Off The Grid And Loving It

Wild and tangled vine that caught our attention Ever gone past something a few times and not seen the potential ? Suddenly spotted it in a different way ?  suddenly it wasn't just an artistic photograph just waiting to happen, suddenly it wasn't just a vine to trim but potential weaving material - know what I mean ? this has almost woven itself - how hard can it be ? Now I am no weaver - in fact the weaver in the family has taken a definite disinterest in my many hints !  How hard can it be ?  The vine has practically woven itself - all I need to do is to trim if off and loop it together - surely ?  Artistic, twining vine just begging to be made into something  Well apparently, it is not quite so easy as I thought it would be - after looping it this way and that my weaver disinterested party is now pretty interested to see how a non basket weaver will attack this wee problem and exactly how the finished product will look.  I can see him ...

These are the much cooler shorn sheep wondering what else is going to happen ! We went over to a fellow weavers to find out how to warp up a loom (properly !) and spotted two beautiful fleeces in the garage - mmmnnn ...... after a tour of the weavings inside her house and looking at  several Rya rugs she had made we could hardly wait to make  our own and the fleece was practically calling out to us.   We decided to use the fleece in the grease - that means without washing  and it is beautiful to use.  so far we have made a car seat head rest each and a cushion for a friend and one of the car seat head rests hasn't quite made it outside as it is on an office chair.  In fact I am using it right now as I type this :) Ecstatic to get this lot ! Fleece - we can hardly wait to get into this lot - going to be a mat, a car seat headrest and cushion  Airing in the sun and planning to weave this lot in rya, knotted weaving in the grease...

Want to  get Unlimited FREE Amounts of Energy whenever you want?   Want to reduce up to 100% of your energy bills ?  Anyone heard of Nikola Tesla ?      Tesla was a genius who invented the basis of the electricity we use today.  It was in 1934 that he announced that electric power is everywhere and in unlimited quantities and you simply did not need coal, gas or oil to power up machinery.  This was shocking enough to come out with in the 1930's but he didn't do himself any favors with the big guns of the multi million dollar electric companies who probably saw him as practically growing horns and they were out to silence him and his ideas.  Reckon you would like to know the secret too of saving all those dollars you give to the electric companies   ?   Grab your chance to get off the grid and get free electricity that's transportable, easy to use and cheap .  Its easy to set up, not massive costs to install and b...

Got a few links for you today that are too good not to share ! Camping Wind Turbine Link:   http://www.instructables.com/id/Camping-Wind-Turbine/ Build your own Yurt  link  http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-yourself-a-portable-home---a-mongolian-yurt/ Solar Funnel cooker  http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Foil-Glue-The-Solar-Funnel-Cooker/ Portable GerTee  - Tent home  http://www.instructables.com/id/GerTee-Portable-tent-home-made-of-recycled-materia/ DIY 7 strand rope from plastic bags  http://www.instructables.com/id/Useful-Rope-or-Cord-from-Plastic-Shopping-Bags/

We have Italian friends who made their own fresh pasta and came over to show us how we could make our own pasta in our own home.  We now make if often and as we have a lot of fresh eggs have been making a lot to dry and store for later so we have a good standby for a fast delicious meal. The Recipe: One and a half cups of flour (sifted finely) Make a well in the middle and add two large eggs (free range if possible) My friend uses his hands but I used a fork to gradually add the flour to the eggs and (if required only) add a small amount of water as my friend says maybe "the depth of 2 fingers in a glass!" I only needed to use a very small amount. Knead the dough until it is smooth and cover and let it rest for at least half an hour, but an hour is better. Clear a table or bench so you have lots of room and firmly attach your pasta cutter.  Make sure you have a lot of clear space as I discovered when I covered everything in sight with flour and pasta including the c...

I had run out of hair gel and couldn't find any in the local store that would be OK and I didn't like the hefty price.  What to do without wasting a whole day driving up to the nearest shopping center with a decent selection.  After trawling the net in search of something I could use that I had in the cupboard I came across quite a few ideas - some of them complicated and some using obscure things that I didn't have to hand when I spotted this simple and easy to do hair gel that was fast to do and came out great. all you need is agar agar  ( a sea vegetable, available at Asian stores, ethnic stores,  or buy online - you can get powder or flakes or strips and they all work well - add water and  yep, that's it !  I added some rose geranium essential oil then a few drops of orange blossom so I would impress the chickens as well and today I have a really cool hairdo with lots of body, all for the cost of about two minutes effort and an impatient wait f...

Raw Materials for weaving Have a ripping good time and tear up your old clothing to make a woven cosmetic bag - this is the other side of the green bean bag all done with old rags.  Recycled frozen green bean bag woven into cosmetic purse  Living rurally, its not always possible to whizz into town when something wears out and what do you do with all that plastic when you don't have a waste collection point handy ?  Recycle them into something useful - now with a thriving garden you might need to wait a bit to collect frozen veggie bags but hey, there are always your friends in the city to collect for you and why add to landfill something that can turn out so great.  We have just taken up weaving and are pretty amazed at what you can weave and so fast too.   The 'yarn' or 'plarn'is easy to make - just cut half inch strips of plastic bag and thread them through each other to make a continuous strip and wind onto your weaving shuttle and there...

Home made wine brewing, Green Grape, Blackberry, Feijoa and Apple Cider vinegar  We have recently moved house complete with the newly made wine sitting fermenting in its bottles complete with airlocks fitted to keep out insects. The wine is still bubbling away nicely and we have invested in several more glass  carboys   so we can siphon the wine off to leave the dregs or finished yeast that has settled in the bottom. Make Your Own Delicious Homemade Wine  To our intense disgust the wind whips across the valley and almost rips the plants out by the roots and we have found our new neighbours have a taste for anything - especially green but anything will do and my Bromeliads next to the fence have "chomp" sized pieces missing as they grazed along.   Wind power here would not be a problem ! New Neighbors  Three of the flock were here when we discovered their fondness for our plants - just as well the rest of the flock weren't in the same paddo...

Compost making is critical to a healthy garden and healthy lifestyle and anything and everything that is organic can be added.  If it has lived and breathed it can be put in your compost.  There are a huge range of composts from basic wire circles to keep it enclosed to ready made composts  that are permanent and   bench top mini recycling systems   called Bokashi  containing everything to  break down waste.     Whatever system you use, start one straight away as bought compost just doesn't contain the life force and essential elements in usable form that is readily available to the plants.   As you can see from the post on butternut squash it makes it practically impossible to fail with a crop that has been planted in compost and even a handful at planting time will help a plant to be stronger and grow better.     Here are a few more to consider, or you may like to get some netting and make your own to the s...