Are you dreaming of living in a barn?

A few weeks ago I asked you: Are you in need of a hobbit house? And just now, while I was researching for a jeans-project, I found this:

A barn got a make-over and became a 700 square foot familyhouse. Interested? You can read and see more about it here.

But if you like a house of shipping pallets is more your taste than you have to jump here.

Have fun.

Elizabeth

Some inspiration

A few days ago Anneli was so kind to send me a link on re-using everyday material that normally ends up with the garbage.

(picture from Nítdia of the blog Comparte tus Ecoideas)

The picture is one of the examples given on the blog called Comparte tus Ecoideas. Unfortunately the blog is not in english nor does it have the google translator but the pictures tell the story very well.

Thanks Anneli for your contribution of re-purposing materials.

Elizabeth

Some inspiration

Today I found Peak moment television, here one can find all kinds of interviews on various subjects. Some of the titles are:

• Managing the 21st Century's sustainability crises
• Your money, your life, your happiness
• Four acres and independence
• Your personal baker
• And several interviews on community-gardens and gardening.

With a click here you can start browsing around, when you don't have the time right this minute you can always find the link at our linkpage under eye-opener.

Enjoy yourself.

Elizabeth

Are you in need of a hobbit house?

Today I read in the Mail online a story about a family that built their own version of a hobbit-house totally eco-friendly.
 



For someone without any experience I think he did an amazing job as you can see in the picture. Simon Dale has also a website with more information and pictures, if you click here you are able to see it or you can look at the youtube-video below.

Have fun while looking at a sustainable home in Wales.

Elizabeth

charming chickens

svensk sortehøns (black swedish chickens) - this rooster (aptly named "blackie") is my favorite.

as you know, we got chickens back in june. and then husband built them a veritable mansion that we dubbed chez poulet, because it's so fancy. the coop has two entrances - one into a totally enclosed area, where we give them table scraps and one into a back yard, where they can fly (and yes, i assure you they can fly, tho' it's not the most elegant sight) over it and get out to explore.

in fact, they were letting themselves out to explore so often, that we've just left the gate open of late, to make it easier for them. it's nice to have them wandering in the garden, cleaning up, tho' i have found them as far afield as over in the shelter belt near our bees. but charmingly enough, they come running from wherever they are when you go out there and talk to them. i hadn't expected that. they're really quite charming. and a bit funny. and their plumage makes a perfect fall fashion statement.

dansk landhøns (danish land chickens)

the three roosters can spend hours trying to outdo one another with their cries of cock-a-doodle-doo. and the other day one hen was a rather insistently clucking midwife to another one who was in the nest and clearly laying an egg. it was as if she were a little chicken cheerleader. later, i realized it may have been more of a complaint, because i found that hen in the same box, laying an egg of her own, so she was probably just telling that other hen to hurry up. there are five nest boxes, but as they've begun to lay eggs, i've noticed that they stick to the first one and the fourth one. it's hard to know what chickens are thinking, so i'm not sure why that is.

we're getting 2-3 eggs a day and they're starting to be a little bit larger now (they were pretty tiny at first). i've already checked an all-eggs cookbook out of the library, as once all 9 hens start laying, we're going to be eating a whole lot of eggs around here! at the moment, we can keep up.

in all, i'm enjoying this chicken thing much more than i thought i would. they're easy to have around. plus, we've cut back significantly on the amount of garbage that goes into our bin on a weekly basis, because so many scraps go to them - the only thing we don't give them is chicken, but otherwise, all greens, leftover rice or couscous, cheese, other kinds of meat go to them, anything we didn't manage to eat all of ourselves. in return, we get plenty of eggs and quite a lot of amusement.