In addition to a disgusting pigsty – literally – both inside and outside the house, the previous occupants left behind a plastic calf hutch, often used in these parts as shelter for calves being raised for veal, but in this case for the pigs they kept in the front yard. I bought some chickens off [...]
My latest hobby has proved very fulfilling so far. I find myself drawing parallels between glass blowing and other things throughout the day. As I roll a piece of gum around in my mouth and mold it into a ball I am reminded of spinning a glass marble in a graphite mold. Making something tangible, [...]
I read Coming Home: Letters from a Tiny House by Hari Berzins in two sittings. The first was about a month ago, and the second was tonight. It was an enjoyable read, but I think the book would have been better suited for bite-sized sessions. I would have liked reading a little each day with [...]
I’ve said for years that the ideal situation for me would be to own a good piece of land next to hand-picked neighbors / friends, as opposed to living in an intentional community. Today I signed the contract and paid the down-payment on 17 fantastically varied acres and a nice little home. My neighbor just [...]
It seems like I am always starting a new garden on a new property. Hopefully this time will be the last for many years unless I start another new garden on this property. The good news is I’ve gotten pretty good at turning virgin ground into a productive garden in the first year without tilling [...]
I’ve been working hard on getting the garden going on virgin ground (again), customizing a calf shelter to make a chicken coop, setting up the new house, turning a pig-pen in the front yard into an herb and fruiting shrub garden, cutting up firewood for next year, planting flowers, chestnuts and paw-paws in various locations… [...]
Yesterday was my first day learning how to make borosilicate glass art (i.e. learning to “blow glass”). I have been looking for a visually creative outlet that produced something tangible. Things like welding, whittling, rustic furniture… were along the lines (i.e. a “craft”) of what I was looking for, but I never felt like they [...]
With a two-year old running around you can’t leave oil lanterns sitting out on tables to be knocked over. I’m sure there are dozens of ways to do this, but I settled on using materials I already had on hand: – About 8-10 feet of rope – Two small coat hanger hooks – Two small [...]
My preference in lighting this one room cabin is to use oil lanterns because I enjoy the warm glow of natural light over the cold, blue beam of LEDs. However, the problem with oil lamps is that they do burn up a lot of oil, and that stuff isn’t cheap. It would be cheaper, and [...]
The last three months have been wonderful, but full of things that trumped posting on Living a Simple Life. Having recently become close friends with a photographer, I thought the best way to play catch-up and save a few thousand words would be with pictures. I hope you enjoy this glimpse into my lovely and [...]
Everett writes about voluntary simplicity. This blog catalogs his search for "the good life" as he tries to strike a balance between work and play, freedom and responsibility, simplicity and comfort.
