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Friday, May 29, 2009

DIY laundry soap - video

Today I made another batch of laundry soap. I had ran out about a month ago, I was using the leftover powdered store bought soap, wow is there a difference! When I use the commercial soap, I often need to run a second rinse cycle, especially if I look at the rinse water, it’s nearly as soapy as the wash cycle, I know that is just being dried into my clothes, that can’t be good for my skin...



Read the rest of the story here:
http://www.off-grid.net/2009/05/28/diy-laundry-soap-video/



To read all of my messages on Off-Grid.net, click here:
http://www.off-grid.net/section/wretha/

To read all of my messages on Earth Power News, click here:
http://www.earthpowernews.com/

Wretha

Thanks for visiting, Please leave all comments on the Off-Grid site or the EarthPower site instead of here, thanks!
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Sunday, May 24, 2009

How Cool Is That - NASA Visit

Ahhh, now I do feel honored, yesterday I was at my neighbor's house, I happened to look at my blog on his computer, I decided to look at my stats, I couldn't believe my eyes, none other than NASA had visited my site. :) I ran up to my cabin (sky castle) so that I could get a screen capture on my computer, I didn't have much time, my tracker only shows me the last 20 visitors and it doesn't save that info, the NASA visit was getting close to rolling off the list. I was able to get to my computer and snag it.

I assume this was a visit from an employee using the company computer during a break, not an official visit, I can't imagine that NASA itself would have any interest in what I am doing. The really funny part is what this person was looking for, "DIY water filter", that was the search term put in Google, as of yesterday, my blog is the 3rd link from the top when using those search terms. Can you imagine NASA looking at my blog to learn about water filtration?

So how cool is that, someone at NASA was checking out my site. :) :) :)

Click on the images to see full size. I obscured the IP address and the exact time of the visit to protect the person who visited my site, I don't want to get anyone into trouble.












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Hello NASA person! Thanks for visiting my blog! :)


To read all of my messages on Off-Grid.net, click here:
http://www.off-grid.net/section/wretha/

To read all of my messages on Earth Power News, click here:
http://www.earthpowernews.com/

Wretha

Thanks for visiting!
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Friday, May 22, 2009

DIY tobacco / video

In the process of becoming more and more independent, we grow much of our own foods. But there is still one thing that is still expensive and is becoming more expensive to purchase. Tobacco. The government is taxing tobacco to death (no pun intended). With the high cost of buying cigarettes, it has occurred to me that we can be growing our own tobacco. I have decided that now is the time to give it a try. I took the plunge and ordered a set of 4 different types of tobacco seeds from eBay. If smoking or the use of tobacco offends you in any way, then you probably should not read this.

Go here to learn how to grow your own tobacco, including how to harvest and cure tobacco.


Read the rest of the story here:
http://www.off-grid.net/2009/05/21/diy-tobacco-video/



To read all of my messages on Off-Grid.net, click here:
http://www.off-grid.net/section/wretha/


Wretha

Thanks for visiting!
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

DIY build your own solar panels video

You’ve seen the advertisements, “Build your own solar panels”, you’ve seen the kits, now you wonder, just how hard is it to do? Well, that depends, mostly on your skills and patience. It would seem that the solar cells that are sold for this purpose is very delicate, they break very easily. I always see on eBay, lots of listings for broken solar cells, they still work, but they obviously do not put out as much juice as it did when it was unbroken. It is possible to piece together broken cells and get a perfectly good working solar panel, again, it takes skills and patience...






Read the rest of the story here:
http://www.off-grid.net/2009/05/11/diy-build-your-own-solar-panels-video/


To read all of my messages on Off-Grid.net, click here:
http://www.off-grid.net/section/wretha/

To read all of my messages on Earth Power News, click here:
http://www.earthpowernews.com/

Wretha

Thanks for visiting, Please leave all comments on the Off-Grid site or the EarthPower site instead of here, thanks!
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Another Pump & Seal on eBay

Here is another Pump & Seal listed on eBay, it is starting out at $6.00 with $6.75 shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160334663605

It appears to be new and complete. The seller looks pretty decent, over 1000 , all positive feedback, hmmmm, I just looked at the seller's other items, might be worth a look, they might combine shipping... :)

I still love my Pump & Seal, these are a rare item found on eBay.


To read all of my messages on Off-Grid.net, click here:
http://www.off-grid.net/section/wretha/

To read all of my messages on Earth Power News, click here:
http://www.earthpowernews.com/

Wretha

Thanks for visiting!
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Monday, May 11, 2009

Yet Another Visit,.,

OK, am I being paranoid now? I received a visit (on my other off grid blog) from none other than the Department of Homeland Security, or it was US Customs and Border Protection, when I looked up the "visitor", it gave me both. Go here to see a laundry list of the other nameservers being hosted under this same domain, it's some scary stuff.
http://www.robtex.com/dns/cbp.dhs.gov.html



















I am completely at a loss about this visit, I am giving this visitor the benefit of the doubt that they are visiting for purely personal reasons (having nothing to do with their job) and I obscured the IP address, I still have a copy of the original image though containing the IP address.

I shouldn't feel strange about this, I'm doing nothing wrong or illegal, in fact, I'm doing what most people SHOULD be aiming toward, I'm shrinking my "carbon footprint", I'm using less of everything, I'm at virtually zero pollution... I stay close to home, I haven't purchased anything that would raise a red flag with any government agencies, I am trying to teach other people (if they are interested) how to live like we do, closer to the Earth... heck, I even filed my taxes even though I didn't have enough "income" to have to pay in, and what I did claim, was barter and I could have skipped putting that down as they would have had no way of knowing about it, but I went ahead and claimed it. Our current POTUS should be happy with what I am doing, I did some research on our current POTUS, and found this speech, Keynote Address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention | July 27, 2004, this is an interesting excerpt from that speech:

That is the true genius of America, a faith in the simple dreams of its people, the insistence on small miracles. That we can tuck in our children at night and know they are fed and clothed and safe from harm. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door. That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe or hiring somebody's son. That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will he counted - or at least, most of the time
Let's hope he holds these same beliefs now that he holds the highest office.


I don't like feeling like I'm a criminal, or worse, when I have done nothing wrong, everything I do is 100% legal. Being a Conservative does not make me a criminal or threat to this nation.

I have more I'd like to say, but now I'm concerned about opening a can of worms and making myself an even bigger (potential) target.

So I don't know what to think about all of this, am I being paranoid?


<<<>>>

I think I didn't make myself clear in my message, I don't think the government is "spying" on me, they have come to my site in the open, they haven't tried to disguise their visits. I fully realize that if they wanted to spy on me without my knowledge, they are fully capable of doing so, whether or not they are "spying" on me, this isn't what I'm concerned about.

Think about this, what if a car from the homeland security was parked outside your house and were openly looking at your house, I feel like most people would be disturbed by that, even though they have done nothing wrong, it would still make you wonder why they were there.

In the current political situation, with people being classified as potential domestic terrorists, their only crime is being a Conservative, Christian who listens to Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk shows, yeah I am a bit concerned when the Department of Homeland Security visits my site, am I on this list of potential domestic terrorists now?

Wretha

Thanks for visiting!
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Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day










To read all of my messages on Off-Grid.net, click here:
http://www.off-grid.net/section/wretha/

To read all of my messages on Earth Power News, click here:
http://www.earthpowernews.com/

Wretha

Thanks for visiting!
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Thursday, May 7, 2009

Blog Stats

Stats as of 5-7-09

top 25 search engine keywords
1233 7.62% freight
1197 7.40% harbor
957 5.92% off
932 5.76% grid
741 4.58% coupon
658 4.07% water
554 3.42% diy
455 2.81% living
387 2.39% solar
357 2.21% the
355 2.19% filter
329 2.03% coupons
203 1.25% rocket
187 1.16% texas
182 1.12% stove
176 1.09% panel
164 1.01% blog
155 0.96% jack
154 0.95% purifier
152 0.94% plans
151 0.93% magic
135 0.83% tilapia
110 0.68% kit
108 0.67% offgrid
107 0.66% house

Top 25 website referrers

1229 8.51% http://mayberry-keepitsimplestupid.blogspot.com (Thanks Mayberry!)
1063 7.36% http://www.adventuresinbloggingtoo.blogspot.com
1011 7.00% http://www.survivalistnews.com
762 5.28% http://www.possumliving.com
529 3.66% http://circleoftheoroborous-dragon.blogspot.com
498 3.45% http://selousscouts.blogspot.com
494 3.42% http://thesurvivalistblog.blogspot.com
365 2.53% http://johnsonfamilyfarm.blogspot.com
330 2.29% http://texaspreppersnetwork.blogspot.com
279 1.93% http://www.survivalist.info/selfreliance/index.html
240 1.66% http://www.blogger.com/home
206 1.43% http://hermitjim.blogspot.com
189 1.31% http://www.treasuregift.com
142 0.98% http://www.blogger.com/profile/04941116263529261885
138 0.96% http://stealthsurvival.blogspot.com
122 0.85% http://adventuresinbloggingtoo.blogspot.com
115 0.80% http://mayberry-keepitsimplestupid.blogspot.com/2008/07/local-woes.html
105 0.73% http://www.johnsonfamilyfarm.blogspot.com
100 0.69% http://www.stoptheride.net
96 0.67% http://www.blogger.com/publish-confirmation.g
95 0.66% http://hillbilly2be.blogspot.com
90 0.62% http://survivallinks.blogspot.com
79 0.55% http://shesurvives.blogspot.com
74 0.51% http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch
72 0.50% http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs_display

Thanks to everyone who links to my blog! :)
Thanks to everyone who reads my blog! :)
Thanks to everyone to comments on my blog! :)




To read all of my messages on Off-Grid.net, click here:
http://www.off-grid.net/section/wretha/

To read all of my messages on Earth Power News, click here:
http://www.earthpowernews.com/

Wretha

Thanks for visiting!
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Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Short But Sweet-Audio Interview

Hi, here if a fun and interesting interview with Nick Rosen, he is a published author and journalist. One of the subjects he writes about is living off grid, his book How to Live Off-grid: Journeys Outside the System is full of stories about people living off grid in the UK. Nick also has a website about off grid living, http://www.off-grid.net.

Go get you a cold one, then click "play", sit back and enjoy, it's just under 15 minutes long.

The site where I found this interview is called EcoShock, there is lots of green audio fodder there. :) Oh, they also have a blog, check it out too.



To read all of my messages on Off-Grid.net, click here:
http://www.off-grid.net/section/wretha/

To read all of my messages on Earth Power News, click here:
http://www.earthpowernews.com/

Wretha

Thanks for visiting!
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Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Rocket Stove Video / 200th Post / Off The Map-review

Happy blogging, this is my official 200th message here, I had hoped to make it a bigger pop than this, but I'm happy enough with this being my 200th message. :) Anyhoo, I do have a surprise coming up, I'm waiting for it to come in the mail, then watch out! This blog and my other off grid blog will go off the map! Speaking of off the map, I watched a movie the other night called "Off The Map", it's about a family who lives off grid in New Mexico, they receive a visit from an IRS agent, they hadn't filed taxes for the last 7 years, he ends up falling in love with the whole lifestyle, it's a bit artsy, but if you like free living, if you like off grid living, then you will appreciate this movie.

Off the Map is a 2003 drama film directed by Campbell Scott. The play and screenplay were written by Joan Ackermann.

An eccentric family lives in separate existence from the outside world. The family continues to thrive and survive self sufficiently. Bo uses her imagination and creativity to explore her world, while her mother Arlene holds the family together. Her father, however, has fallen into a deep depression. One day an IRS auditor comes to determine why they haven't filed their income tax for so long and does not believe they can live with so little. After falling into a fever he awakens a changed man and begins to paint, living with the family for the next eight years.

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off_the_Map_(film)





Now, to the rocket stove message:

Rocket stoves, have you heard about them? If you have then I’m preaching to the choir, if you haven’t, then it’s high time you learned about how great these little (and sometimes big) stoves can be.

Basically a rocket stove is a very efficient heater that can be used to cook/heat food, heat water, heat spaces… It typically uses much less fuel (wood) to create heat, and it’s often made from recycled materials...



Read the rest of the story here:
http://www.off-grid.net/2009/05/04/rocket-stove-video/


To read all of my messages on Off-Grid.net, click here:
http://www.off-grid.net/section/wretha/

To read all of my messages on Earth Power News, click here:
http://www.earthpowernews.com/

Wretha

Thanks for visiting, Please leave all comments on the Off-Grid site or the EarthPower site instead of here, thanks!
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