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Most antiperspirants contain some iteration of aluminum in them. Clogging your pores with aluminum is not the best idea for your health, and as my mom constantly reminds me – it has been linked to Alzheimer’s.
I mixed and matched a few recipes I found online for a homemade stick deodorant. So…we’ll have to see how it works.
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
5-6 Tbsp coconut oil
2 Vitamin E gelcaps
some drops of a nice-smelling oil (I just nabbed some hand sanitizer that smells really strongly, so I’m not sure if it’ll work or not)
My collection of ingredients
Mix together the baking soda and the arrowroot powder. Arrowroot powder functions similarly to cornstarch. If you can’t find arrowroot powder, you can use cornstarch. However, I’d heard…things can grow in cornstarch, so I played it safe and stuck to arrowroot powder. Fun fact though – coconut oil has antimicrobrial properties, so perhaps it balances out with the cornstarch.
I like to use a fork to mix things up. I find it gets lumps out better.
Take the two Vitamin E gelcaps, poke ‘em with a knife, and squeeze the contents out into the bowl.
Yum, Vitamin E!
I microwaved the coconut oil for about 30 seconds so it would turn liquid, and then mixed it in with everything else. Add your nice-smelling essential oils (I hear lavender works well). Mix it together well.
Then spoon (or fork) it into an empty deodorant container.
It smells kind of like I want to eat it...maybe I'll use lavender oil next time.
Try to level it off and then cap it.
Hmmm...Aluminum Zirconium Tetrachlorahydrex GLY makes up 14.8% of my old anti-perspirant.
I hear it takes a day or two to set, but since oil has a low melting temperature, I thought throwing it in the refrigerator might speed the process along.
What you've all been waiting for...the inside of my refrigerator!
TIME INVESTMENT: 10-15 minutes.
I’ll keep you posted on how it works. I may also try a recipe for a cream deodorant later, and I’ll let you know which one works better.
We’ve got new quail hatchlings! If you check my Twitter page, I’ll be posting one photo of them a day, so you can watch them grow with me. It’s really amazing watching them get larger from day to day.
For instance, here is one of our 3-week-old quails next to one of our day-old quails.
Well...sort of side by side. This is as close as we could get them.
We moved the three-week olds out to the quail hutch on Thursday.
Each of those water bottles is 32oz. They drink a lot of water, and we want to be able to leave for a weekend without worry.
Eating food, yawning, running around. Feed them weeds - they love 'em!
Again, check out my Twitter page for daily updates on the new quail babies!
Gas prices aren’t as high as they used to be, but they certainly aren’t cheap either. My fiance and I made a point of buying a home close to our workplace (5.5 miles away for me, 5 miles for him) so we could bicycle in.
I know that not everyone will be able to do this, but if not bicycling to work, why not that quick trip to the grocery store? To the coffee shop? To a restaurant or bar?
I like to think of bicycling as not only self-sufficient, but also efficient. It lengthens my commute by 15 minutes, but I’m combining my commute with my daily workout (and cheap ‘ol me doesn’t have to pay for a gym membership). Why do one thing if you can do two things at once?
IF YOU DON’T HAVE A BICYCLE: Get one! Check craigslist or ebay. Buying a new bicycle is a lot like buying a new car – it decreases in value as soon as you drive it off the lot. I was able to get mine brand new off of craigslist – the man had purchased it from ebay for his wife, but she didn’t like the color.
Guess she didn't like...silver? Her loss, my gain!
Consider what type of bicycle you want. Most commonly you’ll see road bicycles, mountain bicycles, and cruisers.
Road bicycles are the fastest. They’re the ones with the thin tires and the ram’s horn handle bars. They take a little getting used to, and you cannot ride them over rough terrain. I even have to slow down at railroad tracks. I purchased mine for $320.
Mountain bicycles are a tad slower. You sit a bit more upright on these, and you can take them over many types of terrain. These are the easiest to find (in my experience) on craigslist. I purchased one for $75, and another for $150.
Cruisers are the slowest of the bunch. You sit upright, they have wide seats, and they are very comfortable. They’re perfect for cruising around town. You probably won’t get much of a work out on one of these, but if your priority is a comfy, breezy ride, this is the bicycle for you. I’ve never purchased one, but I think you’d spend around the same as for an inexpensive mountain bike.
TIPS FOR THE RIDE:
1. MP3 player or iPod. Music will help make your ride go a lot faster, so you won’t be endlessly pedaling and wondering, “Am I there yet?”
2. Check your maps and surroundings. Bicycles can go places cars cannot. Is there a shortcut to your destination? I cut through a park on my way to work, and it saves me at least a mile.
3. Mentally divide your route into parts. It’s a way of breaking things down, so if you’re riding several miles, the task won’t seem quite so daunting. I think of my ride as a 4-part ride. 3 long roads, and then downtown.
4. Don’t give up too quickly and stay consistent! The first few times I rode the 5.5 miles to work and the other 5.5 miles back I was pooped. It was agonizing. But then the next time was easier, and the next even easier. Now riding back and forth to work is a breeze. I often almost broke down and drove my car, but peer pressure from my fiance kept me riding.
5. Think of your long-term rewards. The $$ you’ll be saving. Being in shape. No emissions.
6. A decent bag. This can make or break the ride. I have an L.L. Bean backpack with padded straps and a reinforced back. My fiance has a Timbuk2 with a padded strap. If you get something that is roomy and sits comfortably, you can pile in the groceries/laptop/whatever and barely notice the extra weight.
Our bags! Look...they're snuggling! =D
7. A water bottle holder and a water bottle. Still have to install one on my new bicycle, but on hot days, this makes things much more pleasant.
All-in-all, I spend between $20-35 on gas a month. Not bad!
LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE: Buy a Kryptonite U-lock. Don’t bother with the cable locks – they’re useless unless your bicycle looks like it’s not even worth the time. I had my bicycle locked up right outside a coffee shop in broad daylight with a cable lock. It was stolen, and I had to walk home. Spend a little more $$ now, save a lot more later!
Coming soon…homemade deodorant!
Last we left off, you were putting the plywood on the frame to form the shelter areas.
Here is how you make the shelter doors.
Shelter Door
Use 1x2s to frame the door, just like you did with the wire doors. We used the 3″ screws to hold the 1x2s together. Screw the plywood onto the frame and voila! A door! Of course, you’ll want to put hinges on it, and a bar lock.
At this point, you’ll want to paint it.
Our drill ran out of juice, so we painted some panels separately, and affixed them later.
Use an outdoor paint so your hutch will withstand the elements. If you’re feeling really cheap, check the oops rack at your local hardware store. Sometimes they’ll have a can or two of paint there that isn’t a horrible color. Otherwise, just grab the cheapest type of paint. That’s what I did.
P.S. I swear it’s a light terracotta, NOT pink!
Once you’re finished painting and have all doors and shelter walls affixed, it’s time to put the roof on.
Plywood attached, roofing felt attached, putting shingles on.
LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE: Extend the roofing out at least a good 6″ on either side. Ours extends 2-3″ on either side, and it does not protect from the rain the way I would like.
Secure the roofing to the beams using the 1 5/8″ screws.
The roofing felt goes on top of this. We used staples to secure it. Roofing felt is fairly easy to cut with scissors or with a utility knife, so don’t worry if it hangs over the edge. Cut it when you’re done stapling it.
For the shingles, we used leftover shed shingles.
We used staples on these too, though probably should have used nails.
Overlap the shingles and cut them at the edges. These can be cut with a utility knife or heavy-duty scissors.
You’re almost done! Now it’s time for the hardware cloth.
Dum dee dum, wire OUCH!
Use the coated hardware cloth for the floor. This stuff feels great. Run your hand over this and then run your hand over the uncoated wire. The coated hardware cloth is very nice, very soft on the quails’ feet.
If you have another person helping you, have them pull on the hardware cloth while you staple it down. Pull it tight so it’s not going all over the place when the quails step on it. Staple the hardware cloth on the outside of the framing. Then cut the excess with wire cutters.
When you cut the hardware cloth, cut it as close as possible, to avoid scratching or cutting yourself later on the pointy excess.
Feel free to use uncoated wire on the rest of the hutch – it’s cheaper!
Move to an appropriate place in your yard.
FIN!
For poop trays, you can build your own from plywood, or you could do what I did and buy plastic bin lids from IKEA (they sell them separately from the bins woohoo! $2.50 each). I like the plastic for how light it is and how easy it will be to clean. We’ll be moving the quails in this weekend if not earlier, so I’ll show you how that looks then.
TIME INVESTMENT: Approximately 24 hours. If you know what you’re doing, it will probably take less time. We spent a lot of time waffling, arguing, fixing mistakes, and running back and forth to the hardware store =)
Okay, so from last time – you now have your two sides put together.
Using brackets, connect the two sides with 2x2s. I made the hutch approximately 6′ long. You’ll want to cut 9 2x2s of this length (5’8″) Leave off the roof ones – we’ll get to those later.
Starting to install poop tray bars as well...
In this photo you can see we’ve installed three of the front 2x2s. We’ve also installed two 1x2s on the top for the poop trays to rest on. These can be secured to the other 1×2 pieces with the 1 5/8″ screws.
Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions.
Here it is with more of it done. For the roof pieces, we tilted them at the same 30 degree angle – so one of the sides of the 2×2 is flush with the roof. Not the best way in the world to do roofing, but we’re housing quail, not people. We went in from the sides with the 1 5/8″ screws to secure the top pieces.
The hutch is starting to take shape...
Just a quick note – think of framing as your structure’s skeleton. These are the bones you’re going to hang your trimmings on.
Framing the doors and the sheltered areas.
The 9th 2×2 – the odd one out – goes in the front to support the door framing. We used 2x2s to frame the sheltered area, and 1x2s to frame the two wire doors. We used 1 5/8″ screws at a diagonal from the front to secure the 1x2s for the door frames.
Secure the bottom part of the vertical shelter 2x2s with brackets. You just want to avoid running any screws into each other (secure the bottom 2x2s with 3″ screws).
Due to the weird angle of the roof bars, we used a 1×2 in the back for the shelter, and used a jigsaw to cut the angle. It’s a little jimmy-rigged, but it works.
Now time for the roof beams!
There's me, smiling like an idiot... =P
We put three roof beams in. One we put in at the same distance as the shelter beams, to provide the framing for the shelter plywood (you need to screw the plywood into something so it stays where you put it!). The other two we spaced evenly apart. We made the shelters 1′ wide.
Now for the fun part – putting on the trimmings.
For the plywood we just used a measuring tape - calculations can get iffy.
Take your sheets of plywood and use a jigsaw to cut them to form the walls, floors, and roof (singluar for the bottom one) of your shelters. Use the 1/2″ screws to secure the plywood to your framing.
Part III – the finale – to follow!
I had a few requirements when building the quail hutch. It had to look nice, so as not to garner complaints from the neighbors, it had to hold a decent amount of quail – enough to feed my family of 3, and it had to be efficient…just because.
I’d seen a lot of people using rabbit hutches for quails, so I used that as a basis, and turned it double-decker so as to better use the space.
COST: All-in-all, the project cost me ~$250.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
Tools:
-Staple Gun
-Power Drill/Screwdriver
-Circular Saw
-Jigsaw
-Wire cutters
Supplies:
-2x4s
-1x2s
-2x2s
-3″ screws
-1 5/8″ screws
-1/2″ screws
-20 metal brackets
-4 small bar locks
-4 sets of small hinges (2 per package)
-coated hardware cloth
- hardware cloth
-roofing felt
-shingles
-thin plywood
Put the two side pieces together first. Pre-drill the holes for the wood screws.
Yeah, note the "not to scale" at the top.
Here is one of ours in the middle of assembly.
In the middle of assembly. Note the metal brackets.
And here’s what they look like when they’re finished. The 1×2 pieces will later hold the poop trays. These are going to be on the inside of the side pieces. Make sure you put them on the inside!
Two side pieces...complete! Now what?
Allow me to note that neither of us has any background in carpentry. The only experience I’ve had was some set-building in high school. It taught me a little bit about framing. Other than that…nada! We even had to borrow the circular saw from our neighbor. So if we can do it, so can you.
I’ll try to get the subsequent parts up ASAP. As with the incubator – time investment will be posted on the final part.
Quails will be moving into their hutch on Thursday, we’re set for another hatch starting Friday, seedlings will be planted in our garden this weekend (barring poor weather), and I’ll be picking up ingredients for homemade deoderant this week (mine is almost out!).
We’re talking about getting into brewing our own sake, so look for that in the future as well!
In preparation for my quail chickies hatching, one of the things that I bought was a quail waterer.
It looks like this:
You can get this at your local feed store.
After the quails hatched, I learned a couple of things. 1. Quails are messy drinkers and eaters. 2. Pine shavings absorb water like a sponge.
I’d leave in the morning with fresh pine shavings and a full water bottle…and come back in the evening with a sodden mess and a water bottle that needed to be refilled.
I turned to the web and found mentions of others using rabbit/guinea pig waterers for quail. You know, the ones with the little metal ball at the bottom that they move to get a drink.
I bought one of those and installed in in the brooder.
I bought this from Wal-Mart for about $3.
I put a small dish underneath it.
Works like a charm! The quails figured out very quickly how to drink from it, their bedding stays dry, and I don’t have to refill it as often. We’re all happy!
I’ve read of people using these with day-old chicks, so don’t bother with your standard quail waterer.
Our bathtub drain is clogged. Woe!
Drano isn’t very good for the environment, so here’s an alternate, natural solution that works just as well. Baking soda and vinegar. As a tip, buy baking soda in bulk if possible, it has a lot of household uses and it’s much cheaper this way. I buy a 12lb bag from Costco for $6.21.
Baking Soda and Vinegar!
Take 1 cup of dry baking soda and pour that down the drain.
Then take 3/4 cup vinegar and pour that down the drain after it. Plug the drain immediately afterward. Leave this in there for 30 minutes. While you’re at it, boil 4-5 cups of water.
When you pour it down, it does this nasty backwash thing.
After the 30 minutes, pour the boiling water down the drain, slowly. Your drain should now be clear!
Pour slowly!
NOTE: For small drains such as those in the bathroom sink or bathtub, put less baking soda and less vinegar. You may want to run it 2-3 times before pouring the hot water down.
TIME INVESTMENT: 5-10 minutes for baking soda and vinegar, 30 minute wait time.
Ok, so going out and plucking slugs off the plants every night didn’t work. Mainly because we didn’t go out there every night. Who has the time?
Our poor, poor seedlings.
So we tried a couple other methods.
STALE BEER METHOD:
Get a container. A bottle works well, as does a pan or a cup. In this case, we used a dog bowl. Bury the container next to the affected plants, up to the rim. Fill the container with stale beer. If the beer isn’t stale, don’t worry, it soon will be if you leave it out.
Leave it out overnight. Here’s what ours looked like the next morning:
YES! Dead slugs! The slugs are attracted to the smell of the beer, they go up close to it, fall in, and die. Beer method works!
EGG SHELL METHOD:
Just in case some of those slugs were wise to our plan, or some just weren’t into booze, we also tried out this method.
Take some eggshells, crush them up, and place them around the base of your seedlings. The slugs can’t cross the jagged edges, so they can’t go climb your plants and have a meal.
Ah-like so!
INITIAL TIME INVESTMENT: 10 minutes
DAILY TIME INVESTMENT: 2 minutes – refill that beer when it runs dry, until your plants are big enough!
In quick quail news, the quails are growing like weeds. Every morning I wake up and look at them, they’re bigger! There are 17 of them and they’re going through their scruffy adolescent phase.
I can sort of fly already too!
I have 39 more eggs in the incubator – soonest expected hatch date of 4/24.
My fiance and I transplanted our tomatoes a couple of days ago, or rather “moved” them. They’re not going in the ground quite yet, but they’ve outgrown their seedling pots. Tomatoes have rather deep roots.
I bought some party cups because they’re cheap ($3.69 for 50), and about the same size as a small pot. We’re giving away most of the seedlings.
If you use party cups, cut four holes in the bottom for drainage.
Makeshift pot
As I mentioned in my planting seeds post, we couldn’t just pop the seedlings out of the plastic containers, as they so claim. We had to cut them (carefully!) down the side to remove the seedlings.
This should slide right out
Get some potting soil, put it in the cups and make a big ‘ole hole in it – more than large enough for your newly displaced seedling. Put it in the hole, and bury the seedling deep.
Should be much wider and a bit deeper
If you have more than one seedling in a pot (it’s a good idea to plant more than one seed, just in case one or more don’t come up), you’ll have to take them apart carefully. Loosen up the root ball a bit. Start at the top, where the stems are, and pry the plants apart very gently. Once the soil is loose enough, and you pull gently enough, the rest will untangle itself. Try not to break too many roots (if any). This will hinder the growth of your plant.
GENTLY!
See all the hairs on the tomato plant’s stem? Those grow into roots if you bury them. When you bury more of the stem, you allow the tomato plant to form a more stable root system. What you want to avoid is a real “leggy” tomato plant.
Should be buried deeper, but you can see all the little hairs on this one!
Tomatoes like a lot of sun, so put them in a place where they get plenty of that. If you’ve still got them indoors, put them on a tray so the water doesn’t leak all over your belongings. Planning on putting them outside? Start hardening them by putting them outside a little bit at a time, increasing time until they are acclimated to the weather. Just remember, tomatoes like it warm.
It’s been a couple days since we moved them to the cups, and they’ve definitely gotten bigger!
LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE: It’s a good idea to plant more than one seed per pot, but don’t be a dummy like me and plant them right next to one another, and in the same hole. Just my luck, nearly every single seed sprouted (may I recommend Victory Seed Company?). They sprouted right next to one another – nay almost on top of one another! This made getting the seedlings apart when moving them very very difficult.
INITIAL TIME INVESTMENT: About 3-5 minutes per plant.
DAILY TIME INVESTMENT: Same as with seedlings, 2 minutes – keep ‘em watered and in the sunlight!
