MoPID: Month of Permaculture Innovations at Dogstar

MoPID post #9 for Sept 9th, 2022

24oz Wilderness Shower

https://permies.com/t/190850/personal-care/purity/oz-Wilderness-Shower

If we're at a party or something and you get me started about all the uses for these little pump sprayers... I'm sorry.  You brought this on yourself though, I totally warned you.

MoPID post #10 for 10 Sept, 2022

Sick day

I caught something that's going around and am pretty under the weather.  No real formal post today, but I've attached some pictures of the "deciduous vine trellis" I'm making to shade some of the windows in the front.

I was using a tarp to do this, but I got tired of looking at it. It's not finished yet, and the very keen-eyed might notice that it's just a bunch of conifer boughs attached to a frame.  The tarp was fully blocking the windows and it has actually started to get a bit chillier up here, so switching to dappled shade makes sense.  In theory the needles will come off as the season progresses and more light is desired anyway.  Also, I picked the fir boughs because they were the only sheet-like natural material around here that I could think of.

The frame is made from some half rotten boards that came off the sawmill while getting it calibrated.  The tree they came from was killed in a fire five years ago and a fair amount of decay has taken place.  By "deep charring" them I thought I might slow further deterioration since they are strong enough for this project in their current state. We'll see.  I made a little hat for my stove to help with the charring and it made a huge difference.

I also steeped some fir needle tea, it's tasty and I guess has a lot of vitamin C.  Didn't sleep much last night so I'm off to do that now.

MoPID post #11 for Sept 11, 2022

Slow going, more setbacks

I feel like both my brain and body are running at half speed while sick.  Fortunately today was a lot better than yesterday, but I did a stupid thing of letting a bike with forty pounds of water in the basket fall over on my ankle.  Easily preventable if I had thought about the situation more or if my reflexes were at normal speed... but alas.  I took that as a sign that maybe today is more of a computer day and less of a "do physical things" day.

Two of the projects I have been working on for this series are coming along but hit some snags today as well.  One of them, that has the working title "Danger Tape" I might end up skipping altogether.  The other one, code name "Kitchen Yo-Yo" is having some real hysteresis issues and needs a lot of aesthetic polish as well.

I learned some new tricks in QGIS for another project, happy about that.  A small bird, I believe some type of Vireo, ran into a window and didn't survive... not as happy about that.

I'm going to make another cup of fir needle tea with honey.  It's quite good, though very mild, and hopefully it will help me get over this cold faster.

MoPID post #12 for Sept 12th, 2022

Dirt Hatchet - Higher Uses for Low-End Tools

https://permies.com/t/191483/permaculture-upcycling/ungarbage/Dirt-Hatchet-Higher-Tools

Still getting back into the swing of things after being sick, feeling about 80% so this is a bit of a mini-post.  I don't really have an exact word for the thing I feel about the Dirt Hatchet.  It is something like grit or gameness; the usefulness comes from the fact that is can be put in situations too dirty or dangerous for a quality tool.

MoPID post #13 for Sept 14th, 2022

Ergonomic Skillet Handle

https://permies.com/t/191854/kitchen/Ergonomic-Skillet-Handle

Yeah alright it is just a stick.  But it is a specific stick and it works better than a regular skillet handle, try it out!

David N Black wrote:MoPID post #9 for Sept 9th, 2022

24oz Wilderness Shower

https://permies.com/t/190850/personal-care/purity/oz-Wilderness-Shower

If we're at a party or something and you get me started about all the uses for these little pump sprayers... I'm sorry.  You brought this on yourself though, I totally warned you.

This is my favorite way to shower without running water.

David N Black wrote:MoPID post #13 for Sept 14th, 2022

Ergonomic Skillet Handle

https://permies.com/t/191854/kitchen/Ergonomic-Skillet-Handle

Yeah alright it is just a stick.  But it is a specific stick and it works better than a regular skillet handle, try it out!

How much would shipping be to 54541? Have any in mahogany?

Coydon Wallham wrote:
How much would shipping be to 54541? Have any in mahogany?

Unfortunately the product is not quite ready for market, haha.  I see a big issue that I didn't address in the post which is that every skillet manufacturer puts a different sized hole or slot in their undersized handles.  Maybe once I make the two-piece version with a pressed in wooden peg, they will be easier to customize... then I can be of more help .

MoPID post #14 for Sept 15th, 2022

Skillet Stick 2.0

https://permies.com/t/191973/kitchen/Skillet-Stick

The amount of silly preamble in each post is inversely proportional to how cool I think the thing is... just sayin'.

I do actually like this little trick and I think some people could find it pretty useful, but it is a fair amount of work to get there.

MoPID post #15 for Sept 16th, 2022

Tin Can Mugs - Prepared Three Ways

https://permies.com/t/192054/permaculture-upcycling/ungarbage/Tin-Mugs-Prepared-Ways