Ra Kenworth

I guess if they are moving south, within north America, the insulation issue is more about keeping the heat out?

If the house is situated north-south, does that mean the roof pitch is east and west? Likely. Over any doorways on the south side: a possible north and south facing pitched roof ...

To keep the roof cool, if aesthetics allow, one could add photovoltaic panels to any south surfaces, and anywhere not north: glycol panels (solar heat ) with a gap of a few inches between the panels and the roof.

Of course most insulating fails at the windows. In a hot climate, a reflective layer on the windows would help a lot, as would thermal blinds. In a cold climate, most likely window replacement, but if the walls are getting thickened up by the inside, one could double up some windows if some are the same size, and replace half -- the ones that don't open could be doubled, with a decent space in between.

I can picture the lovely window ledges once the hemp is added -- in the living areas, windows would be crying out for some really nice red cedar.

If you ever get a chance to post pictures, I am very curious!

The hemp lime is fireproof too so I love that idea!

Edit: drink plenty of plain water!

Now that I no longer consume any alcohol, so no more light beer on a hot day, my internal thermostat works much better.
I think Matt is onto something about the high carb versus low carb diet (alcohol being high carb)

I also found that since I spent the winter walking around in the Arctic I no longer feel the cold like I did, but also seem to be more heat tolerant, although I am also supplementing daily with magnesium citrate so who knows? When up north I get leg cramping on occasion even when supplementing (and D-K2 of course)

When I bought my house 20 years ago, I made sure it was on a site slightly uphill, and the house was nestled into forest on the east side (so it doesn't get hot in the house until the afternoons when sun has been beating on the exterior walls ) and trees (also a good west windbreak )

One could also go wofati

Catie George wrote:Ra, if it makes you feel better, anything i think IS useful, just not to me, is being sent to the section of the local dump for people to grab free useful things - the showerheads, the better plumbing bits, random junction boxes, and all! Or specific homes, if I know people who'll use them.

Plus collecting all the random rusted metal bits and bobs and offcuts for scrap metal recycling.

It takes admittedly more time to sort thoughtfully, but i also find sending "good" things to the landfill challenging.

It does! I miss the old days of self serve dumps around here in Quebec. Some really remote rural areas in Ontario still have them though. They are a hoarder's paradise

I am much further from point of sale including hardware and gasoline, so I would keep those 6 shower heads, together, with the plumbing supplies, and plan on using them for an automated watering system for seedling/greenhouse irrigation. Since I wouldn't be smart enough to do them in series, I would get a manifold, or a biway and two triway then hoses off each one, and figure out what kind of adapters I need.

I guess I get joy from repurposing and saving things from the potential land fill <snort>

I have read and listened to a bunch of books because my organization issue is a problem with different portions of my brain communicating well with each other

But I have been working my solution: forget where this item you want to keep/put away ought to go: where would you look for it? That's your system whether you like it or not, so for now, put it in the location you would look for it. Not enough room? What can you sacrifice in order to keep how many? Or get creative and put shelving over head of doorways and ziplock items exposed to dust.

I am still hoarding books, and have a smashing board to install above the bathroom door, all the way to the shower, about 5 feet. It was salvaged of course. Zip lock bags and my bathroom library just became enormous! I have to get a stud finder... Lol or find a stud .. no not really: I'm old now

... but I have been making great headway with stuff, some of which came with the house 20 years ago so similar situation as the late hoarding father -- I totally get him

... being there are frequent power outages here, in the Gatineau mountains, two Rubbermaid containers full of recovered wax and heat damaged new wax bought dirt cheap, ready for the next time the campfire has coals that are perfect for candle making, and my metal cans, wicks, and hanging places are ready to go, 2 bins is not too much wax really. I just have to make sure they get made this summer. They make great gifts.

PS at one point, I had four Honda Civic Wagons

Lynne Cim wrote: ...For example, I saved all the heavy springs from my kids old trampoline, they surely could have another use.  .... It's more than just being creative, I do have some serious attachments to a few large projects I just cannot part with. They are part of my identity, my dreams for my retirement, part of who I may finally be in the end. ...!

I also have salvaged trampoline springs! And have saved some big projects that I am starting to tackle now I've recovered from ankle surgery! They are part of my current and new and important future identity -- all the things I want to accomplish with repurposed items!

It certainly is my identity: if I won a million dollars I would still repurpose 😂

I'm a book hoarder. My supplier for Giant Runt pigeons is as well. His hoard was much much worse: his upper floor was starting to give way to the weight, so he had to commit the winter to reducing his hoard. He marked all his books with colored dots designating subject matter. Once he had a subject organized and removed the books he absolutely couldn't part with, he brought them to a local used bookstore. He said if he ever needs that book again, he can look for it at the store, because the books don't sell quickly. He has bought a few back, but the majority are now effectively at a library.
He can quickly identify his books because of the dots which were too hard to remove and small enough that the store owner left all the stickers. They are fixed in place with clear packing tape.

The willow in the arctic never gets higher than a few inches: same as the blueberries, cranberries, ligonberries, but since I read this post, I frequently look at the willow and wonder if a willow leaching bed, based on the willow feeder idea, would be possible

Nonetheless, a trench or depression might be a good place to start a fruiting crop that can withstand wet feet like domesticated cranberries, where the zone is borderline.

Christine what I love about your low tech solution is that anyone can set up a rain barrel and bail water from it or pump it out, without having to get fancy with plumbing solutions
And
a room with a loo
Who could ask for more? Maybe a room with a loo, a view, a warm place have a smoke and preview the loo library, perhaps an insulated coffee carafe, somewhere to hang gloves, tuques,
The loo room makes the perfect back porch!

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote:
Around here, our dogwoods have red stems, and they bring a cheerful note in the winter, against the snow.

I've wondered what those red stems were: I do enjoy looking at them growing near the roadside

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:
The Kousa Dogwood has edible berries according to Eat The Weeds.. .

For those in Canada, whiffletree in Elora Ontario
has started stocking this Japanese dogwood
3-6 ft self fertile

I can't afford to buy artisan garlic to grow, so most of mine is from dried up pathetic Chinese garlic and it grows just fine!

I've been growing spices from bulk food sources for years: if it won't grow I won't eat it.
Also I go to an ethnic store to buy brown mustard seeds.
I buy sprouting seeds instead of small packets, which is by far the cheapest way to get daikon radish which I grow piles of (good stir fried like a non spicy root veg as well as leaves and pods and regular radish).

All my sunchokes were originally a $1 dried up discount bag over a decade ago!

I buy my massive quantity of dried peas from both the restaurant outlet and forage peas from the feed store and use them for ground cover on compost hills. The restaurant outlet peas are a regular feed for any of my caged pigeons I am holding back for breeding or overwintering because I can get lazy with supplying digestive rocks. The wasted peas in the cages go to compost so they aren't wasted after all. Forage peas are amazing as pea sprouts!

I feed my pigeons whole grain mostly, because that will sprout and I hold back a couple handfuls of sunflowers and grow them under cages until they are about a foot high and past the danger stage with the squirrels and chipmunks, then gently lift off the cages (have to use cages with small spacings about 3/4") lift off the cage carefully.

Incidentally sunflowers transplant well if done before the flowers open and I will build tipi's with extra sunflowers that pop up in inconvenient places, but do it when it's pouring rain because carpenter ants can be horrible!

Cage planting works well for me growing corn too but I find my corn must be corralled from the dog who blasts through everything after squirrels! Therefore I cage them differently for the season if I'm going to bother. However I buy my corn from a seed supplier because of the sheer bombardment of GMO corn and I don't want that in my garden though in Canada the judicial system (sometimes an oxymoron) can't jail people for having unwanted GMO corn contaminating their crops!

I feed my pigeons where I want something to grow and let them trample the wasted seed into the soil.