You know, sometimes it feels like the wheels are spinning, but I'm not getting anywhere. Life has a way of doing that to us sometimes, and the only one we have to blame for that is ourselves.

The last few months have been that way for me, seemingly all due to the state of the economy. I'm certainly not the only one that has been out of work before and I definitely won't be the last, it's just tough when it hits home.

Life has a way of looking up in direct proportion to your attitude. When you keep your eyes on the sky, the sky has no limit. My wheels are spinning and I'm starting to go somewhere now. Thank God. Really.

Persimmon Glen hasn't seen a lot of changes in a while. I managed to add a roof to a short portion of the porch, with plans to get that enclosed by winter, and I put in a new stone walkway and laid out pathways through a rather large shade garden with a few plants being added.

The small vegetable garden I put out was thoroughly enjoyed by the rabbits and crows. The only thing left is the garlic and a couple of pepper plants. Ah, well, there's always next year.

Work has picked up and now I'm confident I'll be able to start getting more done around here. I have three days a week off, plenty of time to work on various projects, and I am so looking forward to that. Question is, which one first?

That is usually answered by how much help I get. It's hard for one person to get some jobs done, but I manage most of the time. I have friends and family that show up sometimes and help to put their stamp on the land along with me, and I appreciate every one of them.

 I'm still looking for that one special guy to come along and be a permanent helpmate for me. Been looking for a long time and I always have high hopes. It will happen someday, in the meantime I'll keep chugging along...

Spring heralds a lot of work. We come out of semi-hibernation when the temperatures go up. Just like the local black bears, we are driven by the need to eat. Humans also seem driven by the need to improve their surroundings. Take a trip to Lowes or Home Depot on a sunny Saturday and you'll know exactly what I mean.

Carts are loaded with building materials, flowers and garden plants. I managed to get a small garden started with onions, garlic, lettuce, carrots, radishes and potatoes and will be expanding as I put in tomatoes, peppers, cataloupes, beans and squash. The ground here in Persimmon Glen is soft and friable and easy to work, thank goodness. I've been tilling by hand and luckily it hasn't been hard. I hope the little seeds agreee with me.

Tomatoes are going in this week and I will plant them the way I always have, on their side. I have had great results planting tomatoes in a trench and will continue to do so. I've made several terraces in my sloping yard, built a new firepit and grill, added an eight foot section of roof to the porch (cost $50), planted grass seed, waited for the pond to fill and raked leaves.

I have officially been here a year as of April 1st. When I think back to all the things that have been accomplished in that time I wonder how I've done it. Who would have thought I would have been able to make do just fine with no running water? My composting toilet system works great and now I can't imagine having it any other way.

Now I can sit on my porch and wonder what the next year will bring. I have so many projects on the table and hopefully I will manage to get each one accomplished by winter. I bought a small woodstove at a yard sale for $20 that will heat the house this coming winter instead of electric heaters. I should also have a permanent bathroom built on with a shower, so I won't need the outdoor shower anymore. I might turn that into a hen house for next spring.

Whatever the year brings I will be content and happy, making do with less....

Let me explain.

The weather here lately has been wonderful, and I've spent every spare minute I could get working outside. I'm finishing up my pond and it has some water in it from my rain barrels! Hooray! Now, I'll sit back and wait for the rain to fill it up and do some decorating.

I also have been busy building several terraces in my yard which is on a slope and makes it a bit difficult to find a level spot to put a table and some chairs. When you live in a tiny house, your outdoor space becomes an extension of your home, so I need lots of space for company. I have a huge firepit and a dedicated cooking area, both for grilling and for baking. I plan on having people over a lot this year and wanted a nice large space for a table and chairs, since having company almost always revolves around food.

The terraces have been built by hand. I start digging on the high side, moving the dirt to the lower side against a low rock wall which I built by moving rocks from all around my property. Each terrace is small with steps going from one to another, so it's almost like having a bunch of separate rooms, all built around the fire pit and next to the pond.

So a few days ago, I had a few family members over for a picnic. The weather was just right and the day was beautiful. My oldest son has a new girlfriend and she came with him. I really like her and am trying to get to know her better.

My family and friends all know that I live here with no running water and I use buckets inside for a bathroom, and they don't think anything of it, but I was a little nervous about the new girlfriend. I knew she would have to use the toilet at some point while she was here and I didn't know what she would think when I  had to show her the bucket to use.

So, we're visiting and waiting for the rest of the gang to arrive and watching the fire and she tells me how pretty it is here and how much she likes it. Then she tells me that where she comes from, almost all cooking is done over fires outside. Then she proceeds to tell me how difficult it was for her to get used to cities when she moved here because she had always lived in the country, and that where she lived, they didn't have bathrooms like everyone has here. When they need to go, they just go outside somewhere, and all showers are outside and taken with cold rain water. She said it was very much like what I have here, except that in El Salvador they don't have trees like I have, they have banana and mango and lime and avocado trees everywhere.

Well, this was my kind of girl, and I instantly lost my nervousness over a bucket, so I proceeded to show her my outdoor shower and my compost piles and explain how I compost the human waste. She thought that was a wonderful idea.

Later, after everyone left, I got to thinking about Americans. In this country, those of us who are going back to the basics are in essense just learning to live as people in many other countries have always lived. Yet here, we're seen as 'progressives' with our new ideas for living in harmony with the natural order of things. How backward we really are! We have become so accustomed over many generations to all the niceties of modern living that we have a tendency to forget our own roots and to realize that there are people all over the world who know nothing of our modern lifestyles.

In these political times and with our country's recession in full bloom, people are panicked over the cost of bread at the grocery store, and it is seen as almost radical for a guy to dig up his manicured lawn in order to grow his own food, and it's seen as a terrible thing to have to cut back on the cable bill and start using coupons and start shopping at the discount stores.

In my opinion, these are good things for this country. We've all gotten too soft and our society is spoiled. In a way, I wouldn't mind seeing everything crash in order to teach people some lessons and force them to learn how to grow a tomato and save rain water for a garden and not a lawn.

Maybe then more people would learn to appreciate the niceties and not take them for granted as our due, and maybe then we would learn some patience by having to wait for a watermelon to ripen on the vine and children would get off the computers and video games and learn where a hamburger really comes from. We wouldn't be so immersed in instant gratification and be such a throw away society.

People from other cultures have so much to teach us if we would just learn to listen.

A couple of my favorites are PaperBack Swap and SwapaDVD. It's free to become a member, all you do is list some books or dvds that you don't want anymore, other members request them from you, you wrap them up and mail them off. When the other member receives the book or dvd from you, you get a credit which you can then use to request a book or dvd for yourself. The only cost involved is the cost of mailing. What a great way to recycle and save money. Feel free to click on the link on the side of this page, it will take you directly to each site.

You can also take books, cd's and dvd's to local shops for credit that you can use to purchase more more from their store.

If you'd like to make a few dollars from your books or dvds, then you can sell them directly on Amazon.com or Half.com. It doesn't cost anything to list your items, they take a small percentage when you have sold one, then transfer the money to your bank account.

If you have some things laying around that you'd like to get rid of, list them on either Freecycle or on Craigslist. Both sites are free.

If you need rain barrels you might try asking at the carwash. The soap that they use comes in barrels that are perfect for collecting water. See if they would be willing to sell you a few. I take mine to the carwash and rinse all the soap out of them.

Of course, there are lots of thrift stores around to help out the budget and start going to yard sales. You can save a tremendous amount of money on things you need.

Around the house, start saving glass bottles instead of throwing them away. You can re-use them for storing anything from buttons to putting homeade jam in them, or you can even build yourself something with them. Mortar them in a wall and it will be highly insulated.

Re-use plastic bags of all kinds. Save your old bread bags and the bags from the produce department, any kind you get. That will save you from buying so many new ones.

If you're a smoker, here's a great tip that will save a ton. Buy yourself a pipe and buy bulk cigarette tobacco from the smoke shop. Smoke that instead of costly prepackaged cigarettes, or you can roll your own. The cigarette stores sell all the makings.

Get a freezer, preferably used, and start buying in bulk when items are on sale. Shop at the bread outlet stores and freeze if necessary. You can freeze milk when it's on sale, just make sure you remove a small amount first to leave room for expansion.That also helps to reduce the number of trips you make to the store, saving gas.

Buy your lumber from a local sawmill if possible. You'll see a tremendous savings over going to your Big Box store, and you will get true measurements. A 2x4 actually measures two inches by four inches, rather than 1 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches.

One of the most simple ways to save money is to always pay cash. Leave credit cards for others to use. If you don't have cash, don't buy. What good is it to get an item on sale if you'll have to pay all that interest? If you absolutely have to use your credit cards, make sure you can pay it in full at the end of the month.

Shop the discount stores, like Dollar General and Family Dollar, Dollar Tree for things like aspirin, shampoo, beauty and household products. They work just as well as name brands at a fraction of the cost, and you'll also find name brands at a big discount, even over Walmart.

Unplug anything around the house that you don't use all the time. Most televisions use 80% of their power even when they are turned off, so unplug that baby if you're not watching. Likewise with everything else in your house. It takes a bit of getting used to, but you'll be rewarded with lower electric bills.

If you're a cook, save money by making from scratch. You can make that Hamburger Helper way cheaper on your own rather than buying a box and it really doesn't take much more time.

Here's a neat little tip for making your mascara last longer. When you think the tube is empty, you can usually get another month out of it by letting it warm in a cup of warm water. The warm water will soften it and you'll get a lot more uses out of it. One caution, once you start doing this, you'll have to do it every time, so don't do it until you think it's empty.

Try using witch hazel instead of expensive astringents. You can get a large bottle for a dollar and it will last a very long time.

Make a great garden cart out of an old lawn mower that doesn't work. Remove the engine, bolt a metal trash can to it where the engine used to be  and you've got a great cart for moving things around your yard.

I hope these tips help you to be creative in reusing and recycling. Look at everything in a new way and you'll come up with lots of great ideas of your own.

I have always loved reading, even as a child I would devour the written word in any  form imaginable, even to the back of the cereal box or the intructions on a shampoo  bottle. I haunted the libraries as a young lady with no budget to buy new and I viewed bookstores as an enemy at times, because they put all  that temptation out there and I didn't have the money to buy.  I would borrow from the library as  many as were allowed to check out at once and was rarely late in turning them back  in, but when I was, I didn't mind paying the fee, as I thought that would only help  the library to purchase new books for me to peruse.

I never was a reader of much fiction. I prefered books that I could learn from, be  they medical reference or herbals to how-to books of all kinds. Along came thrift stores and yard sales, and I gradually picked up a nice little  collection of books, mostly herbals and  back to the land types. Subjects that would  stay on my shelves forever. Once in awhile I would pick up a book just for the looks  of it, for I loved old books and how they looked on a shelf.  If I ever bought a new book, it would never be a novel, for whats the use of paying  $20 for a book I will read once in less than a week and have no more use for?

About eight years ago I discovered books on the internet. I was browsing the web  and chanced upon a site that would allow anyone to sell a book through their  website and make money. A bright light went off in my mind and I was flooded with  a sense that this was what I had been searching for all of my life. I methodically  went through my small collection of books which amounted to about a hundred,  checked to see how much they were worth to someone on the ether that is the internet, and painfully decided whether or not I could part with any of them. Most had  no value to anyone other then myself, but then I came upon a small paperback  about  90 pages long that I had picked up at a yard sale for ten cents. It was on Tae kwan do, or  jujitsu or something or another and it was worth ninety dollars! Suddenly it wasn't  the least bit painful to part with, and so I listed it for sale. Within 2 days it sold and  I was happily packing it up to ship to the new owner. I had started a new business  that lasted for five years.

It was a business that I dearly loved. I could work from  home, browse thrift stores, yard sales , and library book sales for a living. As a  newbie to the business, I picked up lots of clunkers because I had no idea what made  a book valuable, but I had set a limit of about .50 for a paperback and a dollar for a  hardback so I wouldn't be out much if it wasn't worth anything. 

Gradually my business grew, I learned all about first editions, bindings, octo's  quarto's, conditions and how to describe an old leatherbound volume in booksellers  terms and what type of books would be worth more than another. I built my own website and was a member of several venerable booksellers institutions. I shipped  books around the world daily and delighted in every moment.

I ended up specializing in old and rare childrens books, mainly because I had found  an almost inexhaustible supply of them. I was amazed at the prices that collectors  would pay. I had  many books that sold for $100, $200, $300 and on to $500, and all  I had to do was find them, research their values, describe them correctly, list them  for sale and put them on a shelf until a new home was found.

After 5 years I had approximately 10,000 books listed for sale and a roomful of boxes  filled to the ceiling and a storage unit waiting for  me to get to them. I was  surrounded by books, everywhere I looked. I  bought a storage unit to house the  shelves full of books, ( which is what I live in now) each in their own category from novels to health to poetry to  new age and many more. I had 75 categories of books and my own private bookstore  to peruse all I liked. One of the best perks is being able to keep the ones I wanted  for my own collection.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. Everybody and their brother got in on it, and each one would price their book at least a penny below the  next one, until they had driven the prices down so much there wasn't any profitability in it. I sold my business and went back to a regular job. Which actually  was good in a way. I needed to be out among people again. When you work from  home life can get pretty lonely at times.

Now I have a wonderful collection of books on many subjects. I have over a hundred  cookbooks, I have a huge collection of metaphysical subjects, histories and beliefs of  various religions, herbals, homesteading and sustainable practices, histories of  Scotland and Ireland, many various other subjects, I even collect books about books! I couldn't part with any of them.

My tiny house has 3 tall bookcases overflowing with  books and many more in boxes in storage waiting for the day that I have more room  to keep them displayed.

Yes, I am a bibliophile. I love the look and the feel and the smell of books.  My most recent purchase is from a guy named Lamar Alexander who has written a wonderful book called Simple Solar Homesteading. He sells it mainly as an e-book and you can find it here.

I don't like e-books as I want to touch and feel, and curl up on the couch with them, so when I purchased this, I tried a half dozen times and couldn't get it to download to my computer, (must've been my aversion) so I wrote and asked him to send me a printed copy, which arrived within a few days. I devoured this book in an evening and  it will join my other books on the shelves of which I will never part.

So now, I scour the internet to add to my collections, and I do appraisal work and have a rare book search service. So if you've been searching for a favorite book and can't find it, let me know. If there is one anywhere in the world, I bet I can find it for you. Buying used books is one of the greenest things you can do. It saves trees and one of the best ways to recycle.

Happy Reading!

So, I've been out digging when the weather permits, fighting rocks and tree roots and so far I've got a hole about 8 feet wide by about 12 feet long and about 2 feet deep. I've hit a few spots where I'm getting water trickling out of the ground, so I've interrupted some sort of seepage spring, and I was overjoyed until I started doing research and found out that's not such a good thing.

Surprise to me! I thought a spring-fed pond was the best kind you could have, but it seems that if you don't find the path on the other side of the pond it can draw the water out that you have worked so hard to put in.

Also, when you put a liner in, then that seepage is going to go underneath it and raise up the liner in the water. Not a pretty sight.

I also hit upon a huge boulder and thought that would be a nice feature in the water so I would leave it there, especially since it's too big for me to move,  but if I put in a liner then it also has to cover the boulder. I find, too that unless your pond is at least 10 feet deep, then you'll have to have a liner, so it will hold water.

You are also supposed to put in shelves at different heights to place plants on. You have to have at least one sloping edge just in case a critter gets in so it will have a way out and not drown. You have to have shallow areas for frogs and turtles to bask in the sun and lay eggs, if you're gonna have fish, you can't have frogs, because the fish will eat the eggs. If you have plants, then you need fish to help the water stay clean, if you have fish or frogs, then they have to have a deep area to hibernate in come winter. If you have plants, then you don't have to feed the fish. It should be partially shaded so that algae won't take over, but you don't want it under a tree because the falling leaves will dirty it and you'll be continually cleaning it out. You must check the Ph levels often, you have to drain it out once a year and clean it. Filters, pumps, aerators, fountains, UV lights, skimmers.... Whew!!

On top of all that, you can sink thousands of dollars and a lot of constant maintenance into it.

So many rules, and too much to consider... The internet is a great tool, but sometimes you can fill your head with too much information. This has become much more complicated than I ever imagined.

Gosh, I just wanted some water in a hole with some rocks around it and maybe a waterfall so I could enjoy the sound!

How does mother nature work out all of these logistics? It's a wonder we have any natural ponds anywhere in the world. I mean really, what's up?

I'm gonna take a short break, step back and imagine my pond filled with natural rainwater, a few frogs, some dragonflys and birds bathing, the trickle of a soft waterfall and then I'll probably do my best to break all the rules and let nature take it's course. I think she can do a much better job on her own without any more interference than  making hole in the ground....

I'll let you know how it turns out.

This has caused me to be cooped up in the house more this year. Instead of railing  against it, I got to thinking, this is a really good time to reflect on the things I have  accomplished so far, and plan what I hope to accomplish in the coming season. I  have a long list of things to do as soon as it warms up a bit.

February is month of ups and downs. I've had several inches of snow on the ground  for the last five days with temperatures in the teens and twenties, yet the weekend  is supposed to be 60 degrees. On the 'up' days, I've been outside digging a large hole  in the ground. I'm working on making a small garden pond and taking photos as I go  so I'll be able to post them when it's finished.

The down time has allowed me to do a lot of reading, research on the internet, and  cooking a lot of comfort food which is terrible for the waist line, but will come off  when the weather warms and I can get out and busy myself on projects around here.  Hopefully.

Seed companies send out catalogs in January for a reason. They want us to think and  plan and itch to get out in the dirt. That's one of my projects. I'll have a small  garden this year and I'm planning on one of the no-dig methods since I don't have a  tiller and I don't have any help. I have a nice big area cleared out that gets plenty of  sun, and rather than plant a home there, I'll make do with the one I'm in and use  that spot for planting potatoes and other goodies.

My biggest project will be to add an addition on to the house. I want a bedroom  with a closet and a bath with an inside shower. I may clear out a few trees right  here by the house and utilize the sun for a solar composting toilet and passive solar  water heater for the shower. That will give me 288 sq ft for a kitchen and living  area. That is plenty of room and I'll be able to build a permanent kitchen area  instead of the temporary one I have now. That should carry me through the next  winter and spring. I also plan on siding the rest of the house. That's easy and won't  take too long.

All these plans make me itch to get outside and get started until I look out and see  everything covered in white. Then I turn around and start thinking about what I'll  make for dinner or get on the computer and reach out to others.

Or, maybe I'll just take a nap.

I think I've become a bear, putting on a layer of fat to get me through the big winter  sleep, buried nice and warm in my den, then poking my nose out and sniffing the air  for signs of spring so I can get busy snuffling around in the dirt for food.....

These homes will last through the ages. They can be passed down through generations. They are made from the earth, made from materials that surround us, free for the taking. Homes that seem to rise up from the ground, completely in harmony with their surroundings. Homes that have stood the test of time, homes that have been around for thousands of years. They are made from all types of materials, depending on where you live. In the desert they  are made from clay and sand, in the woodlands they are made from mud and straw and stone and stick. Wherever they are they reflect their surroundings. If you haven't looked in to this type of building, let me introduce you. I want to prove the point that you don't have to have lots of money in order to get back to the land. What you do need is dedication and a strong back, or friends with strong backs. I've had plenty of time lately to do some web surfing and here are some great sites and photos.

 This house is amazing. At a cost of about $4,000 dollars these people have a beautiful and unique home. Here's alink to the website for more info: Low Impact Woodland Home

This home is about an hour away from me, I'd like to see it.It's a combination of rammed earth, earthbags and cob. Here's a link to the website Hobbit House Homestead 

This one is way cool Gary Zukers Hobbit House   

 Another from Fine Home Building

By the way, here's a very interesting article about using human waste to power vehicles:

The Norwegians really have it together!

The Cob Cottage Company has some great info and pics

Bear Bells

In Alaska's National Forests, a tour guide was giving a talk to a group of tourists about hiking in grizzly bear territory: "Most bear encounters occur when hikers, being extra quiet along the trails in hopes of viewing wildlife, accidentally stumble into bears. The resulting suprise can be catastrophic." 

To avoid this, he suggested that each hiker wear tiny bells on their clothing to warn the bears of their presence. "Also," he said further, "be especially cautious when you see signs of bears in the area, especially when you see bear droppings." 

One tourist asked, "How do you identify bear droppings?" 

"Oh that's easy," the guide explained, "its the ones with all the tiny bells in them!"

Just some ramblings today...

A couple of months ago I was on one my day trips and I saw the coolest idea. Wish I could remember where I saw it so I could go back and take a picture, but someone had used one of those huge old satellite dishes for a roof over a hot tub. I immediately thought it would also be a great idea for a roof over a gazebo. Those things are about 8 feet across. They had turned it upside down so it looked like a dome and painted it. What a cool idea, huh? I'm gonna keep an eye out and maybe I could pick one up for next to nothing.

I am a fool for outdoor cooking in any form and eventually I will have built around here just about every way that you could possibly cook over a fire. It may end up looking like a museum for primitive cooking techniques. 

Lately I've been investigating rocket stoves like they build into cob houses and how they could be adapted for indoor or outdoor cooking and heating and also to heat water. Very interesting...

My son tried to talk me out of buying animal crackers to give to the horses on the 

basis that it was some sort of comical cannibalism.... I just wanted to buy them

cause I could get a great big bag really cheap.

Would it be too odd looking if I used either straw bales or maybe earthbags to add on a bedroom to my house? I mean, even though I live in a metal insulated building it's still basically conventional looking and an addition should look like it belongs to the rest of your house right? I really like cob and earthbags but usually they are covered with some sort of mud/adobe looking material. I guess I could cover this house with mud too. Yeah, then I could give the neighbors something to talk about... 

I got a pretty awesome deal at a thrift store last week. I didn't know what it was till I got it home and did some research. Its made by Katadyn and it's called a Gravidyn. They had $3 marked on it and I asked if they would take less because two of the filters inside were broken. They let me have it for a dollar. I was just going to use it for water storage, but now I find out that brand new, these things cost $220 and they will filter 39,000 gallons of water.

New filters cost about $60 bucks each though, and it takes 3 of them. I need two, so I think I will save my pennies and get them. That way I can drink my rainwater.

What an awesome deal!

It's a little bit of trouble to make the first time, but boy, is it worth it. First you have to get hold of some good AppleJack. You can make it yourself, searches find several recipes, or you can combine apple brandy with Jack Daniels 1:1  or you can buy yourself a good bottle. Laird's AppleJack is the best and its the oldest  distillery in the country.

Mine came from somewhere back in the hills around here...

Next you have to find yourself a Sassafras tree. Locate one that's at least 2-3 inches  in diameter. Get out your trusty shovel and dig about 6-8 inches from the base of the  tree, find a good sized root and chop it off. Don't take more than one root from a  tree unless it's a really big one, you don't want to kill it.

Are you still with me?

Then you wash it real good, and peel the outer layer away and chop it up and boil it  for about 10 minutes till you get a nice ruby red color. I like to add sugar while I'm  boiling, some don't like it sweetened. I usually use a granite coffepot  and cook it  over a fire, so I use about a half cup of sugar to a cup of roots. Strain it and get yourself a good sized glass. I use a quart mason jar. Mix 3 parts sassafras tea to one part Applejack over ice and enjoy. Mmm,mmm, mighty larrapin'  !!

Sumac Ade

Another good drink you can make is from wild gathered Staghorn sumac. Gather the  seedheads in late July or early August for peak flavor. Taste them as you pick, because sometimes the seeds can be bland. You're gonna need 6-8  to  make a pitcher. Put them in a big bowl and pour cold water to cover and let them  steep till you have a nice pink color. Add some sugar to taste, strain through  cheesecloth and serve over ice. This is tangy like lemonade and for the grown-ups  you can add vodka.

Mint Julep 

Here's a good way to use up some of that Spearmint that's growing wild all over the place. Mint Juleps are a traditional drink of the south. There are several ways to make it, here is the easiest way:

Chill a mug or tumbler and add 2 teas sugar, 2 teas water and some mint sprigs. crush with a spoon, then add crushed ice and 2 oz of your favorite bourbon.

Here's a good recipe if you want to make several at a time:

Make a simple syrup by boiling together 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water for five minutes. Cool and place in a covered container with 5-6 sprigs of mint in the refrigerator overnight. Take that and make one julep at a time by adding crushed ice, 1 tablespoonful of mint syrup and two ounces of your favorite bourbon. Add a sprig of mint to garnish the top.

Something about this drink always reminds me of 'Gone With the Wind'.... Here's to ya!!