Posts by — SuperJoe

Log and timber frame homes and cottages offer a unique and rustic style of living with all the amenities, but the process of building your dream can seem daunting.

The Log & Cottage Show, which runs this weekend at Edmonton’s EXPO Centre, is an opportunity to take the next step. It will showcase builders, artisans and suppliers as well as real estate and development companies offering acreage and lakeside opportunities. (more…)

Small is the new Big

A web site where readers around the world post large high-res pics of remote or abandoned cabins? Surely, it will never catch on? Yes it will – with 40,000 Facebook likes, and articles in The Times and Altantic Magazine, FreeCabinPorn has big arty photos – no ads and hundreds of reblogs. Check it out. Strange that the cabin pics rarely include any people – like a cautious publisher who does not want to risk turning off potential readers in the cover design, so this Web site is long on style and cannily short on content. (more…)

Seeking ready made community - you supply the people

The steal of a price for Courbefy, in the unspoilt French boondocks is due both to France’s failing economy and the long-term decline of rural communities. (more…)

If you live off-grid, why not share your knowledge with others?

One way is to write for this blog. But a more direct approach is to offer lessons in off-grid living to others in your area.

This week Bruce Johnson and Barbara Hagen will teach Oklahoma City area residents to live more cheaply and sustainably, with a few tricks they’ve learned in over 30 years of off-grid living. They are giving the course for free. (more…)

Paladino: Fighting the Utilities

Buffalo developer Carl P. Paladino has filed separate lawsuits against National Grid and Verizon over what he claims are outrageous charges for moving utility lines and poles to accommodate new businesses.

Describing the utilities as “sick with greed,” Paladino says he has no choice but to take legal action because the state’s Public Service Commission has failed to hold “monopolistic” utilities accountable.

Paladino,a GOP politician, claims the utility companies refuse to detail how they arrive at prices when running lines to a newly constructed building or reconfiguring service to renovated properties.

The refusal, Paladino says, indicates the utilities have something to hide.

“In both cases, there has been collusion, overbilling, mis-billing and fraud,” he said. (more…)

Depression Era: next time it could be you

IF YOU READ the article on Global Storming last month, you will know why changes in weather patterns are making extreme weather so common, and natural disasters so much more likely. Then there are the signs of imminent economic collapse to consider, plus geopolitics, terrorism and disease. Finally there is the distinct possibility that each of us face that our home, our job, our family, might be the next one sacrificed on the roulette wheel of our national economy.

But the key question is: what do you do about it?

Resilience is far more in the mind that in the larder or the fuel supply. There are three principles for people to find meaning and inspiration when times are the blackest. (more…)

Many ways around the law

As the numbers who cannot afford a conventional home continue to climb,there is greater interest in living off grid as a solution to the housing crisis.  The problem is that property developers sit on available residential land, making it unaffordable for groups of ordinary people to get together and live somewhere pleasant.  Sure its always possible to move to some god-forsaken windswept piece of moorland or desert, but living off the grid should not be so miserable. Here is a summary of the rules and how to get around them: (more…)

“A storm is coming,” says a new documentary featuring  84-year-old Congressman Roscoe Bartlett.  the movie takes a “common sense” view of the problems city-dwellers will face if there is a event such as economic collapse or a natural disaster.

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The newbie guide to off-grid living

Debra Robinson explains why this book is the one to take with on your off-grid quest.

“Back to Basics” is an old book, but it can still be purchased. If you are looking for a starting point on your off-grid journey this is the book you will refer to over and again. The full title is “Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills” Amazon still carries it - I got it for a gift, maybe fifteen years ago, and I use it all the time. This book is always the perfect place to start a new project. (more…)