Occupy the Bath House Movement

This is just great! 

Modern Day Redneck is building a solar bath. And for a donation your blog can be advertised on the wall.

Now the solar bath in itself is very cool. I will have to follow his progress and see if I can convince Husband we need to do this. (I have him talked into a redneck or maybe it is called hillbilly, not sure I, I am a flatlander after all,  hot tub)

Now I do believe in the pass it on luck of life. You guys have been so kind to me. You rallied when I really needed the help. I am tempted to get my name on his wall, but with the hay situation, it isn't feasible. So the best I can do is send you that way, to think about getting your name or blog up and that bath house.

Enjoy the bath.

From Modern Day Redneck via comments " Have your blog family mention you sent them and I will put you as a honorary Bathroom Wall Occupier and your name will be on the wall."


Now that rocks. 

Shearing Donkey

I went over to my mother's Saturday night and watched the movie M. An incredible film. I have always thought Peter Lorre was a great actor, and this just re-enforced the idea. I can't do youtube on my computer, but if you can, here is a fantastic scene from the movie. If you get a chance to see the entire movie, go for it. M was smuggled out of Germany in the 1930's, it also contains a bit a cursing, much more than what we were doing at the time. Cursing in American films didn't begin until the 1970's. The movie is in German, but has subtitles.

When I got to mom's, she was watching the Angel 2 Network. I have never seen it before, but then again I don't have satellite. It was the Art of Breadmaking. The hosts where Hannah and Ceecee. It was on a homestead, so I found it fascinating. We watched for a bit. Personally I didn't care for some of their recipes, but I am sure they were good, just a bit more complicated then I would do. It could have been my on the show, the only difference was they didn't have Korn, or Death blaring in the background. It was produced by Franklin Springs.

I have noticed a huge upswing in people coming by. They seem to be all looking for info on How to Water Bath Can Green beans. I forgot about the little argument I had with a commenter.

Yesterday husband and I sheared Donkey. Those of you that don't know, Donkey is our sheep. You can read about how we came about getting and naming Donkey in a series of posts called The Quest for the Demon Donkey.

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

As I was saying, we sheared him for the late summer. Usually it gets so hot here in August that we just melt, but we broke record lows here yesterday. Didn't I mention something about summer not coming to certain parts of the US this year? I digress, husband broke out his mad lassoing skills. Donkey just wasn't cooperating yesterday. Most of the time he will come right up to you for a little scratch and a treat, but he is a smart one, and knew from the look in our eyes that we were up to something. Husband got him lassoed, and he pulled while I pushed. He isn't a small little lamb ya know.

Once in the barn, it was a matter of flipping him. Once on his back, he is very passive. He definitely gets tense when you shear the wool around his neck, but do you blame him? I know I would freak. He must have got caught up on a fence at some point, the wound is now healed, but he lost a chunk of skin on his belly, now has a scar where no hair will grow.

It took us 4 hours to hand shear him. We have not gotten any faster. But Medium got to try his hand at it. If we can get him to practice maybe he will be as fast as those Aussies on TV get. They do it in what, 10 seconds? I know you have seen the shows, where they have the contests. Even when you aren't a homesteader, it sure is fascinating stuff.

Right now I can hear husband and medium talking in the bedroom. Husband is telling Medium how blood vessels work. Medium is an interesting little guy, his interest are varied. He will grow up to be a snake breeding, homesteading Doctor if he keeps this up.

Looks like on the name game, Winston is in the lead. 4 days left to vote.

Blatantly sharing links

If you have ever stopped over and checked out Lynn S' blog and site The New Home Maker, you know that she publishes a wealth of information about various subjects that effect you, your family, home and community. Just in case you haven't yet visited Lynn S, she has a post up about her apple tree, and it's unfortunate demise. In it she talks about two projects that she is involved in doing. City Riparian is a great urban project that I thought some of you might be interested in looking into. From their site "City Repair was formed in Portland, Oregon in 1996 by citizen activists who wanted a more community-oriented and ecologically sustainable society. Born out of a successful grassroots neighborhood initiative that converted a residential street intersection into a neighborhood public square, City Repair began its work with the idea that localization (of culture, of economy, of decision-making) is a necessary foundation of sustainability. By reclaiming urban spaces to create community-oriented places, we plant the seeds for greater neighborhood communication, empower our communities and nurture our local culture." If your interested, you can look here to find out if they have a group in your area.

Green Mountain permaculture is a great resource to help your create the perfect balance in your food forest. They will teach you how to plant items that will be beneficial to each other. Natural pest control, natural weed control.

Here are some of my own links to help you along the way.

Do you know where to get the best organically grown food in your area, or where the farmer’s markets are? If not check out Local Harvest. Simply put your zip code in, and they will tell you what and where the farms/farmers market are. The USDA also has a national directory to help you find the farmers markets in your state.

Food News has a pocket guide to fruits and vegetables. Keep this list handy when you go shopping to help you avoid the worst pesticide offenders.

Need a co-op? Coop Directory Service: Find A Natural Food Coop Near You is another online resource to help you along your way.

On to the apples;

No apple update today. My father arrived yesterday, and I had little time to do much. Today is another story.

If you have any links that can help simplify the frugal or natural way of life, please share.

Misc. sites I like

• All Foods Natural
• Blogathon 2006
• Bookcloseout
• First Book
• Forest Grove Soap
• Groovy Green
• Kansas Wildflowers and grasses
• Oceangram
• World Food and Wine