I know this is random, but the truth is, I have all these posts from another blog that I shut down exclusively about writing…and I HATE waste, so Saturdays for the next thirteen or so weeks will be devoted to writing.  If it’s weird, just ignore me, K?

Most writers really put a lot of WORRY into manuscript format, so let’s just take care of that first.

• Use regular paper in a regular 12pt font , like Times.
• Put your title about halfway down the first page, centered.
• Put your name below that.
• About 3/4 of the way down, start your text, double spaced, regular margins.
• On the top left or right of each following page, put your name, the manuscript name, and the page number.  Something like this:   Caswell/FIRST BALLET/2
• If you’re doing poetry and want to show stanza changes, put in an extra space.

Don’t obsess!  Any editor that will toss your ms out because you used 1.25 margins instead of 1.0, or put your name in all caps instead of just the first letter is NOBODY you want to work with.  EVER.

Ivory

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Is that not one of the grossest things you’ve ever seen?  GOSH, molting is nasty looking.  And, all of them are molting at once, which means every morning it looks like a chicken exploded in my back yard.  The first time I thought one got eaten!

Anyway, at over a 18 months of chicken ownership, I have some things to share that I didn’t know going in:

1.  Baby chicks can eat the same food as grown up chicks and will try.  HOWEVER, like human babies, they don’t have enough sense not to eat food pieces that are too large for them.  The best thing about chick starter is the SIZE.  You can grind up regular chicken food and feed it to your chicks, BUT do not leave any big pieces in there.  THEY WILL CHOKE.  (Notice I haven’t mentioned my guinea’s lately?)

2.  Chickens go through a massive molt at 18 months old.  After a month or two, they start laying again and the eggs are BIGGER.  They may not lay every day anymore, but they lay larger.

3.  Chickens can and will eat almost anything.  If you have chickens, there’s really no need for a bokashi composter.  They eat it all.  I don’t feed them CHICKEN, cause that’s gross to me, but they get everything else.  I wanted vegetarian chickens, but that’s not possible if they have access to pasture.  They eat every bug, worm, and dead thing they find.  So, ya get over it.  (*Note:  do not feed chickens homemade playdoh.  They WILL die.  Ask TL’s sister-in-law.)

4. You do not need processing devices to eat chicken.  You only need an old lady.  I was at the neighborhood association meeting on Saturday and they said something about boiling water and I tuned out, but I know that they can turn your chickens into dinner.  I could probably never kill chickens unless my children were in danger of starving (I’m a big baby), but if the old farm gals in the cove will do it for me, I might try my hand at broilers.  (*Note: never let your children name anything that you’ll be eating, unless it’s Dinner.)

5.  Collecting poo for compost is hard if your chicks are pastured.  Don’t even try.  You’d need a tablespoon and someone else’s back.  It’s ridiculous.  Not that I’m into the poo collection, per se, but having pastured chicks, I can tell you it would be like dropping tablespoons of thick pancake batter all over the yard and picking it back up when it dries.  If cooped, however, you just need a shovel.

Ivory

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photo by ezioman

I stumbled upon the COOLEST website this weekend.  Low Impact Living has an impact calculator that is the best I’ve ever seen.  After your score is calculated, it gives you ‘project suggestions’ to lower your impact even more.  An average household LILI number is 100.  “Low” impact ratings start around 70.  So, what you’re trying to do is get an average of THIRTY points off your score.

I played around with this site for a long while ranking different behaviors by score, cost, etc.  I’m doing a whole series of these posts, but here’s the low down.  Unless you are going to stop driving COMPLETELY (20 points off) or buy enough solar panels to support you 100% (14 points off), these are the top five behaviors to knock a bunch of points off your score, fast.

1.   ~12-15 points off your score–Maximize your recycling. If you recycle sometimes, it’s 5 points off.  If you recycle most of the time, it’s 10 points.  And if you recycle everything thing you could possibly recycle, it could be upwards of 15 points off.   (WOW, look at how much booze Mr. Ivory drinks! Well, the wine bottle is mine.)

2.  ~12.6 points off–Install dual flush toilets or convert your toilets to dual flushers. A dual flusher can save 68 percent more water than a conventional low flow toilet [source: Green Building].  Isn’t that a shocker?

3.  ~12.5 points off–Buying carbon offsets for the rest of your remaining footprint.  I’ve never done this, but after spending all the time one these lists, I’m considering dedicating a portion of our charity fund to NWF’s version of it.

4.  ~8 points–Participate in your utilities green power program for 100% of your usage. Doesn’t mean that you will personally have green power shipped to your house, but that it makes your percentage of power from that company is generated from green sources.  This is expensive, but if you have a few hundred dollars laying around begging to be spent, it makes a big difference in your impact.

TVA Green Power Switch

5.  ~6 points off –Install Low Flow Shower Heads.

Just to give you perspective, the next three items (gray water systems, solar water heater, raingardens) are all THREE points or less.  Just think where buying that hybrid and fancy-pants washing machine shake out!

So, in summary, if you’re an average American household, just recycle effectively and change your potties and shower heads and you’re LOW IMPACT.  Ain’t that NUTS?

Ivory

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This image requires some explanation. It’s what’s left of the garlic braids now that we’ve eaten all the garlic.

I can’t resist making paper out of these stems. They are so clean and dried and . . . papery. And it doesn’t smell like garlic anymore. True garlic devotees may see this as a con, but, generally speaking, garlic-scented stationery is out of favor.

For more photos of papermaking step by step, see the posts Hand Papermaking with Daylily and The Daylily Paper is Made.

Here I soaked the cut-up pieces in water for a day.

More than any other plant material I have used to make paper (daylily, yucca, and especially okra), garlic felt softer after a simple water soak.

I drained and cooked the soaked garlic stems in enough water to cover and 1 T. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda per quart of water. Again, the garlic became softer faster than usual. After only about 45 minutes, it was softened enough to stop the cooking, rinse in several changes of water, and begin the beating.

I beat the pulp for several minutes until a pinch of pulp put in a jar with water and shaken up was able to remain suspended in the water.

I formed and couched the sheets, pressed and dried them, and finished off with a little smoothing with a warm iron.

The leaves from one braid (13 heads of garlic) was enough to make 2 1/2 sheets of paper, 8 1/2″ x 11″.

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If it snows anything like it has been raining in my neck of the woods this year, we are in for a lot of power outages.

Ice is all twinkly and everything and goodness knows there’s nothing like a good snowball fight, but there’s very little fun associated with being stuck in an all-electric house during the dark of winter.

There are many ways to heat without electricity–corn, pellets, wood, coal, even recycled cooking oil. It’s not easy to sort through the heating options for the coming chill. I would love for those of you who have been there to share your wisdom and experience.

Please comment with your favorite ways to heat: your experiences, tips and tricks for keeping the winter at bay.

I’m feeling warmer already.

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First Ballet just received an award!  It’s one of those totally awesome stickers that’s on all the toys I buy!

I wonder if they’ll give me one to wear on my forehead…

And by the way, someone should give TL an award.  I haven’t written a post since the book came out.  Up to my EARS in stuff.  She’s doing all of the projects, posting, and comments.  Give her a big smooch, okay?

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As I was trimming back a few blackberry shoots I got to thinking–Aren’t blackberry leaves Something–you know, something in their own right other than the prickly part of blackberry production?

As it turns out, they are something. High in tannins and vitamin C, they are good for:

• skin
• mouth/gum tissue
• intestinal health
• immunity

Teas and decoctions (concentrated teas) made from blackberry leaves are recommended by herbalists for skin rashes, mouth/canker sores, gum inflammation, sore throat, diarrhea, and more.

Since I have plenty of blackberry leaves, nothing to lose, and can’t resist a good concoction, I was in.

Here’s how to do it:

Remove the newer, fresher green leaves of the blackberry bush. Bruise them by crushing. A rolling pin saves your hands from the prickles:

Lay them out in a thin layer to ferment for 2-3 days. They will develop a rose-like aroma:

Spread them out in a single layer and allow to dry completely.

When absolutely dry, crush and store in a cool, dark place.

To make a decoction, boil a handful of the dried leaves in a quart of water. Reduce by half. Drink a cup or two per day, as needed or desired for prevention or treatment of the above conditions.

The decoction tastes a bit astringent,  but is a nice tea with honey and lemon.

You can also make a simple tea, in the usual way.

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When a favorite shirt became unwearable recently I was asked to fix the snaps. My first thought was, “You can’t fix snaps.”

But then I figured it was worth some research and, whadyaknow, you can fix snaps. It’s easy.

Take a pair of pliers and gently squeeze the post part of the snap. You’re trying to make it a little bit oblong so the fit into the socket is stronger. Just a little squeeze at first. Then try it out. If it’s still loose, give it another squeeze, and so on, until it gives a satisfying “snap” when you try it out in the socket.

I wouldn’t try this out on your designer originals, and you may have to twist the post into the snap to find the orientation of post to socket that fits best.

Now that I know how to fix snaps there’s a blanket sleeper I hope I didn’t throw away that needs fixing, and a couple of onesies, and that other old shirt . . .

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I can’t bring myself to pull up the giant marigold that’s hogging a good one-third of one of my best raised beds so I’m determined to get the most benefit out of it.  One of the uses for this plant is in a spray which is said to combat tomato hornworms, other leaf-cutting insects, plus asparagus beetles.

To make the spray, blend about a cup, packed, of the leaves, stems, and flowers if you don’t mind, in a blender with two cups of water.

Allow the blend to sit for 24 hours.

Strain and add 1/4 teaspoon of castille soap. Dilute with another 6 cups of water and spray on plants in jeopardy.

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Neem oil, if you believe all its fans are saying, will do anything and everything, and has done for millenia. For repelling insects, treating eczema, psoriasis, acne and dry skin, it has a league of admirers. Do a simple search and prepare to be amazed by the breadth of its curative wonders. If it does 1% of what is lauded to do, I’ll be happy.

I made up a recipe which is 8% pure neem oil.  I added an insect repellent blend of essential oils and use it as dog shampoo. It would also be good for a hunter/fisherman/general outdoorsy soap.  Use your favorites to suit your uses. As a dog shampoo bar, I like that I don’t have to wear gloves to wash my dog and wonder what the flea and tick stuff is doing to Rover and me.  It helps, but doesn’t get rid of every sign of fleas. (However, I’ve had similar results with the most “extra-strength” commercial pet flea shampoo).

Neem Soap

60 oz. olive oil

25 oz. coconut oil

8 oz. neem oil

7 oz. castor oil

13.85 oz. lye

30 oz. water

Follow safe soapmaking procedures. I always refer people to Kathy Miller’s site, and there are many good forums and other helpful sites online.

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