Homemade Room A/C

86 was bad enough, but 92?  Ugh!

Recently, our A/C went out.

Fixable, 
but it actually got up to 92 in the house.

Not fun.

C and I decided to put together this do-it-yourself air conditioning unit,
while we were waiting for our fantastic A/C guy 
to finish the big job,
just to see if it would work.
We had all of the components we needed.

This is what we came up with on our own.
It worked, but not as well as it could.
We needed to upgrade the model,
so we called in the big guns.
Big K.
He helped us tweak it so that it was even better.
He's like that... 
Featured here is our second prototype.

We used a styrofoam cooler (a friend gave us one they weren't using),
a 12-volt fan (so it can run on a battery),
a pencil, marker, box cutter or sharp knife, caulk (optional), a hack saw,
and pvc pipe.

The diameter of the pipe was traced onto the cooler.

We cut out the holes using a box knife.
We made three holes on one side of the cooler.

We cut the pipe into 3 pieces, 
each measuring about 5 inches long.    

 Being the master crafter that he is,
Big K even sealed up the holes with caulk,
to keep the air from escaping.

We bought the fan online,
and cut a hole on top of the cooler to fit.

Big K wired it so that it can be run off of a battery
that we had from one of C's ride-on vehicles
when he was younger. 

We filled a plastic gallon-sized jug with water
and froze it for a couple of days.
This will provide the unit with lots of cold air inside the cooler.
You can also just add ice, or ice packs if that's all you have.
 For less than 20 bucks,
it does the trick.
It can be used with a standard plug for indoors.
It can be used in a car if you have the right plug on it.
You can even make it solar powered,
if you want to spend the extra money on a panel.

I'm planning on taking it to my next craft venue,
so that I can be more comfortable selling my daisy totes.
We're gonna make another one for a friend 
who has a hot spot in her house.

Thankfully, our A/C got fixed the same day
and we are comfortably enjoying the summer
from inside our cozy home.
  For a little sweat equity,
we've got a handy portable A/C unit that can be used anywhere.

Good ole' American ingenuity does it every time.

***Update:  I did take it to one of my outdoor venues,
and it worked remarkably well.
It kept me comfortable for a solid 2 hours. 

 

The Maple Hill Hop 145

Welcome to 

The Maple Hill Hop.

This is a hop for folks who love the outdoors.

Feel free to post about anything that's going on

OUTSIDE

in your neck of the woods,
no matter the season.

(Please share only outdoor posts.)

*Grab the button above to link back to Maple Hill 101.*


Today we're featuring our work at Farm School
this past weekend.
We had a variety of jobs to get done,
although I use the word "job" very loosely.
Everything we do at Faye & Lynn's 
is too much fun to call work.  

Our first task was to transplant some sage cuttings.

We had done a 10-pack a few weeks ago,

but they didn't fare so well.

This time, Lynn decided to try using rooting hormone

to give them a better chance at surviving.

The dibber is used to make the perfect sized holes in the soil.

We use the dibber to measure the correct depth

for the transplant.

This tool is also called a dibbler or dibble.

Hopefully, the hormone will make all the difference.

These were placed in an area with filtered light,

and misted by hand regularly, so they wouldn't dry out.

We also started some dill from seed.

Each pot is sprinkled generously with seeds,

the soil is gently massaged, so as to displace seeds,

until most of them have found their way underneath the soil.

dill sown a few weeks ago

In a few weeks, we should see this going on.

Some of the seeds we used in this sowing

were from 2013.

Looks like these are still viable.

Part of a 7,000 square-foot container garden.

Faye shared with me that because they had no mature dill plants growing,

she had to figure out an alternative to make her homemade tarter sauce.

She used the 2015 seed they had on hand

and it worked great!

I have to say, I don't think I would have come up with that idea!

An exciting event was the first picking of the new Malabar Spinach crop.

This is the first time Faye & Lynn are growing it,

and it's doing quite well,

despite the heat, humidity and scorching sun.

This plant is a real beauty.

The contrast between the bright green leaves

and the almost purple stems really catches the eye.

Faye & Lynn graciously offered to let me harvest some 

for my lunchtime salads.

I was happy to oblige.

The leaves are so tender,

and as mentioned in a previous post,

they almost melt in your mouth.

Seeing how happy these plants are gives one hope

that maybe something can be added to the limited crop list for summer.

We look forward to following the growth habits of this plant,
as well as hearing how it does at the farmers' market.
Lynn is always willing to try something new.
Maybe that's one of the reasons why he is such a successful farmer.
There's so much to learn at Farm School.

That's what we've been up to.
What's going on outside where you are?
HOP on!

   

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Thrifty Thursday-Wrapper Recycle

Happy Birthday Big K!
We are SO glad you were born!

*******

Living simply means that we try to get the most out of what we have,
and try to find other purposes for common items.
This helps foster respect for the blessings in our lives,
and saves us time and money to boot.

Here's an idea that was too good not to share.

We purchase our recycled paper towels at the grocery store.

We've gotten better about using them less,

and one day I would love to go paperless in the kitchen! 

One step at a time...

In order to get more out of the packaging,

we cut off the top...

and use it to line our bathroom garbage can.

We do the same thing with our toilet paper wrappers.

No need to buy plastic liners,

and the item serves double duty.

Less money to spend,

less to keep track of,

and less waste in the landfill.

The extras are kept in a repurposed tissue box under the bathroom sink.
It makes it easy to pull out a new one
when it needs replacing.
So grateful for others who embrace simplicity,
and keep the great ideas coming!

                     

The Maple Hill Hop 144

Welcome to 

The Maple Hill Hop.

This is a hop for folks who love the outdoors.

Feel free to post about anything that's going on

OUTSIDE

in your neck of the woods,
no matter the season.

(Please share only outdoor posts.)

*Grab the button above to link back to Maple Hill 101.*


Today we're featuring some locally grown fruit.
Real local.
Like, "in the neighborhood" local.  

 Our friends, who live a block over,
have a lot going on in their yard.
The Mister, in particular,
has quite the green thumb.
His front yard is loaded with gorgeous flowers.
(We hope to do a feature on it soon.)

But his banana tree is a sight to see.
Have you ever seen one so loaded with fruit?

The most amazing thing was pointed out to me by his wife.
There are several fingers with 2 or 3 bananas under the same skin.
Isn't that wild?
These bananas are mighty sweet when picked ripe.   

Over at Faye & Lynn's farm,
we needed to tidy up the pineapple patch.
They have a couple dozen plants growing,
but the weeds had gotten a bit out of hand.
Trust me, they're in there!

We took the time to do a count on the growing fruit.

Faye & Lynn had over a dozen pineapples growing,
though none of them were ripe yet.
Once you've grown pineapple,
you'll never eat the canned stuff again. 

Unfortunately, over the past week,
rats have gotten to the fruit before they could be picked.
So Faye & Lynn went ahead and harvested what was growing,
and will let them ripen in the house.
These beauties are too precious to share with those nasty critters.
 

Summer is marching on here.
The birdsongs make it a bit easier to take.

What's happening where you are?
HOP on!   
 
   

    An InLinkz Link-up