Eco Efficient Kitchen: Before and After

The Luck Cabin kitchen BEFORE::::You can see it was a bit spread out and hap hazard, had particle board counter tops, and there was no bathroom in the cabin at all to start with - so this space was to be divided in half, so that the back part was the bathroom and the front was an efficiency kitchen.
The Luck Cabin Kitchen/ Bathroom Wall ::::
The wall was put in with locally milled pine for $40, and then my friend Noelle helped me put together my idea for a kitchen counter to fit in the small space.
The frame was just 2 x 4 studs...
But the actual materials used were mostly reclaimed, reuse, found -

• The counter top is made of left over hickory plank floors
• The sink was already in the house and is being put back in
• The log legs for support I handsaw'ed in the woods
• The nails were already in the house too

So what had to be bought was the 2 x 4's and a working faucet....
the whole thing came together with a rustic look and I love it. LOOooove it.

It's still a work in progress, but most the main stuff is done enough that i wanted to share it with ya'll!!!
The Luck Cabin Kitchen AFTER::::
XoXo

Chemical Free Cleaning Frenzy

I went on a bAzzUrk cleaning frenzy today. A little secret about me is that some may call me dirty, messy and I have even thought of myself akin to "Pig Pen'... like the time i jumped in someone's car and the sun shown just right through the windshield only to reveal a cloud of dust poofing off my clothes. Then they sneezed. Not to say I am totally disgusting but I can relax with a mess around - as long as everything I need is perfectly organized and in it's place. A little dirt won't hurt.
When I do finally decide it's time to repair the tornado that is life - I do everything eco friendly without a single chemical.
I hand wash my clothes in a Wonder Wash (spins them clean in just a few minutes) without using soap! I usually squeeze a lemon into the wash, drop some baking soda, or vinegar... or like today I boiled some ginger & lavender in water and poured that in. Mmmm.... smells so good. I stopped using soap many years ago when I could not find one that was gluten free plus chemical free (I bet there are some like that now but I dont look for it anymore.)
Once the clothes are washed I hang dry them - outside in the spring, summer and fall and then inside over the main heat source during the winter. The outside sun does the best and makes the clothes smell sooooo good, so in the winter I really miss it. I don't eva' use a clothes dryer.
For cleaning my kitchen counter and table I invented a neat little liquid scrub in my blender today... I took a huge chunk of ginger and a few sprigs of fresh lavender, tossed them into the blender with a cup or two of water and blended the ba-jezuz out of it. I then wiped clean all the smooth surfaces! It totally got up the whatever that makes globby spots and sticks to tile. It worked good on hard to clean dishes too. :)
I swept the floor and picked up bits of trash. All tidy and smelling good without any chems or much electricity.

But I am not even through...

XoXo

Abandoned Bus, Abandoned Upcycled Home

Walking down the road at the base of Earlys Mountain in Big Sandy Mush, I saw this crusty old bus across a big farm field. Like a magnet I was pulled towards it to find out what the details of it's history were...I just knew it had at have been at least a party bus for some teens, a school bus full of old seats, or an empty bus full of ghosts. I also needed to use the bathroom at that moment and needed something to hide behind anyway. :)
Once I was there I felt brave- I could sense no one was in there and that no one would care if I pulled the rusted door open to get a better peak inside the mystery van...
The inside of the outer door was dark red with padded & quilted looking plastic material - Fancy! First thing I saw was the steering wheel, hole in the floor, and piles of furnishing trash. Or rather trashed furnishings.
The inside looked as though it had once been the 70's pimp mobile! The ceiling was this fabulous tan quilted pattern, there was a kitchenette cabinet and the whole thing had obviously been outfitted like a luxurious camping RV!
The broken old windows once had groovy curtains- picturing the upcycled bus's glory days was not hard at all. I wish it had been my own glory bus.
I went around the outside to the front of the bus, where it looked like traditional junk yard bus- with no sign of the ancient party inside.
The windows were target practice, surely for teenage boys or drunk rednecks.
The sides of the bus read something like "Forest Hills... Schools". I got behind the bus, used the bathroom and left. Too bad marking territory in the human world isn't as easy as marking it in the animal world.
XoXo