Tanya's New Blog

Check out My wife Tanya's new blog.
Living Healthy in the Modern World
Our homesteading life from her point of view.
It will be on the bottom right of my blog under "My favorite blogs"


Still clinging to my God and my guns
Randy

Guest post from Scoutinlife

John and I have traded guest posts on our respective blogs.
I have known him online for a few years now since we are members of a couple shared forums.
You can see a link to his blog in the right hand column.

********************************************************

What To Do With Fireplace Ashes

Depending on where you live, a wood fireplace or stove can be a
*relatively* great option for heating and quite economical;
particularly if you're fortunate enough to have easy access to a to a
woodlot to supply your fire wood needs..

The ashes left behind from a wood fire are also a valuable and
versatile by-product don't just throw them away indiscriminately;
here's some great uses for your ash!Use appropriate caution, spot test
etc.

1.Spread them on an icy patch in the walk or driveway?
2. If you have chickens put it in their dusting area to keep mites off of them.
3. Wood ash has potash and other minerals in it, but it will make the
soil more alkaline.
4.Don't forget the compost pile. You can dump them there, along with
droppings, leaf cuttings, hair cuttings, the vacuum cleaner bag
dumpings, old table scraps (except meat or fatty, cheese, dairy) grass
clippings, bone meal, blood meal and/or fertilizer. Get good soil from
old junk.
5.If you're so inclined to make your on soap you can leech them with
water to make lye.
6. Do you grow any raspberries? They *love* woodash!

Ash contains potash (potassium carbonate), phosphate, iron, manganese,
boron, copper and zinc and can be quite beneficial as a natural
fertilizer... sometimes. Wood ash increases the pH or alkalinity of
soil, so use sparingly.

how to make a $.25 shotshell reloader

The most recent issue of Backwoodsman magazine has an article on making a $.25 shotshell reloader.
Since .410 ammo costs almost $10 a box I figured I could make one for it.



#1 is a spike that fits the primer hole used for decapping (it is sitting in it's storage hole)

#2 is a counter bored hole that the shell sits in while you drive out the primer I added the second hole below #2 so the primer would fall out. I think it should have been farther down since the wood holding the shell is kinda thin.

#3 a dowel with a shell on it where you tap in the new primer

#4 is a hole to hold the shell while you build the load.

The dowel to the right is for tamping down the components of the load as you build it. I also used it as a punch to tap in the primer.

The only problem is I missed the primer on the first shell and bulged out the brass trying to drive out the primer.

Still clinging to my God and my guns
Randy

3 weeks and the outhouse

Last night was three weeks of The Prepared Christian Blog.
I have not been up to par with my writing since I have been under the weather.
Everything I have written this last week sounds really weird.

I was asked to write a Bio and provide a picture for a website to be a "featured writer" so we will see what comes of that. I will put in a link if and when it gets on the site. Who knows maybe it will be my 15 minutes of fame. The website is RFD America it's a pretty cool new site dedicated to providing rural Americans news and commentary that is geared toward us, not just the population centers.

I promised some info on the outhouse I built.
I went and took a couple pictures since a picture is worth a thousand words.

Here is an outside view of the finished product.
I started with a basic pallet and put on a plywood floor. Then I built a frame of scrap 2x4's and sheathed it with the scrap sign material I have talked about in the past. This was the plastic only stuff and I just nailed it on and trimmed it to fit with my pocket knife. I put a small chunk of metal roofing I had on for the roof.

The door is a banner with metal "D" rings on the corners I got from the same sign shop that I get all the used sign board. It was for a fireman's fund raiser and when it was over they threw them away(I have one more stashed away). I have it nailed in three places and it closes up the opening really well.

Here is the inside shot of the outhouse.
Again a frame of scrap 2x4's was used with a piece of plywood with a hole cut to hold the seat.
The five gallon bucket gets an inch or two of sawdust or grass clippings in the bottom. One coffee can holds a roll of TP the other has sawdust. I wrote instructions on the wall with marker.
"when you are finished put a handful of sawdust in the bucket"
When the bucket gets close to full the contents will be buried in the woods. This has not happened yet as we use this very seldom and the contents seem to compost down well.

The outhouse is very light. I pulled it down to the woods with a tow rope and my truck. But to get it where I wanted it I just pulled it by hand with the tow rope. The sign board is translucent so a lot of light gets in and it is not dark inside.

The only thing I don't like about it is that it is white and can be seen from the road.
That about wraps up the outhouse.

I am starting a new schedule today. I got up at 4am did some exercise, showered, checked my internet stuff and then started writing. If I am going to get serious about writing I need to make more time for it and this is the only part of the day not taken up. Keep me in your prayers so I can be more consistent and helpful.

Randy