soften them (yeah, go ahead and throw the tomatoes!) and adding a cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle also really helps.  Just put it in where you would normally add the fabric softener and no, it doesn't make your clothes smell like pickles.
15.  Unplug appliances, chargers etc. that are not being used.  Turn off lights when you leave a room.

So, there is a partial list that I'm sure most of you already know about but maybe we all need reminding sometimes.  There are lots of other things you can do too but these are some of the easiest or most noticeable.  Any of you have any other great energy/ resource saving tips?

Oh, the photo of the bread has nothing really to do with the post but I finally made an edible homemade yeast bread the other day and was super excited about it!  I used to could easily do such years ago but had apparently fallen severely out of practice! 

Love Your Mother

No, I did not forget today was the 44th (I think) annual Earth Day!  I got up a little late this morning and have been trying to catch up all day since, so I put off posting until this evening.  I generally write better later in the day anyway.  I was a little disappointed to see that there were not very many bloggers, that I came across, that posted anything about Earth Day but that's okay.  It still gets more press than it did way back when I was younger.
Thankfully, more people nowadays care more about our environment, or claim to, but that doesn't always mean that they actually DO anything to help matters.  I have a couple of acquaintances on Facebook that are constantly going on about global warming but when you ask them, 'well, what are you doing to help matters?'  Wooo, it gets real damn quiet.  Because well, they don't actually do anything.  Apparently, there are many people that somehow believe that if they can convince enough other people to believe the way they do, everything will spontaneously and gloriously change and the perfect harmonious world will pop into existence through the power of thought alone.  And then you still have the people that I think just try to see how much they can muck up and waste just to spite because being "green" is sort of an in thing and they 'don't like anyone telling them what to do'..  I can't help but laugh at these people going around in their fake Hummers and gargantuan trucks to prove their point, all the while spending half or more of their hard-earned pay on gas alone, not to mention payments etc.  They're making a statement alright but it isn't what they think it is. 
So, unfortunately, environmentalism has now become just another political contention for many.  A way to beat others over the head with their supposed intellectual superiority.  "If you don't believe in my flavor of climate change you're an idiot and I'm better than you."  I know that it sometimes looks hopeless.  Now days, for every "green" choice Americans, Europeans and Aussies make there seems to be 2 or 3 in China, or other up and coming industrial nations, gobbling up our environmental savings and more.  A lot of people would think, what's the use?.  How can you win against such overwhelming odds? As hokey as it is, I'm always reminded of the story of the Boy and the Starfish.  It's a sappy, almost surely fictional tale but it does capture one reality; that one person can make a difference.  One person can help right where they are but also because that person can influence someone else and on it goes.  Every bottle I recycle is one less in the dumps and by watching me other people may be inclined to join in.  When one person will stand up and say, "I'm going to do this because it's the right thing to do", it's amazing how much that alone can help other people to do the same.
We are awash in trash in this country and show no signs of slowing down.  Approximately 55% of 220 million tons of waste generated each year in the United States ends up in one of the over 3,500 landfills.  On average, most people produce a little over 4 lbs. of trash in ONE day.  One Day!!  For our children and their children's sake we have to do better than this.  Fortunately, more and more towns are initiating recycling facilities or programs.  Even my little town has recycling dumpsters at the library and it's real easy to take other stuff into Birmingham.
Every day there are more and more "green" options available to us, such as Energy Star appliances, solar energy of all kinds, even down to solar charges for your phone and batteries.  More people are able to work at home due to computer linking.  Farmer's markets abound if you can't grow your own or you want to add to what you already grow.  Many cities are allowing gardens and chickens now.  I know not everyone can do everything but everyone can do something.  It's often just a case of wanting to and getting it out of people's minds that it some huge inconvenience to live more lightly.  In many cases it's very freeing and can save you a lot of money, and supposedly, everybody likes to save money.

I know, to many of my readers, I'm preaching to the choir on this subject but it's one I wanted to write about anyway.  I have a list I wanted to share also, on various ways we can live cleaner and greener, but this post has gotten longer than I anticipated so I'll share that next time.  I hope you all had a nice Earth Day and are getting those gardens planted!!

Happy Earth Day!!

In case you are having trouble reading the text it says:  “It’s pretty amazing that our society has reached a point where the effort necessary to extract oil from the ground, ship it to a refinery, turn it into plastic, shape it appropriately, truck it to a store, buy it, and bring it home is considered to be less effort than what it takes to just wash the spoon when you’re done with it.”


This says it all much better than I can.  Seriously.  Just wash the freakin' plate and fork.  I am unfortunately, often confounded by the number of people every day that croon about their love of disposables even knowing and understanding that it is crap for the environment, but who consider their "convenience" ultimately more important.  Wow.  Amazingly enough, these are often the same people who have multiple children or grandchildren, whom they claim to love unconditionally, yet are perfectly willing to let them grow up in a nasty, dying world made that way by our waste.
And yes, I used to pour hundreds of yards of concrete or weld for 10 hours a day and when I got home and had supper I washed the freakin' dishes!  Having a rough day is not an excuse.

Doggone It!

Even though I don't write about it very often I think most of you that have read my blog for very long know pretty much how I feel about pets and livestock versus this "furkid" mentality.  I love all my animals, even my chickens, but they all have their duties here and that's the way it has to be.  We don't have the money or time to have slackers around here; everybody works in some way.  And, because I love all my animals, even my chickens, and the fact that they work and produce for me, I am very determined to give them the best life I can under the safest conditions.  Which leads me to the real subject of this post.  I have known for some time that many people do not share my attitude towards animals, preferring to look at them as 4-legged children, and this is something I have learned can turn into a very dangerous situation for all involved.  A lot of people have apparently lost all common sense also, when it comes to animals, so I felt it necessary to post a bit of explanation or cautionary tale to those not familiar with farm or country life.  Of course, I know full well that all of MY kind readers already understand all this and would never do such a thing....it's just so you can warn your friends about it.

The basic premise it this:  Do NOT, under any circumstances, bring your pets (of any species) out to someone's farm or land unless you have specifically been told it is okay.  Apparently many people believe that if a friend or acquaintance has a large tract of land that it is a free call to bring Rover out for a "play date".  We don't do play dates.  It astounds me to no end that there are people in this world who would not understand this but I have had people actually show up at my house with a car load of dogs, pet birds and other creatures.  Do not do this.  EVER.  I can assure you, just as nobody can stand a little brat kid, no one is going to think your little Spot or Snookums is anywhere as cute, smart or funny as you do and if it gets loose (or God forbid you turn it loose) on my property and it chases one of my animals, you will not be happy with the results.  My chickens provide me with food, fertilizer and companionship.  They are very valuable to me.  If your dog kills or maims one of them you have taken money from my hand.  It is not cute or funny (as I have actually heard it described by one pet owner) to see my chickens terrorized by some @#$$%#^&%& stupid dog and their owner that can't control them.  If your dog gets loose, and I catch it in the act of killing any of my animals, I WILL stop it by any means necessary. 
Secondly, my dog has a job too.  I know if you meet Chigger she is all playful and cute but she is trained to protect the other animals and she does her best.  She understands to alert us of strange animals on the property and she has been specifically trained NOT to play with other dogs so she does not see strays or neighbor dogs as "friends".  She does not need a play date either.  She has her cat to play with and we play catch and frisbee and various things with her and that's enough.  Even if you do not let your pets out of your vehicle she knows they are there and is going to be very upset.  I do not like this and she does not like it either.  Speaking of Callie Cat, who is our resident mouser and vole catcher, Chigger protects her too, just like the chickens.  If your dog tries to chase my cat, like many dogs are prone too, Chigger is not going to like this and I can just about bet you the situation is not going to end well for somebody.  It better not be me or my animals.
Your pets can also bring disease to my animals, especially bird to bird, or your animal could contract something from mine.  It's best to not even give this an opportunity to start.  If a virus is brought in that runs through my flock and kills them, you just cost me a WHOLE lot of money and heartache. 

Now, I know this is a very stern and maybe even acrimonious post but I would bet money that most all homesteaders and country folk would agree with me and ya'll know that I'm not one to really mince words anyway.  Also, from what I see around me, many people nowadays are so far removed from country life and dynamics of having livestock, poultry etc. that they can't even comprehend that their pets may not be welcome at everyone's house.  To people like this it would literally be like telling them not to bring their kids.  Well, I'm not too keen on those little ankle biters either, but I guess most of them can be tolerated to some extent. As long as they leave my animals alone.

America First, Revisited

Perhaps I did not word that last post as clearly as I had intended, which often is my mistake. I also don't want to come across as angry, as I'm not. It's just that this isn't meant to be some grueling hardship I am proposing. What I was trying to say was that I thought it would be a good thing, and maybe even fun and educational, to watch what we buy and just try to make an effort to buy things made here in America. I did not say that I thought we should refrain from ever buying anything foreign or that had even the smallest little iota of foreign material, labor etc. in it for all of eternity. The article said, if every American spent just $64 more than normal on USA made items this year, it would create something like 200,000 new jobs! It does not say, if Americans wouldn't buy anything that came from another country ever, it would create these jobs. Look, I just think there is more made here than what we have been led to believe and that if we made a little effort to seek these things out we could maybe help some fellow American keep a job, or maybe even hire another one. And, it is simply not THAT hard to find American products. Yes, I realize that there are virtually NO computers, TV's (and God knows we got to have those!) or other electronics that are made here. And I realize that of the stuff made here, much of it has foreign components or ingredients. I mean, Jeez Louise, where do you think I think the cocoa beans come from in Hershey's chocolate? I realize all of this but I'll tell you this: when those people from Cullman county (next door to my county) made that mattress set I bought last spring, even with some foreign fabric, they were damn happy to have that job and get that paycheck that week rather than some Chinese getting it. And the same for the people at the Lodge factory in Tennessee where I buy my cookware and at Pyrex, Anchor-Hocking, Maytag, Whirlpool, Weber, KitchenAid (mixers only), Maglite, New Balance, Wahl, Meyers, Nordic Ware, Franklin, Oreck, Viking, ShopVac, Ford and on and on. I mean, crap people, it was just an idea to be a little more aware of where our stuff comes from. I'll say this too, after doing a little research I was astounded to see how much is still produced here and how many new factories are opening up here producing American goods, even some an amazing 100% American! I believe most people would be surprised to see what is made here also, if we would just look around instead of straight down the tunnel in front of us. We have let the media and just general opinion at large tell us that the United States does not manufacture anything anymore. It's an urban legend! According to one set of statistics I read, we are still the largest manufacturing economy in the world. Clothes, furniture, cookware, cleaning products, shoes, jewelry, dinnerware, glassware, health products, sheets and pillows and the lists go on. And yes, we still produce raw materials such as steel, copper, oil, chemicals and minerals, aluminum, cotton etc. etc. as well as paper, textiles, bricks, wood, and on and on and on. For years we all made the assumption that if a product had an American label on it, it was made here. Then we realized that wasn't true anymore and that many corporations had moved overseas. Now, I believe we had the same erroneous idea that nothing is made here anymore (so why even look) when there are hundreds of companies that never sold out and have remained loyal to the people here. I just think we should support those companies. If you think that's stupid, or too much trouble, or that Americans make crap or you just don't give a flyin' rat's ass, then don't do it. But then, don't sigh and complain about why so many people are unemployed right now. And yes, I know that of the unemployed, many of them would die before they would take a manufacturing job (or whine that the Hispanics have taken them all) but many would be glad to have it and do go after them. My company built a manufacturing plant for Honda (yes, I know they are Japanese) in a town not far from here. Not only did it give us construction workers jobs for years, it has made an enormous difference to those people of that small town. They have jobs paying well over $20/ hour, where as before they worked at menial jobs for much less. I've talked to some of those people; they are VERY happy to have that job.
With very little effort I found several websites that are more than happy to give you lists of American products and companies, such as American Made Products, Made Here In America, and Still Made In America. These are only a few, there were many more.
I don't have a problem with trading with other countries. I mean, I love my Bosch and Makita tools; they're wonderful. The Honda plant is another example of a type of trading. It works good! Heck, even though my clay comes from North Carolina, some of the minerals I use for glazes and such are mined in England or Africa. Oops! shouldn't have said that, now I'm not an American producer of goods. Oh well, when someone buys pottery from me that money sure does go to buy my groceries or whatever and I don't send it to China. All I'm saying is that if I can buy a set of glasses from an American company, that employs Americans, even if the silica to make the glass comes from Africa, I had rather do that than to buy a set of cheap glasses where everything comes from China. Yes, I am disgusted with our world policies right now. Yes, I'm disgusted to see we have become like Rome in that war is our main product. Yes, I know we are a hated nation world wide. But I am proud I'm American because I know we, the people, are not like our government right now. I love my country and I want to help my fellow citizens and support them and maybe, just maybe by doing that we can change the way things are going for us in some way. Am I stupid and delusional? Probably. I've been called worse I assure you. But at least I can say I tried to do something. As one of my readers said, "maybe we should think of the whole of our country as local". I like that.
Now, am I going to do without a new pair of welding gloves if I can't find any made here? No! That would be stupid (and I'm not so stupid as to burn my hands up!) I'm also not going to do without guacamole if I can help it or run around in public with no underwear. But if I can't find an American made table runner that I wanted for fall, then maybe I could do without it or better yet, make one myself from American fabric!!! Hey, I'm from the south, we got cotton out the ying-yang!

America First

A friend recently sent me an email about a "Buy American" challenge starting August 1st and going this whole month. Yes, I'm a little late getting the news! Now, I have tried, to some extent, to buy American products when I can but have not put a tremendous amount of effort into it. I'm somewhat ashamed to admit I have not tried harder. However, after reading the email I decided that now's the time. With things going the way they are economically and every way else there are just no excuses left, for me anyway. We harp and harp about buying local meats and produce from our local farmers (and that's great) but nobody says much about buying other American made products. A lot of people even have the gall to say you can't do it. You wouldn't have anything if you limited yourself to only American made. While it is true that these products may be harder to find, and cost a little more, they are out there. We just have to get off our lazy ass and find them. And, it's not a bad thing in my book that it would cut down on the amount of cheap crap that the majority of Americans drag into their homes every day.

Here is the gist of what the email said: (Now, I didn't see this Diane Sawyer show that is mentioned, so I don't know how much of that is true, nor some of the other statistics quoted, but I think it is a good challenge none the less).

Did y'all see Diane Sawyer's special report? They removed ALL items from a typical, middle class family's home that were not made in the USA .

There was hardly anything left besides the kitchen sink. Literally. During the special they showed truckloads of items - USA made - being brought in to replace everything and talked about how to find these items and the difference in price etc..

It was interesting that Diane said if every American spent just $64 more than normal on USA made items this year, it would create something like 200,000 new jobs!

FOR EXAMPLE THE "OUR FAMILY" BRAND OF THE MANDARIN ORANGES SAYS RIGHT ON THE CAN 'FROM CHINA '

I WAS SHOCKED SO FOR A FEW MORE CENTS I BOUGHT THE LIBERTY GOLD BRAND OR THE DOLE SINCE IT'S FROM CALIF.

Are we Americans as dumb as we appear --- or --- is it that we just do not think. The Chinese, knowingly and intentionally, export inferior and even toxic products and dangerous toys and goods to be sold in American markets.

70% of Americans believe that the trading privileges afforded to the Chinese should be suspended.

Why do you need the government to suspend trading privileges? DO IT YOURSELF, AMERICA !!

Simply look on the bottom of every product you buy, and if it says 'Made in China ' or 'PRC' (and that now includes Hong Kong ), simply choose another product, or none at all. You will be amazed at how dependent you are on Chinese products, and you will be equally amazed at what you can do without.

Who needs plastic eggs to celebrate Easter? If you must have eggs, use real ones and benefit some American farmer. Easter is just an example. The point is do not wait for the government to act. Just go ahead and assume control on your own.

THINK ABOUT THIS: If 200 million Americans each refuse to buy just $20 of Chinese goods, that's a billion dollar trade imbalance resolved in our favor...fast!!

Most of the people who have been reading about this matter are planning on implementing this on Aug. 1st and continue it until Sept. 1st. That is only one month of trading losses, but it will hit the Chinese for 1/12th of the total, or 8%, of their American exports.
Remember, August 1st to Sept. 1st !!!!!! START NOW.

If we can't live without cheap Chinese goods for one month out of our lives, WE DESERVE WHAT WE GET! ( I agree!!!)


Now, I don't necessarily agree with the kinda vehement anti-Chinese sentiment expressed there. I'm not interested in "sticking it to China" or trying to cause them trouble. I just think it's about time we quit pissing and moaning about the sad state of economics etc., in this country and do something about it. How many jobs have been lost due to our manufacturing being sent overseas? And yes, I realize many of jobs were replaced with some other type but a country cannot remain secure if it doesn't have a stable infrastructure and relies so heavily on other countries, that probably don't have our best interests in mind, for tools, clothing and many other very important daily supplies.
I did a little investigating last night by looking up a number of USA made products online. There is a lot more out there than what you might think. Now, I know some people are saying, 'I can't afford to do this. USA made stuff costs a lot more'. Not necessarily and many of the companies offer free shipping. With the cost of gas these days and that most people don't live next door to a mall, are you really saving that shipping charge by driving to the shopping areas? And like I said, so what if it costs a couple dollars more? It's giving an American a job and it might just cut back on this epidemic of useless shit that floods our homes.
I thought about how this relates to Wal-Mart too and their whole prostitution ring with China but I don't know that I really want to get into that. It makes me too sick and upset. If you don't shop at Wal-Mart yo have your reasons and I don't need to convince you. If you do shop at Wal-Mart I would just ask you, do you really think that company cares about this country or do they just care about lining their own pockets? I know Wal-Mart has made some efforts to carry more USA made products but only because the people have called them on it and they will sell out whoever they have to in order to continue to rob the American public of all they can.

Anyway, I just feel that we have sat on our asses long enough. Are we going to let this country go down the shitter, even more than it has, or are we going to stand up and DO something? Even if it means giving up our cheap, plastic, worthless junk. How sad it would be if most people would choose their junk over this beautiful country.
Jack and I went to a movie yesterday and then we stopped at the pet store to get Chigger a new Frisbee (which probably wasn't made here) and I went next door to a large chain department store just to look around and see how much USA produced stuff I could find. I have to say that if we stopped importing stuff today we would at least have plenty of glassware and throw rugs. Not much else! I asked the lady at the jewelry counter if any of it was made in the US. She looked kinda funny and then she said no, she didn't think so. She thought for a moment and then she looked at me very seriously and said, 'we need to change that'. I said, "yes, we do!" We talked about it for a while and I was surprised that she was on my same line of thought but then I think lots of people are starting to get tired of this situation. I ended up buying some foot lotion and a card, both made in the US. I also found some very pretty candles and glasses. Today I looked around the house to take stock of what I have here. I'm happy to say that much of what I actually have is made here because I buy a lot of stuff from local artists and craftspeople. But, I was very unhappy to see that of my wonderful collection of books (ya'll know how I am about books) many are not printed here even though the publishers are American. What crap!! This is something I will keep in mind in the future.

So, I challenge you to join me! We sit around and wonder what can we do to help society. We wonder what we can do to help our fellow citizen. This is one, simple thing we can do. We are constantly reminded to support our troops (and rightfully so), but what about supporting ourselves!? Please don't tell me that the indomitable American spirit is dead.

Reach A Little Further

Well. After about 21 years of trying, I finally created an art object that fully represents what I have seen in my mind. I finally... made the perfect mug. Now, it really doesn't look much different than many of the other mugs I have made. Not to someone else anyway. But, to me it does. And when I pick it up, I cannot feel any error in it. Not see, mind you. Feel. I will not sell this one. This one is mine.
I suppose some would say that if this is a first after 21 years that I am being a bit too picky. Maybe they would be correct. Maybe not. Unless yo have a creative nature if is very difficult to explain to someone how most artists are not satisfied with their work. I mean, you can be satisfied with many pieces that you have come reasonably close to your mind's eye but it is a very elusive thing to hit it dead on. That's why many artists are so prolific; it's a constant struggle to get closer and closer to what you see in your head. It's like target practice with a bow or gun, except you are wearing a thin blindfold. You can see just enough to know what to create but you don't know if you've hit the bull's eye until it's completely finished.

I know also that in my building I am probably overly picky also. I overbuild. This is good to some extent and I'll let you in a a little secret. I do it partially because I'm lazy. Once that projects done, I don't want to ever have to fool with that again. As per many comments I have received in person and such I apparently came off as being a psycho, maniacal control freak in the post "Distant Early Warning". Now everyone I know if afraid to let me see anything they have built or even any drawings they have made for building. Let me clarify some things, please. I don't have any problem with people that don't know how to build. Not everyone in this life knows how or cares to know how. Or even could do it well if they tried to learn. Some people just don't have that talent but they have other talent. (Like making lots of money so you can pay a good carpenter! Ha!) What I have a problem with, and I tried to explain but I know I don't have the talent for explaining, is people that don't know how to build but present themselves as an authority to others. Now, I have a BIG problem with that and unfortunately, the Internet gives these people a very wide audience to spread their misinformation to. And even if they clarify that you should do your own research and such there are many people out there that make building sound overly simple, that if those dumb ol' construction workers can do it I can too or that they used to do a little house framing so now they know how to build a high-rise. Building is not rocket science but you do have to understand some basic laws of physics and geometry. I was only trying to say to please, watch who you get your advice from on these blogs. Be very careful about building anything exactly like you have seen it built on some website. A lot of these bloggers like to present themselves as the true Edifice Rex! (joking!) because they know you can't see their work in person. They know they would get laughed off a real job site so their blog is an area where they can pad their ego. You can't see the back side of that wall where their form blew out. You can't see that footing that cracked all to hell or their rat sill that rotted out because they didn't use pressure-treated lumber. They may occasionally tell you, "yeah, I made a little mistake" but if you notice, they'll never show a close enough picture for you to see how bad it really was. And, as I said, even watch what I do because it may not comply with code for your area. I have done things to my house, say, because of the threat of termites, that people up north don't have to do. If nothing else, some of these people will cause you to do a lot more work than is needed simply because they don't know how to work efficiently or do not know the products available. I have seen them pour walls (concrete) that took over a year, multiple pours and about twice the money simply because they didn't know how to form a wall correctly using the hardware available now that would have allowed it done all at once or two pours at the most. I want to make one other thing clear too: I was NOT referring to anyone whose blog I link to or who is a regular reader/commenter here. I would never link to anyone that I felt was misleading people, no matter how entertaining they are.
So, call me a hard ass or a smart ass if you want, but I'm looking out for you! Buyer and builder beware!

Bug Bytes

I know, amongst the circle of folks that consider themselves to be environmentally conscious, that the subject of pest control in our gardens can be a very touchy one and I certainly try my best to avoid the use of even natural sprays. However, sometimes there are instances when just good garden hygiene, organic compost and our best intentions don't always work. So, I wanted to show a few of my methods for not only controlling pest but encouraging my garden to flourish naturally. Now, I am by NO means an expert but this is some stuff that has worked for me and I welcome any other suggestions too.
The spray pictured above is one of my last resort tools. It is a certified organic spray made from canola oil and pyrethrins, thus the name Pyola. You mix it with water and spray on your plants. It is very effective against a variety of caterpillars, hornworms, Japanese beetles etc. I apply it late in the day after most of the pollinators have gone to sleep and even many of the plants blossoms have closed, so the bees won't be rubbing against the spray the next day. It does not affect bees and such in the same way as soft bodied insects but you don't want to spray it right on them. I order the stuff from Garden's Alive, an organic gardening company that sells a variety of products that I think are very effective. I buy very little stuff like this but when I do need it I usually go to them. They offer some great discounts on their products for first time buyers too. I also buy their Kelp meal for the garden. Now, like I said, I only use this if I seem to be having an unusual problem with insects, like squash bugs. My chickens won't eat the bugs; I think they must taste really bad because Little Bea grabbed one up one day and immediately spit it out and started wiping her beak on the ground!
The label says it is not effective against fire ants but I beg to differ. You just have to apply it differently. Now, for those of you that don't have fire ants, count your many blessings. They are a hideous curse here and will wreck a garden if left to it. They are one of the most destructive things I have ever seen and incredibly vicious. Alabama has had a significant drop in our quail population over the past couple of decades, due in part, to attacks from fire ants. Quail nest on the ground and fire ants will attack and eat the quail babies. There has also been documented incidences of fire ants attacking and destroying wild honey bee hives. They are not native to this area, or even the US if I remember correctly, so I don't want to hear any shit about my inclination to destroy a fire ant mound. I don't go around looking for them but I will not allow them to reside in my yard or around my animals. It is very difficult to find a natural product that will kill or at least repel fire ants and let me tell you, I have tried most everything; borax, cornmeal, salt, diamatious earth, you name it. This spring they got in my coldframe and were destroying the contents so, on a whim, I put a few drops of Pyola, undiluted, right on top of their mound. By the next day they had moved out. I was elated. I don't think it killed them but if it just repelled them that was enough. I finally found something I could use against them around my food crops!
I am also trying an organic copper spray, like Ron mentioned, on my wilty tomato plants. I gave them some Epsom Salts water, which seemed to help a little but didn't quite do it. Like Ron said, it's very hard to sit and watch your crops, that we depend on so much, die or get eaten right in front of you, without trying something. If people are going to criticize me for trying to salvage my labor and food, well, they can buy my groceries for the next year too.

I do however, try to make the most of natural methods. I haven't had a lot of luck with companion planting but one thing I believe does work is marigolds. I always buy a large flat or two of the stinkingest marigolds I can find to plant throughout my garden, especially around the tomatoes. Not all marigolds stink though, only the true French ones do, so you have to watch what you get. When I deadhead them I take the spent flower and tear it up and throw it over the plants. This helps distribute the smell and lets me get some volunteers! This actually seems to work and it does make some sense because marigolds are one of the plants that they extract pyrethrins from.

Now, these are my best pest control but like I said, they don't always eat everything and after a while they will tear up more than they help. I let them in before the plants start ripening much and before I do any spraying. If the chooks are in there I do not use any sprays, even natural ones. When they are out for the season, due to my tomatoes ripening!, I will then spray if needed. Then, when the season is over and sprayed plants pulled up, they can come back in.

I also plant other flowers throughout my garden, where I have a little room, to encourage birds and any pollinators. I place a couple of shallow dishes with water around the garden also to encourage frogs and I have noticed a big increase in my frog population this year. However, I have to be careful to help keep the frogs out of the chicken run as Henny thinks they are a great treat. She caught one one day and was slinging that poor thing every which way, trying to beat it apart. I ran and grabbed it from her, much to her displeasure, and took it into the garden. I was afraid she had killed it because it was stiff as a board but when I sat it down it relaxed and hopped off under my blueberry bushes.

I also let large patches of wild flowers grow in the yard. This encourages the birds, which in turn, also check out the garden while they are there and also butterflies and bees. I know this is a crappy photo of only the male but his mate was there too, on another flower.
So, the natural methods take time to work but this year I have seen a marked improvement in beneficial insect/ critter population and health of my garden. I also keep several bird bathes and feeders out. I have noticed that the honey bees enjoy the bird bathes as much or more than the birds. I often see half a dozen or more of them stopping for a cool drink during any part of the day.

Distant Early Warning

The photo here does not directly relate to what this post is about but is more of just an example to make my point about something. Now, I don't want this post to come off as pissy or elitist or some other such; it's just my thoughts on some stuff that has bothered me for a while. Of course, I know I'm preaching to the choir, so to speak, on this subject because all of my readers are smart and savvy enough to know what I'm fixin' to tell you but just in case....
Over the years of blogging I have come across a number of other blogs on building, as you would expect. Mostly it's regular people building their own home or barns or such. And that is great. Ya'll know that I try to encourage everyone to try their hand at building, especially women, for a variety on reasons. And in the course of reading some of these blogs I have noticed some of them have quite a few readers. Unfortunately, it seems that the blogs of people who are least qualified to be showing other people how to build something are sometimes the most heavily read. Let me just say, just because someone is being adventuresome in their construction; say, building in some exotic location, does NOT mean they know what they are doing. Now, some of these are fun to read regardless and I am not promoting myself as some all-time expert; I make mistakes too, which I will also show you. That said, I do have almost 20 years of construction and safety training and with that I say please, PLEASE, be very careful who you take construction advise from and what their qualifications are. I don't care how much experience they say they have in concrete, if they don't know what a snap-tie or a johnny clamp is, you run from them, quickly. They are an idiot and have never worked in the industry. In fact, we used to have a game we played when I worked construction. We often had fellows drop by our jobs looking for work and they often claimed to be form carpenters or whatever. This is common in commercial construction. Now, they wouldn't have a resume or anything but would just tell the super what their experience etc. Now, if they promoted themselves as super-carpenter, one who had done all and been all, and even if he uttered the famous words of one guy, "when it gets too rough for everybody else, it's just right for me", we, the crew, would immediately start taking bets on how fast this guy was going to drag up. Not, IF he was going to drag up but just how fast, because when people start talking like that they are full of shit. We never were wrong about a one. Keep that in mind when reading these blogs.
I have also noticed that many of the self-sufficiency types and all really like to get out of the city limits where there are fewer, if any, restrictions on building. Now, I don't have a problem with this. I'm only in the county and didn't have inspections on my house BUT, it is still built to code. Now, I agree that many times the building codes are stupid about some things and the city just wants the revenue. However, for the most part these building codes are for your protection. They are there so that JimBob doesn't put your rafters on 3 foot centers and have the ceiling or roof collapse on you. It's there so your neighbor isn't shitting in a 55-gallon drum and having it overflow onto your property. It's there so your well-meaning cousin doesn't burn your house down because he really didn't know how to wire that junction box anyway.
I have seen some of the stupidest things done, by way of building, on some of these blogs. I have seen people frame a two story house and not put the first header over a door or window. That's fine until about 2 years down the road when things have sagged so bad they can't open any of the doors or windows. I have seen a lot of unsupported spans on outer floor bands and rafters; no piers but in the corners. Code will tell you how far you can span according to the size lumber. I actually saw a couple install rafters with the wide side down. Now, I don't know how anyone can look at that, no matter their experience or lack thereof, and think,' yeah, that's the way those go'.
Granted it was just a chicken coop (a big one) but, holy hell! how do you do something like that.?? I have seen people install roofing in about every bad way imaginable. Granted now, roofing can be difficult and you really need to have help if you don't know what you are doing.
And Lord O' mercy, don't get me started about people pouring concrete. Concrete is a wonderful and versatile medium. It is astounding in it's strength and beauty. Under the right circumstances, it will kill you deader'n a hammer in seconds if you make one mistake. Concrete is not something to screw with and you especially need to watch who you get your advice from. Now, it's hard to make a deadly mistake pouring a slab for a patio or such but you can mess up and waste an enormous amount of money if nothing else. The photo above is of some formwork from one of my old jobs. We were pouring foundation piers and footings that were 2-3 feet deep. You can see some of the massive amount of rebar that went in those footings and the steel sticking up was just part of what was stubbed up for the walls that would pour on top. And, in all honesty, these were kinda wimpy footings for commercial work. I've seen one guy, on a blog, pour walls where he only put a stick of rebar every 4 or 5 feet and then claimed that was overdoing it. And NO, fiber in the mix does not help on walls. Fiber is to help keep slabs and walkways from cracking. It is NOT structural. Nothing over his doorways, windows etc. Please, please, please, consult with an actual concrete professional if you are going to pour walls, even some retaining walls. Walls must be tied into the footings correctly and with sufficient steel and the footings themselves must be sufficient to hold the wall up. Now, I know footings for a house are nowhere near what commercial construction calls for but, as I have actually seen, a 2-inch thick little spread footing is NOT going to hold up a two story house, especially when it was poured right on top of the topsoil! They didn't even dig down past the frost line or to substantial enough earth to meet resistance from a probe. You can get into a lot of trouble with concrete in a hurry if it is done incorrectly. The form itself can fail, which I have seen, and that can hurt or kill someone. Concrete (reinforced) weighs around 140 lbs. per cubic FOOT. That means one yard is way over 3,000 pounds. Concrete is expensive nowadays and hard to get back out once it has set! If you screw it up it can be costly to repair.
It just pains me to no end to watch people install such piss-poor foundations for their houses and such and you know, come a year or two or 5, everything is going to be so damn outta whack the walls are going to be cracking and all kinds of hell. The foundations, however they are done, must be done correctly or the rest of the house will suffer for it. And you too, I might add.
So, this is my rant. Just please, take most of what you see online with a grain of salt. Even me. For one thing, I have come to realize that something that is code down here might not be advisable in another climate and some stuff I've seen done up north (because it was code) I would never do here. MUCH depends on your climate, the geology of your region and the building materials you are using. Please, please be aware of these things, research your ideas for your region and know and go by the building codes, even if you don't have to.

Peaceable Kingdom

I hope everyone is having/ has a nice, peaceful holiday weekend. Yet may we remember those who shed their blood for our freedom.

May peace eventually settle on this nation and this world like snow drifting down on a winter's evening.

May our government come to care enough about it's citizens to stop sending them into wars based on lies and false pretenses. May our young men and women live to see all the seasons of their lives and not be cut down in mid-bloom.

Eight Easy Steps Part 2

Well, once again I did not mean to be away so long but things have really been busy around here, what with the new chicks and all and trying to get things finished up. Plus, my heart has been raking me over the coals again and I've just been too tired at times to be on the computer much.
So, anyway, back to the remaining program! Once I finished the framing for the walls I installed the sheathing/ siding. It's better if you go ahead and run your sheathing because it adds a huge amount of stability to the structure that you really need before you start trying to frame and deck the roof.

What I'm trying to show here is not the wiring but the bird's mouth cut in the rafter. This is the little divot you cut so that your rafter sits flush on the top plate. I really cut a notch because a true birdsmouth on that low an angle would be seen from the outside and I didn't want that. It's best if your bird's mouth is cut deep enough that the rafter sits all the way down over the top plate. In other words, 1 1/2" deep. This gives you plenty to nail and I toenailed mine from both sides. If you enlarge the photo you might be able to see one nail head.

I ran 2 x 6 rafters; partially because we already had some old ones (as you can see) and partially because you need a 2 x 6 for that span. Well, for this light roof, 2 x 4's might be okay. Anyway, we alternated the old 2 x's with the new, just in case. If you look close you can see one rafter marked 'PAT'. This is not somebody's name! It's best to always make one rafter, verify that it is correct and then mark all your other rafters from that one pattern, thus the 'PAT'. If you mark your rafters from other copies you risk multiplying any mistakes you may have made, and that can really add up. Always stick with your original.
Because we had the material in old stuff, we also ran bridging where each piece of plywood was going to break. The joints I mean. Now, this isn't necessary, you can just use those clips, but since we had plenty of old lumber than needed using up and this is only 1/2" plywood, what the heck! Now, some of you with a sharp eye might notice that one sheet of plywood is running opposite the others. I'm not going to say who did this while I was gone to the store but it was a dumbass that I let help me one day. See, the grain of the plywood (roof decking) should always run perpendicular to the rafters. Do not run the grain with the rafters because it's weak when you stand on it. Now, if you run that crap OSB it doesn't matter, because that stuff has no grain but I only talk about real construction on this blog so, there you go.

Now, I wanted my roof to be 12 feet because that is a standard roofing metal length and it would work out with the overhangs I wanted. When I laid out my rafter I saw that wall to wall (the rake) was only something like 8' -1 3/4" because of such a low pitch roof. So, if I had a 12' rafter that would let me have somewhere around 1' overhang in the back and slightly less than 3' in the front. I took one inch off the length of the rafters to let my roof decking overhang just a tad, because I like the way that looks. And I might put up a little fascia board. We also cut the slight curve in the ends using the same pattern I used on my house rafters. I like that look too.


Now, I mentioned in the last post how that I realize this is a lot of trouble and stout construction to go through for some chickens but here is my other reason: Where I live we have a surplus of predators that would love to eat my chickens before I could. We have coyotes, hawks, owls, crows, gopher rats, possum, raccoons, snakes, weasels, wild dogs, neighborhood dogs, bobcats and probably something else I've forgotten. I will not go to the expense of getting livestock, feeding it and caring for it only to let some other animal destroy it. I let the wild things be, but they ain't going to take food out of my mouth. I do not at all get into this pseudo hippie bucolic attitude of 'oh, we are going to be one with nature and just let the chickies roam and peck and if they happen to get eaten, well, that's nature. Bullshit. I paid $3 apiece for those f****ing birds, I'll be damned if some coyote, that isn't even native here, gets even a taste. I read the reviews for this book some dipshit wrote about this foray into urban homesteading. He built some little crap coop and it wasn't long before his chickens got ate by the neighbors dog or something and he was like, 'well, that was a learning experience for me and it's okay', blah, blah (I bet the chickens didn't think it was okay) and went on to quote some statistic that showed humans learned best by thinking about their mistakes. Well, no shit Brainiac. I guess we would have all died off by now if nobody could learn from their mistakes. I'll do you one better; I'll learn from that goober's mistake and build something no dog can get into.
It's basically like this; I feel that if I am going to confine an animal and take away it's ability to flee, and that's basically all a chicken has by way of defense, then I damn well better provide it a secure environment where it doesn't have to worry about protecting itself. If you don't you are basically providing the predator a sure fire way to catch and eat his meal and damning the chicken to a horrible death. I lost a few chicks once to a raccoon. It will not happen again.
So, the next post I'll show ya'll the run and a little more of what's been going on. If anybody has any questions about any of this construction framing etc. just let me know.