Dresser/Desk Combo For A Small Space

 "We used left over pieces of wood from other projects so it is not perfect, but it has changed our small living space tremendously. I can now make my desk mess disappear and don't have to file everything before I have finished. "

-Brendan O'Connor

Built by Pete Smith

Mushroom Insulation For Tiny Homes

"We’re not just building a tiny house, we’re growing it. That’s right, the Mushroom® Insulation in the walls is literally alive and growing. This is a radical test of Ecovative’s building materials that are under development.
    Ecovative uses mycelium (mushroom “roots”) to bond together agricultural byproducts like corn stalks into a material that can replace plastic foam. We’ve been selling it for a few years as protective packaging, helping big companies replace thousands of Styrofoam (EPS), EPE and other plastic foam packaging parts. We’re now working to develop new products for building materials. This is an exciting, radical and innovative approach to try a bunch of ideas, learn a lot, and grow something really awesome.
   Here’s how it works. Mushroom Insulation grows into wood forms over the course of a few days, forming an airtight seal. It dries over the next month (kind of like how concrete cures) and you are left with an airtight wall that is extremely strong. Best yet, it saves on material costs, as you don’t need any studs in the wall, and it gives you great thermal performance since it’s one continuous insulated wall assembly. The finished Mushroom® Insulation is also fire resistant and very environmentally friendly. …"
http://mushroomtinyhouse.com/

Video Shot With Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100

Nate T's comment on the post (below) about my new camera: "…taken my first day playing with the RX100 video capture mode.

Primitive Pond Ice Curling from this winter in Groton, Mass.

…Be sure to switch viewing to HD and marvel at the pan/focus/tracking capabilities of objects in motion. I was pleasantly surprised."

Shelter at The Maker Faire

The Maker Faire was just great. I'd never think that something so nerd-oriented would appeal to me, but  there was soul in addition to all the robots and tech wizardry. We had a booth in the "Homegrown Village" section and sold more books than we have at any event ever. The booth, designed by Lew Lewandowski and manned by Lew and my son Evan, was mobbed the entire 2 days, most of the interest being in our Tiny Homes book.
 

My talks on "The Half-Acre Homestead” went well; maybe 125 kindred spirits in the audience each day.

Micro-Apartments in New York City

"Eager to jump on the living solo/living small trend, the city launched its adAPT NYC competition last summer, seeking proposals for micro units to fill a building at 335 East 27th Street. …    
   The units—the building will have 55 apartments, 40 percent of them affordable—will range from 250 to 370 square feet, with nine- to 10-foot ceilings and Juliette balconies. The design is meant to accommodate NYC's growing number of one- and two-person households, and the small unit size means that some amenities that might ordinarily be located within an apartment will be common spaces, instead. For example: the building will have a rooftop garden, lounges on most of the floors, a deck, a multi-purpose lounge for dinners and events, a laundry room, bike storage and general storage, a cafe, and a fitness room. …"
Click here.

Circular Geology on Beach

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100

On Saturday, I got up early and went to Palo Alto prior to going to the Maker Faire. The reason: going to Keeble & Schuchat Photography to check out the new Olympus OM-D E-M5 16MP 4/3, which my friend Bill Steen had just got and was raving about. Since I could use all the lenses I currently have for my Panasonic Lumix G1, I was interested in the much less shutter lag of the Olympus.
   I've been dealing with Gary at K&S for years, and he bas guided me in pretty much all the cameras I've been using of late. During the course of our conversation, I took out my Canon Powershot S110, with which I shoot most of my pictures, and asked if there was (yet) any camera in this class. Yes, there was, and I ended up getting the new Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100, a powerful and innovative little camera, about the size of the Powershot, but with significant advantages: a Leica lens, a sensor that is 4 times that of the Powershot, a great panorama function, and other features.
   This will be, as was the Powershot, the camera I have on me in a fanny pack most of the time. I'm willing to pay a little more at a "bricks and mortar" store as opposed to Amazon. Here, I would never have known about this camera by rooting around on Amazon. It's worth something. Most of my photos that will appear here in the future (starting next week) will have been shot with this camera.

Manhattan shoebox apartment: a 78-square-foot mini studio

"In Luke Clark Tyler’s last New York City apartment, his shoes had some unusual companions in the closet. The shoes sat, in neat pairs, on a rack, directly below his dishes and right next to the microwave. A few inches away, a hip-high refrigerator lived beneath his desk. And the apartment was so narrow that Mr. Tyler could sit on a sofa pushed against one wall with his feet propped up on the opposite wall.
     This was because Mr. Tyler’s entire home was only 78 square feet. And while his “Midtown mansion,” as he called it, was a far cry from the lavish town homes and shimmering penthouses that have spawned a thousand lustful television shows, a video tour posted on YouTube of Mr. Tyler’s little room has been viewed nearly 1.7 million times over the past year and a half. A similar video, about a 90-square-foot apartment on the Upper West Side, has been viewed even more times.…"

Tasty Chicken Pasta

How About A Flock of Ducks?

"When folks think of home-produced eggs, they tend to think of chickens: after all, it is chicken eggs we usually see for sale in the shops. Yet ducks have undergone much the same selection and breeding processes as chickens over the centuries to create domestic waterfowl that fulfil the same objectives of providing a source of meat and eggs.
   Sure, there are the fancy fowl within the duck group (just as there are with chickens) where looks are the endgame, but there are also breeds of domestic waterfowl that can and do exceed the capabilities of chickens in terms of working livestock.
   Campbells and Indian runner ducks are a case in point. Over the years they have been used as the primary laying breed within waterfowl and they are incredibly productive, producing 250-300 eggs in a season, which outstrips some of the best layer breeds of chicken. …"
Click here.
From a comment by Anonymous

Maryland Couple to Retire in $19K Tiny Home on Wheels

"When Greg Cantori and his wife, Renee, are ready to retire, they will not only have to pack up their respective offices, but also downsize their home, in a big way. The Cantoris of Pasadena, Md., plan to retire in a 238-square-foot house on wheels they purchased two years ago for $19,000. The couple lives with one of their two grown daughters in a 1,400-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath home on the same lot where their future retirement home waits on wheels. 'We don’t know how many years it will be but we’re getting there,' said Cantori, the president of Maryland Nonprofits. …"
Click here.
Photo: Kenneth Lam/MCT/Landov

Flat-Pack Urinal: Composing Straw Bale for Outdoor Events

When I was hitchhiking in France (in 1957), a truck driver that had given us a ride stopped, got out of his truck, walked over to a fence by the side of the road, and took a piss. So simple; why not? He was facing away from traffic, unit not visible. In this country (or the UK), it's not de rigueur for some reason. The French don't seem to have that Puritan body-as-shameful attitude.
   Here, from Mike W., is a great alternative to toxic chemical toilets for males (at least for urine) at outdoor events. Totally makes sense. Save that nitrogen!

   "It is inefficient and unsustainable to haul human waste back in from remote festivals and other places typically populated with port-a-potties. So why not use on-hand materials to make something simple and green?
   Thus L’Uritonnoir by Faltazi which turns an everyday farm item into a urinal by means of simple funnels attached on various sides and connected via a loop running around the perimeter. The composted results can be recycled right back into the local land. …"
Click here.

The Treadmill Desk

"I am writing this while walking on a treadmill. And now you know the biggest problem with working at a treadmill desk: the compulsion to announce constantly that you are working at a treadmill desk. It’s a lot like the early days of cell-phone calls, when the simple fact that you were doing what you were doing seemed so amazing that most conversations consisted largely of exclamations about the amazingness of the call. …
"…people don’t run at treadmill desks. They walk at one or two miles per hour, which is slow enough so that it doesn’t interfere with typing or talking or reading. …"
-Susan Orlean in the May 20, v2013 issue of The New Yorker here.

What a brilliant idea. I'm looking on Craig's List for a treadmill.

Malissa's Very Tiny Home in Washington

Name: Malissa
Location: Snohomish, WA Square Feet: 170
Division:Teeny-Tiny
What I Love About My Small Home: The most powerful feeling that I have about my small home will always be the love I feel while nestled inside it. It's cozy and comfortable, a great space to do my creative art, while also serving as my perfect retreat. I love everything about it!
Biggest Challenge of Living in a Small Space with two people and two cats: finding your own place. My house is only 170 square feet, and in a space that small, it's important that you feel you can go to your own place and do your own thing. It's amazing that we are able to work on our own projects while in the company of the other. My husband will be working on his photography on the computer while I'm up in the loft diving into a good book. The house was designed for us, and that's what makes it work.
Click here.

Lloyd's "Half Acre Homestead" Talk at Maker Faire This Weekend

Two years ago I did a "1/4 acre homestead" talk at the Maker Faire at the San Mateo County (Calif.) Event Center). This time around, I have a lot more material, plus URLs on all the tools I'm going to show. I'll be doing a presentation on the Maker Faire Stage, at 2 PM on Saturday, May 18th, and at 2 PM Sunday, May 19th. Information on the Faire: http://makerfaire.com/.  Reviews of the Faire: http://www.yelp.com/biz/maker-faire-san-mateo.

I'll be showing slides of our homestead, and the various tools we use around here in the kitchen, garden, and shop -- from 40+ years' experience. I've picked the tools I think are unique and maybe not so well known, and left off all the ones that I think people may already know about. We've posted the URLs on our website here: http://www.shelterpub.com/_homestead/tools.html and I'll be passing out cards with a QR code so people in the audience so they can check out any of these tools when they get home. I'll also have copies of our Tiny Homes mini book (2" x 2") to give out.

Lew and Evan will be manning a booth (#4925) in the Expo Hall. This is the largest hall, and our booth is at the back. We'll be showing the process we use in producing books, including the first draft layout pages done with scissors and scotch tape. We'll also be selling copies of our building books, and giving away mini books.

Photo: draining dish rack in our kitchen built (20 years ago) by Lew Lewandowski

Tiny Cabin With Fold-out Porches

"Now here’s a tiny cabin with a twist that I wanted to show you. It’s best built on stilts so you can make the best of use of the fold out porch area. The tiny home is named The Forrester’s Cabin. It was built in 1996 and has a 24′x12′ footprint. Once it’s closed up it looks just like a shed. But once the porch platforms are dropped it reveals the beautiful home inside. It has a double bed alcove inside with a kitchen, bathroom, and more.…"
By Alex, May 8, 2013, on Tiny House Talk here.

Roderick James Architects

Airhead Composting Toilet

SunMar composting toilets are well known, but this one is new to me. Seems to be primarily for boats, but some people apparently use them in tiny homes.
   "A workable system for small to medium sized boats, giving even pocket cruisers the independence of a large vessel" http://www.airheadtoilet.com/

Shoulders and Knees, Oh Please

It's been almost 4 months since my shoulder surgery, and a few days ago, I realized the tendon was finally reconnected to the bone and strengthening. Yahoo! Yesterday I was talking to Elmer Collett, former 49er guard and neighbor, about how when you've got an injury, it seems like it'll never heal and then, one day, voila! You're on the plus side of the situation. He knew exactly what I meant.

I had a bit of a setback, let it rest, then started doing rehab exercises, and in the last few days have started using my Vasa Trainer, a pulley type device for swimmers and surfers, which approximates paddling, and it felt OK. I'm gonna be able to surf again, not just sit on the beach or cliff and wistfully watch the action.

It was a dramatic change, in both function and mood.

The recoverability of the human body is awesome. Dr. Henry Bieler, in his great book "Food Is Your Best Medicine," has a chapter titled "The Magnificent Human Body." And so it is.

16 Tiny Homes To Rent in Different Parts of the World

http://tinyhousetalk.com/16-tiny-house-rentals/

Leverageing My Content

I first heard the phrase from a friend who went to work for a hot new company during the tech boom. Well, uh, OK. But in spite of its dorky sound, it has real meaning for someone like me.

I'm all over the place. Can't help it. Always have been. Everything in this world is just so daggone interesting. Especially now. I think I appreciate the computer more than younger people because of where I come from. It's such a breath-taking span from hot lead type to InDesign, from bulky dictionaries to Google, from rotary phones to the iPhone 5. (Part of my excuse for being so eclectic.)

Back to leveraging: I'd like to sell more books, I'd like to get us more income so we can get out of the 40-year-old scrambling for $$ to pay the printers. I had an idea: to take targeted sections of this blog and turn them into eBooks. Say homesteading. For people interested in homesteading, but not necessarily in Muddy Waters or skateboarding.

You homesteaders and gardeners out there: would you pay $2.99 or $3.99 for an ebook based on a selection from my homesteading posts?  Go down on the far right column and under "Topics," click on "homesteading."

I don't know about a print book. It could be done but might cost too much.

I've put up over 3500 posts now. Does it make sense to separate this mass into subjects and reach "targeted" audiences?