Books and travels: Small Is Beautiful. economics.

I didn't bring a good, long book to my flight. As much as I usually prefer to buy books used, there is something exciting about buying a book in the airport bookstore just before I take off on a new adventure. I did not anticipate that the international terminal that I checked into would only have books in Spanish.

The short book that I had brought (and read before) was The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz. A very good book, but a short read. After checking spanish bookstore after spanish bookstore I settled on Deepak Chopra's Buddha.

I had a six hour wait in the airport before my shuttle. I only know a little Spanish, so the book kept putting me to sleep. I was getting pretty desperate for any book in English.

Before I scoured everyone for a good book attempting a book trade. Estrella didn't have a book so I offered her the Deepak Chopra book. Later she told me that she had been looking at this same book earlier, but hadn't bought it. She did really want the book. I found someone else to give The Four Agreements to. The last day before I left, my friend Willie told me he had an extra book.

The book he gave me was Small is Beautiful: economics as if people mattered. I started the book on my flight back--with an 11 hour layover in Mexico City. I made a friend in the Mexico City airport and we talked for the majority of my layover. The book pulled me through the toughest part of my layover, the end, and kept me awake.

I can tell that this is going to be one of those books that helps me to look deeper and understand more about some of my life philosophies. Books often give us a language to express what we believe. I am excited to be able to add these theories into my world.

I love what this book has to say so far about economics. The author talks about the birth of Economics as a science and therefore the limits. I like that he mentions that perhaps Economics as a science is better if limited to quantitative measurements rather than qualitative. Quality is difficult to measure especially if we don't factor out creativity from the value. Then we end up with mass produced goods and people who become tools instead of craftsman. It is difficult to feel one has a personal purpose in life when one is a replaceable, unskilled tool.

Economics are out of balance when there is no cap. More, more, more production requires more consumption, creates more waste, while mechanization takes "jobs" . . . it creates quite a downfall for a community. The creation of the Megalopolis further throw the countryside out of balance. There is an optimal population for a given location to support.

This book takes the approach of Buddhist economics. The author states, however, that it is more about spirituality, that this could be said in the language of any religion. It is about each person as a person, not a strawman.

An excerpt from p. 57 & 58

While the materialist is mainly interested in goods, the Buddhist is mainly interested in liberation. But Buddhism is "The Middle Way" and therefore in no way antagonistic to physical well-being. It is not wealth that stands in the way of liberation but the attachment to wealth; not the enjoyment of pleasurable things but the craving for them. The keynote of Buddhist economics, therefore, is simplicity and non-violence. From an economists point of view, the marvel of the Buddhist way of life is the utter rationality of its pattern--amazingly small means leading to extraordinarily satisfactory results.

For the modern economist this is very difficult to understand. He is used to measuring the "standard of living" by thee amount of annual consumption, assuming all the time that a man who consumes more is "better off" than a man who consumes less. A Buddhist economist would consider this approach excessively irrational: since consumption is merely a means to human well-being, the aim should be to obtain the maximum of well-being with the minimum of consumption. Thus, if the purpose of clothing is a certain amount of temperature comfort and an attractive appearance, the task is to attain this purpose with the smallest possible effort, that is, with the smallest annual destruction of cloth and with the help of designs that involve the smallest possible toil. The less toil there is, the more time and strength is left for artistic creativity. . .it would be the height of folly to make material so that it should wear out quickly and the height o barbarity to make anything ugly, shabby, or mean . . .

back from Earthship Guatemala, 2 weeks until Christmas

I just got back from building with Earthships in Guatemala for two weeks. I left the day after Thanksgiving and got back two days ago. The nonprofit Long Way Home raised money and received a grant to have Earthships come help build a home for a single mom in Comalapa Guatemala. Volunteers came from all over the world to help build and learn about building Earthships.

There is so much that I could write about the build in Guatemala. I am going to limit this post but hope to write more later. On the practical side I learned how to build the new roof (rebar and cement) that I want to here on our retrofit home next Spring. The Earthship we built in Guatemala was very simple. This is a style that should be easily applied in many areas (with climate tweaks) by anyone. Obviously it is much easier permit wise in Guatemala.

The roof on this house needs to be redone before we can have water catchment with cisterns. Another project is that I would like to make my own cement and can or tire cistern. This winter will be for planning, researching, and organizing.

We have got a simple system in place for water right now. Phoenix and I are still going to be doing some traveling January through March. Regina, a friend of mine who is an accountant travels to Miami Jan-March (3 weeks there, one week back) for tax season. She needs help driving and is teaching me how to do taxes (something I definitely need to learn more about). Taxes are the most mysterious part about running a business to me. Phoenix and I will be traveling with her. Phoenix will likely be in a friend's daycare during the day. I am also excited that a local studio will be having and acroyoga intensive in Miami while I am there.

(((Update: due to a recent developments Regina and I have decided that this is not the best time for Phoenix and I to travel to Miami with her. Let's see what other fun stuff shifts into place. . . more time for CSA work)))

For now we have two weeks to prepare, enjoy exploring what Christmas means to us, plan, and relax a little. I am listening to jazzy Christmas music on Pandora while drinking spiced rum and eggnog. Phoenix and I are making homemade Christmas decorations from Christmas colored newspaper advertisements, rice paper, water colors, pine cones, and some snowflake beads I found at a garage sale this past summer. . .soon to include popcorn and cranberry garlands.

I came home from Guatemala and no snow! I am on the lookout for a place to ice skate, however . . .

pictures coming as soon as the computer agrees to them

water updates

I have had a chance to dig into my research for making our cistern a reality. My decision is now that I would really like to take my time with this system to do it how I'd like to and do it right. I have instead come up with a temporary solution that will be easily implemented but very low volume. This means that we probably will not be inviting many guests over until Spring and Phoenix and I will be taking this opportunity to travel and learn a little more than we would have been.

I will be taking a break from "doing" on the house this winter and will be focusing on making thorough plans for the Spring. This could be really fun. Since we bought the house in June I have been having a hard time finding the balance between planning and organizing and physically getting the work done. Now I will have the opportunity to plan further ahead of time.

I would also like to take some time before Spring to continue to practice my Touch For Health, Applied Kinesiology. This shifting of focus should work very well along with that.

In the mean time I have a few days to get some research, work, play and recuperation while Phoenix gets to have some special Grandpa time over in central Iowa. She says she is really having a good time despite the fact that it seems Aunt Sarah's dog karate-whipped her into the dusty ditch when she tried to boss him around! The story goes: she had been bossing the dog around all day. When they were on a walk she reached for his collar. The dog jumped into the air and hooked her arm into his leg. Phoenix went flying face first into a ditch full of grass and dust. She lay there quietly upside down and dusty for a moment . . . then burst out laughing.

Projects: water

Picture of buried cisterns (in the house berm) in Taos at the construction of a global model Earthship

We have run into some interestingly imminent projects here. Why is it that sometimes you run into a number things that demand your attention all at once. We are in one of those time periods.

The biggest project is that our water has gone kaput. We have had a local company helping us to see if there is a way to get our well pump going again. The end goal where water is concerned is to have rain water catchment and a cistern. I had planned on putting this in next year, but I think I might try to see what I can throw together before we get snow sticking on the ground. In the future the well will not be a main source of water, so I really don't want to have another one dug if that is where we end up. If we catch rainwater I'm not sure we should drink it until we get a chance to re-do the roof. I would like to have it for dishes and baths etc. We will for sure have it tested before we do anything with it.

There will be snow instead of rain soon anyway. I do not plan to install a glycol panel to heat the roof for water in the winter (as they have begun doing with Taos Earthships). This area should be able to catch enough water throughout the year that we can get through winter without that (the evaporation rate should be slow enough that small melts would still drip in as well). I am looking into having some water hauled out to get us going once I get the cistern in.

I have been looking into buying cisterns instead of making a tire or can one. I made a few calls around and had some options, then realized I hadn't asked enough questions about the poly tanks I was looking into. My conclusion so far is that if I wanted to buy a poly tank for cistern use, I would probably have to order it. I have not found any local that are covered that are new, though I have found some used ones that look like they will work well for gray water.

I have been trying to get Phoenix to Grandpa Bill's so that I can dig in with the cistern project, but ironically we blew a tire and cracked the rim on the car when we hit a giant rock in the far left lane of a four lane highway (?). We have to wait for the new rim. Then it rained for a couple of days and the truck got stuck in the mud! I hope you are getting as big of a kick out of this as I am.

I am not terribly concerned. All we can do is try and learn. If things do not turn out in time then we consider a few other options until the spring thaw when this type of work will be easier. It would be nice to just get the water going, but I love adventure and who knows what doors will open if this once needs to detour for a few months?

Stay tuned for further updates ;)

bottle bricks & cement

We found that some of the wood was rotten around one of the windows. The berm had been draining improperly when we first bought the place. The window was behind the cabinets we had to rip out.

Ripping out the rotten wood left us with a gap around the west window in the kitchen. It let in a bit of a breeze. I had decided to move this window to the south side of the house for more solar gain and we are looking at maybe bringing the berm higher on the west side. This gave me a chance to explore bottle bricks.

After grilling my friend Michael about the possibilities of using a table saw to cut glass bottles I went out and bought a wet saw. I did consider having Phoenix stand near the table saw with a spray bottle . . . but, umm, I guess that probably isn't completely safe . . .

Phoenix and I have been stopping by the local bars to find a few that don't recycle their beer and liquor bottles. A couple local bars are saving their bottles for us now. They are intrigued and I said I'd show them pictures :)

One night it got too dark out to work and I was so tired I started to make mistakes. I still had some cement to use up. I ended up fixing up a short brick wall that was cracking in half. It encloses a portion of the patio (I plan on turning this into the outer greenhouse, oh, and have found some fun links for the transformation--next year). We had also ripped out rotten wood under the door the the kitchen. I replaced this sill plate with cement and placed a collage of broken dishes in it. Phoenix was asleep, but we borrowed her hand to make an imprint in the middle.

Speaking of making mistakes, I still have some drippy dried cement to clean off of my bottle bricks, but here is a picture of the window at the moment. This is at night, from the outside with the kitchen light on. We placed vents in the upper right and lower left corners. The vents have the possibility of becoming earth tubes, but presently are capped and filled with insulation cut-outs.

Chillin' in October

Jerome reading a bedtime story by the fire at night. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. We roll the couch up to it. Phoenix and I had fallen asleep here a couple of times last week.
Phoenix and Jerome making jack-o-lanterns on their date night. I was working outside and snapped this through the window (where they had drawn with window marker.
I am finishing off the gluten-free sweet potato/butternut squash pie. I don't bake with sugar, but with honey and sometimes a little stevia (does grow in this climate). This is both for sustainability/fair economic practices and health.

Its been getting colder this month. We are focusing on warmth! This means fittings for the wood burning stove (that we found on craigslist), more fires in the fireplace (fun and warm, but inefficient), and getting tires pounded.

Since we are often working from before sunrise until after sunset we have had to make sure we are getting some fun in too. We put up a wood swing and I have been working on a ring of tires dug halfway into the ground around our fire pit outside. Phoenix enjoys climbing on these. I am also making this a priority because Phoenix is planning to have a Halloween bonfire for her preschool class next Friday.

With Fall and frost come squash. We brought in our butternut squash. Because it is cold out I now have a great reason to bake. I love butternut and acorn squash pie, and pumpkin pie of course. If these pies last beyond one meal they are unlikely to last a whole day.

Today I began to make my first bottle bricks! We have a drafty west window that I am just going to take out and replace with bottle bricks. For now this will eliminate the draft. We are going to move the old window to the south side of the house for more solar gain. Eventually the west window will be buried in the berm.

After checking around we came to the conclusion that the the best water barrier for the cinderblock foundation would be painted on. We took the plastic down and have been painting on a sealant outside. This is something extremely important to me. I've mentioned in other posts that when we first bought the house water was coming in three rooms when it rained. Initially the foam under the carpet kept the leaks disguised, but we had to rip out all of the carpet because it stunk. We sealed from the inside and have not had leaks since, but I want to be very certain it will last for years and years to come.

We have also been working on fixing up a section of the barn for our new goats :) . The chickens will go in there this winter. The chicken tractor was not built for cold weather. I began an Earthship chicken coop, then realized they could just be in the barn for now. I have other things to focus on. I will certainly revisit the chicken coop later.

october updates

*watch video of Dreaming Bear at the end*

septic fun:

dun dun dun, well, ok the septic did have to be pumped. We really aren't sure where the leach field is, so we are just using the septic system and keeping an eye on the level. Everything seems to be working great so far.

chicken tractor:

two stray dogs showed up. They were really sweet, to humans. They got my latch open and ate the chickens when I was gone along with chasing the cats off of the farm. I had a bit of a spiritual dilemma about the fact that animal control was going to put them to sleep if they couldn't find the owners and had all kinds of plans running through my head . . .but they found the owners! Sweet, naughty dogs are gone and we picked up the rest of our chickens--and the cats came back too. Next dilemma, do we buy Mark and Catherine's (SpringValley Farm) breeding goats? Tempting . . . think goat cheese. Also, do we need a dog here to protect our animals?

my birthday, Iowa City Yoga Festival my snopsis:

i got to take a weekend by myself and go to the Iowa City Yoga Festival. I really enjoyed Jim Bennett's pranayama and yogic purification. I was also really excited to learn about how to organize yoga in the park. When I got to the class one of the two presenters just so happened to be the Reiki teacher that I had bumped into the night before in the hallway. He helped me with my headache and balanced a few other things as well. A sweet shaman woman was selling handmade jewelry. I liked her spirit. The necklace I got from her is grounding. Yoga Therapy was another session I went to. The presenter had been a physical therapist who got into yoga because it accidentally solved his chronic back problems. We got to hear about some really interesting research going on with MRI's about the science of the subtle body and the nervous system, and much more. . . oh and dreaming bear! Another great video of Dreaming Bear.

bathroom

We cleaned out the bathroom. I mean, REALLY cleaned. These pictures will show the whole process so far. I am going to start at present and work my way back, mostly. The top photo here shows the amazing first night I took a bath in our new tub, the one below it shows the new toilet (from the Restore) installed. This top picture was a snapshot of bliss.

Candles and Epsom salts in a hot bath after a lot of hard work.

The tub, I think I already mentioned in another post, we got free off of craigslist. The man had already sold two and just wanted to get rid of the third. Phoenix got to be the first to try out the jets. Jets might take a little more energy, but they can be used only when needed/wanted. We will eventually build a frame around the tub. There will be shelves on the left and I am debating the sink. A friend of mine has a toilet that has the sink on the lid of the tank. When you flush fresh water comes from a faucet above. This used water then fills up the toilet tank. Otherwise we could just to a gray water tank hooked in to feed the toilet.

This shows the previous step of the process. I had washed, cleaned and painted the area the new tub would fit into. It felt good to see the tub placed in the room.

The black places on the floor had some tile I had to break out. Next to the wall was a small cement reservoir for draining the tub. ? . We had the water from the tub (underneath) come out onto the floor a few times and this finding made the cause very clear. There was no drain pipe run from the tub into the floor. If you tried to drain more than about 3 gallons it overflowed if you tried to drain it all at once (which we usually didn't because we thought the drain was broken). Jerome placed a pipe into it after I demolished the reservoir with a sledgehammer (fun!). I don't, however, have a before demolition picture of it.

The old bathtub was cast-iron. This puppy was heavy. We had to wait a few days to gain up some strength (sleeping and eating really well) to move it out. We did it in increments. Some research online shows they weigh about 350-400lbs. At first we just moved it to the left of the room so I could work on the right.

Scrubbing the floor and walls. I had considered taking pictures of each dirty bucket of cleaning water successively, but decided to narrow my focus to more work and less play. I washed the walls 3 times and the floor 6 times to get them completely clean before painting. I used to be anti-bleach, but have learned that it really is the best thing for mold. When Jerome ripped out the shower we found mold behind some of the drywall. I washed with bleach, rinsed, then used citrasolv. Then washed/rinsed a few more times. Citrasolv is amazing. It is made with essential oils, so it is natural and it works so well that I avoid it on freshly painted surfaces. It makes your whole house smell like oranges.

This is a very early picture. It is clear the bathtub had overrun before. There was stinky carpet in the bathroom when we bought the place. We immediately ripped out the carpet and took out the drywall where we saw mold. After this picture we had a temporary tile walkway in place to the toilet and shower.

chicken tractor

We go to SpringValley farms once a week to get our raw milk. I found out today that yes, it is legal in Illinois for me to buy raw milk and yes, I can tell people where I get it. If you are from Iowa (about 2 miles from here) then it is a completely different story.

Last week farmer Mark and his daughter Faith both mentioned they were wanting to get rid of some small chickens. This reminded me that I had set a goal of building a chicken tractor and having a few chickens by this month. So I made one last weekend.

Jerome set out some wood that was salvageable from what we had ripped out of the bathroom. I bought some chicken wire. The yellow painted wood on the back we found on the curbside. I didn't even have to cut it, both boards were a good size. Oh, but I did cut the top yellow board in half for fun so that I could place hinges behind each piece and have each pivot backward and up (the hinges were reclaimed). The bottom piece hinges down so you open it as far as you need to for collecting eggs. Jerome and Phoenix found me a few wooden boxes, from the barn, to nail to the inside-back for nests. The tin for the roof was from the building scrap we found on craigslist. I really enjoy the fact that I bought the chickens from a four-year-old (Faith). She is a really amazing girl.

The bottom is open so the chickens can "tractor" the ground. They can scratch it up scrounging for bugs. It is light and movable so that they can be moved around to different parts of the yard.
As seen from the front: chicken pagoda.
This is a picture of the latch on the back. We did happen to have a metal hasp, but I thought it would be more fun to make my own from scrap wood. I didn't put the screws in all the way, so the wood can pivot. The idea here was like folding over the four flaps of a cardboard box to keep it closed. :) I also like the shapes . . .triangle, pagoda, triangle . . .

Happy chickens, happy Phoenix, happy mom, happy earth

Next comes the Earthship chicken coop for winter. I was told that the chickens were kept warm enough in the coop at the Phoenix Earthship in Taos that they lay the same amount of eggs through the winter.

renewable energy fair: Part Two (and lots of parenthesis)

It has been about a month since the renewable energy fair in Oregon, IL. I didn't quite get around to posting part two. Slowly but surely and succinctly, here it is.

Electric Vehicles

One of the most exciting parts of the fair for me was the EV display. There were a number of electric vehicles set out. I found out there is an EV club in that area that has helped people who knew next to nothing about EV's convert their own. Unfortunately the club is not in my area. Fortunately I had previously run across some videos online of a man in my area who has been doing some EV conversion. I did send Bud Wren (local EV converter) an email and he said that we could come visit some time. I have not forgotten, but again the house has taken priority.

The EV guys at the fair recommended what they said was the best book for conversion. It was encouraging to me that this is a book I already bought. We also bought our truck this past summer with EV conversion in mind and it is very similar to two of the trucks that were there. It is a standard and the body is lightweight. I have many more thoughts on this subject but I will revisit it in the future.

Natural Building Materials

One of my goals at the fair was to make a contact to find out where I could learn more about natural, local building materials. I picked up some brochures from a group in WI that offered classes. They have gone into one of those future reference files :)

Other than what I have already listed we walked around, ate some good hippy food (and ice-cream), enjoyed some acoustic guitar music, browsed some tables, and ended up leaving early because of the pelting rain and hail. Phoenix and I had purple lips because we had to run out in the weather to get her to the potty. Oh, and it was fun to see a Zeitgeist movement table among the bunch (they certainly have some interesting ideas -especially about the monetary system- but you have to be able to be open minded and look past the branding of "new agers and atheists").

These were surely the most interesting/informative parts for me. Plus a spotting of a roller-rink and the ensuing discussion of why, of course, I should join a roller derby group.

I am about to go dive into our amazing new jetted bath tub. I don't even care about the jets, honestly. I just love the shape, the candles, being clean, and the steaming hot water. Today we demolished a little more from the walls, swept again (after numerous scrubbings the day before), and painted. We finished digging a bed in the garden and planted the garlic that Cindy (amazing CSA woman) gave us. I put more rock around the sand garden. We baked a pumpkin pie from scratch and ate the whole thing (with homemade whip cream) before lunch. While I watched the pie Jerome and Phoenix made it to the Clinton farmer's market. We just found out about that one. They came back with squash, giant carrots, and flowers Phoenix had picked for me (she likes to pick me goldenrods and dandelion greens).

Phoenix and I visited the Fulton Fall Festival where she got to jump on various air-filled play spaces and I got to kneel in goat poop at the petting zoo. It was a very good petting zoo. Jerome cleaned up after our week of demolition and we baked gluten-free cookies for a friend (and us) while he napped. I just finished painting the bathroom, Phoenix is now asleep, and Jerome had to go in to work. Bye computer, hello bathtub . ..mmmmm

September snaps: progress, being, art . . .

This picture shows the garden earlier in September. The morning glories are climbing up an archway we made out of sticks. We have done a lot since this photo. Now the Zen sand garden is done and there are rocks and brick around it (this would be right in the middle).

A rainbow zebra Phoenix and I drew for Jerome, to greet him when we got home.

In this picture you can see some of the progress in our entry room. The couch we got for $40 at Salvation Army. It looks great, has a pull-out bed, and is on wheels! We can roll it around the room and pull it out to sleep in front of the fire. Here Phoenix is washing my paintbrush. When demolishing the bathroom this past week we pulled down the ceiling tiles that were above the shower. I am making a painting to put up and cover the boards in that spot. It reads "All the water that will ever be is right now".

This is a picture of one of my dandelion green creations. There are (very nutritious) plantain seeds on the left side of the plate. The potatoes are from our CSA. I swiftly fell in love with foraged dandelion greens this past summer. If you let the oil get really hot they crisp up like yummy, delicate, crunchy chips. Anything this dark of a green has to be full of vitamin B right?

A picture of the garden looking away from the house. In the bottom left corner you can see a row of "red brick" lining the driveway. Someone on craigslist recently demolished a building. We have been making trips to get their remnants: antique red painted block, tin roofing, and rubble we are are breaking up and putting around for better drainage in areas. In the upper right corner you can see a compost bin I made out of a pallet and paneling that we ripped out of the house. We are going to experiment with running a hose/tubing through the compost for hot water (this has been done successfully in France, heated to tea temperature).

Our table was so beautiful this night I had to snap a picture. We got our CSA, harvested from our garden, and a neighboring farmer dropped off corn and tomatoes for us to try. Everything in the upper right on the towel was from our garden. The red basket was a gift. The rest was the CSA. Cindy (CSA) has been consistently giving us yummy blackberries and raspberries.

I am slowly working on our cycle-powered washing machine.

This shelf was a really fun find at the local Salvation Army. Someone made it out of old cabinet doors. I put it on coasters to make a "floating island". Jerome's cutting board fits perfectly on top. Salvation Army also had two of these great red tubs (center) that match the kitchen perfectly. The candle was also from a thrift store. The apples we got on our road trip. There were apple trees all along the highway in WI and MI. Apparently it's not illegal to pull over and pick some!

Okra flower in our garden. This has already turned into a yummy snot-textured vegetable and been consumed.

retrofitting ins and outs

As we move from project to project on this house and the farm I find myself going through a few different cycles. I am excited, pumped, working hard, overworked, tired, burnt out, I need a break, ok I'm ready to go again, maybe I'm kind of excited about this, yeah makin' progress, maybe I am kind of pumped . . .

Sometimes I can't help but think it might be better to just start with something new, instead of trying to improve the existing. Jaques Fresco got me thinking about that, but we have what we have, and that is where we should start. I also really enjoy being creative with "junk". This is my present philosophy. Theme of the year: Be here now.

I have been refraining from sharing progress pictures and notes lately because people have been been freaking out about some of the progress pictures if I do not immediately post something that is more acceptably refined. This is not everyone. Some friends want to visit, but will stay at a nearby hotel. No offense to those who have done this, I understand each person has their own comfort requirements, I really just appreciated your visit. Usually, once I explain that things are better than one progress picture can show (it is just a piece of what is going on around here). There is so much going on here that I do not have time to post about everything, nor do I feel this is necessary. I am one of those stubbornly independent people who feels she doesn't really have to explain herself to anyone. Although I appreciate having understanding between two people I create my own judgments of myself and what I'm working on according to my goals.

Seeing the value of chaos, mistakes, and learning from these, I am considering posting a little more about what we are doing again. Truly the purpose of this blog was to share our experiences and what we are learning here.

Ranting done I think I will start posting more . . .

We gutted the bathroom this weekend. When I hadn't found a bathtub on craigslist or the Restore after keeping an eye out for a few weeks I had almost given up. Saturday morning Jerome started the gutting when I got on the computer one last time . . .and found our bathtub for free! The bonus was that when we got there we saw two large plastic water tanks that the man is willing to sell at a great price. My plans for cisterns and gray water storage are closer to happening now.

We found some mold in the drywall in the bathroom so we are taking everything out. This includes the bathtub and cabinets. I don't want to take any chances. Mold likes the drywall and wood. It was also in some of the caulk on the tub. It has been really pretty easy to get out of the cement block, so I see this as no problem. We got it out of the kitchen completely after taking the cabinets out, washing the block and painting it with a water-sealing paint. I don't want to re-use the bathtub inside just in case. We are planning on burying the old one outside in the garden for gray water storage or a small kid's pond or, the sky's the limit . . .

I better get back to work on the bathroom now. Scraping paint, ripping out cabinets, washing walls . . .

I think I might even post some pictures later ;)

Evanston IL and Flying Thai

Last week we drove to Evanston, IL for a Therapeutic Flying/ Thai Massage class. I have taken a couple of Thai massage classes at Thai Bodywork there and enjoyed them a lot. As a massage therapist, I see that I can work deeper with Thai massage stretches without having to do Swedish deep tissue massage. Deep tissue massage can be hard on a therapist's body and is not as relaxing as Thai. What I like the most is how these techniques nicely blend into yoga so that I can have a more active recipient.

I have a fascination with acroyoga. Anything nearby acroyoga related and I want to be a part of it. Flying Thai massage is along a therapeutic branch of acroyoga. I took a Vinyasa style yoga class with David Regelan this year at Moksha in Chicago and started to talk about acroyoga with another man taking the class. He gave me a taste of the flying Thai and I have had my eye on it since then. When I heard that the teacher, Lyndsey Britt, was teaching her last class before leaving the country Jerome and I decided we could make it happen to get there.

The class was, of course, amazing. Phoenix, Jerome, and I have had fun playing around with the techniques. It also feels amazing. It is the most fun massage I have ever had. I bought the acroyoga flight manual with instructional DVD online and am now twiddling my thumbs waiting for it to arrive in the mail.

Interesting observations on the drive there: We began to count how many cars on the interstate had passengers. We only counted vehicles until we reached 100. We counted 13 vehicles with passengers. Semi-trucks and some other work trucks did not count because their purpose was different. As we got closer to the suburbs the amount of passengers increased, but we got to 42 before we saw even one passenger! No wonder cities are encouraging car pooling. Transportation is something that we have plans to address in our own lives as well.

septic fun

We've got some great news. We had a local company come check the septic system out, just to make sure everything was kosher. I believe it was Peterson's Septic Cleaning. He came to check things out and manually broke up a crust we had in the tank. When I asked how much we owed him he said, "Just make sure you call me when your tank gets full".

The good news is our septic is fine. It is unlikely that any flooding was from that. This man's father actually installed our septic system and knew the man who built our house. He said he used to play basketball up in the hayloft of the barn when he was a boy. Jerome told him that the basketball hoop is still there :)

The even better news is that if we have to get the septic pumped this company takes the contents and dumps them in the field. He then has to pour lye over it to balance the pH. It is sanitary, legal, and environmentally friendly. This makes me happy because nutrients are being put back into the soil and everything is allowed to biodegrade naturally.

We did learn something about septic systems. If you let a septic system sit a couple of months without being used it can form a hard crust on the top that needs to be broken up. This crust can block flow into the system. If you hear gurgling in your pipes after flushing or using drains it means your septic tank is getting full.

food consciousness

I am having a really fun time snapping pictures in the garden once in a while when I go out to gather. . .our garden is very photogenic :)

Thinking about food. We do that. I have been talking for a few months about starting a spreadsheet so that we can be more aware of where we are purchasing our food and what our intake is. Last month we spent a ridiculous amount of money on food. This happens easily when you try to buy organic/free range/antibiotic-free/grass fed/local/fresh/hormone-free/cruelty-free/gluten-free . . .umm, when you try to eat consciously. The real problem is if you continue eating the usual way. That is, meat at least once a day, buying processed grains (cereals, crackers, breads), and unlimited dairy.

We usually cut the price down by limiting meat.

Meat is considered a luxury

in the summer (or special occasion, or if we have physically worked extra hard and need a boost). If we are traveling and come across a natural co-op that has special local meats we will splurge . . .or for cute little girls who are picky eaters :) . . .

we splurge on meat while Ivy and Zoe are here. Ivy is a meat girl.

With non-local, non-happy

(not grass fed, pumped full of antibiotics and hormones etc.) meat it may seem cheaper, but someone somewhere is truly paying the price. It is also not that great for your body. I could go into this much deeper, but I will stop here and say, watch the movie Food Inc. Personally, most

non-happy meat makes me sick to my stomach because I am not used to it. I have realized recently that a lot of people think that bloated-after-you-eat feeling is part of being "full", normal. It is hard to change your lifestyle. It is really hard to change a family's lifestyle.

Add more beans.

Beans are so good for you! They get things moving, but if you eat them regularly your amount toxic smells from inside will decrease as your colon becomes cleaner and healthier and your enzymes level out. Hey, there's always Beano--just remember you are supposed to take it before the meal.

Dried beans are cheap. The big thing is, remember to soak them the night before. Most beans are not a complete protein, though, so remember to add a grain like rice when eating them at a meal. Make them yummy

with spices like bay, basil, thyme, hot sauce, salt (of course),Braggs amino acids can be used as a salt substitute (tastes like soy sauce). I often add onions, garlic, and tomatoes from the garden and toss them in the slow cooker on low in the morning.

Processed grains.

Boxes of cereal at o

ur house are usually a treat. Phoenix loves Envirokids Gorilla Crunch. We try to cook up rice instead or an alternate grain. We are pretty rice-happy here though. Rice is an alkaline food that helps balance the commonly over-acidic diet of Americans (acidic pH causes a lot of health problems). I do need to look into rice a little closer though, and figure out the ecological impact of getting it here. The most local I have found so far is California. Though we tend to pay a little more for organic, rice is still cheap.

We splurge on gluten-free bread. It is very expensive. I am very allergic to gluten, not fun. It is easy to get into the habit of having bread all the time though. In fall and winter we will bake more, but right now bread is also a luxury/special treat. We like to buy Just Bee Gluten Free, a local woman just started this company and has yummy bread products.

Fruits and Veggies.

Start a garden! Organic fruits and veggies are expensive. They also go bad fast if you buy them from the store because they have traveled and have no preservatives. We also joined a CSA because we got our garden in late. Cindy at Hawkeye Farms has great food and I have really enjoyed talking with her.

Dairy.

My weakness is ice-cream (or gelatto!). Jerome's weakness is ice-cream. Phoenix' weakness is ice-cream. That

puts us almost eating ice-cream almost all the time . . . in hot weather we lose willpower. Obviously, though, ice-cream is a luxury, a treat.

We have found a local farm that we can bring our own container to and get milk. We go about once a week a

nd Phoenix gets to run around with the farmers' daughter to watch ponies, cows, and chickens. We limit our milk intake to this and supplement with homemade soymilk. I use organic dried soy beans, soak them overnight, and then put them in the soymilk maker that I ordered off of ebay a few years ago when Phoenix was lactose intolerant.

Probiotics are important too. I need to get back into the habit of making my own yogurt. I got a really great culture from my Touch For Health, Applied Kinesiology, instructor.

Ok, this is getting long. I'm going to stop here for now. We are uber-focusing on food this month so I'm sure there will be more posts on this subject as I get a chance to do more research, fill in our spreadsheet (we started it this month! --nerds), and make some fun graphs.

testing materials: Earthship

We are planning to build an Earthship on the land in the next couple of years (hut/nest style). Here are some pictures of where I have started testing some of the materials for a toilet facility inspired by Earthship Haiti. The facility is on the back-burner for now, until we get the house winterized and after I've stepped further into the permit process. I had some better pictures of this after it dried, but I can't find them right now. Maybe I will post them later.

The Earthship Haiti toilet is pretty simple. It has a simple shower and a toilet. It catches its own water on the roof for the facility. Used water is then filtered through constructed wetland

Our land is close to the river, so we have some natural deposits of sand. I wanted to see how our local sand (after we sifted it) would do in the cement mix, and if the humidity here would make a difference in how it dried. It dried hard and there is no cracking.

As I was working with and researching the cement I began to wonder more about natural, local building materials. I would like to attend a workshop in the midwest with someone who has built entirely out of natural materials such as adobe. Earthships use adobe inside but not outside. How much weight can adobe support and how does it hold up to different elements? I am looking into visiting Dancing Rabbit ecovillage in Rutledge, MO, sometime soon and hope to get a chance to ask some of the builders there about their experiences with natural, local materials.

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Kids: cute baby animals and saving animal habitat. local attractions

While all three girls were here at the farm we had a girls day. On this day, we dressed up in dresses (and tiaras for the little ones) and went into town, Davenport. We left the boy at home to get a little time to himself and get some work done on the farm.

We went to see a movie at the IMAX theater. The plan was to see Born to Be Wild. This documentary is about two women who started saving baby animals. One woman cared for baby elephants when their mothers were poached. Another cared for baby orangutans when their habitat was destroyed and their families pulled apart. Both ended up with helpers and their care turned into organizations. When the animals are big enough and ready they are released back into the wild.

The girls were enthralled by the cute baby animals and had many questions about why people are destroying the habitat. It was fun watching Zoe reach out to touch the 3-D images. Ivy was like a stone. I only saw her move once during the movie, when a baby elephant charged at the screen.

We were a little early for the movie so we decided to go check out the Putnam Museum exhibits while we were there. Phoenix loved the fossils and anatomy exhibits. Ivy liked the mammals, submarine, lightning and tidal pool. Zoe kept going to back to the display where you could push a button and make your own tornado/whirlpool. All three girls loved the display where you could pretend that you were drawing blood out of someone's arm. There was a little kids wigwam and trader area where the girls dressed themselves up in "furs".

I very highly recommend Born to Be Wild! We all learned a lot and enjoyed ourselves too. Of course, everyone ooh'ed and ahh'ed over the three little princesses running around around around. I asked too, and there is no rule there to prohibit running!

Movie:

www.putnam.org/bornwild.html

Museum:

www.putnam.org/exhibits.html

Kids: conflict transformation and mediation

Ivy and Zoe are back with their mother and soon will be headed back to their other new home in Europe. We really enjoyed having the girls here. Jerome took a few weeks of vacation and we all had a lot of fun playing and exploring new areas. Having two four-year-olds and a five-year-old requires a lot of attention and energy. I think this seems like an age with a lot of transitions. The girls are all still learning where they can be independent, when they need to ask, and how to best communicate their needs and desires.

I think communication is a fascinating subject. When people are together though, misunderstandings and confrontation are unavoidable. A little over a year ago (two years ago?) I discovered Non-Violent Communication when I ran across the book in a library. It is a way of expressing your feelings and transforming conflict. Jerome and I have used this throughout our relationship when we are feeling, tense, stressed, hurt, or having a hard time understanding each other. We use it with Phoenix to help her communicate when she is upset. Phoenix really seems to enjoy it and often steps in as mediator for other kids who aren't getting along well. At our Mommas and Babes camping trip Phoenix would step in to help Shelby and Grace when they would get upset and yell at each other, helping them to communicate effectively.

When Ivy and Zoe were here it was fun watching the girls take responsibility to resolve their own conflicts.

It breaks down to:

1 Observation (objective)

2 Feelings

3 Needs

4 Request (of the other person)

For kids we often guide the process as so:

ok, wait, take a deep breath

Now (to kid #1)) tell me what you saw happen.

(To kid #2) tell me what you saw happen.

(To kid #1) Tell your sister/friend how that made you feel

(Now kid #2's turn to share feelings)

Each kid then gets asked what he/she needs and how he/she thinks that this need can be met.

Both kids are usually able to resolve things at this point.

After a few times we tell that they can work it out between themselves, because they now have a template. It is really fun when there is a third kid to act as mediator. They take charge and act so grown-up, it is like another game.

. . .not to say that there are not times that we all get tired and irritable and end up having quiet time or nap time instead of talking through a conflict . . .

I really want to do the NVC workbook and attend a conference sometime.

www.cnvc.org

Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life

Marshall B. Rosenberg

reusable items

Here are a few links to some fun reusable items.

Every time I throw something away my mind flashes to where it will end up. Obsessive about sustainability? Possibly. I think its time to step up and move past the out-of-site-out-of-mind way of thinking and deal with our shadows.

Plastic and metal razors waiting to degrade in landfills . . .

Preserve

This company makes products from recycled materials, when you are finished you mail your razors and toothbrushes (made from recycled yogurt cups!) back to be recycled again.

http://www.preserveproducts.com/products/personalcare.html

I emailed Preserve to ask if they did indeed recycle the razor cartridge as well as the handle. They said that at this point they do not recycle the cartridge. It is, however, something they are working on and hope to have that available in a year/year and a half.

Terracycle

You mail them wrappers from chips and candy bars and they make amazing products from them like purses, bags, and earrings. They will even pay you for your trash!

http://www.terracycle.net/brigades/candy-wrapper-brigade.html?locale=en-US

We learned about this at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Clinton, IA. They also have a drop-off at the Restore in Davenport.

Containers and items that can't be recycled we often add to a craft box for Phoenix. She makes some really fun things and has taken to asking teachers and other adults for their glue bottles and other empty containers to make crafts, or suggesting what they could do with it.

How does your garden grow?

I snapped a few pictures of the garden before we left and was excited to see it when we got back. These are all before pictures. We may have gotten it planted a little late (bought the farm in June) but it is catching up! In the garden we have: a few different varieties of string beans (green and wax), mung beans, soy beans, cucumbers, butternut squash, cilantro, basil, lavender, thyme, sage, dill, spearmint, mint, many different tomato plants (my favorite is black sea man, the purple ones, Zoe calls them rainbow tomatoes), cantaloupe, strawberries, butterfly bush, marigolds, pansies, lilac, yellow rose, morning glory, a citrus plant (from Tom in KY), Zen sand garden in progress, and kittens.Butternut squash
Climbing beans
Heirloom tomato and volunteer pansies

These two cantaloupe are now ripe and Phoenix pretty much ate one all by herself today. We picked them this morning. There are a bunch more started on the vine.
. . . and pretty maids all in a row.

(Zoe with giant caterpillar found in the garden!)

Everything is organic with no pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers. If the bugs start getting to a plant I just make sure that I dump the dishwater (natural soaps like Seventh Generation) on the leaves after I have done the dishes. It coats the plant and the bugs don't like the taste. The gray water from the dishes also provides great nutrients!

illinois renew: PV and Native Plants

We had a chance to stop through the Illinois Renewable Energy fair in Oregon, Illinois, last week. I was very excited to go and meet some like-minded people.

We made it to a presentation on Photovoltaics that was informative. It was about maximizing the energy from your solar panels. The end of the presentation got drowned out in the sounds of rain and hail from feisty weather. It is always encouraging to see what others are doing in your area though.

I enjoyed learning about some of the challenges of solar power and some innovations that help overcome them. I've got some fun notes and I'm sure I will be looking more into this PV group that services the midwest: Advanced Solar Solutions.

www.AESsolar.com

Next we sat in on a presentation about why it is important to grow native plants in your lawn. It was called "We all live downstream". The presenter, Tim Lewis, talked about the importance of the root systems to filter ground water and prevent erosion. He also talked about how native plants support native insects that help to balance a healthy ecosystem.

Tim obviously had a personal vendetta with the "traditional" american lawn. Although, I can't say I disagree. I think that lawns are a waste of time and resources. The shallow root system alone causes environmental degradation, not to mention chemical fertilizers and fossil fuels used to keep it trim and green. Jerome told me about a group called food-not-lawns that I find intriguing. I learned from the presentation that grass is actually the largest crop in America, covering 30-40 million acres of lawn surface. Imagine if everybody grew some of their own food instead of caring for a fruitless lawn.

According to Tim Lewis, the current traditional American lawn is actually a throwback to the 1700's. In England it was a status symbol. The lawn took off in America right after World War II. Now there are laws about the necessity of taking care of one's lawn. As people are learning more about the hazard of current lawns though this is changing. The association for native plants refers to a lawyer who will help people fight for their right to plant native species to nurture their ecosystem.

We ended up having to leave early because of the rain and storms and a sick little one. I was disappointed to not be able to return on Sunday, but Phoenix just started school and seems to have already caught a virus. I stayed home and took care of her while Jerome got a chance to go back and pick up some of the native food-bearing plants (hazelnuts, serviceberries and more) we had planned on getting at the fair from Red Buffalo Nursery (http://www.redbuffalonursery.com/).

I will make another post later on what we got to see at our time at the Illinois Renewable Energy Fair! We had a long day today picnicking and playing at Eagle Point Park in Clinton with the girls. We ate at the top of a small castle next to a wedding and played at the multiple playgrounds. We relaxed on a blanket, had a treat and read a story. Then the kids went back to play while the adults relaxed with some yoga and Thai massage before a small hike. I'm ready to relax at home with some candlelight and local wine.

home

I have decided to spend a few days shifting my focus to current comfort in the home. Sustainability is a lifestyle. Making our home sustainable will be a dynamic process as we learn more. Ivy and Zoe will be coming home for the first time this weekend. We are really excited and I am hoping to put a few comfort touches in before they get here.

On the way to pick them up we are going to swing through the Illinois Renewable Energy Association fair. . . and maybe again on the way back . .

www.illinoisrenew.org/events/2011_fair.html

The house: Massage and guest room

Over the past couple of weeks we have had a lot of visitors come through and have also gotten a lot done. These pictures show floors after we ripped carpet out of the remaining rooms. We painted these with the water sealing paint. We also decarpeted (yes, I did just make a new word) and painted the guest room, the blue one clear in the back.
The other guest room, with the cabinet, is doubling as my massage room.

The room off the kitchen is the one with what looks like newspaper on the wall. This isn't newspaper! It is art in progess. There is a rose in the center, and each page is from the Thought Dictionary. Its really fun, but not all that far progressed yet.

I found some fun cabinets recently at garage sales and thrift stores. I like unique furniture. You can see a couple of these in one of the kitchen photos.

We got a good start on the earth-rammed tires. One afternoon three of us worked these. I'm sure we will continue to progress steadily now.

We also added the two remaining leaves to the table for visitors and we are going to keep them in in anticipation of more friends and family coming soon!