White Trash with a Purpose episode #13

I have been thinking on it and I believe that Husband needs his own tv program. You paying attention DIY Network? I mean the way he can take "trash" and turn it into something very useful is simply amazing to me.

The Hanging box

Here is a tip for you, contractors will throw out privacy fencing material if it is flawed, crack or just plain unpleasant. The ones that are cracked, as long as it isn't more than half way up, can be used for many other projects.

Now the Hanging box is wonderful for dry aging meats that hang no longer than 48 hours. Longer than that and you will need to regulate the temperature better.





Right now it holds four 20lbs turkeys easily. Later hooks will be added to hang smaller animals, as well as being plumed into some piping and a fire box to be used as a smoker.

The Linen Closet.

Many of you know that we live in a single wide trailer. The single most thing I hate about the homestead. We have finally resigned ourselves to the fact that because of the lay off we will be unable to build our dream house for a few years. Because of this fact we have decided to customize the aging mobile home. First is my linen closet. I do have a set of cabinets in the bathroom. Not enough room! Not only in the cabinets but also cramps up the bathroom.

Using old window sills and warped wood flooring, Husband created this for me.




The boys room.

For some strange reason, the people we bought the homestead from decided to take the closet with them. There was no doors, no shelves, no rail. I never figured that one out. We used it as part of the room rather than a closet. But the boys are getting bigger and acquiring more items.



A little paint and some cabinet doors to hide the blankets and seasonal clothing, it should be very pleasant to behold. He also has plans on building cubbyholes into the bottom for shoes and toys. It was built using dry wall that was removed from the closet (it had about 3 feet sticking out causing a large cubby area) window sills, wood flooring and pvc pipe. The shelf is strong enough to hold a television.

Total price for all 3? $0

Welcome to the doll house

I mean chicken coop.
















I know what you are going to say. . . white trash ingenuity at it's finest! Yes, that it a truck bed, yes that is an old topper. You are wise to catch that the wood is reclaimed pallet boards. Wow, never thought anyone would guess that was part of a bunk bed, and the feeder was made with an above ground pool part!

The greatest thing about the new coop? If things ever got really bad, we could live in it.

And here is the pic I promised of the ram-a-lamb

Today on Cribs

Bear with me here.

Yesterday was my husband's day off. There is a few things that need to get done here on the homestead. First was the nasty leak under the kitchen sink. We took the bike to the farm store and found nothing we needed, so off to the local hardware store. Luckily they had everything and we didn't have to ride into the city. We had to replace 1 foot of pipe and some fittings. Now that that has been replace, we have to replace were the floor rotted out.

Second on the list was building a new banny coop. No photo, so here is an artist rendition.

As you can clearly see, it is an old garage shelving unit. Rather stout. We removed the middle shelf, and placed a thin roost down the back side. We made 3 nesting boxes as well. Next was to secure a front to the box. We cut the removed shelf in half and screwed it to the top front. The other half of the shelf was cut so that there is a banny friendly size opening on the lower bottom. This piece was secured with screws and an old cloth tie down. The tie down is used in lieu of hinges, now it can be accessed through this lower panel for cleaning and egg gathering. Next we attached some old 2x4's to act as legs, then re-enforced those by making another skeleton of a box. Had the boys fill in with straw, and then gave them a flashlight to find the roosting bannies.

We spent $0 on it, as all the materials were things that people gave to use. And trust me, it is oh so much better then that quickly box a made a few months back.

Repurposing revisited

Once upon a time I discussed being ingeniously white trash. Stephanie made sure to correct me, it is called repurposing.

This weekend our homestead added to our already eclectic yard with a few of the following items.


Kansas is windy. Make no mistake about that fact. My father had brought a tent with him when he moved here from Florida. It was suppose to be a very fancy tent. Unfortunately the makers of said tent forgot one important detail, tie downs. We put the tent up and it promptly blew away. What to do with a broken tent? We repuropsed the poles.

By bending them to our needs we created a trellis for my rose bush. We will see how it looks in the spring.

Unwanted and rotting wood sat, sinking in the mud. Simple solution instead of burning, creating a containment area inside of the chicken/goat/sheep area to hold compost so that the chickens can eat and ummm. . . leave their refuse in the area. No nails were hurt in the making of it.

We also built a dog run out of repurposed cattle fencing. I neglected to photograph it. But it is good, trust me.

And finally, what to do with a rabbit hutch when there are no rabbits.


Use it to house your chicks. No more nasty bath tub here.

Once again, please show me or share with me your recently repurposed projects.

Ah, Spring straightening out

Warm weather has arrived. Of course this is the calm before the storm. Tornado classes have begun, and house cleaning is just getting under way.

I have been attempting to compact my life, declutter the house. I really don't want to take half this stuff into my new house. Currently I have 6 large boxes to take to garage sale. The one thing that is understood, is that all brick-a-brack or knick knack has to not only be interesting visually, but serve a purpose. They must be useful in some way. In a way this bothers me because. . . ok big dork alert. . . I collect D&D items. I have done this for years, I have figurines that are older than myself. Under this rule, all my D&D stuff has to go. ~sigh~ I might have to make an exception.

Yes there are times were I am materialistic. What real use do those figurines have? None that I can think of. It is more of a sentimental reason why I collect them. I do not obsessively hunt these things down, but if I stumble upon them I buy them {Hence the reason I rarely go into comic book stores anymore} Here is were I begin to rationalize even more, I don't feel it is compulsive buying, if I already have a set I will not re-buy it.

Justification. . . I rarely treat myself to things that are not needed for surviving on a homestead. I buy things for my family that isn't needed, but I general do not splurge on myself. My $2 figurines are just about it. {Unless it's a box set, then I am looking at anywhere up to $20}

Enough about those figurines, I am sure they are not that interesting to you. I was trying to make a point about compacting my life, and then felt the need to defend my choices. Looks like I light have some serious issues to work on.

What do you collect?

The garden is being cleaned up and prepped for potatoes, lettuce, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, radishes, and spinach. I am looking forward to working outside again and getting dirty.

Those of you wanting me to make a basket for next month's make it from scratch contest, you have one more day to rally the troops and vote here. Right now the soaps have it.

Compacting my life

Yes, yes, this is my third post of the morning, but I thought it would be fine as this is the only one that was written by me.

I am a member of the compacting web ring. I have been reading other's entries about what they are doing for the holidays, there is a lot of guilt about buying items, and lot's of worries about how their new compacting lifestyle will effect their loved ones. My worries are slightly different.

I am not sure I belong on the compacting webring. I am simplifying my life. Getting rid of things we don't use. But the buying, well let me tell you a little of what goes on around here.

I have no credit, my husband doesn't use credit. We always buy things with cash, if we don't have the cash, we don't buy it. We rarely buy things throughout the year {except if it is something that a child needs} we save many of our purchases for Christmas and birthdays. I got the new field scissors for my birthday, it was something I needed for the turkey. My husband doesn't read this so. . . For Christmas I bought my husband a new pair of saddle bags, a caponizing kit and my son's bought him some new CD's. He doesn't need the CD's, but my boys {the oldest} thought he deserved something fun. I will get things that are equally sensible. {Hoping for some more cast iron pans} We also buy all our big ticket items comes tax time.

I bought $400 US worth of books for $70 the other day. This is my frivolous purchase for the year.

Do I belong in the Compactors webring? Our Christmas will be the same size it is every year. This is in part because of the story I told you yesterday. And the fact that we don't buy things throughout the year. And I couldn't imagine feeling guilty for buying something that is not only wanted, but in my mind needed {Like the books} I wear the same clothes year after year {of course they're washed} As long as they are in good condition, they are worn. Of course I am a fashion taboo, looking like I am stuck in the 90's {though I could really care less} I wear my husband's t-shirts {he gets free shirts sent to him from motorcycle shops all over the world as a thank you} My shoes {boots} are usually gifts from other's.

So where does or should my lifestyle change?

I haven't really taken the pledge, as I don't know if I should. Not buy new items for a year? Reduce the amount I do buy? Where do I cut those items from? I don't think I can cut anymore than what my lifestyle dictates. The items I buy tend to help sustain the homestead. Some items do make life a little easier, but it still requires more work than what non-homesteader do. {Of course I could have not bought that juicer}

There are many things I would love to have, items to ease my chores and projects. But I can not justify buying them because of the expense.

To my fellow compactors, even with some of you "falling of the wagon" you are still doing great. I am awed by the fact that you have taken such a drastic measure in your lives, keep up the good work.