We used to eat a lot of crow berries. After we washed them we'd heap them into a dessert bowl or such and sprinkle on some sugar (sometimes pour is a more adequate term *grin*). I miss the high bush cranberries. Yummy, yummy! Moose steaks are fabulous if you'd like another method for protecting your garden...*grin*
As for the additional dryness with the woodstove. Place a bowl of water on or near your stove, it will evaporate the water into the air in the room. Won't make it anything like the humidity of the southeast (I'm in NC and loving the humidity, especially after living in AZ for awhile!), but every little bit helps! I remeber in Anchorage we had one of those clunky old 'room' humidifiers with the great big filter belt type thing that was a royal pain to clean, and an even bigger pain to fill. Could have placed a slab of wood on top of it and made it into a sideboard if it was a smidgen taller! ... View related article.
You can use old tires for potatoes as well. Makes harvesting much easier. Might want to use a board, patio or some landscape fabric underneath so it doesn't go through to your yard, then start with one or two tires stacked on top of each other, fill with dirt and plant your starter potato as instructed. You can add more tires and soil as the plant grows so it has plenty of room to create new spuds for you. When it's time to harvest just start removing the tires one at a time, plucking the taters out as you go. I haven't had the chance to do it myself, but my mother is the one who passed the instructions on to me a few years ago. ... View related article.
I lived in the last frontier as a child...we were only supposed to be gone for two years for mom to finish school, it's been 14 now. *sigh*
I was a city girl (Anchorage) with a single mom who insisted that if we wanted to go camping as a family we had to find a sitter for her. *lol* We were involved in Campfire (even my mother was a Campfire kid), think it is the same thing you might be talking about--co-ed scouts is what I've described it as to others. Would love to find a chapter here for our children, but think hubby might go for full-on scouting.
Trying to talk hubby into planning retirement in the Alaskan bush, he's more interested in the backwoods of the Appalachians. It is rather convenient to be in the lower 48, especially since all of my extended family has moved out of the grande north country.
Don't know if I'd be of much assitance with current life in AK since I left when I was 12, but I miss it dearly and would love to chit chat on a regular basis. Being the Interior you're going to have brutally cold winters (they were considered mild in Anch since the Cook Inlet and the Gulf brought warmer waters to moderate, but our sewer pipes still froze on occassion) and the air gets so dry there can be a static issue. It's beautiful country, always wonder where I might be if things had gone according to plan when we left 'temporarily'. *grin* ... View related article.
Check with non-profit organizations like Charity Cars...but I think they might only take runners.
Check with any local junk yards or pull-a-part facilities to see if they will give you any money for your parts-cars.
Try doing an online search for the model you are getting rid off for any forums or websites you might be able to list on.
Also try ebay. But I think they have a $40 chg. I don't remember because we haven't put our scout axles on it yet. Read all of their fine print first to figure out if you need/want a reserve set or not, etc. ... View related article.
You can reach the nether regions of a toilet bowl a little better if you pour enough extra water into the bowl for it to empty without a refill from a regular flush. It's also a great way to scrub your bowl with baking soda.
I personally start from the top of my bathroom and work down so I'm not having to re-clean something after sloshing about (I'm a messy cleaner). I'll get my tub and toilet soaking in their cleaners then start with my highest point, my mirrors, and work down through the sink and counter, to the toilet, then the tub, then my floor.
A toilet-cleaning tip from some 'speed cleaning' book I read last millenia: after cleaning the inside of the bowl, spray the rim and exterior of the bowl, then the bottom of the seat and back of the lid (it can be done in one or two squirts), then the top of the seat, the top of the lid, and then the tank. Wipe off in the reverse order so the rim and bowl exterior soak the longest--since they're typically the dirtiest. ... View related article.
I haven't tried any of the laundry detergent recipes I had found online (most from budget101.com if I remember rightly) because I'm trying to polish off the last of my store bought detergent so I'm not wasting anything.
Try 1 c. fels Naptha soap, 1/2 c. washing soda, 1/2 c. borax.
Store in an airtight container and use 3 T. per load. Or you can use just regular natural soap for a not so heavy-duty cleaning.
Vinegar is great in place of fabric softener and since it is mildly astringent I would think it would help some in sanitizing things--I have had no problems with static, etc and I've been using vinegar for a month now.
For a MYO bleach try 1 part hydrogen peroxide and 7 parts water.
Blend in a small bucket or dishpan and allow articles to soak for 15 minutes then rinse with fresh water and run through the wash. ... View related article.
Estate auctions and sales. Show up early so you can check out what is available and the condition it is in. Make a point of not going over whatever limit you set yourself. Another will come along. Also, check the classifieds. ... View related article.
