Vacuum

May farm share from Needle Lane Farms

Thanks to John Hritz for passing along this week's Needle Lane Farms CSA box contents. We picked up ours yesterday and packed away all the goodies.

* Snow Peas
* Green Garlic
* Garlic Scapes (aka garlic tops)
* Bok Choy
* Garlic Chives
* Swiss Chard
* Lettuces
* Italian Parsley

I'll share the Swiss chard recipe we end up with.

UPDATE: Ribollita soup recipe from Dave Barnhart posted for the Swiss chard.

Calder Dairy: milk delivery in Ann Arbor and other southeastern Michigan cities

We get a delivery of milk every week from Calder Dairy. The truck comes in on Tuesdays, they put glass bottles of milk into a cooler and pick up the empties, and we get a bill once a month (with a "Moosletter" with farm news on the back). The farm is in Carleton, which makes a nice trip for ice cream and to see the happy cows; the dairy in Lincoln Park also has an ice cream parlor (haven't been there yet).

The milk is really good, the ice cream is fabulous, and the cream (wow, farm cream).

Other people in the Ann Arbor area who have written about them include Trusty Getto (Ypsilanti), carfree ann arbor, Arbor Update, the U of M Resident Spouses Association, and Chow.

They deliver to routes in the following cities (from their web site)

* Ann Arbor * Saline * Chelsea * Dexter * Allen Park * Lincoln Park * Dearborn * Dearborn Heights * Grosse Isle * Flat Rock * Monroe * Carleton * Newport * Taylor * South Lyon * Livonia * Wyandotte * Ecorse * Southgate * Willis * Maybee * South Rockwood * Garden City * Westland * River Rouge * Trenton * Romulus * New Boston * Belleville * Melvindale * Ypsilanti * Canton * Plymouth

and you can pick up Calder milk locally from stores including the People's Food Coop.

Technorati Tags: calder, dairy, milk, delivery, annarbor

Michigan power outages from 2007 MLK Day ice storm

From the AP Wire via MLive:

About 127,000 customers were without power Monday afternoon because of an icy winter storm that struck Michigan overnight, glazing roads and bringing down electrical wires.

DTE Energy said it was working to restore power to 80,000 customers in southeastern Michigan, while Consumers Energy had 47,000 customers without service throughout the southern part of the state.

Consumers said residents in the hardest-hit areas, including Jackson County, might not receive electric service until Wednesday. Other Consumers customers in southern Michigan were expected to have power restored by Tuesday.

DTE Energy has tips for dealing with a power outage, which you should print and not rely on the net for. These include having a battery-powered radio, extra batteries, flashlights, matches, candles, bottled water, a manual can opener and some non-perishable food, a wind-up or battery operated clock, and a corded telephone. (They don't add "and a cell phone", but that's usually a good idea too.) Their web site has next to zero current status information about the power problems.

Consumers Energy's online newsroom has actual informative status updates, but no RSS feed (sigh) and no permalinks for news releases (sigh). As of 9:30pm Monday they report

Approximately 46,000 Consumers Energy electric customers are without service due to the winter storm that has impacted counties across southern Michigan. Since late Sunday evening, more than 80,000 customers have been affected by weather-related outages.

The approximate numbers of Consumers Energy electric customers remaining without service in and around the following areas are as follows: Adrian (300); Battle Creek (6,900); Bronson (1,200); Jackson (25,000); Jonesville (7,500) and Kalamazoo (4,700).

The majority of customers without power in Branch, Calhoun, Hillsdale, Kalamazoo and St. Joseph counties should receive electric service by midnight on Tuesday. Customers in the hardest hit areas, including Jackson county, may not receive electric service until Wednesday. Additional snow, ice and wind activity may extend restoration times. Estimates will be updated as assessment and repairs continue.

Consumers Energy cautions area residents to avoid touching any downed wires and to report them immediately by calling 1-800-477-5050, or your local law enforcement agency.

There is a lot of ice on the trees, and if the wind starts to whip up this could get much worse before it gets better.

Technorati Tags: annarbor, michigan, power, outage, dte, cms

what doesn't belong here?

Dinah's #1 Discardian tip for the year:

Surprisingly, perhaps, it is one of the smallest and most simple: whenever you're using something (a room in your house, your purse or backpack, your computer) regularly ask "what doesn't belong here?" and then do something about it.

Why is my home more pleasant than it used to be? It's not setting out to clean house more often. Rather, it's the accumulation of lots and lots of almost unnoticed moments of tidying up.

I will say, though, that having an almost-two-year-old gives you plenty of opportunities to clean house, whether it be to put back errant toys or to pick up spilled food from the floor.

Technorati Tags: discardia, discardian, clutter

Katrina Cottage Plans

Steven Mouzon has a thin 79p book on Katrina cottages available at Amazon ($3.95) - that would be where I would start if you're looking to build your own from plans.

From the Katrina Cottages site and The Guild Foundation:

Katrina Cottages aren't just great ideas anymore; many of them also include working drawings from which you can build your very own Katrina Cottage. You can find many of the Katrina Cottage designs for which there are working drawing on this site, but Katrina Cottage Plan Portfolios are now beginning to be released that contain some designs not currently carried here. And their variety is growing all the time. Katrina Cottage Types keeps track of all the variations.

The USA WEEKEND Katrina Cottage is a 523-square-foot "Kernel Cottage" designed to grow to 1,303-square-feet with the addition of two wings. Designed by New Urban Guild founder Steve Mouzon, the cottage was produced in a South Louisiana factory by Housing International Inc. and trucked to Maryland for USA WEEKEND's celebration of Make a Difference Day.

There's more in the October/November issue of New Urban News:

“It is unprecedented, to my knowledge, that a building type would be conceived, designed, and executed in four out of five planned delivery methods by such a diverse group of designers, builders, and manufacturers in one year’s time,” Mouzon told members of the Gulf-Urb listserve.

More at DCist: Darling Affordable Housing in Silver Spring

For the next several weekends in Silver Spring, you can get a close-up look at a different solution to the affordable housing dilemma, one that’s received tons of press coverage in the Gulf Coast in the last year: the Katrina Cottage. Conceived in response to the poorly planned, terribly designed, and often permanent trailer encampments erected by FEMA, several versions of the Katrina Cottage have been designed by New Urbanist architects. All have the same goal: to provide decent, inexpensive, easily constructed housing that complements a community rather than blight it. Sponsored by USA Weekend magazine, and supported by many of their Make a Difference Day volunteers, Silver Spring’s cottage is being constructed in the parking lot of a community center to maximize exposure. Upon completion, it will be moved to a nearby neighborhood for a local family to move in.

Wet Bank Guide's article on Katrina Cottages has NOLA photos.

Technorati Tags: cottage, dcist, katrina

Lowe's is hiring people to sell Katrina Cottages

As seen on Peopleclick, positions open at Lowe's. Read more about Katrina Cottages at Wet Bank Guide, or my recent summary.

Job ID #: 23231
Position Title: Sales Specialist - Katrina Cottages
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Functional Area: Store Operations
Employment Type: Regular Full-Time
Education Required: High School Degree or Equivalent
Experience Required: Less than 1 year
Position Description:
This position will be focused on Lowe's Katrina Cottage initiative. Openings are available in the following store locations: - Gautier MS - Waveland MS - Central New Orleans LA - Jefferson Highway LA

The Sales Specialist will work with customers that are interested in an affordable alternative to FEMA trailers and will show customers the options available within the Katrina Cottage offerings. Additionally, they will help the customer select the appropriate model, and sell the entire package and utilize vendor/GO contacts to ensure timely delivery and see the sale through via the Lowe’s order management system.

Additional responsibilities include: maximizing sales and margin within assigned area by identifying sales opportunities and demonstrating a detailed knowledge of all stock and special order merchandise; feature benefits, application, warranty information, etc. to customers. Assistance should be provided to customers in the form of sales tab, flyer and ROP review as well as locating, selecting, carrying and loading merchandise as needed. Customer follow-up should occur to ensure all project requirements are satisfied. When not assisting customers, the Sales Specialist should ensure inventory levels are adequate to support sales through personal review, intervention and frequent communication with management and that advertised products are available and properly displayed.
Position Requirements:
Minimum 2-5 years sales experience in hardlines retail with a demonstrated ability to achieve sales and margin budgets. Possess a thorough knowledge of Lead and Contact Management. Product knowledge in the plumbing, kitchen, flooring, appliances and/or millwork fields is preferred.
Preferred Qualifications:
- High Volume Retail Management Experience
- Basic real estate knowledge and exposure to construction is preferred

Discardia season is nigh - time to fill a bag with books

Every three months comes Discardia, a floating holiday that celebrates letting go. This season's is just ended, though in the spirit of the holiday you can let go of precise date arithmetic too.

Dinah Sanders has a daily Discardian tip of the day. I'm looking at the one on filling up a bag with books you no longer need to own and eyeing the shelves.

Technorati Tags: discardia, discardian

Katrina cottages: tiny, Lilliputian, cute, beachy, adorable - and not for sale just yet

From the October 2 Christian Science Monitor:

OCEAN SPRINGS, MISS. – A model home here that gives Katrina's displaced an alternative to trailer living is starting to take the country by storm.

The Katrina cottage - with living quarters about the size of a McMansion bathroom - is now appealing to people well beyond the flood plain. Californians want to build one in their backyards to use for rental income to help with the mortgage payment. Modestly paid kayakers in Colorado see it as a way to finally afford a house. Elsewhere, people envision building one so a parent can live nearby.

Flying in the face of a "big house" trend, designers of these tiny abodes seem to have found a new housing niche. Some experts cite an interest by some Americans in downsizing their habitats, a reaction to the supersized home, and note the challenge of heating and cooling a big house at a time when family budgets are flat. Others note that changing demographics - more empty-nesters and single adults - may mean a timely debut of the Lilliputian homes.

"It's resonating with people because it's a market that did not exist," says Marianne Cusato, a New York-based designer who drew up the plans for the Katrina cottage. "In the past, you had to go either to an apartment or a trailer."

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette has a favorable editorial (Feb 2006)

MARIANNE CUSATO stands about 5-foot-nothin' with a headful of shoulder-length black curls that won't stay in place when she talks. She has the nervous energy symptomatic of youth, raw talent, and unleashed want-to. Miss Marianne claims to be 31, but she'd be hard-pressed to buy liquor without an ID.

A Manhattan-based architect from Anchorage, Alaska, by way of South Bend (Go Irish!), Ms. Cusato talks so fast a Southerner needs subtitles.

Say again? Pardon?

She's kind enough to repeat herself. Repeatedly. In fact, she just did, telling us once more that we can't call her an architect yet; officially, she's a designer. Okay. Yes ma'am.

She's also got visual aids. That helps.

She's holding up designs for something she calls the Katrina Cottage. Cute as the dickens. All beachy angles, peaks and front porches. Looks like something out of Adorable Coastal Living for the Incredibly Wealthy magazine.

It's not. What the Katrina Cottage is, is an alternative to the FEMA trailer. No joke. And get this: It costs less. Where the woefully inadequate, tiny, yack-ugly, hospital-white trailer preferred by the Federal Emergency Mismanagement Agency runs us taxpayers about $75,000 per, Ms. Cusato thinks her cottage could be manufactured for about 45 grand. Or less.

Lowe's has plans to sell kits retail, but you can't order them yet. Home Depot passed on the opportunity.

Katrina Cottages to be sold at Lowe's

Affordable prefab housing in the vernacular style of the New Orleans Creole cottage, Katrina Cottages are designed to be put up for the cost of the much-hated FEMA trailer.

(link thanks to Wet Bank Guide via Think New Orleans)

UPDATE: According to Treehugger, these Katrina Cottages will be sold at Lowe's. More at the Wall Street Journal:

Lowe's Cos., the second-largest U.S. home-improvement retailer after Home Depot Inc., will sell the plans and materials for a neotraditional Katrina Cottage at about 30 stores in Louisiana and Mississippi beginning in November. The announcement comes after Marianne Cusato, a New York designer, struck a deal with the Mooresville, N.C., company to market her concept.

Though not exactly a kit, the Lowe's product will provide just about everything short of a foundation and heating and cooling. The cottages, in four floor plans ranging from 544 square feet to 936 square feet, are made to withstand heavy rains and winds as high as 140 miles an hour. Though Lowe's has yet to put a price tag on the houses, company officials say packages will sell for about $45 to $55 a square foot, or from about $25,000 to more than $50,000.

More at Veritas et Venustas:

AT ONE OF TODAY'S EVENTS commemorating Hurricane Katrina's strike, Governor Barbour cut the ribbon for a small square with twenty Katrina Cottages in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The concept was born at the Mississippi Renewal charrette last October, and the cottages are now produced and sold by Lowe's. The architectural establishment criticizes New Urbanism, falsely calling it an elitist movement for the rich, but it is the New Urbanists who have produced more than paper schemes since Katrina. (And who other than a small, esoteric elite wants those neo-modern paper schemes?)

and at the Raleigh News and Observer:

Lowe's plans to offer blueprints for the homes at its stores nationwide in November, but initially, the complete home packages will be available at only 30 stores in the Gulf Coast area. The company would eventually like to offer the complete package at all of its stores.

"Our goal is to get those stores [in Louisiana and Mississippi] up and running," Wilson said. "We are in talks about the second phase to have them move across the country."

Four floor plans will be offered, ranging from 544 square feet to 936 square feet. On average, the cottages will take four to six weeks to build. They were all designed to allow for future expansion.

The homes were developed by New York designer Marianne Cusato, along with several leading architects. Shortly after the storm struck the Gulf Coast, Cusato began campaigning for weather resistant, low-cost housing to help rebuilding efforts in the affected areas. In January, she displayed a prototype of the cottage at the International Builders Show in Orlando, Fla

Technorati Tags: katrina, neworleans

The Natural Handyman - home repair tips and techniques

The Natural Handyman has a site full of well-written, nicely illustrated tips and guides from Jerry Alonzy.

The "You can hang most anything with wall anchors" page for just one example tells you when and how to use plastic expansion anchors, threaded drywall anchors, threaded drywall toggles, winged plastic anchors, sleeve-type hollow wall anchors (aka "molly bolts"), and toggle bolts. And there's more like that, much more, pretty much an article for every bit of hardware you might find in a good-sized hardware store.

(And now I have no reason any more not to re-attach that toilet paper holder in the basement, now that I can precisely specify the parts needed to make it an easy repair.)

Technorati Tags: handyman