Holy Scrap

Wendy Presents the Good Life Lab @ Maker Faire

2013-05-19T06:57:00.001-07:00

Wendy Presents the Good Life Lab @ Maker Faire, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

I presented The Good Life Lab for the very first time on the Meet the Maker Stage at the Maker Faire. It went well. When I began the seats were 1/4 full. As I presented people walking by slid in to listen. By the end the seats were full, the space packed. People asked lots of questions and many bought books, a good sign.

Though The Good Life Lab is not out until June 5th, we have pre-release copies here at the faire so if your at Maker Faire come see us!

Today (Sunday) I will present the book at the Homegrown Village Stage at 11:30. I also do a presentation about Swap-O-Rama-Rama at the swap's Textile Talk Stage at 3:20. Then after a short break we're off to the Vancouver and Seattle Maker Faires.

A Boing Boing Sandwich @ Swap-O-Rama-Rama Tent @ Maker Faire

2013-05-19T06:53:00.001-07:00

A Boing Boing Sandwich @ Swap-O-Rama-Rama Tent @ Maker Faire, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

Why does it feel so good to be in this Boingboing.net sandwich? Probably because Mark Frauenfelder and Xeni have done some much to shape shift the face of media. Today I rely on Boingboing for the news of the world. Once staple outlets like The New York Times often provides the same news in a more tepid form a day later. I remember when Boingboing first appeared. I was happy and grateful to be reading the good news of this world along with work of the struggles.

Mikey and I are at the San Mateo Maker Faire where we've run into many old friends like Dale Dougherty, Maker Faire and Make Mag founder who wrote a foreword to my book the Good Life Lab, and Harley from Burning Man's Black Rock Arts. We're happy to back and feeling strangely like we're home.

(Image: Me, Xeni, and Mark at the Swap-O-Rama-Rama tent at Maker Faire)

NEW MEXICO Magazine Reviews The Good Life Lab

2013-05-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

THE REVIEW: Just a few miles from the Spaceport, Truth or Consequences is the site of a different kind of envelope-pushing for Wendy Jehanara Tremayne. She and her partner, Mikey Sklar, decided to opt out of their conventionally successful New York Life to live in T or C as off-the-grid homesteaders. They linked up with a group of like-minded folks, also from other parts of the country. No covered wagons here - Tremayne and Sklar bought a former RV park, renovated a “decrepit” 1967 mobile home, set up solar panels, and reconfigured vehicles to run on biofuel made from discarded fast-food grease.

In a series of chatty, thoughtful, appealing chapters, Tremayne aims to inspire others to not only consume less but to also “live out of the waste stream,” using our society’s discards to clothe and outfit our homes, and so on. She also gleans soapberries from tress in Elephant Butte for laundry-washing, and plants from the New Mexican landscape (ocotillo, yucca, mullein) for home remedies.

What makes this different from decades of quasi-hippie practices? Tremayne and Sklar fully embrace cutting-edge technology to optimize their lives. Sklar, formerly a Wall Street computer programmer, turned his brain power toward the making of gadgets that MacGyver old applicances to make and preserve homegrown foods. He learned how to mix his own biofuel, and invented a device that revivies exhausted solar batteries. One of their peers teaches students at Northern New Mexico College how to convert old Pontiac Fieros to run on electricity.

Although most of us will keep paying the electric bill and enjoying lives that involve weekly visits to big-box stores, this book’s perspective, with its many recipes and how-tos, offers readers ways to begin to adopt regular, pragmatic practices that save money and are kind to the environment. Read more at Tremayne’s blog, blog.holyscraphotsprings.com.

- Candace Walsh

Return to MakerFaire

2013-05-15T11:39:00.001-07:00

Return to MakerFaire, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

The first MakerFaire started off with a surprise. Just before arriving the faire's producers sent us photos of billboards they designed to announce the event that were all over the Bay Area. They featured a photo of me in a fan shirt at Burning Man. Once we reached MakerFaire we discovered thousands of flyers and posters with the same image. I expect this year to be radically different. Wendy's Swap-O-Rama-Rama and various book talks will keep us busy at this event which is now over 5x its starting size. Hopefully the image seen here there and everywhere will be The Good Life Lab. Here we go!

Larry's Underground Tomato Monster

2013-05-14T16:14:00.001-07:00

Larry's Underground Tomato Monster, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

Last year our neighbor dug a giant hole in his yard and covered it with clear plastic. His theory was that the high water table combined with local hot springs would keep plants warm and wet year round. He was right. Look at what a single tomato plant turned into after a year of growing in his subterranean greenhouse.

Curse You Faucet

2013-05-14T15:02:00.001-07:00

Curse You Faucet, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

Last February we installed a fancy (for us) Kohler faucet. Yesterday, I had to replace it. We were disappointed that this item failed so quickly. As we were researching the issue we found that this faucet had dozens of reviews on Amazon about leaking within the first two years of service. It took about 3 hours of Kohler phone support to get them to honor their lifetime guarantee. It took another 3 hours of to remove and replace the faucet. It killed our day.

Hand Stitching Leather Tool

2013-05-12T17:58:00.003-07:00

Hand Stitching Leather Tool, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

I I learned about a new tool today to secure Sesame's collar which I had to adjust to make a right fit.

Natural Dye With Native Coda

2013-05-12T17:58:00.001-07:00

Natural Dye Cota, a Native Plant, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

Today I plucked the cota plant which grows wild here in New Mexico. It is also known as Navaho tea because the natives popularized it as a drink. Mikey and I enjoy it warm or cold with maple syrup. Each year I dry batches to last the winter. Today I threw a bunch of cota into my dying pot figuring that the dark yellow tea might hold up as a dye and it did! I got a lovely yellow from it. I can imagine that if I double the volume of plant material I can get a honey mustard color.

Serious Sewing

2013-05-12T17:53:00.001-07:00

Serious Sewing, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

This is the last outfit I'll make for my book tour. We leave on Thursday and I don't think I'll have time to squeeze in another. I made the neckline using a woven belt I found at a yard sale. I couldn't sleep last night because I dreamed of the skirt to match it. When I woke up I ran outside to dye the pieces to make it. By lunch I had a finished outfit. This is the best thing I made to date. I can hardly believe it. Yeeeeehawwwww!

Spanish Broom

2013-05-12T16:42:00.001-07:00

Spanish Broom, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

This plant might just have the sweetest smelling flowers on our property.

Making Butter with a Vita-Mix

2013-05-12T16:26:00.001-07:00

Making Butter with a Vita-Mix, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

We made butter and saved the buttermilk for last two weeks with no trouble at all. I use the leftovers of our raw cream each week. I needed to hear someone say that they used their Vita-Mix on full speed for a few minutes then dropped it down to '4' on variable speed for a few more minutes.

Last of the Stash

2013-05-12T16:20:00.001-07:00

Last of the Stash, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

Wendy finally trimmed this out of control mustache which was beginning to feel a broom strapped to my face.

Who Said You Can't Grow Strawberries in the Desert?

2013-05-10T14:55:00.001-07:00

Who Said You Can't Grow Strawberries in the Desert, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

Invitation: Bay Area Swap-O-Rama-Rama

2013-05-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

We're Off to The Maker Faire to Launch The Good Life Lab

2013-05-10T10:36:00.001-07:00

We're Off to Maker Faire to Launch of The Good Life Lab, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

Next week Mikey and I present my book The Good Life Lab for the very first time. We'll be pre-launching the book at the Maker Faire in San Mateo where copies will be available more than two weeks before the book is in stores. This trip kicks off our tour which includes the Seattle and Vancouver Maker Faires, Dorkbots in Portland and Seattle, and many bookstores.

Maker Faire is a wonder world for makers of all variety of things techie to old fashioned. There will be fire arts, and fine cooking, crafts and home manufacturing. Swap-O-Rama-Rama will have its own 6,000 sq foot space and an on site Textile Talk Lounge featuring presentations and demos by a variety of textile artists and this year we'll have our own boutique selling the handmade goods of our talented staff. This year Swap-O-Rama-Rama includes a silk screening and tie die station and of course a fashion show of non stop "oh la la!"

I will be giving three presentations at the faire so if your attending here's where to find me. Mikey will be co-presenting at two of the talks. Come down and see us!

Maker Faire: May 18th and 19th
Wendy & Mikey, Saturday at 3:30 to 3:50PM
Location: Meet the Maker Stage

Wendy & Mikey, Sunday at 11:30 AM - 12:25 PM
Location: Homestead Village's Stage

Wendy presenting a talk about Swap-O-Rama-Rama
Sunday at 3:20 at Swap-O-Rama-Rama's Textile Talk Lounge/Stage followed by a book signing

Books will also be available in the Maker Shed. See You At the Faire!

To follow us on tour check my Goodreads page. New dates are being added all the time. To recommend a stop click the link on the side of this page and tell us where you'd like to see us.

Ephedra in Bloom

2013-05-09T19:34:00.001-07:00

Ephedra in Bloom, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

Its been a while since we've harvested ephedra. We found it in bloom and processed a bunch for tincture. Ephedra you may recall is a stimulant, and a bronchial opener. We make a lovely tea with it that combines it with mint and hibiscus that we call Perky. We sell the tincture too.

Color Magic - Top to Match

2013-05-09T18:13:00.001-07:00

Color Magic - Top to Match, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

I made a top to match the skirt I made yesterday. If you look at the skirt it has a red and a blue color that together imply a berry color but the berry color is not actually there. I mixed a few colors to get the color that's implied by the skirt. Thus the magic. Oh la la!

hardly shocking. . made a skirt

2013-05-08T20:19:00.001-07:00

hardly shocking. . made a skirt, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

Today I dyed several garments and made a skirt from a beautiful textile I had sitting around waiting for a use. I'm not sure of its origin but is hand loomed.

Today I wondered aloud why it took me so long to get to this. Mikey answered. He said, "you were producing Swap-O-Rama-Rama, building a homestead, and writing a book." Carl Segan was right when he said, if you want to make an apple pie first you have to build the universe. And I did.

Rethreaded the Serger

2013-05-07T20:46:00.001-07:00

Rethreaded the Serger, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

It is official, I'm not afraid of my serger! I rethreaded it from scratch today.

Mikey's Gone Coffee Farmer

2013-05-07T20:43:00.001-07:00

Mikey's Gone Coffee Farmer, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

Just back from Austin and could not wait to get started on a new bolt of silk. I made Mikey this top to go with his green shorts. As you can see he's taking on a Colombian look. Coffee farmer?

Running to Nowhere

2013-05-05T13:17:00.001-07:00

Running to Nowhere, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

I've been practicing running around some of local mountains. There are lots of trails across the river to choose from so I've been varying it up. Today I passed some folks on 4-wheelers while I was 3 miles from home. I think they were surprised to see someone on foot with their dog out there. My goal is to run to Palamos Gap and back which I believe to be a 12 mile round trip. It's a difficult run with the hills, sand and need to carry 2 liters of water.

Truth or Consequences Fiesta 2013

2013-05-05T13:11:00.001-07:00

Truth or Consequences Fiesta 2013, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

I climbed up to the water tower with Kyle during this years parade. The parade part of fiesta is pretty short, but the events go all weekend. I skipped just about everything else.

Sign from Fiesta

2013-05-05T13:10:00.001-07:00

Sign from Fiesta, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

Yes, I suppose it is possible.

What's Up Rosemary?

2013-05-05T13:09:00.001-07:00

What's Up Rosemary?, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

My rosemary bush has little white bubbles all over it. I looked it up on-line and read that is a harmless spit bug.

Red Chili Rye Sourdough with a Swirl

2013-05-05T13:06:00.001-07:00

Red Chili Rye Sourdough with a Swirl, a photo by mikey and wendy on Flickr.

My latest bread is a red chili rye and it is off the hook. There is no commercial bakers yeast being used. It has a flavor that is unforgettable.

Here is how I make it...

- 1 quart sourdough starer (let it sit on the counter for 48 hours)
- combine the following dry ingredients
- 1.5 cups rye flour
- 1.5 cups white flour
- 1.5 t salt
- 1 T onion powder
- 1 T caraway seeds
- mix the the quart of starter with dry ingredients
- cover with saran wrap and hold in warm spot for 12 hours
- cut dough in half and lather with honey and red chili powder
- i sprinkle mesquite flour on the top / bottom it's not critical
- put back together and let rise for 2 hours
- bake @350F for 55 minutes