Cat Scratch Fever: How to Make Your Own Cat Scratching Posts

...make nice things scratch-able? With these two notions in mind I set about making a scratching post that I could attach to the side of our Ikea couch. Here’s what you’ll need: 3/8 inch sisal rope scrap wood (I used a 4×4) [I have revised this post: nails work better than staples!] #17 x 1 inch wire nails hot glue (optional, but a few dabs will keep the sisal on the post longer) Wrapping the wood is straightforwards, if tedious. I used some clamps...

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Saturday Linkages: Paleo Flour, Viking Tents and Chinese Cabbage as the New Kale

...— Root Simple (@rootsimple) September 16, 2015 Via @NPR: Paleo People Were Making Flour 32,000 Years Ago http://t.co/Q6xlGIBBG3 — Root Simple (@rootsimple) September 17, 2015 Equity, the Mobility Plan, and the Myth of Luxury-Loving Lane Stealers http://t.co/nPB0sbqjug via @streetsblogla — Root Simple (@rootsimple) September 18, 2015 How America’s Staggering Traffic Death Rate Became Matter-of-Fact http://t.co/onrP7oreWC via @StreetsblogUSA — Root...

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How to Design and Fabricate Homestead Projects

...Brain. Once you go through that you’re ready for a fun book I’m currently making my way through called Sketching for Architecture + Interior Design. Modeling Lastly it’s time to get those ideas in the free version of the 3d program Sketchup. You can learn Sketchup in an evening or two and it has really helped separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to my many bad ideas. With Sketchup you can rotate the object and really see if it works ae...

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Is Facebook Useful?

...vorite Facebook posts are by friends who post stuff that they are actually making or doing rather than linking to click bait articles. Curate my “friends.” I don’t mean that I’m going to unfollow everyone that I don’t agree with. One of the things I like about Facebook is hearing from people outside my own liberal, Los Angeles milieu. But I’m going to unfollow “friends” who only post finger pointing click bait rather than their own opinions. I wil...

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Black Friday Book Suggestions

...strike me as books for a craftsperson ready to take that next step toward making these products as a home business. Malle and Schmickl are scientists–stern Austrian scientists, no less– and they are all about consistency and professional practice. So these books mean to take you from being someone a casual dabbler to a home chemist who could make batches of vinegar or essential oil with consistent, predictable –saleable–results. I’d say the vineg...

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