Viewpoints in the Garden

March 13, 2014

...need some more work. This area by the chicken coop could use some paving stones or a deck under the chairs and a better “hide the crap” fence to screen out the compost bins in the background. Overall the main design lesson is in the first photo in this series–the use of foliage or trellis work to not allow the whole space to be viewed at once. This makes a small space seem larger and lends a sense of mystery to what might be behind that avocado tr...

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What the Internet Will Look Like After the Zombie Apocalypse

Mr. Homegrown

February 27, 2014

Water and Power

...ar as ten miles with a stock router and no boost in power. And the network is self healing. If one router goes out the other routers take on the traffic. For more info on how to set up a network like this see www.broadband-hamnet.org. or watch this series of videos. There’s also a free e-Book: Wireless Networking in the Developing World. Cat photo kidding aside, this relatively simply hack has potential to help a lot of people. This post was inspi...

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Nomadic Furniture

Mr. Homegrown

February 5, 2014

Design

7 Comments

...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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