Category : Alternative Living

Wood Burning

Don’t know about YOUR area, but here: Snow and WINTER.
For you wood burners, I write this, for others contemplating a PELLET stove:  Before you get one, THINK!  If your Elect, goes “down”…SO DOES THE PELLET STOVE!  It NEEDS ELECTRICITY TO RUN.
In short, if you think it’s a good “Back Up” buy…it ISN’T!  Aho?
Now for the others:  If you are one within reach of a SAWDUST Pile,  GET PAPER BAGS….Along with “cast-off” Tiny wood CHIPS (etc.).   Doesn’t need to be BIG pieces,  Then mix some of the little pieces Within a BAG of SAWDUST,  Do this in paper bags.  Fold the top over your “mix” and light.
The “chips” will cause the SAWDUST to Rekindle via those chips…keeping the sawdust smoldering and heating.  Aho?
We had a 55 gallon Barrel Stove,  Each night we’d put in 3 bags,  BURNED ALL NIGHT!  Only took 3 bags to keep our 2 bedroom, place comfortable.   Did this 2 winters (before moving).  Sure cut down on fire wood.
 
Good Luck,  GB   re

Camping WATER TIP – Plus

How to get  portable water while hiking:  I bought a small FOLDING umbrella (1,00 Cheap Shop) and a pair of lady’s Nylon socks (49 cents…same shop).  I’ve cut a 1 inch hole at top of umbrella and glued a patch of sock over the hole. Then added a stabilizing “line” on the INVERTED (now) umbrellas AND packed a large mouth CAN in / around the can.  Both little hole and can opening now  “filters” from debris / insect and  mice entry.  (I will buy a collapsible BOWL ($16.00) when I’ve spare $$…more convenient to take and less room in pack then a can.

The umbrella turned up-side-down and placed (at a slight tilt) atop the container.  Any rain / snow / dew(?) now caught. 
The FOUR lines staked down to hinder wind.  Aho?
The Weight and Size quite “takeable”.
With this you now have a regular umbrella to ward off rain…sun, and possibly a Solar Cooker  (I’ll leave THAT How To up to you).
More: I got my Wash Board today.  Till I get a Hand Wringer, I’m all set.  I’ve a Very Dirty pair of jeans and a white T shirt.  Gonna see how well the WASH PLUNGER / Boar and “sweat” will do on these tonight.  I’ll have to Wring by hand for now.
I’ll use FELS NAPTHA soap…as did my mother and grandmother.  It’s still sold at supermarkets.
I’ll add some VINEGAR (can use other “odors”).  This to keep Ticks / Etc., away.
Hope these help someone.  
re

Had enough money to buy a number of feet of Soft Denim (blue jean color) cloth.  Cheap shop.  $4.08.  Enough to make 3 to 4 nice LOIN CLOTHS.  I’ll have my wife cut and hem them for me. An easy “do” for her.
As you can tell, I “practice what I Preach”.
I’ll be wearing these at our secluded property so no one is “disturbed”.  Aho?
I’ll have her sew on 2 or so  LOOPS on the front.  Knife / Flint / Etc. to be with  me at all times then.  My CHIEF A.J. Slingshot to hang on the “belt” if wanted, as well as small  sock with Marble “shot”.
ARE YOU intrusted in “ditto”? 
Before closing: I’ve been Posting on GHOST’S  HUB….Google by Typing in: Survival Cabin on a Shoestring Budget.  This will get you there.

                                                                                                                                                                                                            GB   re

Ordered  the Clothes Washer PLUNGER last night.  Should arrive by the 11th of Oct…Then, if more donations come in, I’ll get a Galvanized PAIL Sized Wash Board.  Should be “set” then.  Intend too to get 1 larger fiberglass “pails” at BiMart store in town.  That should complete our cloths washing needs.
We can string clothesline at opposite trees.  Aussy Dave has a SUPER Big ROUND Wash Hanger, NICE, and MIGHT invest in the same eventually.
My Grandmother taught my sister and myself how to dry clothes / etc. during winter freezes.  Hang them on the line…let them freeze…beat the ice off…freeze again…beat again.  Thick things need 3 beatings.  Then drape on things indoors to finish drying.
The place looked like a tornado had hit….not a lot of room to set (4 peoples things) but the house smelled GREAT (finale ‘STEAM’ injected the homes air).  Smelled so CLEAN inside.
We LOVED IT!
SUNSHINE does something no machine dryer can EVER do.  A pure blessing from God to wear or sleep (sheets) to have to use.
There’s  a HAND WRINGER one can put on a bucket.  Another to place on the outside of an RV.  My wife wants one.
I was taught (grandma again) to be SURE to FOLD Buttons / etc. UNDER a shirt (etc.) them before placing through a wringer….OR FACE BROKEN AND MISSING BUTTONS.
These hand powered wringers sure beat hand WRUNG doing.
Creating less drying time.
IF no wringer…we’ve SPANISH WINCH doing (for heavy cloth (jeans / etc.) and sheets, etc..
To do this you hook one end to a stationary post / tree….tIe a stick to the other….anD TWIST the stick.  “Wringing” out the water.
Its a slow process but effective.  Good for heavy blankets / sleeping bags / etc..
With the Hand Plunger…..FAR LESS WATER IS NEEDED.  A Plus in the water shortage we will (and in some places now) times.
Though few will do so….LOIN CLOTHS for At Home wear is a great clothing choice.  EASY to wash….COMFORTABLE to wear.
Women can drape a flat piece over their breast, tie around the neck and in back.
MANY Native American used these as daily wear.  TARZAN TOO!  ( :
If you have a piece of “woodsy” land…consider this.  Leave “regular” cloths for In-Town use.  At the same time, this allows very simple / easy / fast, washing.  A great TIME Saver.
I’m fully aware on River and Rock beating washing.  Works, but hard on you.  Still………..
If a 2 bucket (Wash / Rise)  is used:  Wash in one…then rinse in the other.  If possible save the WASH water (if using biodegradable soaps) to water your garden with….the RINSING water then poured into the (now empty) Washing one.  Use that to wash your next load.  Water saving.  Aho?
My mother did once a week washing when I was a child.  Doing so for 5 kids / self and father.  A hard task.  Heated water via an open pit fire (not NEEDED…COLD water does as well) to wash…an oval galvanized container, Wash Board.  A LOT of sweat n Hard work.  Yes, I remember………………..
Early White American gals had a bucket placed on the back of their ROCKING Chairs.  They’d set / Rock/ and HAND SPIN at the same time.  The rocking motion washing the small cloths within the bucket.
Even dirty cloths in soapy buckets in tour car works (we’ve often done so) works as you drive about, works.  UTILIZE!  Aho?
Friends, we are entering into some really rough times.  Might as well at least be aware of the SIMPLE (but Hard) ways now…for THEN.
and DON’T FORGET OUR GODCREATOR in all this coming harshness.
We CAN “make it”.  Aho?
Yes, I’m still ‘about’, still trying to help.  I HAVEN’T GIVEN UP ON YOU.  Aho?  HO!
                                           
                                                                                                                                           
Your brother, in HIM…..
Red Elk
PS
A friend uses a FAR CHEAPER way to squeeze water from washed cloths:  a MOP BUCKET MOP SQUEEZER!

 

Well, went to our Safe Land / Dome. Shared expenses with Adam.
I wanted and DIDN’T want to go. Seemed OK but somehow not quite right.

Warned Adam about HUGE amount of deer and to go slow. He dropped to 39 mph. Slow to him but 30 would have been better. Hit a big doe. His Pick Up fixable. Deer limped off to die (broken leg dangling). Sigh.

His trailer brakes acted up…he adjusted them OK though…My neck “went out” during the night and HIS tailbone…Ate chili with what I’m allergic to, right lip and hand still swollen…couldn’t locate my allergy pills (forgot to add to my small “Walk-Away” kit)…So weak I fell 3 times and then ALMOST twice into the camp-fire…Adam stopped a fourth fall while I was water dowsing for a friend.
And I’m gonna RUN!????

Adam feels the same way about himself…

Shoot, I couldn’t even run to take a Pee! Yup, WET MY PANTS before I could stand from a sit-down position.! EVERY DROP!

Nothing I could do about it…no spare clothing…

BUT WE HAD A FUN TIME!

I slid to the bottom of my sleeping bag and rolled off its side onto Adam.

“WHY?” asked a sleepy Adam.

Well Adam, you took the only FLAT spot! (True, too).

First night I layed on a good size stone. Adam said “I cleared the area…there’s no stones”.

He was right…it was a petrified pine cone.

Must of been 400 ft round! Damn…

After hiring a Back Ho and a Crane it was finally dug out and removed. By then I was dead tired and placed my bag over the hole. Immediately folded and slipped into a fetal position. Slept like a baby….till I had to pee again.

Was like climbing out of a GRAVE!

Did “my thing” and headed back. The bag was GONE! Deep below all the dirt that caved in on my climb up.

Laid on top…till the red ants found me. Then crawled over to the big pine-cone. Slept there…bent kinda funny. (Sleep on my back).

Yup, we was CAMPING…and Having FUN!

The dome now needs some major repair. Can Do though. IF I can stay on a ladder and IF I can LIFT a ladder!

Well, despite all Adam and I met and shared with a fellow “hillbilly”.

That alone was worth the WHOLE TRIP.

On the way home (a day earlier than intended) Adam top off his fuel tank. “We’ll make it to AM/PM in Thorp on this, and fill up there”.

I told him he should stop before and get 5 more gallons first.

“Nope, well make it”.

Pride goes before a fall.

Three towns from his targeted station we ran outta gas. LESS THEN A FOURTH OF A MILE FROM A STATION!

He had a gas can, full, so pulled that out. Then I heard some mumbling. Then some more searching. He came up with a gas transfer hand pup.

“I’m ALWAYS PREPARED!” he said.

“Wheres the nozzle to your can?”

Adam said, “I forgot it…”

Then the hand pump broke. Brand New too! But pumped enough to get us to the station. PTL!

Adam wants to learn, but not wanting to Hear. ALWAYS learns the Hard Way….and a deers life was a strong lesson to him (I HOPE).

So…we talked about a “Run Kit” for the elderly during this adventure: DUAL SURVIVAL FOR THE ELDERLY

A card with phone #s for UROLOGIST, SURGEON, 911, Lawyer, Next of kin, Boy Scouts of America, Heart Specialist, “Catheters R Us”, Cell Phone Service, etc., and A match. ( :

re

I’m building to please my wife…thus: “BIG”.

Frankly I don’t know if it can be afforded, HER way. All I can do to get to town anymore…let alone get to the property AND HAVE the materials needed. (Looks rather bleak).

Still, DO have whats needed to TENT (cover) it…IF and WHEN I can get back up there.

Meachelle (“M”) does like what I’ve done with “Sky’s Dome”. Sees it as a SPARE Liveable “home”. At $450.00. (the amount to get / stay a week / return and refill the Pick Up)…it’s DONE (but clean-up). Furnished and all.

THAT is a LIVABLE ABODE Most CAN afford.

Knowing her, shed pack it full of “must have” “STUFF”. So…a simple dome (like Adams) that cost 10 CENTS, can hold THAT ‘crap’.

YOU CAN DO THE SAME!

Even one to hold Fire Wood. AHO.

This ‘life’ is a KISS doing. Even the “small ones” CAN BE MADE BY 10 YR OLDS (under adult supervision)!

Yes…10!

A FAMILY Affair. Aho?

In my three minis, we have Electric via an extension cord to the house. This, for HER. I can do quite well without.

ANYTIME YOU “NEED” ELECTRIC, be it from On Line to a Generator / etc., YOU FACE BREAKDOWNS AND FUEL, etc., Problems. MORE MONEY as we ADVANCE” INTO “THIS TIME”.

Friends, this is NOT yesterday…it’s NOW time..AND WILL GET WORSE!

There WILL be a “Yesterday” “come back”. This will give people a FALSE sense of “security”. Yet will be only a TEMPORARY “breather”.

OK, a serious of Mini Domes verses Government Subsidized (tax $$) motel rooms, etc. THESE WILL BE ONLY FOR a LIMITED TIME. Eventually you’ll be Out on the Streets again.

PAY ATTENTION!

Oh, and don’t RENT land…at least LEASE IT
(7 to 10 years if you can). OR OWN!

re

A Problem

I have a problem:  WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH ALL THE “RUN GEAR” I’ve put together????? !
So MUCH there’s just NO WAY to take them all.
I’ve got to quit “nickel and diming” what little money I have…WHEN I have IT!
I’m “set for life”…only Really NEED One Run Kit.  And that for myself, alone.
Got several…all the way up to the FAMILY…Who I DOUBT WILL “run”.
Maybe Sky…MAYBE.  The others?  Hard to tell.
I gave Sky a BlastMatch tonight.  At least he’ll be able to start a fire, easily.
Both boys now “set” on that. And knives. About all they’ll need, to “go” rather easily.
Both too have decent “survival” skills.  Been teaching them most of their Walking life. Off and On…but consistently.
I’ve known since age 10 what lies ahead. That’s 60 years of preparing.
Our granddaughter shows no interest.  Ditto my wife and daughter.  To them, “no tomorrow”. 
sigh
Lets face it, ‘no tomorrow’ faces all of us….but still, I consider it just MIGHT be…for me / them.  Thus prepare as physically as I can.
With ‘connection’ being first and foremost. 
Aho?
I guess I’ve done all I can, now.  You? 
                                                                
sigh               
re

“Wear” Run Kit Bracelet

The Snap on my bracelet broke. Shake to much to take apart the Parra-Cord and re-do.

Reason for all…right? After trying various ways, I wasn’t happy with the results. ALL Too BULKY…and looked bad as well.

Well, not NOW! I simply left it open, dangling straight down, then added four SNAP RINGS in line and NOW HAVE A KIT SECTION that’s ALSO my Pick-Up KEY CHAIN!
Hooking wanted things onto the rings as well.

I’ve it hooked to a belt loop on my jeans but CAN hang it around my neck (leather strap) and tuck it behind my shirt if I want.

Anyway, like it better this way then as a bracelet.

(For those wanting similar…look for them that are now being made as DOG/CAT COLLARS!
re

Fishers of Fun

Got a ‘comment’.  The sender telling a bit on his childhood days.  A fun read.  He mentioned KITE FLYING….now THERE’S something I know of!
I belong to the Kite Flyers Association.  Got ALOT of ‘em.  “Trains” (several on one line) / Controlled / Regular / Etc.

Sky and grandma like to go out in spring’s breeze and fly ‘em.  Seems there’s no age limit to the joy of “just dinging around in the breeze” with ‘em.

Some daring souls use ‘em to do some fantastic “shots” using a camera….HIGH UP shots of the “Below and All Around”.  See for yourself…visit KITE PHOTOGRAPHY on internet search.  Even tell how to rig up your camera.  COOL! (Some go ‘house-to-house’ and people pay ‘em for pics of their land / place “from Above”).

My VERY FAVORITE is KITE FISHING!  Gotta teach Sky this one yet.
I’ve used a tiny kite to “slide” my lure down the ‘wind shoot’ of the Yakima river…after trout along too bushy areas to fish from immediate shore.  VERY Effective!  Used this to go almost a 4th of a mile away shore on ponds nearby.  Flew to the other side, released my rigged hook, and slowly troll back.  No need for a boat.  EQUALLY Successful!
To get the kite past YOUR shoreline can be a hassle….so I use 2 poles.  One for kite (and leave That up)…#2 for fishing.  This way I don’t have to constantly try to launch the kite…just pull Kite Line in to rehook (enough string beyond that to keep the kite still up).

Another way of fishing is By FAR my most enjoyable way :  Face Mask / Snorkel / Fins / Innertube with bait line and Fish “Keep” line tied to me….and LAMINATED Fishing License….CARRIED WITH ME (This has saved me TWICE from ‘illegal’ fishing).
Swim out, look below for the fish AND SIZE you want….lower your OLD rod (and OLD Reel), baited, to the fish.  Tease ‘em / Anger ‘em…and WHAM…”FISH ON!”   Really LARGE(er) ones CAN GIVE YOU A “Nantookit” Sleigh Ride!
When I do this type fishing, I’ve YET to come back “skunked” and ALWAYS WITH MY FULL LIMIT! (Much to the anger of jealous others, fishing)
Don’t forget to put a DIVER’S Flag on your tube if in a lake with boats about.  Aho?

I’ve done unusual things in my life.  If its not dangerous and looks like fun and looks like I’m capable of trying things out…I GIVE IT A GO!

Hope this “whets” some appetites.  Boys / Girls / Moms / Dads or Grandparents : GO HAVE SOME FUN!

Life is Too SHORT to be just filled with “worries”.  Aho?     Re

(WS)

Most across the USA are snowed in….or, in general, in Cold.

Wanna see what YOU CAN DO if “homeless”?  Now’s a GREAT TIME to go BACK YARD CAMPING!  Yup, with a tent (or tarp).  A big bundle of Fire Wood….Sleeping bag or several Blankets.

In short : GO TRY IT!

The house is but yards away.  You won’t die if “too much” for you.

A GREAT Time to PRACTICE!

Sky likes to put a “footprint” (cover on the ground and tent set up there, ON IT).  Then put a tarp over the whole (tent is only for 3 seasons).  Once couldn’t get his fire going…so STILL Camped, WITHOUT Fire.

Kid has guts.

There have been a couple of times he a buddy(s) slept in one dome.  TO “MUCH” FOR THE FRIEND(s)!  So ended up coming in. SKY did NOT want too.  If it wasn’t for his buddy(s) “crying” he would have stayed out.

Like I said : “Guts”.

The “safety” of a warm house just yards away helps “newbies”.  Nothing to cringe about “running”.  At least you’ll get a TASTE of HOW PREPARED YOU ARE!
Best to find out NOW, than when Suddenly FORCED too!

With even this SLIGHT try….it can sure give you Insight!

Seriously, GIVE THIS A TRY.  The opportunity is Here ….NOW.  GB   re

(WS)