Lloyd’s Blog

German Town Produces 321% More Renewable Energy Than It Needs!

2013-06-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Largest Solar Power Plant in World": Might interest:
http://wakeup-world.com/2012/07/03/german-town-produces-321-more-energy-than-it-needs/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzc77Lqkldk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildpoldsried

http://inhabitat.com/german-village-produces-321-more-energy-than-it-needs/wildpoldsried-germany/

http://www.alpconv.org/en/climateportal/territorialexamples/wildpoldsried/pages/default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Paddle Race in Capitola June 22, 2013

2013-06-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

There is a 2-mile and 12-mile paddle race in Capitola (sister town of Santa Cruz), Calif. on June 22, 2013. It's in honor of surfer Jay Moriarty and has divisions for different ages and for regular paddleboards and standup boards.
Click here.

The Pax is the iPhone 5 of Vaporizers

2013-06-18T14:57:00.000-07:00

This in from Anonymous:

"By this I mean a real breakthrough. Elegant, small, stealthy. When you press down on the mouthpiece, it pops up and activates a subtly pulsing purple light. In 20-30 seconds, this turns green and vapor is ready.

When people seem shocked at the $250 price, I ask them what they think their lungs are worth.

Read about here on Cool Tools."

Twin Babies Have a Blast Playing With Rubber Bands!

2013-06-18T08:05:00.001-07:00

From Lew Lewandowski

Learning Carpentry and Eric Marth's Photography

2013-06-18T05:30:00.000-07:00

Hi, Lloyd,
My name is Eric Marth, I'm writing in from Virginia. Thank you for all the work you've put into Shelter and your great blog.…This morning I was catching up with your blog and found a post I'd first read in the fall about starting out in carpentry (It's here). Since the fall I've been working full time for my friend Jason who owns a small construction business here in Fredericksburg. I'd worked for him off and on for a few years, a day or two here and there, while also working in a great used bookstore in town before joining the crew. In my case it was the meeting of my interest and the good fortune of knowing someone in the trade. I'd known Jason for a few years before starting to work with him. I'm still green, but have gone from pushing a broom to wearing a tool belt. The work has been great and satisfying and I haven't been happier. I live here in town and have the rare pleasure of coming home for lunch each day, eating from the garden and taking a short nap. It seems like this sort of thing has all but disappeared from most of our lives.

Much of our work is in the historic district of Fredericksburg city, doing additions, remodeling and renovation. We're into a big job at the moment which will take a few years, renovating a large brick house built in 1815. The place needs the works, having been neglected for the past thirty years. New roof, new floors, rebuilding interior brick walls, new plaster throughout. We just finished underpinning the house with a new foundation, the original brick was sitting right on dirt.
I spend a lot of my time making and printing photographs, and most of my work has been made on farms and in rural places here in Virginia. If you have some time, my work is up here at http://www.ericmarth.com. This June I'm having a small show at a public library with photographs of boxelder trees that are living on the banks of the Rappahannock River in Stafford County, Virginia. The land where the pictures were taken was cattle pasture in the first half of the twentieth century, and the trees there were planted as shade for the livestock. The light there in spring is a miracle.
Take care, Lloyd and thanks for reading. And thanks especially for all of the work you've done to share your experiences and the good work of others. My best, Eric

Insect Hotels

2013-06-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

Click here.

From Anonymous.

(This Inspiration Green is a wonderful website from the UK.)

How About a Flock of Quail If City Will Not Allow Chickens?

2013-06-17T05:30:00.000-07:00

Sent us by Anonymous:
http://wakeup-world.com/2013/04/05/city-farming-with-backyard-quail-an-alternative-to-raising-chickens/

Swanton Berry Farm

2013-06-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

Stopped here on our way down Highway One Saturday to see Aine and Will and one-day-old grandson #2. If you ever travel to Santa Cruz from San Francisco on the coastal highway, I recommend stopping in at this wonderful farm/store/cafe/museum. Union workers, organic strawberries (and shortcake), good coffee, vintage photos of the area 100 years ago. Totally good place. Plus the honor system of payment.

Art Prints by Jennifer Ring

2013-06-16T13:11:00.001-07:00

"The starting point for each image was an original drawing of a bird or animal which I matched with various papers, some with personal meaning, such as a friend's handwriting; a typewritten letter from a time now past; my grandfather's yellowed medical chart from WW1..." http://jenspen.ca

Vancouver Allows Small-scale Chicken Flocks

2013-06-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.bcliving.ca/garden/the-10-things-to-know-about-keeping-a-chicken-coop

A Ton of Living Roofs

2013-06-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

Click here.

From the same Anonymous

A Ton of Things To Do With Recycled Doors

2013-06-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

Click here.

From Anonymous

Chop Chop Compost

2013-06-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

From Darren (Green Change)

Jen's 78 Sq. Ft. Brooklyn Apartment

2013-06-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

"Thanks to some really innovative, intelligent and inspired design choices, Jen Chu's 1/2 bedroom apartment radiate's positive energy and manages to feel comfortable instead of comfortably compact. http://www.jenchudesign.com/"
See our posting last month of a 78 sq. ft. Manhattan apartment here.

Plans for Lightweight Dinghies

2013-06-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

"The Stasha is the World's lightest nesting dinghy weighing in at about 10 kilos (22lbs) making it child's play to launch and retrieve. The Stasha is an elegant design and is a delight to row and great fun to sail. Despite it's light construction it is surprisingly strong. The Stasha is made of two halves with a simple locking mechanism allowing it to be easily assembled on deck, on shore or even in the water. As it's made from so few materials it doesn't cost much to build."
These little boats (4 designs) have Dacron skin. Click here.

Boston woman pays $560,000 for 2 parking spots

2013-06-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

Associated Press - June 13, 2013

"BOSTON — Parking is such a precious commodity in Boston that one woman was willing to pay $560,000 for two off-street spaces near her home.…"

AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

Click here.

From Anonymous

Dust My Broom/Elmore James

2013-06-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

Dust My Broom by Elmore James on Grooveshark

Way to start a sunny beautiful morning!

Home Made Helicopter and Homemade Jeep with Bicycle Wheels

2013-06-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

I was poking around on the blog Root Simple -- Low Tech Home Tech the other day and came across a post titled "Saturday Linkages: I’m tired of doom, let’s garden and make things…" It was a great bunch of links, including these two inventions in Africa (apparently the helicopter hasn't really made any substantial flights yet, but, hey…).
Happy and useful links on a happy and useful blog. Click here.

Chicken Hawk/Cedell Davis

2013-06-13T12:26:00.003-07:00

Chicken Hawk by Cedell Davis on Grooveshark
Take me up Hawky baby,
Take me up in the sky,
I'm just a little bitty chicken ,
And I don't know how to fly…

Tiny Home of Recycled Materials on Trailer

2013-06-13T05:39:00.000-07:00

“My partner and I were traveling a lot and wanted to figure out a way to create a home space that we could take with us as we explored different places and communities,” Maret told Gizmag. “Small spaces and simple living have been an interest of mine for a long time. I love treehouses, boats, and all sorts of other small spaces. So having the opportunity to try my hand at designing and building my own tiny house was very exciting to me.”
Passionate about sustainability, Maret hand-built the home using primarily salvaged and raw materials. The home features a trailer base, frame and a colorful rustic exterior made from local and up-cycled hardwoods. Creating a tiny home also meant that fewer materials were needed, which resulted in less waste. “Trying to find 2,000 square feet [185 sq m] worth of reclaimed or salvaged flooring for example would be difficult and/or very expensive,” said Maret. “But finding 100 square feet [9.3 sq m] is relatively simple. There are many more sources and options for low or no-impact materials at this scale.”
From Gizmag, lots of photos, click here.

Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out/Preservation Hall Jazz Band

2013-06-12T16:15:00.001-07:00

Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out by Preservation Hall Jazz Band;Jason Isbell on Grooveshark

Bits & Pieces From My Last Trip

2013-06-12T13:24:00.002-07:00

I gather too much "content." Photos and hastily scribbled notes. What to do with it all? Here are some bits and pieces from my latest trip:
New York City

iPhones: most of the people I hung out with were doing everything on their iPhones. Calendar, directions, mail. I upped my data plan and am starting to use it more. One thing I'm working on is talking into the phone and having it come out as text. Rather than using MacSpeech Dictate (with headset speaker) as I do on my MacPro in the office, I open up the mail program on the phone, open "new message," hit the microphone icon at lower left, talk into phone and then email it to myself and voila! words into text.
Subway I'm now riding the subway all over. I get a $20 metro card. Watched a big rat run down the tracks in one station. There's no graffiti on the subway trains these days.
Rum drinks at Caracas Restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn: "Dark & Stormy" with dark rum, ginger beer, sugar cane syrup; the "Morning After Mardi Gras": rum, coffee, hot milk, vanilla, sugar cane syrup. Good rums: Pampero Anniversario, Zacapa
NYC Bike Program You see racks of the blue bikes everywhere. This is a big deal. Aimed at cutting down cars. You pay an annual fee, pick bike up, drop it off at destination.

Washington (state of) Spent one day driving around looking for barns. I really liked the little town of Orting. Had burger, chocolate shake in a cafe that looked out of the '50s. The shake came with the metal container. It was so thick ("made with real ice cream"), I had to eat it with a spoon. I said to the waitress, "Killer shake," she said "I take pride in my milkshakes." Homemade pies. A few pix from the Washington countryside:

A Ton of Cat Ladders

2013-06-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Justin has left a new comment on your post "Kitty Ladder + Other DIY Projects in (State of) Washington":
People are really into this stuff:

http://catladder.blogspot.com/ http://catladderhalloffame.blogspot.com/

Some Great Small Buildings in UK Contest, "Shed of the Year 2013"

2013-06-12T05:10:00.000-07:00

Click here. Also here. Thanks to Anonymous

Hot Rod Lincoln/Bill Kirchen

2013-06-11T13:45:00.004-07:00

Hot Rod Lincoln by Bill Kirchen & Too Much Fun on Grooveshark