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Scotland’s multiple off-grid opportunities

The sparkling glens and mountains of Scotland boasts a wide choice of off-grid holiday accommodation and if you fall in love with the lifestyle there are many off-grid homes and jobs jobs that could make your stay a lifelong one.

The remote community of Scoraig is looking for a teacher and there are always numerous jobs as gamekeepers, loggers and crofters.

Scotland is the perfect place for those keen to explore the great outdoors. From eco glamping to living like a laird and lady, here’s a pick of where to stay.

Try the island of Tiree

Were it not for the charming croft cottages, the disarming Hebridean accents and the inimitable grass coverage of Scottish dunes, anyone on Tiree might easily imagine themselves on Hawaii. This is in fact Scotland – the most westerly of the Inner Hebrides has long, white-sand beaches, plentiful hours of sunshine and excellent surfing and windsurfing. Being within tickle’s reach of the Gulf Stream means the waters are startling not for their cold but their warmth.

Accommodation is mainly B&B or self-catering.

Traditional Yurts

The Three Trossachs Yurts offer cosy glamping in a picturesque setting.

Each circular dwelling sleeps up to four adults or a family of five and are decorated with thick rugs and soft furnishings.

This experience is all about being off-grid, so it’s self-catering only, but there are plenty of options for cooking your own meals.

www.trossachsyurts.com

Caravan Cavalcade

The six French roulottes that make up Roulotte Retreat can be found in the idyllic surroundings of a wildflower meadow in the Borders.

The roulottes – hand-crafted, Romany-style, wooden caravans – are colourful, stylish and quirky, and come equipped with modern comforts.

The setting is just as impressive, offering easy access to the towns of Melrose, Selkirk, Jedburgh and Galashiels, with the River Tweed flowing nearby.

www.roulotteretreat.com

Life in a lighthouse

Sumburgh Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse on Shetland and featured in the Shetland TV drama.

The self-catering accommodation is sited within the complex of lighthouse buildings on the majestic cliffs and is finished to a high standard.

It’s particularly popular with holidaymakers during the summer months. www.shetlandlighthouse.com ECO PODS

In the shadow of a castle

The two wooden eco pods at Craskie Estate are perfectly placed for stunning loch views and soaking up the beauty of the Highlands.

Efficient insulation and low wattage electrics mean a minimal carbon footprint but there is no shortage of luxury touches.

Sleeping up to four people, each pod has its own decked terrace – ideal for al fresco dining.

www.craskieestate.com

Off-Grid jobs

And while you are in Scotland, consider a visit to the remote community of Scoraig, which is currently looking for a teacher for its primary school.

The locals say it’s the least stressful job in teaching but the post has fallen vacant three times in the past five years. The school’s head teacher is …

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June 26, 2019 No Comments
Spirit

Go Your Own Way

Many of us have bellowed ‘Go your own way!’ at the top of our lungs when listening to Fleetwood Mac, but it’s in that pause that we imagine just what going our own way might be like. Of course, in the context of the song it’s a defiant refrain to a love lost, but this is also what the emotional context might be for those who wish to get away from the artificial nature of self in the twenty-first century and instead experience something real.

How do you have the strength to go your own way, and what might this look like? Perhaps it’s purchasing a set of private number plates. For others, it’s feeling happy simply being who they are and liking what they like, such as a gruff forty-year-old security guard who just loves singing to musicals in his spare time. Perhaps we may not consider those two things to go hand-in-hand, but not caring about image would be a strength on this part of this person.

Going your own way, perhaps to the point where you may wish to live off-grid, can be an exhilarating and also quite worrying prospect if you’re not used to this at all. How might you find the strength to live this kind of lifestyle? We would recommend the following mindset:

A Question Of Values

Questioning your values to begin with can be a solid first step. What is it that is important to you? Do you feel that working in the corporate rat race and living in a heavily urbanized environment to be incredibly tiring? Do you wish for more land, or to be more self-sufficient, or to simply feel like less of a node in a machine rather than a living, thinking, breathing person? It’s important to understand what your values are, because when you have them in line, you can begin to generate principles that help you along this journey. Perhaps having your own land and the means to stay practically self-sufficient are important to you, or perhaps you lament the loss of privacy in urbanized areas.

It’s easy to feel as though you’re making the wrong decision if you haven’t yet considered things.

Being Unafraid

Being unafraid takes, by definition ,a little courage. This sounds completely tautologous, but it actually isn’t. Fear keeps you sensible, and it allows you to use your sharpest senses to make the best decision going forward. If your fear of trying something new is put in its proper place, that can revoke the power fear has over you. This is where you can become more of a maverick, allowing yourself to focus on sustaining yourself through perhaps building your own shelter, negotiating the deed to land or renovating an old house for your purposes. It can also help you with protective tasks such as marking out your property borders and …

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February 14, 2019 No Comments
Communities

It doesn’t feel like a sacrifice


After finishing school, Jocelyn and Jarvis had $96,000 of debt from student loans, credit cards, and buying a small rural property. This is the story of how they paid it off in just 20 months, and then built themselves a debt-free custom tiny house for their family of 4.

After ignoring their finances for a long time, the couple finally faced reality one night when they sat down and added up all of their debts, and compared it to the revenue they had coming in.

When they realized how much they owed, they decided to make some drastic changes so they could pay it off and stop worrying about money. To start, they moved to a smaller apartment, changed jobs, shopped second-hand, froze a credit card in a block of ice, switched to using cash only, and made a budget that allowed them to chip away at their debt.

They had a white board with a list of all their debts, which they updated every time a payment was made so they’d continue to be motivated. After 20 months, they were completely debt-free. After that, they continued with their minimalist, frugal habits and were able to save up enough money to build themselves a custom tiny house on wheels.

They’ve been living in the tiny house for over two years now, with their two children, and plan to continue living in it for as long as they can. They are currently saving money to buy a small acreage where they will build a larger off-grid home and keep the tiny house as an income property.

We’re very inspired by this young family’s dedication to improve their lives by paying off their debt, by their awareness of their energy consumption, by their efforts to buy less and live a low waste lifestyle. They’re trying to make positive change in every aspect of their lives, and that’s not always an easy thing to do.

Thank you, Jocelyn and Jarvis, for sharing your story with us! And for the beautiful day we spent at your place! Thanks for watching! Mat & Danielle



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January 30, 2018 No Comments
Communities

Elk encounter 3 years later

 

Those who have followed me for a few years should remember my elk encounter from about three years ago, it did quite a bit of damage, but PB was able to do “Bobbage” and make everything work again. Most of my front end was “customized” by that elk encounter 3 years ago, the air conditioner condenser and the radiator along with everything else up in the front area got pushed back about 4 inches, most of the hardware in there wasn’t attached to much anymore. And the 2 aforementioned items became concave where the elk body was cradled in the front of my truck. So replacing the concave radiator with a spiffy new flat one meant more customization by PB, also known as Bobbage, that magic he does when faced with a puzzle like this.

This is what an elk cow does to a radiator, the “encounter” actually happened in March of 2015, so all in all, that radiator has held up pretty well considering… It finally sprung a leak over the weekend, I was going to drive to one of my farther towns to work this morning when I discovered it was more than a small leak. Thank the Lord above that I didn’t end up on the side of the road. The auto parts house 2 towns over had a radiator in stock and I got it.

After getting home, PB started working on it, eventually most of the neighborhood ended up over here lending their hands, tools and lots of moral support. Now I can go to work tomorrow. I am truly fortunate to live in such a caring neighborhood. I am also thankful that I know enough to be able to confidently call the auto parts stores in town to get what I need. And I’m thankful that I have the kind of job where I can take off a day without causing too much trouble.Though some might consider this a run of bad luck, I think this new year is starting out pretty well.



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January 8, 2018 1 Comment
Communities

10 years later…

It was 10 years ago on December 22 when PB and I (and our little chihuahua Pekoe) pulled up on our property, it was 3:30 in the morning, it was 14 degrees F, the wind was blowing a gale, we had driven for 12 hours, but we made it, we were finally here, we were about to embark on our new and exciting life living 100% off-grid.

We had planned on this for less than a year, yet this was something we had each wanted from childhood. It was a bit ironic, we had really never discussed our dreams to live like this, I assumed he wouldn’t want to give up his business or leave his family, he thought pretty much the same thing about me. But once we did broach the subject, we both realized it was really a mutual dream and we wasted no time making it happen.

I had worked for Best Buy for 10 years and had a small nest egg saved up through the company stock plan, little did I know that the bottom was about to fall out of the stock market, I cashed out at just the right time, and it was enough for us to purchase a bit of acreage in far west Texas, in a tiny community.

It was raw land, with absolutely nothing on it, no driveway, no pad, no utilities. In fact, it was near impossible to get up onto the property, it went from street level (unpaved dirt road) to a creekbed, then straight up about 10-13 feet, forget trying to drive up there. The real estate lady didn’t even want to take us beyond the creek bed. It wasn’t until we went back to the property a few hours later on our own that we climbed up the bank and were awed beyond belief at what we were seeing!

A quick phone call later and we had permission to spend the night on the property, we needed to see where the sun set and rose, and how much light the property actually received since we were going to go all solar. We pitched our tent and watched the sun go down. The following morning, we knew the property was perfect for us, I was in the realtor’s office throwing money on her desk. We made an offer and 30 days later we owned this little piece of paradise.

That was the summer of ’07, PB began driving out here and spending a week at a time building our soon to be SkyCastle. By the time it was nearly the following Christmas, we were here in a 16×16 box on stilts.

The “stilts” happened because PB set the corner posts, he was going to cut them down to size then decided not to build so close to the ground, making the top of the posts the main floor. …

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December 31, 2017 No Comments
Communities

East Jesus

I think most everyone is familiar with “Slab City”, an abandoned military base in the Sonoran desert in California. This desolate place is a favored home of snowbirds living in campers and RVs during the winter. The summer temps can reach 120F but there are still year round residents.

There is one section called “East Jesus”, it’s an artist’s commune, a bit of a radical playground, think Stephen King meets Tim Burton. Wikipedia says:

East Jesus

East Jesus is an experimental, sustainable and habitable art installation located in the Slab City area. There is no religious connotation in the name East Jesus – it is a colloquialism for a place in the middle of nowhere beyond the edge of service availability; the off-grid facility operates with no municipal utilities. In early 2007, Charlie Russell left his job in the technology industry, packed all his belongings into a shipping container and sent it to a trash-strewn field where he began to surround his two art cars with sculptures that would become the foundation works of East Jesus. The Chasterus Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit formed after his death in 2011, has since guided the curation and expansion of East Jesus.
“East Jesus” sculpture garden entry

Made from discarded material that has been reused, recycled or repurposed, East Jesus encourages visitors to imagine a world without waste, in which every action is opportunity for self-expression. Assemblage and mixed-media art cover nearly every inch of it, interior and exterior. Sculptures and installations are constantly in development throughout campus, and the musical performance space holds a public address system, a stage lighting system, and a studio grand piano. There are also a solar power system with a battery bank made up of expired batteries disposed by telecom companies. Photography, multimedia art, performance art, writing and music are integral parts of a larger fabric, which their artists collectively are continually weaving. East Jesus artwork is living, growing and ever-changing, and embraces the thousands of varied voices from contributing artists who have added to the installation. Each day, residential staff gives dozens of free tours, and hosts visiting artists and overnight guests.

Have you been to Slab City? If so, what did you think of it?
https://youtu.be/EAWX5sD9tbc



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December 19, 2017 No Comments
Communities

A day in the emergency room

I spent today in the emergency room, not for me, but for a friend. I had gone to church and found out my friend had slipped on ice on her way out and broke one knee cap (fully in half) and hurt her elbow. I left church and went to her house, the first responders were there, the ambulance wasn’t there yet. Where we live, there is lots of land between the houses, becoming injured when you are by yourself can turn into a death sentence, fortunately her neighbor was outside and heard her yelling for help. If it hadn’t happened that way, it would have been hours before anyone else would have found her, and she was laying on a wooden ramp, on ice and couldn’t pull herself up.

This makes me think about the risks of living by yourself in a rural, isolated area. Most of the time, it’s not a problem, but the day you fall or have some other medical emergency, if you can’t get to a phone or get someone to hear you, an otherwise minor issue can become life threatening.

I know many people who want to live off-grid or homestead are going to tend to be in rural, isolated areas, places where your neighbors are few and far between. So, what do you do to balance your wanted isolation and your safety?

One thing you could do is to carry a phone, assuming you have a cell signal, a cell phone, or if not, then a wireless landline, as long as your phone works, you could at least call for help assuming you are conscious. Honestly, I don’t have a good answer if you don’t have a way to call for help, perhaps have a buddy system where a trusted neighbor checks on you from time to time. This would be especially helpful if you are older or in poor health.

Out where I live, cell phones don’t work in most areas where people live, fortunately for my friend, even though she is older (70 years old) she is in fairly decent health and was able to call out loud enough for the far away neighbor to hear. If she hadn’t been able to get the neighbor to come over, I would have gone over there after church to check on her, but that would have meant laying in pain, in the cold, on the ice, I suspect she would have survived, but would have been much worse for the wear.

My friend is going to be OK, she has a fully broken knee cap, something I think is better than injuring tendons or other soft tissues, bones can be pinned back together and heal well, soft tissue or connective tissue takes a lot longer to heal. She does have a hairline fracture near her elbow but that will heal itself, she is …

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December 10, 2017 No Comments
Communities

Privacy? They are listening

I grew up in the time when cable TV boxes were supposed to have a camera or at the very least a microphone inside so they could see (or hear) what goes on inside your home. I remember covering up the cable box at night before going to bed. I don’t know if that ever really happened or if it was one big conspiracy. Today however, nearly everyone has smartphones, tablets, computers, smart TVs, smart appliances… all of these have cameras and microphones, and with the apps on them, they DO listen to you, many silently await your command to come to life and answer your queries. Have you ever had targeted ads that happened because of something you merely TALKED out-loud about?

I have gotten used to targeted ads online, I know that Google and other websites actively track what I type and where I go online. Honestly, I don’t mind the targeted ads because if I am going to have to look at ads, they might as well be something I’m actually interested in. What does disturb me is the alleged eavesdropping on my conversations when I’m talking to a friend in person, not over the phone.

Do I have proof of this? No, not hard proof, BUT I have seen enough to satisfy my own suspicions. Let me give you two examples that have happened in the last few weeks and today.

About 2 weeks ago, I was with a few lady friends, we had been discussing women being abused, this is not a subject I search for online, once we moved on to another subject, I wanted to demonstrate how Google assistant works by saying “OK Google” to activate it without touching the phone, I did a search for something innocent, I think I asked “where am I”, it answered me, then it populated the the ads and some of the results with things related to women being abused, books, websites and the such.

Now fast forward to today, I was scrolling through Facebook, I noticed an ad for a FB page promoting handmade rustic dolls made of fabric, it really caught my eye because it was a different ad than I usually get, most of my ads have to do with Amazon products that I have looked at lately, watercolor related items and the such, I have NOT done any searches for handmade dolls in the last 2-3 years.

I had been in a dollar store on Tuesday, I was looking for colorful knee high socks, I explained to my friend who was with me that I intended to make sock creatures (dolls) with them as Christmas gifts, I find it quite curious that I suddenly get ads for handmade fabric dolls a couple of days after merely DISCUSSING this in person with a friend.

So now, what to do? I know this happens, even …

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November 30, 2017 1 Comment
Communities

Fantasy cottage by the sea

Do you remember the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel? Well, if they had a house today, this would be it! Located next to the ocean in Vancouver BC, this 600 square foot cottage is so unique on the outside, the first thing you notice is the roof, high pitched and covered by custom made cedar shakes. Next are the windows and doors, all locally sourced and made.

Once you pass through the gorgeous front door, you are immediately struck with the contemporary look of the finish. It was designed to be functional as well as beautiful. The loft bedroom is spacious enough for a queen size bed, and the tall ceiling makes it easy to walk around without having to crouch.

Living in a small castle myself, I can appreciate the fact that people will stop and look at your house if you live in an unusual house, ours is a bit more private than this is though since it’s right on the water, passing boats have a magnificent view of this cute tiny house.

Watch and enjoy!



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November 2, 2017 No Comments
Communities

Are you nuts? When can we come visit?

Friends, family, most of us have them, and for most of us they play an integral part of our lives and decisions we make. Making the decision to completely change your life, the way you live can have some pretty interesting, potentially disturbing reactions from those around you.

Moving and living off-grid is a fairly big life change, it often means moving to another place, most likely it’s going to be much farther away than you realize. Chances are that many of your less close friends will eventually fall away, you will be meeting new people and making new friends anyway. Family, well that’s another story, they tend to stick with you (for better or worse LOL)…

You will likely get one of two reactions, the first is the “Oh wonderful, a new vacation spot, when can we come visit?” and the other is “Are you nuts?”.

Let me address the second reaction first. It’s an unfortunate thing that so many people don’t follow their dream or are such negative people, those are the ones who will most likely try to talk you out of making your move. They are often the ones who don’t like or want change, especially in their family dynamics, so any major changes you might make would be perceived as a threat to them. Don’t let someone else’s fears or concerns stand in your way. It can also be hard on those who are close to you and rely on you for more, they might see your leaving as a removing of their safety net, whether financial or emotional. That is something you will have to work out with them, again don’t let someone else’s fears or concerns stand in your way (assuming they are adults and you aren’t responsible for them).

Make no mistake, the people in the “Are you nuts?” category might be pretty persuasive in their arguments to stop you, from trying to scare you with all the unknowns, to threatening to cut you off from them, yes you probably will make some mistakes, yes things will happen that are out of your control, but don’t let that stop you from living your dream. Hopefully the negative Nancy’s will come around once they see you are doing fine and life didn’t end for them just because you left.

Now, to the other reaction, hopefully you will experience more of that side from your family and friends. Moving away, there would of course be some tears, but if they are happy for you it’s all the better. If they can see some benefit for you and them, that is a big help. Your place would more than likely become a destination for visits and vacations, you might even convince some of your family and/or friends to move where you are and live the off-grid life as well.

Either way, change is never an …

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October 14, 2017 No Comments
Communities

Essential Crafter

There was a time when if you wanted to learn how to do something, especially a trade, you found the person with the most knowledge and you apprenticed under them. Today that generally doesn’t happen. Many learn from family members, a father or mother, older sibling and the such, I wonder just how much of that goes on these days with both parents working and kids being raised in daycare… but I digress.

Back to my point about learning how to do new things, or in this case, old things, older methods of doing, building, creating, ways that are being lost with every grandfather and grandmother who passes from this world. Fortunately there is still a source of information, while not as good as hands on learning, this is a pretty good substitute, especially if you already posses a basic set of skills. Anyone with a computer, laptop or smartphone and an internet connection can tap this source, it’s YouTube.

PB turned me on to a particular YouTube channel, he refers  to himself as the Essential Crafter. His channel features a little of everything, from woodworking to metalsmithing, safety and the such. I will say that he has caught PB attention for the moment. Here are a few of his videos, watch and enjoy! Let me know who your favorite YouTube’ers are :)



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October 12, 2017 No Comments
Communities

Confessions of a off-grid granny

I cannot believe it’s October already, the days are still warm but the evenings and nights are getting cooler, it’s almost sweater weather! I am so looking forward to our first woodfire in the wood stove. I have a little confession that I’m going to tell you, but don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret just between us… I’ve been looking for a set of footed pajamas, just like the ones I wore when I was a little girl. Yeah, I know, it’s a little silly for a 50+ year old grandma to want to wear footed PJs, but it’s what I want. I have looked around and there are quite a few to choose from, but most of them are in the $30+ range and I’m not ready to spend that much money on something I’m going to lounge and sleep in. The really good ones, the thick cushy ones are a lot more expensive than that! I think what I’ll end up doing is making my own, I found a quite a few tutorials on YouTube about how to make these and I like the idea of knowing what they are going to be made of.

OK, now that we have that out of the way, I’m also thinking about Christmas, with Halloween a month away and Thanksgiving the following month, Christmas is truly right around the corner. If I start now, I’ll have plenty of time to put together some fun homemade gifts. I tend to think too complicated for these sorts of things, I need to simplify my ideas, I have lots of raw materials out here on my 6 acres, twigs, rocks, sand… Turning to YouTube I am in the process of getting some crafty DIY ideas, here are some I found.

Actually this first one I’m thinking about making for a friend whose birthday is on Halloween, I looked around and found some solar rechargeable lights for Mason Jars that would work great with this.
https://youtu.be/jgufxIUwslw

https://youtu.be/6t7wnNg8tkc

https://youtu.be/pAmwWuyr6Ng

https://youtu.be/TJe_fM1rZCQ

https://youtu.be/0nIaBlpOsEQ

One more :) actually this would be more for Halloween, but you have a month until that hits…
https://youtu.be/r8P2va94ml0

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October 1, 2017 No Comments