Lydia Pfalfav

I always loved peonies, roses, lilacs & lavender. When I moved to the south several years back I discovered Osmanthus & I can't get enough of it!

I check that site every so often & do a bit of research for when we get our own rural place (hopefully soon!)

There are so many adorable coops & ideas there. What we build depends on what kind of land we end up buying - like all farming/homesteading projects naturally.

One of my favorite blog posts on something to watch for as a newbie, or even someone who's been doing it forever: Chicken Math
My Pet Chicken is my 2nd favorite chicken site so far. (Sells chickens, coop kits & other misc chicken-related items.)

Just saw this today while clicking around the net:

Polished Tosa Shikkui

My husband I & end up moving around the country every 2-5 years & the best way we've kept in contact was through online games. (Most of our extroverted & introverted friends drifted away in short order when we relied on phone calls & emails.)
Most of my friends are online gamers as well because we'd rather be doing something else that's interactive so we're not so focused on socializing. Whenever we hop online & get hit up to chat, we'll tell each other "No thanks, my social bar is full for now but we're up for killing a few internet dragons instead."
--The Sims has a bar system of needs like hunger, hygiene, sleep, social, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqL0NsgjVzg

Keyhole garden, brick at 45 degree angle w/ no mortar. That might be handy for you if you want to skip mortar. =)

Brian Knight wrote:Concrete floors are tough to beat and I personally feel orthopedic concerns are perceptual.

For some of us it's not perceptual. I've had chronic back pain for most of my life & I've found that working & living on concrete floors escalated my problems significantly.
It takes me months to recover when I'm not on them for 8+ hours a day.

(My mom owns a small slab house that I stayed in for about 6 months, a couple years ago & it took me 5 months to recover.
She had industrial carpet over a thin pad for support, but every time I sat on the couch, chairs or laid in bed, I could feel the hardness of the concrete through them.
Places with a lot more padding are much better, but still quite noticeable for me.)

If you feel like crap just hanging around at a store for an hour or so, you'll notice it more at your house.

--This is only my perspective & I've known many others who have no issue, but it's definitely something significant to consider if you think it might be a problem for you, specifically.

I just wanted to add my 2c on my personal issue w/ concrete flooring. YMMV. =)

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I've been looking over a lot of natural building systems for when my husband & I get our own land & I'm looking at so many extra flooring options so I don't have to do concrete - at least for flooring.

I also found Fire safety experiments on Japanese traditional wood-based construction.

Nothing to add to the topic, but +1 for the angry lumber.

Shading Your Home (Australia)

You might want to try some Dwarf Citrus. I bought 2 trees this past summer from Four Winds Growers & they're doing quite well. I ordered a Kishu Mandarin (3 yrs) & a Meyer Lemon (3 yrs).
They have a variety of other fruit trees that you can check out too. They have concise care guides as well.

I've also bought a bunch of bare root trees from the Arbor Day Foundation. (-Various cherries (decorative & edible), thornless honey locust & a shrub that I'm having a complete brainfart on the name at the moment... ^^; )

ETA: I also bought a Ceylon Cinnamon & a Goji plant from Logee's. They also have some other fruit plants as well as TONS of indoor & tropical plants. I LOVE this site for my houseplants & unusuals.