Do-It-Yourself Termite Treatment

We've had (drywood) termite problems on and off for years. Since there's no way I'm going to have the house tented and permeated with Vikane gas,* I would periodically get the bug guys to do the microwave treatment. It cost $2,000 initially, then about $500 per year for future treatment when needed.(I believe orange oil is also used these days for people leery of insecticides.)

A few years ago, I decided to try Greenbug spray, which is (said to be) made of cedar and natural ingredients. I've been spraying this stuff on the wood where I see termite frass (pellets) and to my amazement, there are no more pellets. I say "amazing" because this is topical treatment and it doesn't seem it would get into the wood where termites live. (All of our termites are in ceilings.)

The stuff smells great, like cedar oil, and I am just now buying a 2nd gallon (about $60). I pour it into squeeze/pump bottles (like Windex bottles) and spray until it drips a little (it's water-soluble). Haven't had the bug guys out for many years.

Greenbug is one of the few products in the world not sold by Amazon.

http://shop.greenbugallnatural.com/Greenbug-Ready-to-Use-one-gallon-GRTU128.htm

*First, Vikane is made by Dow -- red alert. And, if it can penetrate into the wood and kill termites, I am suspicious of residual effect.

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Posted by Sexy Girls 21+ in building, homes, homesteading, natural materials

Do-It-Yourself Termite Treatment

Rare, old photos of indigenous Sami people showcase their ancient and traditional way of life

Above: Sami people in the late 1800s Sweden/Norway..…

"The Sami people (also Sámi or Saami), traditionally known in English as Lapps or Laplanders, are an indigenous Finno-Ugric people inhabiting the Arctic area of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway.…
Their best-known means of livelihood is semi-nomadic reindeer herding. Currently about 10% of the Sami are connected to reindeer herding, providing them with meat, fur, and transportation. 2,800 Sami people are actively involved in herding on a full-time basis. For traditional, environmental, cultural, and political reasons, reindeer herding is legally reserved only for Sami people in certain regions of the Nordic countries.…"
http://www.whitewolfpack.com/2015/12/rare-old-photos-of-indigenous-sami.html
From Rick Gordon

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Posted by Sexy Girls 21+ in architecture, building, natural materials, natural world, tiny homes, tiny houses, vintage

Rare, old photos of indigenous Sami people showcase their ancient and traditional way of life

The Steen Family's Latest Straw Bale Building Project

Bill and Athena Steen, the strawbale/earthen plaster maestro/maestra team from Arizona are helping build this home, which will be featured in our new book, Small Homes.

Bill writes: "Interior adobe wall in a clay plastered straw bale house we are helping our boys build in Sonoita, AZ."

(Bill shoots pretty much all his photos with an iPhone, has been doing it for a few years. I've finally come around to doing this. Both of us still use the big cameras (him a Nikon, me an Olympus OM-D) for serious shoots, but the iPhone for every day shots. The new iPhone 6S has a super new camera.)

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Posted by Sexy Girls 21+ in builders, building, cameras, green building, natural materials, small homes

The Steen Family's Latest Straw Bale Building Project

Il Duomo -- The Great Dome of Florence

In the Florence cathedral, or il duomo.

"Fresco of the Last Judgement on the inside of the Dome by Vasari, begun in 1568, and completed by Federico Zuccaro in 1579 Duomo of Florence, Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower, Firenza Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore Built between 1293 & 1436 Italy."

"Domes, which vault the crossing and altar of countless churches, lend themselves well to being transformed into paintings of the sky. The round shape above our heads seems to open onto a higher world, so that God and the things of heaven become visually present at the church holiest spot.

The Last Judgment in the enormous dome of the cathedral in Florence was painted from 1572 onward. Vincenzo Borghini had drawn up a learned theological program as early as 1570, Giorgio Vasari was responsible for executing it, but he died in 1574. Federico Zuccaro completed the frescoes in 1575-79. High up in the fresco in the dome, around the cupola, hovers a temple with the twenty-four elders of the Apocalypse; beneath this, on terraced registers, follow choirs of angels with the instruments of the Passion, then groups of saints, then personifications of the gifts of the Holy SXpirit, of the virtues, and of the beatitudes, and finally the regions of hell with various deadly sins. The composition of the fresco thus takes into account the architectonic form of the vault in its eight sections, hard upon one another. There is no attempt to dissolve the architectural structure completely by means of illusionistic painting.

The temple and the zones of heaven for four of the eight sections of the vault were completed under Vasari's direction."
http://www.wga.hu/html_m/v/vasari/2/13duomo.html

Photo: public domain

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Posted by Sexy Girls 21+ in architecture, art, building, crafts

Il Duomo -- The Great Dome of Florence

The Little Red (Trim) Schoolhouse

I've been shooting photos of this little building along Highway One for years. It now looks about ready to fold.

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Posted by Sexy Girls 21+ in building, salvaged materials, small homes

The Little Red (Trim) Schoolhouse

Twin Victorian Homes in Fort Bragg

I was shooting photos of the old one and Louie said, Hey, the one across the street is identical. Sure enough. Twins. On the ocean side of the highway in Fort Bragg.

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Posted by Sexy Girls 21+ in architecture, building, on the road

Twin Victorian Homes in Fort Bragg

Driftwood Architecture on Coast Today

In keeping with the Brotherhood of Beach Builders: no nails.

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Posted by Sexy Girls 21+ in architecture, Beach, building, natural materials, ocean

Driftwood Architecture on Coast Today

Good Architecture in Berkeley

I really like this. The curved roofs, the corrugated siding (never needs paint), the nifty balconies, the alternating symmetries…

Kudos to the good architects, of whom there are unfortunately few these days.

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Posted by Sexy Girls 21+ in architecture, building, cities, design

Good Architecture in Berkeley

Stairway To Hillside Home, Marin County, calif.

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Posted by Sexy Girls 21+ in building, landscaping

Stairway To Hillside Home, Marin County, calif.

Yogan Carpenter's Pacific Coast Journey, Fall, 2015

Yogan came to California from France and is exploring (and working wherever he stays) along the Pacific west coast this fall. I  dropped him off in Pt. Arena (Calif.) 2 weeks ago and as he makes his way northward, he is shooting photos and posting them on his blog:
http://yogan.over-blog.com/
His website: http://www.yogancharpentier.com/
This photo from The Salmon Creek Farm in Mendocino County
He's now heading up to visit SunRay Kelley in Washington.

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Posted by Sexy Girls 21+ in builders, building, carpentry, farming, natural building, natural materials, off-the-grid, roadtrip, tiny homes, tiny houses, tree houses

Yogan Carpenter's Pacific Coast Journey, Fall, 2015

Deek Diedrickson's Tiny House Summer Camp in Vermont, Sept. 18-20

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Posted by Sexy Girls 21+ in building, tiny homes, tiny houses

Deek Diedrickson's Tiny House Summer Camp in Vermont, Sept. 18-20