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Power Tools for Women. Review; Ryobi Tool Set.

/ Rusticity Goods / 2 Comments

Ryobiset

I am a handy woman but I wasn’t always.

I remember the first time I needed a piece of wood cut but my husband wasn’t home to do it for me. Then I thought to myself “my husband isn’t here to do it for me?!!! Why can he do it but I can’t?!!!”

So I went into the garage and looked around for what I thought was the tool I needed for the job.

It was electric.

Plug it in.

Draw line on wood where I want it cut.

Hold it steady.

Pull the trigger.

Wow! It cut the wood! Oh my gosh I cut the wood!

I was cutting all sorts of things after that. Its so funny, one minute of teaching myself how to use a “man’s” tool opened up my whole world.

My husband sure does regret not being home that day because he hasn’t had his tools to himself since! HAHAHA

Since then I have evolved a little. I started with some no name brand jig saw to a circular saw. I think the circular saw is my tool of choice for pretty much anything that needs cutting. Also the only tool I have right now for carpentry projects that I would like to look somewhat decent. I have plans to get a chop saw sometime soon hopefully. For now I will do what I can with what I have (and I actually love this circular saw too!)

At our homestead we have the Ryobi 18 volt circular saw.

Its fairly light weight which is great for me since I don’t have very strong wrists. Its very easy to use and understand. It cuts nicely and has multiple safety feature so you don’t accidentally cut your fingers (or toes) off.

We have this circular saw as part of a 5 Piece tool set. You can find it at Home Depot or HERE. We’ve had the set for at least 3 years now and it still works like new. The batteries hold their charge like they are new. I’m very happy with the quality of this tool set.

This circular saw has been my go to tool and I highly recommend it for women for its light weight and ease of use.

I also love the sawzall (reciprocating saw). It has come in handy for all those odd jobs and its great for yard work too. Again, a simple design that is easy to use and is light weight.

The drill is great. But I will say that it feels a little heavy for me, but its manageable. There are smaller drills available on the market but if you want a drill that has a decent amount of power, you aren’t going to find one lighter than this. Again, simple design and easy to use. I can’t complain.

I have never used the impact drill. I haven’t had a need for it. But my husband has used to and it worked. We still have it. That’s all I can tell you about that. You can find sets with out the impact drill at Home Depot or HERE.

Over all, this is one of the best investments that we have made as far as machinery is concerned.  Both my husband and I used it almost daily. WE have definitely gotten our money out of this set.

DIY Hose Reel

/ Rusticity Goods / 15 Comments

Photo Collage Maker_SUAUkO With summer in full swing here in Georgia, we’ve been utilizing the hose a lot around our homestead. I got tired of seeing my hose piled in a big knotted mess, so with help from the hubby, I put together this unique hose reel. The only thing we had to purchase to make this fantastic piece of yard art is the spray paint! Woot Woot! IMG_20140710_154917569_HDR (1)

Here’s how to do it:

Remove the tread and tube from the rim of an old tire.There are multiple ways to do this, we cut ours off with a saws all.

IMG_20140706_145406709

      Weld the rim to a metal T post. Don’t have a welder? You can JB weld it (you can buy it here , or at walmart). As long as you follow JB weld’s directions it should last a long time. IMG_20140706_150736648 (1)           Weld the rim, top and bottom, to the T post. IMG_20140706_145618611           Sand the rim and remove any dust. Clean it well so you will have a good bond with the spray paint. IMG_20140710_115804052_HDR (1)           Paint that bad boy. Re-coat if needed. IMG_20140710_120711726 (1)           Allow the paint to dry. IMG_20140710_154119748_HDR (1)             Stick that puppy in the ground where you want it. IMG_20140710_154917569_HDR (1)             TA-DA! Instant improvement!

$25 a month cell phone service and $20 rebate code! Review: Republic Wireless.

/ Rusticity Goods / Leave a comment

The number one reason I homestead is to save money. I may have to invest a bit of money and a lot of energy now, but it will pay off down the road when we are living self sufficiently.

I am not new to finding ways to save money. I am admittedly cheap. I hate paying more for something than I have to.

Let me start by saying that I have had Verizon Wireless for my cell service provider for 10 years. I got tired of paying almost $200 a month. So we switched to Straight Talk. That saved us about $100 a month but the service sucked. Bad.

We had Straight Talk for about a year. We hated it, and the phones, the entire time we had them. Then we moved to our new home. We had Zero service inside the house. Unless, of course, you were leaning against a window, then you could get like 1 bar.  Most of my phone calls were made on the front porch or the car pool line. This had to change.

I did some research on wifi phones because we have Comcast and a great internet connection. Thats where I found Republic Wireless. It runs off of wifi when there is a good open signal around . If you don’t have a good wifi signal, it runs off of the sprint towers like a regular ol’ cell phone. This phone is set up to automatically detect open wifi signals. So, say your in a grocery store with no cell phone service. If the store is offering free wifi, your phone calls will be crystal clear and you’ll have streaming data.

I love this set up. Its perfect for me and our home, where I spend most of my time. I could see this being perfect for someone who spends a lot of time indoors as well. If your in the office all the time, this is just what you need. And if you live in the city, where there is an unlimited amount of open wifi signals around you, this is a no brainer.

As far as cell phone service (without a wifi connection) through sprint, well, when I’m in my home I get about the same amount of service as I did when we were with Straight Talk. I think our home is in a dead zone. But in a way, I’m ok with that! When I’m away from the house I get great service through Sprint! I can download things, and write posts to the blog with with no problems. Thats a massive improvement over Straight Talk. I couldn’t even get Google Maps to find my location on my Straight Talk phone.

The best part about it is that unlimited 3g service is $25 a month! Thats even cheaper than Straight Talk!

You can actually get a $5 a month plan that runs on wifi only.That would be perfect if I never left our property, which I would be fine with honestly, but unfortunately I do have to leave occasionally. I am considering purchasing a second phone to leave at the house as strictly a home phone. Think about it, home phone lines are at least $25 a month (for the first 12 months). Save yourself $20 a month.

Republic Wireless also offers a $10 a month plan that has unlimited wifi, calls and texts and cell service through sprint. But no data when your off of wifi. I tried that the first month and discovered how much I need data. I like to write posts to my blog and Facebook when I am waiting. Apparently I always have to be doing something.

I can switch my plan up to twice a month if I want to. So, I COULD get the $5 a month plan if I know that I will be spending most of my time at home that month. Then I could switch to the $25 a month data plan and they would prorate the difference. I have actually done this and it was extremely easy. I did it right off my phone. But honestly, I am saving so much being on the $25 a month plan, that I may as well just stick with it. And that is a big deal for me. Cos I’m cheap.

Over all, I love this service. It is genius! And the service will only get better as technology catches up to Replublic Wireless. Free wifi is being offered at more and more places and before you know it it will be everywhere. Then I will switch to the $5 a month plan. 🙂

If you are interested in signing up with Republic Wireless, follow THIS LINK and both you, and I, will get a $20 discount on our bill. Hey, I’m cool with that. Discount shows at check out.

Make Your Own Citrus Coop Cleaner

/ Rusticity Goods / 1 Comment

Ingredients:

The peel of 2 oranges, or 3 lemons, or 4 limes, or maybe 1 grapefruit? I don’t eat grapefruit so you guess on that one.

White vinegar

1 quart mason jar or bigger. Use what you have, just try to use glass or food grade plastic. You could even use the vinegar bottle.

Place citrus peels into the container of your choice. I had left over orange peels from my Homemade Healthy Fruit Gummies recipe.

Leave the vinegar mixture to rest for about a month. Shake it occasionally.

Filter the vinegar into a spray bottle.

Use the citrus vinegar spray to clean your kitchen or to clean your coop when you are giving it that occasional deep clean.

This stuff smells fantastic and has all of the wonderful benefits of white vinegar.

I got this recipe from my favorite chicken website Fresh Eggs Daily. She added cinnamon sticks and vanilla to the vinegar and oranges before allowing it to rest. I bet that smelled amazing! If you haven’t checked out her site, it is worth your time. She has tons of chicken recipes and raises her chickens naturally with herbs. Lots of great tips.

Try making your own scent of citrus cleaner. Just remember to use White vinegar, a citrus and nothing sticky. How about Lime/Mint or Lemon and cloves? What recipe will you use? Please let me know how it turned out!