Spring Website Cleaning...
Well, you might notice a slightly updated look here.
We’re working at revamping the site for more blogging goodies. I’m working on a brand new theme, but until then… we’re keeping a clean look.
-- Fate
Blog
Seed Starting
DIY Tye-dye Shoelaces
I couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I made my own!
MOOCs, Coursera, and friends
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) turn the internet back toward education from entertainment. Multiple universities have toyed with the idea of posting classes online. MIT was one of the initial pioneers, publishing multiple lectures online with their “open courseware” initiative. The whole idea of open courseware opened a fairly significant debate with academics denouncing the quality of instruction or impacts to research.
Coursera takes the earlier MOOC initiatives and builds on them. Partnering with University programs, several extension or continuing ed classes have been published. I ran across the site while visiting a forum, with multiple people agreeing to jump in to a single class.
Persephone's first litter
She had nine kits on 2/12/14
Chicken Feeder
I built my own chicken feeder out of a 4 foot piece of 5 inch pvc pipe and two end caps. I had my brother cut all of them in half, then I glued the end caps on with JB weld and sealed it with some silicone to keep the feed from getting caught in between the glued part. I made an L - shaped holder out of some of the scraps of wood left over from my fodder rack, and some stuff I found laying around. I always keep scrap wood around, it always ends up coming in handy.
Some Yard Modifications
I put in the first fence to cross fence the yard in for the animals:
Found in a Chicken
When the dog killed the chickens I got home in time and only one had been eaten, by a totally different dog then the one had killed them. I went ahead and stuck them in the freezer (waste not, want not) to butcher later when I had time, it was late evening when I found them. The we’re laying hens, that had just started laying again when the dog killed them.
DIY Laundry Soap
I think every blog out there that has any kind of focus on DIY, frugality, or saving money has a post on making your own laundry detergent. This one isn’t going to be anything life shattering or game changing, just documentation on how I make my particular version.
I’ve been really happy with my recipe for some time now, the last couple years I haven’t tweaked it at all. I’ve been making and using my own laundry detergent for around 8 or 9 years now and I don’t ever plan on going back to store bought. This recipe makes a detergent that has very little smell, and the smell it does have is faint, and tends to disappear the longer it is stored. My clothes come out smelling like wet cotton, wool, or whatever material they are made out of, not artificial or even natural scents. I have a real sensitivity to artificial smells and to really heavy natural smells so my main focus with this recipe in the beginning was to get away from the smell of the commercial laundry detergents on the market.
Taking care of our elderly canine
We have an Australian Shepherd that turned 14 in September of 2013, he’s a really good dog. There have been a couple times that I really though we were going to loose him in the last year, but he’s really pulled through, surprising both of us. He suffers from some dementia, tending to get stuck in corners or in the bathroom between the toilet and the bathtub, why he even goes in the bathroom, I have no idea. I’m going to put out there what kind of supplements I give him, your mileage may vary on taking care of your elderly canine, but this works for my dog. I am including amazon links to the products I use, but I have found some cheaper localy, you just have to look for yourself.