ana wynne

island...
basement?

not sure about that.  but dirt berms and platform, maybe?  you still have to build foundation walls and floor/roof.  then, for long term, you would need to think waterproofing.

i agree that you need to find out bank's defintion of house.  whenever, ive talked to banks about mortgages, their slant is what could they re-sell for that money they loan you.  many won't consider trailers or manufactured structures.

and when they say build within a year, i do think they are saying "start" within a year.

there are other loans for raw land that don't include construction.  and... well.. why not permies way?  "go fund me" your dream idea to construct it.

i guess that ignorance is bliss.  the chicken yard was here when i moved in.  

i have racoons and possums.  owls and hawks.  open top pen, open door coop is under a shade tree.  only time i have had trouble with hawks is before leave canopy grew cover.  even so, my girls fought them off.

as for rodents, the girls eat them.  and love eating corn snakes. they will chase each other. one grabs the goodie and the others try and steal it.

i worried more about them when they were smaller.  used fishing line trick someone mentioned.  but cleaning pen became issue, so down it came.

speaking of clean, don't attract pretators by leaving feed/scrapes out.  put out what they will eat up.  clean up what they won't.

my dog is a herding mix.  she will bark like crazy if a big bird is overhead.  if they are brave enough to fly low, she chases them off.

yes.  the bugs are there in the food we buy. as soon as air hits, it a matter of time.  food grade DE is often in our foods for this reason too. i guess you could add DE too, for those canning dry foods.

i remember my mom opening a bag of flour and stored in tins. she alway used a dry bay leaf and said it kept those little bugs at "bay". seemed to work until the flour was used up anyway.  she might have put in a plastic food bag with twist tie, maybe. there werent ziplocs then.  i just think she rolled the bag up.  the seals of the tins were sealed up with flour that escaped!  lol.

i keep dry goods in glass and use a dried bay leaf.  i give mom credit for it.  also, store in dry cool place.

i prefer glass, no leeching to worry about.  but, im small scale as far as stocking up.

dont forget to rotate your stock!

i love my dremel and all the attachments.  ( keep your thoughts to yourself please 😊 )

i also like some of the worx brand.

i have a few other products i use.. clamps and jigs and such.. but they are more for working by yourself & making it easier to work by yourself thats really a different topic.

...to know one, is to love one! 😛

i found a tomato hornworm on my plants last year.  they will destroy a plant!!  but this particular worm looked covered in pieces of white rice.  turns out there is a wasp that lays its eggs on it & they eat their way out of the host worm!

usually i pick them off. i dont see them every year.  i noticed this one wasnt feeding or moving much.  so i hit up google.  i found out to let nature take care of that particular one.

i dust my garden. not all the time. but i use food grade DE.  i have it for the chickens. i dust them and the nesting boxes/coop.

most times i use nothing.  i have tons of preying mantis and ladybird beetles. and evidently some pretty cool wasps.

sorry. new at the quoting thing.

i use homemade pit paste. its quite effective.  you still sweat, but dont stink.

arrowroot powder (baking powder) , baking soda (cornstarch) & coconut oil. organic, non gmo all available.

lots of recipes use this as base

i add bentonite clay, vitamin e oil & tea tree oil.

i also add essential oils.  just for smell.  you dont have to. if you do, be sure to mix it in oils first.  then add dry ingredients.

we "tested" and it lasted 3 days without offending ourselves!!

you might notice your armpit hair gets softer and more manageable!  ha!

Andreas Brevitz wrote:I shower maybe once every third day and then I don't even soak my hair. I am one of those doing the NO poo.  I "wash" my hair with water only maybe once every two weeks. It works great. If you try this you will experience a "transition period" like that described above. Oily hair and you should also expect some itching. After a while it feels great. I am not cranky.  I had no trouble going cold turkey, I guess because I had this grungy long hair thing going on anyways.
Don't get me wrong, if you use this method there will be people who think you look dirty. It probably won't ever be as if you used shampoo. In my view that's a good thing. It's all a matter of perspective, nowadays I look at shampooed hair and I think to myself; "Ew! That's unhealthy!"I also think that oily hair is not to be confused with dirty hair. The body produces these oils for a reason and when you get all obsessive about getting it out your scalp probably won't thank you. This irrational fear of oily hair is something people need to work on. Despite all of this my hair does not stink. People often tell me I smell nice.

I have one problem with my personal hygien. I've heard about people who stopped using soap on their bodies and instead scrubs with water and salt. Apparently after a while the body odor issues dissappear. This sounds almost like the method Paul is talking about. Water does the trick! My issue is swetty armpits. I have always been a "hot" person, no pun intended. In the winter I wear less clothes than others and in the summer I sweat more than others. On top of this I take a medicine and one of the side-effects is it makes me sweat even more. The thing is I can't seem to get rid of the need for deodorant. The deodorants I've found contain all kinds of nasty heavy metals and perfumes and shit. A bit of advice would be appreciated!

i inherited 7 chickens a few years back from a neighbor who past away.  i never really kept a tally of costs until about a year ago.  now i have 5 girls, older girls.  they follow me around like puppies and will live out their years without being put in a pot.  they still lay like crazy in spring and taper off as it gets more hot & humid.

once they are gone, thats it for me.  i sell their eggs to pay for feed ($6/18ct) and, as they are older, they cant keep up with the rising costs.  i mix their feed, scratch grains & seeds. raisins & oatmeal.  and high quality dog or cat food.  (i used commercial feed & found it was going to squirrels & birds. plus they stopped laying all together.)  they also forage and get scraps and they love cottage cheese.  my dog gets spoonful, i eat a spoonful and they get a spoonful.  a container goes for a few days. a fun treat.

my dog is 15. she never caught food. she would turn her head & close her eyes. and then ask "why would you throw food at me?"  when i began throwing bread at the chicks, she began to bark.  so i threw her a piece & she caught it!!!  it became a game.. throw bread to girls & she would bark for her turn!!  also, one of the girls began to catch!!

if you add the benefits of free entertainment, hands down, worth it!!  work and effort, no way!   but thats not what its about.  thats not what we are about.  thats the difference.

really cool !

when you gut it, keep the tub.  it makes an awesome firepit !