Love/Hate: My Composting Toilet

I get alot of questions from readers, friends, and facebookers about my composting toilet system... which is really not an advanced system, but a fancy humanure toilet. Maybe you could even call it an indoor outhouse! There are lots of kinds of composting toilets, AKA bigger families might need a different system. This particular one is the right size for a boat, cabin, and RV that doesn't house alot of peeps (pun intended). If you still want this exact potty and have a full family be ready to dish out the toilet emptying chore schedule right away!
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Here is a lil' educational video (i even tried to use my education voice) I made this morning about what it's like to have one of these compoopster toilets, in reality. Not in a magazine or online looking all beautiful and clean- but with stains, skank and dank right out in the open.



Xoxoxoox

Dancing In The Luck Cabin

That "crazy hippy" is me. Dancing in the Luck Cabin. By myself, just like Billy Idol suggests...... (it's very good for your health!)
Thought I would start off my video camera testing/testing 123 with an embarrassing hilarious BANG!



Now ya'll know what I do when I am taking a break from splitting logs, cooking meals, taking care of animals, walking in the peaceful woods and writing blog posts. ;)

Xoxoxox

OHmYGawd, I Got A Video Camera!

Oh shit ya'll. My mom and dad gave me a video camera! (That lady in the pic above though is not my mama, just one of her BFF's trying to help me and my dad figure out the thing.)
When I asked my dad to tell me about the camera I assumed he so painstakingly picked out just for me, he said "I dont know". He gave me the instruction book, that little novel in like ten languages.
I pressured further by saying "but what did the guy helping you buy it say to you, didn't you talk to him about it..."
"No, I just walked in and said show me your best video camera."

AW yeah! I have no idea what this video camera is capable of, but it came with a remote control and I have a feeling ya'll will soon be seeing amazing close ups like my donkeys nostrils and lips, cool rocks, bugs, nature galore, my own dirty finger nails, and other such blemishes of life in the forest!
YAY yayayayay!
But for now... it's charging up.

Thanks Mom and Dad! Now I am gonna be famous. ;)

Xoxoxoxo

Debris Hut (part 2)

Yep... I am STILL working on my debris shelter. But I have a reason why this quick easy type of emergancy/survival shelter is taking me months - I was waiting for the leaves to fall off the trees this fall season and use them, cause I am not really in any hurry. :)
JuJu my donkey watched me gather wet leaves in a bag with great curiosity, and wondered why I was tossing them on top all these sticks.

She really started to think it was a cool project (and not just a big stupid scary bag of leaves) when i decided to see how hay would work, and used part of a moldy bale of hay in combo with the leaves. The hay was thicker, and more sturdy, it also held to the sticks better.

But JuJu kept trying to steal the parts of the hay that weren't moldy.... ;)

And I am still not finished this project.... (i know, it's taking way too long!)

I am thinking of covering it in one layer of hay, then one layer of leaves.

But what should be on top of that to hold the leaves down properly? Suggestions appreciated!!!

Xoxoxox

Quack, Quack!

My ducks! These are the two duckies my uncle gave me for my birthday...
brown and beautiful. He said he at first thought he brought me two females, but by the time he left my cabin he thought he may have brought me a male and a female. And ya'll know what that'll mean...
DUCK BABIES. Which will make me totally cry cause baby ducks always make me cry with the powers of their cuteness.
This breed of ducks (which i have no idea what they are called cause my memory is about as good as one of those peeps in a nursing home with dementia), they lay alot of eggs. Like over 300 a year! The only catch is ducks don't really lay a nest of eggs in a regular place, so when you want to find the eggs it's like a easter egg hunt everytime. :)

JuJu the donkey seems to be uneffected by the ducks for the most part... especially since they are not in the gated area with her and the chickens. Beyond the gate she understands it's a free world, where she doesn't have to stomp ya. Plus, ducks can swim.

Xoxoxox

Animal Tracking: Who's Scat Is That?

I might need ya'lls help! You see I found this scat about a week ago and can't quite seem to identify who poop'ed this one out?!

I know it appears to be hairy in the pic, but in real life and if you click the pic to a larger size you will see it is more like a fungus growing on it, rather then hair sticking out. It seems to be a grouping of large (as in much larger then a deer, rabbit or even a raccoon) pellets that are more oval shaped.

The closest I could find to this scat in my trusty rusty lil' scat book was that it may be a groundhog... except everyone says it's rare to see groundhog scat because usually they poop inside a special place in the tunnels at their home. An underground groundhog bathroom.

So could this be a rare moment of a groundhog poopin' in the wild instead of at his hand built potty place?

So, Help! Who shat this scat?
XOxoxo

A Recluse Who Has A Party?

I did... for the first time in ten years. I had myself a little party.
It started out sweet with many close family members, some neighbors and my uncle setting up a shelter for the two ducks he gave me as a gift! I love ducks :))))
It progressed to a raging awesome bon fire with friends, and lots of good inappropriate conversation topics being discussed, like composting toilets... which generally leads to talk of urine and diarrhea. We talked alot about roaches too. These are things I love to talk about.
But as the night draws on boys tend to want kisses...

and I start to wanna rock out to satellite radio by a warm cabin fire....

and it ends close to when I pull out my best dance move, which is a New Orleans thing called 'poppin' I learned when i was 16. Two african american girls at my catholic school shut the classroom door when the teacher stepped out and told all the white girls they were going to show us how to actually dance! They jumped upside down on a wall and basically booty shook & humped the wall with their school skirts falling over their heads. I learned it right away and have been sharing it ever since.

At my party... I am 'poppin' on my own fridge.

Before I had this first party as a recluse I wondered if i'd ever want to have another one again after it was over....

I wonder no longer. Parties are good to have, and human nature is hilarious.

xoxxoooo

What Keeps You From Living A Sustainable Life?

I try piece by piece to make my life more in line with nature. But that sounds so cliche', and defining a sustainable lifestyle is not totally cut and dry. There are variations, nuances, and debates as to what a truly natural lifestyle is...

but by your own definition (which I'd love if you'd share too) what is the thing that most keeps you from being able to fully partake, live, and love a sustainable, earth aligned life?

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For me there are many more things I would like to do to be light footed on this planet. Not because I think the earth won't ever recover from our mistakes but because it feels right, it is something I can pass on to the people who will be born long after I die. Less pollution for their bodies, less disease for all living things. I can pass on cleaner water and fresher air.

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Here is my list::::

• I would like to be off electricity, off grid (aka i want solar panels or a complete non electric set up).
• I would like to have classes on identifying all native plants in my area.
• I would like to learn to hunt for protein foods (aka, less grocery dependence).

Here is what keeps me from having accomplished these goals::::

• MONEY .... solar panels cost big bucks
• money.... no seems to teach this shit for free
• Money..... ditto from above

Tell me your lists and thoughts, what is your biggest obstacle? If it's money, tell me your second biggest too!

One Small Split For Womankind (and tiny people)

I wanna show ya'll all the logs I've been splitting this month (see pic above and below)! This does not count the ones I have already burned on the cold nights...
I have always considered myself a feminist, not a preachy one but a quiet one who doesn't talk about it. I rather live it. Am i saying it's easy for a tiny woman to split her own logs for winter heat... NO, I am saying you CAN do it, I CAN do it, and it's vastly rewarding to be able to take care of yourself without relying too much on the system. Or the man.
No offense guys. I wouldnt mind if a dude was taking turns choppin' these bitches with me... but the point is I am doing it myself and am capable.
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Historical note:::
historically speaking men did these type of chores and women were home preparing & cooking food, taking care tons of kids, ect... I would like to say that I can now see from a back in history man's perspective why he'd be wanting a hot meal when he came home from busting his ass - splitting all these logs makes me want to come home to a warm meal too. One I dont' have to cook...
But presently speaking, I do all of it. YAY! This is one for the ladies AND small people!
xoxoxo

Boiling Chestnuts

I know I told ya'll I was going to roast the chestnuts I foraged for in my 'hood... but since I didn't have a pan big enough to lay them all even & flat in the oven, I decided to try and just boil them in some spring water. (This project was NOT a fail either! It's SOooooo Delicious. YAY!)

ALL YOU NEED:

• chestnuts
• a knife
• water
• a pot

What I read and have been told numerous times is that chestnuts can explode while cooking. I've been told this same thing about sweet potatoes and never seen it happen... but I decided the chestnuts seem more like a bomb.

STEP ONE: Take a sharp knife and draw a lil' X on each chestnut to keep it from exploding. This also makes it way easy to peel open after they are done cooking!

STEP TWO: Dump all your X'ed chestnuts into boiling water. Let them boil for about 20 minutes.

STEP THREE: Peel open at the X and eat dat' yellow-ish nut on the inside. It's GOOD! Make sure you dont eat the funked out rotten gray ones (or at least I didn't cause they smell sour and bad).

It's so good, I ate them all at once. I couldnt stop!!! I felt like a f'en squirrel. :)

I have to go back to that tree and see if there's more...

xoxoxox