Nomadic Furniture

February 5, 2014

Design

...rospective of their work in Vienna. My favorite project in the book is the series of “knock-down living cubes” made from 2 x Douglas fir and plywood. There’s one for kids, one for work, another for entertaining (which features quadraphonic speakers!) and, my favorite, the relaxation cube. To decorate our 1920s bungalow with furniture this kind of groovy furniture would be like taking grandma shopping at American Apparel–cool in a cognitive dissona...

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Live Like a Stoic for a Week

Mr. Homegrown

November 25, 2013

Thoughtstylings

7 Comments

...e to lead better and happier lives. Stoic Week participants can download a series of exercises, reflections, and meditations to complete each day, prepared by academics and psychotherapists, which draw on ideas from ancient Stoicism. They will complete well-being questionnaires before and after the week and the data from these will be used to assess the effectiveness of the Stoic ideas when they are put into practice today. Dr John Sellars of Birk...

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Primitive Grain Storage Technique

Mrs. Homegrown

November 4, 2013

Appropriate Technology, Food Preservation, How-to, Preparedness

8 Comments

...ran across this minimalist grain storage technique on the BBC documentary series, A History of Celtic Britain (2011), hosted by Neil Oliver of the Delicious Scottish Accent. (I am watching it on YouTube. Fingers crossed the BBC will not take it down before I finish it!) I love this technique because while it is simple, it is far from stupid. The technique is described by the Dave Freeman of the Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire, where they’ve been...

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Stoicism as a Toolkit for Modern Life

Mr. Homegrown

June 6, 2013

Age of Limits, Thoughtstylings

13 Comments

Lucius Annaeus Seneca ca. 4 BC – AD 65. This is the first in a series of posts focusing on positive techniques for keeping our heads screwed on straight in troubled times. Growing food, doing stuff with your hands, drinking homebrew with friends–all these kinds of things help keep us grounded and hopeful. But sometimes you need a little more help. Maybe we’ll call these posts “When chickens aren’t enough.” Whether the world is ending or not, it’s...

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Self-Irrigating Gutter Update

Mr. Homegrown

June 5, 2013

Gardening, Self Watering Containers

4 Comments

...ll just posted in the video above. This improvement on the design replaces the lower gutter with a 4-inch drain pipe. The drain pipe is easier to keep water-tight. And instead of using a gutter filled with soil I might use a series of pots (an idea that’s also in the video)–gutters are too shallow for most plants. Despite the problems, I would call the project a success. In fact, I may expand my gutter system out onto the rest of the garage roo....

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