Frugaldom Project Developments

In search of the lonesome pine

A river runs through it

If you could, wood you…?

What else can I say?

We have some major Frugaldom Project Development news to share… read more here

Paving the Way for our Tiny House

Broom in bloom!

As you may know, I have been planning to totally refurbish the old chicken house at the bottom of the garden to turn it into a tiny house, suitably kitted out for wildlife watching. At the moment, it is used as storage for all sorts of useful junk and the hens are still living in the run but all of this is about to change. Here's where we're 'at', so far...

Our garden is long and narrow, pretty much split into four different zones. First we have the patio and kitchen garden and then the main garden (as seen above), which includes the greenhouse, polytunnel, vegetable plots, herb spirals and soft fruit. This is also where the rabbits and quail live… Red more here

Scottish Multimedia | What is Eco Art?

Scottish Multimedia | What is Eco Art?

Eco art can be many things but what does it mean to us, here in Frugaldom? Eco normally refers to ecology and the environment but it also relates to our economy, so the Thrift Cottage studio has settled on a combination of all of these things - environmental art, eco-friendly art and economical, or affordable, art.

Creating something that is visually attractive, thought-provoking or unique is what art is about here. It's not about investment pieces by the great Masters of Fine Art, it's about enhancing our own environment in ways that are appealing. Better still if those artistic creations can be hand crafted in Thrift Cottage Studio - the name we have given to the old out-building in the garden that has slowly but surely been showing signs of nearing refurbishment completion. It's not exactly a modern art gallery but it's big enough for what's needed.

Since moving here, we have been trying to … continue

Frugal Living - A Means to an End

WHY DO WE DO IT? BECAUSE WE CAN!



Eco-renovation - it's a titanic task



Almost a month has passed since my last post, what with one thing and another happening within the family (RIP 'Wee Jean' 08/08/1918 - 29/07/2012) and various other circumstances beyond my control.

It's now time to get back on the frugal path to put this place in order, even if that path does appear very long and winding at times. I freely admit to occasionally stopping and wondering if it will all be worthwhile, but I also freely admit to saying a positive 'YES', it will be worth it!

My cousin volunteered to pose for this photo during one of our recent adventures and I thought it very apt for this post. :)

Work has restarted, once again. Once completed, the outbuilding will provide the much-needed space to allow work indoors to resume. I may even have a kitchen by the end of this year!


The (soon to be) studio.



The 'studio' is beginning to look good now that all the old wood and blocks have been replaced. We salvaged the old back door that was removed from the house plus half a dozen of the windows that were lying about the garden when we arrived here. There are still two more windows to be completed but the frames are in and all that's needed is for the glass to be fitted - this we have had to buy. (We got a really good deal from a local double glazing company who had spares lying in their yard.) One day soon, we'll have a studio workshop right on our back doorstep and working from home will become even more enjoyable. 

As the year progresses, we're having our fair share of sunshine, even managing to don the shorts and visit the beach a few times to enjoy a splash about with the grand children. This, however, reminds me of how unfit and over weight I havew become, so it is time to address this problem in a much more serious way. Afterall, we have the best gym in the world right outside our doors and anyone is free to use it at any time!

The great outdoors can offer anything you want from a short walk to the post box to some high-powered aerobics, assuming you have the enthusiasm to just do it! Frugal living should never leave you needing, even if you have to create your own imaginery outdoor gym.

An eco-renovation doesn't come cheap if we're looking at eco-friendly building products but a frugal eco-renovation is about making things affordable. Whether it means cutting back on unneccessary expense so you can afford the right materials or recycling what is already available to you, it is still good! Ensuring you are fit enough to enjoy and appreciate all the years of scrimping, saving and hard work that goes into a renovation project has to feature strongly in your plans if you expect to reap the long term benefits. So I am making a new start RIGHT NOW!

GET FITTER, NOT FATTER (Pedometer cost 99p inc P&P via eBay.) I often hear or read of people trying their best to get fit and lose weight by spending ridiculous amounts of money on low fat and/or high protein foods, joining local gyms and/or 'investing' in fitness equipment. I have to admit to having thought about these things myself in the past, especially as my son is a fitness fanatic and into all sorts of weight training.

I have now cast aside those thoughts and am lookingg at the whole picture - the old joints have taken some serious punishment over the years, what with various falls, bumps, sprains, strains and fractures (mainly horse-related) and it has been quarter of a century since I weighed what I would like to weigh. That's 25 years of careless living that has slowly increased my weight and decreased my fitness. I certainly don't plan on taking another 25 years to redress this balance, but I do understand that it will be a long and arduous task, one that cannot be supplemented by unneccessary spending, dieting fads and paying to be told how to do it. The process needs to fit in time-wise and weather-wise with frugal living, earning an income and renovating a home!

I hope nobody minds if I post about my exploits during this frugal 'Get Fitter, Not Fatter' challenge, but I set it up online so long ago that even I am beginning to think of it as a bit of a joke.

The following items are what some people see as essentials to their fitness regimes:

• rowing machine
treadmill
exercise bike

local swimming pool

weights

The following are what I have right here, right now:

This is my Rowing Machine. OK, so my rowing machine comes in the form of a small rowing boat moored at the edge of the nearby loch, but look at the spectacular views it offers and look at the space for sharing with friends, taking a healthy lunch and, if we so desired, trying our hands at fly-fishing. I haven't done the fishing bit, as that entails purchasing a permit that allows us to fish - not frugal - but rowing around Elrig loch is a brilliant way to get some easy exercise whilst communing with nature.

This is my Treadmill. The frugal treadmill will keep going for miles and miles, as the roads, lanes and tracks criss-cross the countryside. The whole point of spending years scrimping and saving is to afford to live debtfree somewhere we want to be, a place of our own that we can call home. If you can't see the possibilities of doing something like this on your own, then consider finding someone with shared ambitions. You'd be amazed at how many people jump at the chance to quit the rat race and follow their dreams as crafters, writers, artists or even for the simple choice of working their own hours in order to make the most of everything else life has to offer. Chaos is acceptable, no matter what others may think, if it is en route to realising your dreams.

The Exercise Bike (cycling) Almost everyone knows someone with a bicycle tucked away in a shed, forgotten, unused or surplus to requirement. Well, I borrowed one from a friend this summer. What with one thing and another, I haven't even managed out on it once, but there are no real excuses. They say that you never forget how to ride a bike... I'll put that theory to the test just as soon as my knees have agreed to bend and straighten in one smooth rotational action while synchronising with upper body balance and an ability to steer.

The Poolside - Living in a rural location means there's not really much call for such things as gyms or leisure centres with indoor heated swimming pools. Living within walking distance of the coast, however, offers all sorts of possibilities. Wild swimming can be done pretty much anywhere you find that's safe and clean enough for you to take the plunge. A friend has invested in a wet suit so she isn't completely restricted to only the hottest days of the year, swimming in several of the lochs that can be found within the region - her particular favourites are all within the Galloway Forest Park. I prefer the sea, as the thought of pike swimming below me puts me off even dipping a toe into any of our nearby lochs. As yet, I have not swum in the sea, only paddled.

Weights - Who needs dumbells when there are millions of rocks lying around the place? One local here power walks while carrying a rock in each hand, raising them and lowering them in step with his pace of walking. I'm sure this must provide an extra element of aerobic exercise and will be setting him well on his way to achieving his optimum heart rate.

My first challenge is to gather enough rocks to equate to the amount of excess weight I am already carrying. Granted, it won't come close to Stonehenge, but I'm sure it will amount to a tiny cairn, at least.

That's the tale of Frugaldom thus far - the indoor renovation works ground to a halt months ago, the weeds always seem to be winning the war in the garden, the greenhouse is still standing and producing some lovely tomatoes, I'm cooking courgettes in almost everything - bread and cakes alike - the derelict outbuilding should have a new lease of life as a studio within the next couple of weeks and I'm about to embark on a much healthier lifestyle, even if it takes me forever.

How could anyone not want to live this life? It's certainly never boring!

This post is also dedicated to all friends, family and other residents of Garlieston in the wake of recent events, the facts of which have been twisted out of recognition by certain newspapers that chose to feed the general public with outright lies! I would appeal to anyone who has read such garbage to cast it aside and never sink to the depths of allowing it to cloud their judgement on our wonderful area!

Regular updates relating to frugal living can be found in our forums at http://frugaldom.myfreeforum.org 

Feel free to join us online anytime and invite your friends to do similar.

Some Summer Updates from Frugaldom

Life in Frugaldom

There has been so much happening in the garden that work indoors has ended up on the backburner again! End result is, we still don't have a kitchen but we have a whole host of critturs, beasties and birds visiting the wildlife garden and, in return, not an awful lot by way of homegrown vegetables.

The strawberries did incredibly well and we're now onto blackcurrants and raspberries. I think I've picked a sufficient quantity of blackcurrants to make enough jam to last us until next year, but have had to freeze the berries pending further work on what will, eventually, be reinstated as my kitchen.

Last week, I picked the first cabbage, but there are few surviving the constant slug attacks. The slugs are out of control at the moment, so I really need better defences and a clear division made between the vegetable plots and the rest of the garden. This permaculture lark is all fine and good, communing with nature and encouraging wildlife, but it's very time consuming and slow to cultivate.

The herb spiral, on the other hand, has come on in leaps and bounds, producing a profusion of herbs, strawberries and water cress in the tiny 'pondlet' at the bottom of it. Since building this one, I have now completed a second, circular bed adjacent to it, which has been planted with more herbs and flowers. The herb spiral is a garden feature that I can highly recommend, I'm really impressed by how well everything grows in it.


My next project was 'the logman'.

Late last year, a neighbour had a conifer felled and gave us all the wood, so it had been stacked at the bottom of the garden for some time. To be honest, it isn't the best type of wood for burning on an open fire, so this led me to thinking up a novel idea of what to do with the logs - I built a raised bed shaped roughly like a boat and have planted blueberry bushes and heather in it. At the 'helm', I used the final log to make a bird table and named him 'the logman'. He's very popular with the birds, I have to admit, and his lantern can be lit on summer nights, so he's become quite a feature in the Frugaldom garden. His face is made from bottle tops and a twig, with some more twigs secured around the edge of the slice of log that serves as the bird table. Again, I am really pleased at how this turned out and even more impressed by the number and variety of birds that frequent 'him' on a daily basis.

The good weather continued here despite tales of flash floods and high tides elsewhere, so it seemed like a good idea to make a start on creating the long awaited 'bug hotel'. Some readers may remember I was able to get a wrought iron hanging rail from someone on Freecycle a few years back and this was originally converted into a vegetable growing rack. This year, however, it became the basis for the new bug hotel. I was inspired to begin this project after reading about 'Bugingham Palace', so set about creating my own, frugal version.

The Frugaldom bug hotel was completed last week and even includes a homemade bee house, which was made using the hollow stems pruned from the Himalayan Honeysuckle at the bottom of the garden. Again, I am quite proud of the end result, finishing it all off with a butterfly house that I found for half price in Aldi. £3.49 seemed like a small price to pay when everything else used was free. I have now made a start on the bottle garden, but it's only in the early stages, so nothing much worth discussing just yet.

 But what about the whole homeworking/microholding/self-sustainability 'thing'?, I hear you ask. Well, while the weather has been good, we have taken the opportunity to invest some of the savings into renovating the old outbuilding, which will then provide us with safe, dry storage space and work-space by way of a garden room, otherwise known as our eco-arts studio.

This is what the building looked like when we first bought the property. It was a derelict disaster zone, to say the least. It took us months to clear away all the rubbish that completely filled it and surrounded it, then there were all those broken windows to sort out before they fell on anyone.

The serious work began on this project about three weeks ago, but it has proven to be a far bigger job than first anticipated. For a start, the roof and two full walls - those not shown in the photos - have had to be removed and replaced to make the building safe. In order to do this, we had to disconnect the electrics, (I could hardly believe there were live wires in there in the first place!)which will need to be fully replaced at some point.

We are now at the stage of needing to find a door and new windows to replace the old ones, so I've been busy scouring the area for anything that might fit. Hopefully, one of the glazing companies from the nearest town may have some old ones available at a cheap enough price to warrant moving them and making them fit the gaps. In the meantime, the old concrete blocks have had a coat of whitewash to brighten them up a bit and there's someone out there right now sorting out the floor and replacing all the wood. Exciting times ahead and everyones' fingers are crossed that the sunshine will return soon so we can complete the renovation. Only then will we tackle the completion of the kitchen.

For anyone interested in life in and around our area, I have set up a Facebook page that is now home to all the photographs of the surrounding area, along with progress photos taken of the wildlife garden, so please feel free to visit and 'like' the page, that way you can be kept bang up to date with garden progress in our tiny corner of southwest Scotland.

The Frugaldom forums are also still fairly busy for anyone who would like to take part in any of the frugal living challenges.

Hoping not to leave if for so long next time and looking forward to making the most of this summer's staycation. There's so much to see and do when you're trying not to spend, so wildlife, nature and the 'make do and mend' activities are all being well served, as are free events being attended.

www.frugaldom.com

Working from Your Shed

Many people on their way to self-sufficiency will find themselves looking for teleworking opportunities. Working from home, however, is harder than many people realise – but can these problems be solved with the humble garden shed?

It can be really difficult to become fully self-sufficient, you are always going to have at least some bills to pay, and making the money for these selling your own produce is not easy. If you’re living somewhere remote it can be a real challenge to find jobs that will both pay your bills and give you the flexibility to provide for yourself independently. Luckily, in this day and age, more and more industries deal in information and a huge number of jobs can be done from anywhere with just a laptop and an Internet connection. Teleworking is a great way to help you make the transition to self-sufficiency, but anyone who has tried teleworking will tell you it’s not as easy as you first think.

Sure, you’re commute becomes as simple as rolling out of bed and technology means you can keep in touch with everyone you need to with a Skye call, but you’re home feels very different from your office and your office very different from your home. It can quickly become all too easy to get distracted by other things going on and other jobs that need doing. This becomes even worse if you’re meant to be working when your family is not. At the same time, for most of us, our homes have always been an escape from work, somewhere to get away from the stress and deadlines. It can be really hard to get out of the working frame of mind if you’re both living and working in the same environment.

For some people it’s enough to convert a room in there house to a home office, but not everyone has the room to spare - even if they do, if the family is up to other things within ear shot, it can be quite hard to settle into work. So what’s the solution?

Well, this is a guest post from The Tiger Shed blog, where we believe that few problems in life can’t be solved by pottering about in the garden shed and this particular problem is no exception.

Why not set up a home office in your garden shed?

With a little luck you’re still reading and haven’t dismissed the idea as crazy already. If your garden shed is filled with tools, dark, damp and a little bit smelly, you might not be that enthused, but with a little DIY to an existing shed or building a new purpose built shed we think it could really be the perfect home office. Imagine your shed insulated, set up for electricity, within range of Wi-Fi connection, replace the tools and flower pots with a desk and comfy office chair and all of a sudden you’ve got a great working space. The distractions of home are far away and you’re now working in all the natural beauty of your garden. What could be more inspiring than that?

Not convinced? Well we’re not the first to come up with the idea, did you know that Roald Dahl actually wrote almost all of his books from the bottom of his garden in a shed? In 1954, after setting up home in Great Missenden, Roald Dahl had a custom shed built in the garden as his own private sanctuary where he could retreat to write his books. Few children fail to fall in love with the creative stories that were spawned in that shed and we’re in little doubt that the joy of the outdoor surroundings must have inspired Dahl.

Hopefully by now you’re as excited as we would be about the idea of relocating the office to the garden and you’ll be pleased to know it’s quite a frugal under taking. Converting an existing shed or outbuilding will cost you very little and most people will be able to do these conversions themselves. Even if you need to build a new shed it’s quite a manageable building project and the Internet is filled with free plans that you can use. For those of you who want somewhere a little more substantial the Internet is filled with prebuilt sheds you can have delivered and some of them are virtually separate buildings. Check out the Tiger Shed Log Cabin shop to see what we mean.

So, good luck building your shed/home office. For more ideas be sure to check out the Tiger Shed blog and if you give it a go, be sure to send us some pictures.

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Here in Frugaldom, our first big outdoor project of 2012 is to renovate the garden outbuilding and fit out the garden shed, turning them into suitable work space and a functional studio. The project is at an advanced stage of planning, but I'll be logging the progress reports on here as soon as we begin work in April. Hoping to complete within a six-week timeframe.