Earth Building Classes!

...summer. Events October 2-4 – EarthUSA 2015, Santa Fe, NM: A reminder that EarthUSA, the premier North American earthbuilding community event is coming up this October. The event brings together expert practitioners, historians and conservation specialists from all over the world for lectures, classes, and field trips in the center of American adobe culture. Interested in presenting? A call for papers is out… submissions due on April 10th. Elsewher...

Read…

Ghee for the skin

...he way it feels. More will follow, I am sure. I’m going to experiment with making body butter and lip balm with it. Do any of you use ghee for medicine or skin care? (Also, I’ll be making my own ghee soon, and will post on that, but in the meantime, there are loads of recipes for it out there. It’s basically just boiled butter–anybody can make it. You can also find it ghee in many “regular” super markets these days, as well as in health food store...

Read…

De-Cluttering for DIYers, Homesteaders, Artists, Preppers, etc.

...aterials may kill your own possibilities, too. If we have piles of never-started or unfinished projects collecting dust on the shelves of our workshops (or in the back of the closet, or under the bed), it’s confusing, and guilt inducing, and makes you want to avoid your workspace. I really like the idea of deadlines which produce results. It feels good to have a finished project in hand. It would also be nice to have projects done when they need t...

Read…

Everything Must Go: Tidying Up at the Root Simple Compound

...book, which sounds similar in its insistence that a purge is the way to start, and that by clearing your clutter, you clear your mind and your heart, and make room for new growth and possibilities. We’re deep in the heart of the purging process now. As I write from the island oasis of our sofa I’m looking out at a sea of bags destined for the garbage, the recycling bin or the thrift store. It feels good. We’ll spend a couple more posts talking ab...

Read…

Moon Gazing

...involve food, but crafts, or songs, or copious toasting–or maybe we can just all stand outside and howl at the moon. It would do us some good, I think. What is a blood moon anyway, you ask? It’s a moon stained red by the Earth’s shadow. What’s a super moon? It’s a full moon which is as close to Earth as it can be in its elliptical orbit, making it appear extra large in the sky. For more authoritative information on this lunar event, and for best v...

Read…