Category : Skydome

GOT A DONATION TODAY!  Went to Habitat for Humanity.  BOUGHT A BIG (new) RUG!  COVERS ALL GRAVEL (I’m concerned of) now!

ALSO, cut the Horizontal poles and now the INSIDE WALL (dirt) is ENCLOSED!
This thing is going up (inside) FAST!
Can be used as of this Monday, tho still not completed!   PTL!
Will be gone Friday through Monday at the last of this month.  Doing a Seminar on Saturday (Oct 30th) in Kettle Falls, Wa.   GB   re
(WS)

The recent work carried out by Red Elk and ‘Weed’.  Click on the images for larger versions.

SkydomeInterior Skydome #1Skydome's FrameSkydome Dirt FloorGravel and TarpGravelling the Skydome FloorSkydome Gravelled FloorThe Stove and Interior

ALOT of Doing on Sky’s dome today.  MAJOR THINGS!  The FLOOR!   Trenched alongside wall inside (already done so outside).  Double Protection !  Then Tom (“Weeds”) and I pulled in a HUGE used Hay Tarp and, in ONE FELL “SWOOP”, covered ALL the floor.  Bathroom included.  All in one piece.  THIS TOOK HOURS!  Once in, we started putting gravel over it all.  The tarp is the Water Vapor (ground) stopper AND DIRT COVER.  The Gravel the Walk On FLOOR.  (In time, if $$, will carpet that all.  ‘Til then…Works.  Aho?)

I DO have a SECTION of BEAUTIFUL Deep Nap carpet.  Only covers a very small space tho.  Got IT down / on too.  Another Indoor-Outdoor carpet now covers the Bathroom now as well.  Gravel below that, tarp below THAT.  Bathroom now “done”…(will add stone on walls when time).

After all this we returned the furniture and placed again.

THIS PLACE LOOKS FANTASTIC!   AND just BARE ESSENTIALS inside.  FANCYING UP will take time, so I don’t consider it done yet.

Still have to put the final tarp cover on (it blew off).  Then cut the windows, a Smoke Hole at top and put windows in and smoke hole cover after all that.

I SEE THE “END OF THE TUNNEL”…BIG TIME, now.

Adam intends to fix his chimney this weekend…..completing THAT dome.  So, 2 outta 3 “ready to go.”

“Weeds” has been a FANTASTIC HELPER.  Help?  No…HE DOES it ALL, as I basically sit and tell.

He’ll sure know how to do a dome (my way).  And INTENDS TOO.  HIS “cabin in the woods.”  Will be a “piece of cake” for him now.

Again, STILL at $350.00 for ALL this.

Beat THAT!  (   :      re

(WS)

#1 dome is DONE!   Just re-hang the door for easier closing and That is IT!  “Works” anyway ‘as is’…so : PTL!  DONE!  And it Looks GREAT!  Even the weeds around it are No More!   Put it off to work on the other 2.  NOW, FINALLY…FINISHED!
Burned trash in its hearth…NO smoke into the dome!  WONDERFUL!
Now, to Sky’s tomorrow.  Get the FLOOR Done!  (Depends on the weather)  Then to insulating our water cistern tanks…at least, what we can.
Thank GOD…LITERALLY…for a GREAT HELPER!
Sure makes a difference, I tell you!
PTL!   re
(WS)
Wanted to work on #1 but TOO COLD to do cementing.  So went to Sky’s.   Cut off about 6-8 in. of bed ledge wall (more room on main floor)…Backed that dirt with heavy white tarp (vertical logs will be put in front of that)…leveled the bathroom floor and placed the toilet in its permanent place…rugged it (temp), set rug on main (temp), added the attic, did some general clean up.  THIS DOME’S INTERIOR IS REALLY LOOKING GOOD!
“Weeds” did nearly all the work…I suprivised.  THIS GUY’S NOT AFRAID TO WORK!  Trade…teachings for labor.
He’s sleeping in Adam’s dome as “here” home.
HOPEFULLY we will get a load of gravel and be able to finish all flooring tomorrow.  Rock company was closed today! sigh  (wasted trip)
Anyway, a BUSY DAY indeed…and a GOOD ONE!    re
(WS)

“LIVING OFF THE GRID”

Do you REALLY understand what That MEANS?!

It means SOLAR Panels / WIND / PROPANE /  GENERATOR / BATTERIES /  FUEL…and more.

Have you PRICED these things !?

AND WHAT WILL YOU DO WHEN Parts and Replacements and Fuel goes into NON-EXISTENT, or SO HIGH in Cost, YOU CANT “GET”!

THIS is EXACTLY WHAT THIS NATION IS ABOUT TO FACE!

Our Ancestors managed.  No matter WHAT “race”.

STUDY THOSE WAYS!

I’M GETTING “HOARSE”  SCREAMING in the “Wilderness!”

GET OFF YOUR BUTTS and DO!    re

(WS)

All three this time!

The 3

The blue and white dome in the back is Skydome, with Dome #1 and #2 (Adam's Dome) in front

My #1 dome in use often.  Adam’s nearly every weekend (#2 dome).

What’s it like?   Well, in MY mind : NICE!

In both there is electricity (run from the house via heavy cords).  Tho these can “have” via Electric Generator…OR Solar if one wants.

We bring in a food cooler, with iced DRINKS to keep foods chilled.  Enough variety of daily meals…milk / meats / vegetables / etc. for a full week.  Toilet paper on hand…Wash rags and towels…using Solar Bags heated in the sun.  On stove in winter.

Firewood stored from main “room” area (in #2 dome) and in a wood mini shed on #1.  Right outside the door.  We BOTH use our ZZIP stove to cut down on wood use and too much heat in the stove(s).

Each has space to hang / store extra clothing…again : out of the way of main floor.

Reading materiel always on hand…on shelves tied on the willows that make up these framings.

These don’t “drape” but are held tight against the sloping inner walls…Bungie Cords doing the holding.  This for coats etc. that one needs “unwrinkled” in a storage “duffel” “suitcase.  They also add to insulation.

To bring in MORE foods AND keep the inside uncluttered, I / We will add Straw Bales…Floor and Sides…with a well insulated top.  BEARS / Etc. CAN be a problem doing this way….so one CAN Hang these supplies high in a tree (Alaskan Way).

Our wood supply all from dead wood found….neither of use cut living trees.  Least not yet.  Those that WILL be cut we will cut in a forest THING way…taken only the VERY OLD or VERY YOUNG.  (Sun / Rain wanting that interferes with a GOOD growth of the rest). Literally : “Gardening” our area.  This the way of the Old Ones of NA.

Every THING benefits the “all”.  Aho?

Both of us…AND Sky…use alot of dead WEEDS and Tiny STICKS.  Keeping our immediate “home” area clear and fire resistant.  “Logs” only if cold weather.

We DRESS for mere CHILLY days…saving fuel.

LOOK AT NATURE…how the BIRDS “fluff up” their feathers to insulate.  How SQUIRRELS use a nest filled with LEAVES.   Dress in like manner…LAYERED.  Aho?

When one becomes “cabin locked” (“cabin fever”) it’s a simple walk-about going into HIS Living Room…THE OUTDOORS!  There to observe and learn from the animals about…Studying the ice caked creek….Etc.  LISTENING!  HEARING the Winter / Etc.

Tho it’s a pleasure to have another with you…know YOU ARE NEVER ALONE.

Bring a dog or cat if you’d like.  Helps (but adds to what you need to ‘get by’).  Aho?

In short, one can begin to ENJOY your li’l “cabin in the woods”.

It’s a Mind Set to live Small AND at near “0”  “needs”.  Needs you WON’T be able to have in so small a space.

A “Weekend” “away from it all” place…for a beginner.  Then perhaps a Week of “ditto”.

Hopefully, in time : your HOME!  Dumping the rent / house payment…the cost of heating / cooling that no longer needed space…and returning to the FREE Natural way.  You save so MUCH on trying to “keep up on the Joneses”…YOU become RICH!  Money in pocket…YOUR Pocket…Not going out to a Commercial COMPANY.

“How do I get to WORK?”  Well, WHY work?  SELL your house.  You have a BETTER ONE now…and ALL PAYED FOR.Land payments / taxes the only REAL need (if you can’t buy outright).  A car?  Or Trail Bike …roadable…a decent way to get to your “city” job.  The $$ saved can help make the yearly Tax…cause you’ll need so LITTLE that you can “go to work” on less hours…I.E. LESS INCOME = TAX BACK…not IN!  Use THAT to pay your year’s tax.  (That’s what we’ve done for YEARS now).

There’s alot to “say” about Small Living.  It HAS its benefits.  Just takes GUMPTION to  take the 1st step.  Aho?

KIDS?  HOME SCHOOL!

What’s it like to live “small”?….A shock to your old ways…and not ALWAYS easy….but it grows on you.  You become ONE…with ALL!  IT FEELS GOOD!   re

(WS)

Been SLOWLY buying ZIP TIES.  A bag ,to 3, at a time.  This to use in building yet another li’l dome here.  Faster and can be adjusted as the willows shrink.  Been using strong string.  Sky’s dome has HUNDREDS of String Ties…..all now becoming loose (due to willow shrinkage).  Most should now be redone…but won’t.

My next (or NEXT AFTER next) will be a bit more expensive…using almost All framing and horizontals of PVC piping. Been buying THOSE at HABITAT FOR HUMANITY store.  Alot cheaper and supports the homeless / etc. at the same time.  Won’t need many as this one will be more a 2-Sleeper ONLY.  No cooking / heat / etc., just a fast permanent “tent” shelter….made to experiment and “catch” the Overflow of the other domes.  Small as it will be, it won’t surprise me to spend upwards of $200.00 to make this way.

Seems you are sending what I Email you to a small group of others you keep in contact with (the person he’s sending this email to is, that is. – WS).  One sent me a $40.00 donation today.  (I won’t tell who…so God gets the credit for using her.  A “Silent Christian”.  ALOT out there that ARE.  Some occasionally share with money…and ALL with what they CAN give : PRAYER Back Up.  Aho?

Well, this provided needed gas (now a half tank) and I got 3 more bags of those LOCK (“zip”) ties…adding to the few others I have.  EVEN BOUGHT A HOT DOG and PEPSI!

(I eat “on the run”…HOME is just a place to catch up on sleep…little time to even make a sandwich.  Either sleep (ALWAYS NEEDED)…or answering Emails or working on the Domes.  Run in to do dishes to help the wife, as I can.  Email “silent ones” help this keep going.  By “this” I mean ME…old “Loud Mouth”. The one unafraid to publically “Call In The Wilderness”.  Aho?  (How will people learn TRUTH if most stay silent?)  Aho?  Well, “Dad” saw one unafraid, and uses me to Tell AND SHOW.  Now OTHER “mouths” are “coming out”…PTL!

“HE” IS CALLING “HIS” SHEEP.  Aho?   re

(WS)

We’ve been invaded by Field Mice and now Pack Rats (1st cousin to the Peruvian rat called CHINCHILLAS) this year.  For ??? reasons they will NOT hear me and stay out.  WARNED ‘EM “Go, STAY GONE…or Die”).  Ok, their choice.  Time to ‘war’.

We are not ‘killers’ here…tho the mice, well, the HERD of mice, are just TOO MUCH.  Setting mouse traps.  Gotten LOTS too….but still, just not our “thing”.  Aho?

My wife sent me on a “mission”…”GO GET A LIVE TRAP”.  Well, just back.  $90 (+tax )    for  the    smallest   is      TOO  much.     Did get Regular types tho…PLUS Sticky Strips AND Poison.  NONE OF WICH I LIKE TO USE.  Gonna leave it up to “the Warden”. She will probably say “no…return ‘em”  ( I HOPE).

So, what TO do?  “Iz ah IDIOT”….GO BACK TO THE OLD WAYS!

My dad…1/2   Native American  and    1/2   White,  did this… but with a Twist”…COMBINING the 2.  Taught me in my youth.  THAT’S what I’ll be doing the next 2 days!

Dad used a PLASTIC BUCKET…Stretched a heavy Paper Sack over the top….Towards the CENTER he cut “Pizza” strips….baited the center tip(s)…put Water (about 5 inches deep – DEEPER FOR RATS) in the container…put 2 – 3 wide stick RAMPS to the top of pail.  Then set this where he chose.  Mice (AND “rats”) smelled the food…climbed the ramps, walked toward the baited tip(s).  THE “CUT” unable to hold their weight, AND THEY SLID IN.

Drowning isn’t a nice way to die  (been close to THAT 3 times in my life…UGH!)!

And killing not my way anyway.  So will add some food at the DRY bottom and HAUL the “catch” a long way from home.  Release ‘em there.

My father was rather “vindictive”.  When someone “crossed him”…he’d do this too…RELEASING at THIER Yard!  “Let the SOBs Have ‘Em,” he’d say.  (Not MY way tho).

I’ve noticed the New Traps today….ones with “names”…have their Names / Logos on CHINISE MADE Traps.  What USED to be QUALITY has gone to “Looks Good…HAS THEIR NAME…so I’ll Buy it”.  IVE FOUND THE CHINESE “Short Cut”…WEAK SPRINGS!   Springs that OFTEN Break Backs / Etc. but the poor beasts are STILL ALIVE! (I’ve had to “do ‘em in” myself, with a hit on the head).  DANG!  If you HAVE to Kill…KILL QUICKLY!

Wish THOSE makers lived ‘just down the road.”  AND the Once EXCELLENT USA COMPANY “heads” who have “Buy Cheap, Sell High” ‘money grubbers’….. I would do a LIVE Trap and RELEASE ‘EM in THEIR YARD!

Poisons WORK, but then the poor beast crawl off and die…OFTEN in YOUR WALLS!    UGH, the SMELL!

(If my wife chooses this, I’ll move to one of my Domes and let HER trace the stench!)    ( :

Anyway, this trap is a CHEAP and EASY “winner”.   Good Luck.   re

(WS)