T Melville

I just thought of something that may help. If you'd like to use your kindle, but download the ebooks elsewhere, your kindle (or kindle app, on another device) has a unique email address. You can email ebooks of many formats to it. After a little processing time, it will show up in your kindle library. I used to do this a lot with books from project gutenberg. I found that I was happiest with the results if the ebook I was sending was in epub format.
If this sounds like something that might help, here's a link to instructions. If it's a little intimidating, let us know where you're hitting a snag and maybe we can walk you through it.

In what form or format are the ebooks available, and where are you allowed to download them from? There are lots of free ebook reading options available for windows, android and linux. (Mac too, I'd bet, but I haven't looked into it.) There is at least one free converter for windows and linux to convert ebooks from one format to another, though it may be difficult or impossible to use on proprietary ebooks like those controlled by kindle.

We might be able to help you find more resources if we knew a bit more about your situation and needs.

I'm thinking of making some beeswax candles and would like some input on enhancements. I want to keep everything as permie and non-toxic as possible. I know I can add ready made scents and colorings, but I don't know how they're produced or what's in them.

I'm really liking the idea of putting some cinnamon sticks in the wax. Is there anything in a cinnamon stick that hot wax could extract and hold onto? That would give me an option to use the scent even if I remove the sticks. The wax is so opaque that I don't think they'd be visible unless they were really close to the outside. Nobody has a worse sense of smell than me. I noticed that walmart has at least 2 different brands of cinnamon sticks. There's a significant price difference and I'd imagine a difference in potency. They were all sealed, I couldn't smell anything. I want to make candles with a pleasant scent as if cookies are baking, not an overpowering odor like being suffocated in a barrel full of cinnamon sticks. So... do I want to try the cheaper ones or the pricier ones?

I have a few pine trees out back, I have a hunch pine needles could be good for this project, though probably a different batch. I don't think I've ever heard anyone request cinnamon/ pine scent. I have pretty much the same concerns: can I extract the scent and remove the needles? What kind of potency can I expect?

I'm open to other scent ideas. Stuff from around the house, or leads on ready made scents that fall within the values I'm trying to adopt. Same with colors. Nothing natural comes to mind, unless polk berry purple is wax soluble. I doubt standard issue food coloring is within the value set. Plus I suspect it's water based and wouldn't dissolve properly. I could blend crayons into the wax, but I don't think that's a good fit. Surely Hobby Lobby has colorings, but I don't know what's in them, so again I'd love to hear from anybody who knows what's good to use and doesn't have stuff in it that you shouldn't breathe in.

T Melville wrote:...They must've been pretty standardized, at least at the time...

I looked it up at Ace Hardware. (A search showed they're popular in your neck of the woods.) It seems the solid rubber ones we used to sell have gone out of style. They do have one though. (See attached picture.) It looks like what's on my current washer. I've always suspected the old style would work too. This may be the evidence. Used to be, the hose needed to be flexible (and a little stretchy) and fit over the outlet of the machine. It would be clamped. I suspect the lower end of this new style is rubber and fits the same, but it would be good to check on that part.

Ace Hardware wrote:This washing machine discharge hose fits most washing machine discharge stubs

link

Thekla McDaniels wrote:...The washer has cracks in the drain hose.  I can’t find the model number...

Any suggestions?

My knowledge is old, things may have changed since. On the other hand, I don't know the age of your machine. At my first job (In a hardware store) we stocked one kind of washing machine drain hose, and didn't ask about make or model. They must've been pretty standardized, at least at the time. You could bring the cracked hose or  a tiny slice of it to confirm it's the same diameter and compatible material, but I doubt that's necessary.

So I continued to procrastinate more than I worked on that tractor. Even when I had to start collecting eggs from the brooder. A kid from church was looking for odd jobs, so he finished skinning it. I spent a day going over it, "sowing" the seams together with electric fence wire. When I got done, I don't think a bluejay could've gotten in. I moved 'em in.

The next day, my son gets my attention after work and says the chickens all appear to be dead. We both overlooked a vulnerability: the bottom of the gate could be bent up enough for a small predator to enter. One hen was alive but wouldn't stand. We figured she wouldn't last, but wanted to let her try, so we moved the old too small chicken tractor against the door to block it.

Later in the day I heard barking, so I quietly went to the door and watched. (The neighbor dogs come over, but they don't trust us, so they stay away from us and eventually go home if they know we're around.) As I watched, a small one of unknown (to me) breed, built kinda like a dachshund but fluffier, came and circled the tractor for five to ten minutes, and seemed to me to pay extra attention to the area where we blocked access to the door. I think I've found my culprit.

The hen we were still trying to protect died around dark. Final count: 9 dead, 2 missing. The 2 were probably drug off, but it's possible they got away and hid in a tree or in the bamboo. No known survivors.

My plan isn't completely formed, but I think it will involve stiffening the door. Motion lights mounted on the tractor? I think it will involve a goose and one chicken, probably a hen to keep it company. Small investment until I have more confidence in my tractor.

I have a few questions I'd like opinions on. Do I want to keep something in the tractor the dogs will want, so they help me with testing? Or does that just reinforce a habit that needs to be broken? Should I get my goose and chicken right away, or wait until spring? (First frost here is Halloween, give or take a week or two.)

I tend to oversimplify, because I frequently need very simple instructions, and this is how I find those simple instructions for myself. That said, and putting myself in your shoes, it looks like my chief goal is observation. For the most part, more observation (or more accurate observation) is better. So the more time I can spend on property or very near by, the better the quality of my observations. It sounds like you live farther away than the area where you could camp. If so, I think the camping will improve the observation. You'll learn about conditions that are at least local. Also, your site visits will probably be more frequent, so again, an improvement. I'd say that if you could live on site, that would be the best for observation, but the local camping will bring you more of that advantage than you have now.

The AI's answer seems to agree mostly, but I think it may have undervalued the local camping. They say "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good." Good is available, perfect isn't. I don't think you have to let that stop you.

If I try to do the full work a garden tends to require, my body gets real angry and talks me out of it. I no longer have anyone to help me. So for a few years I didn't garden. This year I was gonna have a garden even if I had to cut corners to make it happen. I acquired a few IBC totes a few years back and one didn't hold water because someone removed the drain valve by cutting the threads off the tote. There were 3" or 4" of old sawdust on the bottom. I spread one brooder worth of chicken bedding over that. Then raked leaves all winter and threw them in there. I didn't have any big pieces of wood to put in, but I did add in some sticks that fell in the yard. I made sure to keep them out of the top several inches. Of course the leaves settle a lot as they break down. It was full about three times over the winter. In the spring we divided a bag of cheap potting soil into about ten little piles on top of the leaves and put a seed potato into each. They grew decently, as did some peas, a squash vine and a potted strawberry and it's pups. Like a proper hugel, I expect it to improve over time as things break down. It looks like I'll have to top it up every winter for several years, if that ever ends. It's currently about 1/3 full.

All the water lines coming from our well were galvanized, installed before I was born. It was a suitable option at the time, but pretty pricey. So they used 1/2 inch pipe as a cost saving measure. The input/ output spot on the pressure tank was 1 1/4". When the galvanized failed, it was a much later date. Galvanized was prohibitively expensive, PVC also pretty pricey, plus it's prone to failures (At least in the hands of amateurs.) Then somebody told us about PEX. I wish IT was cheaper, but it seemed to be the most cost effective thing we looked at. It was cheap enough for us to go smarter, so we tried to use 1 1/4", but they didn't have it. Ran 1" all the way to the house, to the barn, and right by anywhere there would be a hydrant installed. Think of that as a trunk. Everywhere we needed a short branch for a hydrant, a faucet, a toilet or shower, we adapted to a smaller size. I don't remember if it was 1/2" or 3/4". Now any time we open any of that stuff, it can't rob ALL of the pressure or volume. In fact, when someone is using the kitchen sink and someone else turns on a hydrant to fill a tank or water a garden, it's hard to notice the difference in the house pressure. I recommend a similar strategy. Note that all of the check valves and pressure tank, etc mentioned above is in the well house in my case. If yours are placed differently, you'll probably still need to adjust for that.

I just found out we have a Recipe Index! It reminded me of a recipe of mine, and the index showed me to come here for foraged greens. When I took foraged lamb's quarter to the farmer's market, the people who wanted to give it a try wanted a recipe. "Treat it like spinach" didn't cut it for some of them. So I cooked up a few bags that didn't sell one market day, measuring and recording what I did. Then I printed up a table sign with this recipe on it. I may have also made up a few hand-outs of it as well, can't remember.

A Recipe for Greens (Lamb's Quarters this time.)
Ingredients:
½ Tablespoon Butter
½ Tablespoon Bacon Grease
½ an onion chopped
1 garlic scallion chopped (Can substitute 1 or 2 cloves of garlic (to taste))
¼ teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons Water
6oz Lamb's Quarter leaves

Combine all ingredients except lamb's quarter and water in a skillet. Sauté until onion is translucent. Add Lamb's quarters and water. Sauté until water has evaporated and greens reach desired tenderness.