Artsy

nice shadows on the slightly curved wall behind the dresser from the sun reflecting off the mirrors in the back of the house onto Melissa's carved animals.

of course, the problem is how you can see all the dust built up on the dresser. it has since been cleaned.

Basket repair

So I took the old laundry basket - I believe the one my mother used most of my life back in Oshkosh - in which the handles and top edge had disintegrated and fallen off and made it new!  I took green hazel sticks and wrapped the top edge as well as making a hoop handle (that goes all the way around for support) and then, in a blaze of artisticness, I used tank oak bark that I had peeled off a (downed) tree for another reason and wrapped the edge to make it look better. 

It actually seems pretty solid now.  Can definitely haul produce from the garden.

Chest and complaint

So I have this little leather and metal bound chest of my mother's.  It's been holding old letters (like from the 40s) for a long time.  The leather side handles (similar to front lift strap you can see) have rotted away and I need to decide what sort of handles to replace them with.  

I could do leather straps made from old gloves (I have plenty of old leather gloves around!) but that might not last that long, and it would be a struggle to get the pieces from the gloves to be long enough to be good handles.  I could easily do rope handles... or I could do wooden bent-branch ones... or scrounge up some sort of metal ones (which I sort have tried already and couldn't find anything easily) 

Anyone have any input?  I'm open. 

and here's just a little detail I'd like to complain about: our gas stove, a small 'apartment size' model with 4 burners is quite nice. works great for what we need.  One flaw is that the on/off knobs, made of a solid molded plastic, have a stupid groove down the middle: 

All that does is give dirt and grime a place to reside that's difficult to get at.  The groove is totally useless. It doesn't even indicate what direction the thing needs to be turned (the 'off' etc is printed on the edge) . it would be easier for the manufacturer to leave the groove off!  I think I'm actually going to call the company. yep, I'm that guy.

Chicken coop in the making?

Plans for a mobile Chicken coop:

Morel mushroom coming up between the stones on the patio.  so weird, as the patio is so new, and wouldn't seem to have any of the conditions they talk about for morels.  Now that it's foggy and wet again, I'll have to do some 'shroom hunting.

Shoes and Food

So, a couple years ago I bought these shoes at goodwill to mix cob with (it must have been during the cold part of the year and my feet were hurting). I just pulled them out from under the yurt, and they still had mud on them:

A bit of elbow grease and a bunch of actual grease and they are ready to go.  I love rescuing old stuff.

And, you can get get a lot of baking done in the earth oven while you're cleaning shoes:

Made a Trap

Well, I thought I could make a video to demonstrate this, but it would seem my simplistic editor on my laptop isn't all that great.  Still, I did post it to youtube. Check it out here:

and here's a few more still shots. The trigger stick:

 The trigger stick actually holding the door handle open:

 and the view of the door, with the closing latch at the bottom.  Notice the brick on the door adds speed to the closing.

Edit/Update:  I'm not making this *because* I want to catch something to eat (unlike what I say in the video) it's that I've been seeing evidence of varmits around the house and I want them gone.  I went out late the other night and just out of the corner of my eye I saw some bushy tailed thing take off. 

First Day of Spring

I set up a bunch of seeds to get started in my mini-greenhouse:

A few of the seed-saved tomatoes from last year have already started

Ongoing Repairs

The earth oven has been a trooper for quite some time (has it really been 6 years since it was made?) In all the expanding with the heating and cooling, as well as baking the moisture out of it, it's needed repairs a couple times. Today was another time.  I was able to pick out the chunk above the door with my finger.

So, a bit of mud and sand later, and we have a new upper lip for the dragon. The divot in there is to hold the chimney pipe during firing, which I find works very well to reduce smoke.

and this machete has been a challenge ever since it got up here.  I've made probably 5 handles for it, and the latest one is always my favorite.  However, because of the short blade, the handles I make extend beyond the 'tang' of the handle, and always end up splitting from the huge forces of hitting stuff over and over.  This time I glued the split and did a wrapping job with some nylon cord, but it won't last too long.  

 I could make just a short little handle that has the metal all the way through, but that cuts down on the reach (of course) and the blade is too wide to fit comfortably in my hand.. which would mean grinding it down to fit, a huge project. 

productivity

Well, someone is producing something around here... 

Busy Bees and Upgraded Cart

I added a chicken wire 'floor' to the old steel framed cart, which continues to help me drag firewood and brush out of the woods.  This photo is all the wood I used to fire up the earth oven for 3 hours and cook goat shanks in the dutch oven.  

And, as the spring sun warms up the area in front of the house, the mason bees are back and thriving.  They don't make honey, but they do a good job spreading pollen around.  Here's one coming out of the 'house' hole I built for them and we have on the windowsill: