Friday, November 19, 2010

Black & Spiro Christmas














Here is our Christmas display at Black & Spiro which we installed today. I collaborated with talented Brisbane artist Sue-Ching Lascelles to create this installation. Sue made all of the amazing animals and wreath and screen in a mixture of paper and fabric....she is very, very clever!! We conceptualized the design with Mexican otomi textile as our inspiration. Unfortunately these photos aren't great so if you are in Brisbane, make sure you pop in for a visit. We'd love to see you...

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Ms. Buttersworth (the chicken) Moves In (temporarily)

The last few days Ms. Buttersworth the chicken has seemed to be gettin' senile. She had been a little clucky and weird a few weeks before that, I thought maybe she was going through a possible nesting phase... but then she just seemed cold, confused, and I got that nursing home vibe. The last rung on the sanity ladder. Her lil' red comb on her head turned half black and patchy, flopped over a bit. When I would pick her up she seemed to be shivering, and was hiding in the corner of JuJu the donkey's hay pile.
So now Ms. Buttersworth is in the warmth of the Luck Cabin, her own private box with food & water... and a cat 'nurse' to watch over her. Toots the cat has been making BiG EyEs since I let Ms. ButterCrazy inside.
She eats and drinks. She just doesn't roost, or hang out with her friends, or seem to know where she is going...
is this chicken old age?
XOxoxo

Trees VS Solar

I have an sustainable issue that maybe ya'll can help me with...
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I moved into the forest, and there is only scarce amounts of sunlight coming to the Luck Cabin. While I would love to get off the grid entirely, when it comes to doing anything solar related... well the trees are blocking out the light. It seems crazy to me to cut down trees to have solar energy, but which option really is the most environmentally sound? I mean, how much is destroyed when I use up all the electricity... more then 10-20 trees?
I have a small hot water heater, run by electricity - it's small enough to fit under the kitchen counter. But I long to have a solar tank, that uses the sun to heat up the water. I have a stove and fridge run by electricity too... but I use maybe 30-40$ a month total, so switching to solar should be somewhat easy.
That is, if i had sunlight (and $).

I would love to open a discussion here where people can share their ideas of better ways to live Off Grid without using electricity generated by the electric company. Do I even need solar panels (sunlight heat), or is there a truly efficient and realistic way to live with no electricity year round without solar energy?
My suggestion box is open!
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Here are steps I have already taken to be sustainable::::
  • Gravity fed spring water
  • Organic gardening (planting fruit trees, herbs, veggies etc to feed myself)
  • Using wood to warm the cabin (also can cook on the wood stove too)
  • Building my gray water system, instead of a septic tank
  • Composting toilet
  • My donkey! (using her poop as garden fertilizer and I plan to train her to take long rides, carry pack saddles, hike etc...)
  • Rarely drive a car (i have a bike too, but don't have the strength to ride it in my area)
  • Wear only organic, vintage, fair trade, used, thrifted clothing and shoes
Xoxoxox