I mentioned before that the people I bought my new-old house from were into landscaping that … well, could best be called chaotic (photos). While they completely neglected the house during their 15-year residence, they did a lot to the yard. And a lot. And a lot. And a lot more. And then more on top of that. They built ornamental fences and archways and hanging gardens and benches and canopies and screens. And they put in ponds and fountains and birdhouses and … well, you name it. And they built a fence and hung stuff on it and nailed…
Category: Rural and small-town living
Life far from freeways, Starbucks, malls, and other benefits/distractions
I’ve noted before how I only have to put an item in my head and eventually it’ll turn up at a garage sale. This works so well that my house and my small “workshopette” are both furnished almost entirely with garage sale & thrift store items. One thing that had been on my “GS vibe” for a while is a trickle charger for car batteries. This became more urgent when I went to start the XTerra last week and couldn’t. So yesterday, right on schedule, there it was … Kewl. High-tech electronics and everything. A little beat up cosmetically, but…
Been stressed and grouchy dealing with a maddening foster dog who came in at a maddening time and stayed under maddening circumstances. Thank heaven he leaves this morning for doggie reformatory a wonderful program to help pit bulls and pit mixes. And thank heaven wonderful volunteers have stepped up to transport him so I don’t have to. Oh frabjous day, callooh, callay! This has been a great (bad) time for considering things that hack me off. Yeah, yeah, I know that’s not the most noble use of what small brainpower I have. But a little venting is good for the…
Though I expect to be in town for quite a while, I gave in to temptation this morning and called about some small country acreages with owner financing. The spot is beautiful, the price pretty high (especially considering development costs), but the seller turned out to be a cool guy very much worth talking with. He’s into permaculture is a longtime builder of woodstoves. He was all excited about this: the rocket stove mass heater. (Here’s a Wikipedia article, which contains some reality checks.) It’s a recent derivation from the rocket cook stove — though the fundamental technology has probably…
This is about a court hearing held last week for one of the Michigan pig farmers resisting the slaughter of heritage breeds. Via Bakers Green Acres, which has become Information Central for this particular tyranny (capitalization and punctuation per the original): According to several counts, between the Attorney General, DNR and Department of Agriculture there were 17 State of Michigan Employees in the courtroom concerning this case. The lead characters were all dressed in black (Mark likened it to the Matrix). Security was intense. At this small, rural county courthouse everyone was supposed to go through metal detectors, past numerous…
I ran into these GeigerRig hydration packs at Costco this weekend. Not a regularly stocked item, but a “traveling road show.” I’ll say right out that they’re pricy. OTOH, this is without a doubt the coolest backpack hydration system I’ve ever seen. * It’s pressurized so you’ll “never suck again.” (I hate sucking on those things, especially when I’m panting from climbing a hill.) The water squirts. So in addition to drinking, you could use it to spray-cool yourself, clean a wound, wash a utensil, or even squirt the dog or the kids. * There’s an optional inline water filter…
The slaughter continues. In Michigan, farmers are killing their own pigs out of fear of their state government. Here’s an account from Natural News. But resistance is building. Here’s email from Greg “Moose Man” Johnson (forwarded by D; original capitilization and punctuation retained; a few redundant or personal passages cut): DNR has Breached Bio-security at two Heritage Breed Farms Big Green trucks containing a specialized task force of DNR agents has rolled across Deer Tracks Ranch and Renegade Ranch this past week. Yes, there are dozens of Dead Pigs in Michigan. This needless slaughter of innocent pigs rest solely on…
So you thought the National Animal Identification system was dead? Silly, silly you. Meet Traceability for Livestock Moving Interstate and … “Chicken Crimes.” (Tip o’ hat to Dan Adams of Earthineer.)
That waitress who naively turned her $12k tip over to the cops? She’s getting her money back despite police claims that the cash … um, yeah, um … “smells like marijuana so we have to keep it, you know, for your own good.” (Amazing how self-congratulatory the jerks manage to be even after the whole country beat up on them for stealing from the poor woman.) Oh, Arizona, the silliness of your legislators never ends, does it? Now they’re trying to declare that you can be pregnant up to two weeks before having sex. Too late! Too late! You missed…
Last June, I posted about a Southern California county’s all-out war on the little guy — and the little guy’s property rights. At the time, nobody was really sure why thuggish “code enforcement” teams were rampaging across the Antelope Valley, evicting homeowners and demanding that people tear down their homes. But we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that it turns out to be yet another post-Kelo landgrab by a government on behalf of government cronies. (H/T to S for the update.) This time it’s the so-called green energy industry. And how can you blame them? After they get billions in…