Cat Scratch Fever: How to Make Your Own Cat Scratching Posts

...make nice things scratch-able? With these two notions in mind I set about making a scratching post that I could attach to the side of our Ikea couch. Here’s what you’ll need: 3/8 inch sisal rope scrap wood (I used a 4×4) [I have revised this post: nails work better than staples!] #17 x 1 inch wire nails hot glue (optional, but a few dabs will keep the sisal on the post longer) Wrapping the wood is straightforwards, if tedious. I used some clamps...

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A Question About Freezing and Canning Home Grown Vegetables

...s sort of preservation. Frozen berries, for example, are fantastic for jam making. If I need to make some peach jam out of season, I head straight to the frozen fruit section of the grocery store. Your caller was asking about vegetables, of course, and there would be some nuances. First, they will want to be sure to freeze the vegetables properly, such as blanching certain veggies to set color and stop enzymatic reactions. Following the guidelines...

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That Sugar Film

...both of which this film has in abundance. Show me don’t tell me is a film making mantra seared into my brain during the brief period I took classes and edited with Jean-Pierre Gorin (Full disclosure: my inner Gorin drives Kelly crazy and makes me a grumpy, no-fun movie going companion.) That said, what won me over to That Sugar Film is that its heart is decidedly in the right place. The strongest scenes were during visits to two disadvantaged com...

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055 Guerilla Furniture Design

...zines and web sites. During the podcast we discuss: Arcosonti Rural Studio Making furniture out of cardboard Frank Gehry’s cardboard furniture and Shigeru Ban’s cardboard architecture Holman’s Instructables projects Guerilla Design principles: Honesty, utility, economy and beauty Ikea hacking Open Works – the makerspace Will is helping build in Baltimore Opendesk Will’s website Objectguerilla.com If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple...

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