A lot of the skills that used to be used are very eco friendly. Do you have any of these eco friendly skills? Do you still use them? I am thinking about the old skills which used things they had to hand, because they grew locally or used recycled materials such as: bottling, jam making and preserving willow items, baskets, lampshades coppicing, drystone walling curing meats and skins making home prepartions for toiletries, medicines making carts, buggies, trailers, making own gardening implements/tools bee keeping, making beeswax products rag rug making, darning - who can darn now? Any other old fashioned eco friendly skills you have?

belladonnadeadlynightshade

Question answered by smittybo20

Yep can do most of all of that. Brought up old fashioned, do a lot of it now. Eco-friendly is the best way to go, better quality items also. Come join this group, it is free and open to all http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Green_Technology/?yguid=184730913 With your question, you can strike a pretty good conversation at this group and have fun doing it. For such a good question I give you a star!

Does anyone know of any books or videos that teach people to build miniature stone buildings, barns etc.?

I would like to build my own miniature stone buildings, barns and drystone walls. Are there any books, videos or courses available or anyone who could help.

Colin N

Question answered by Diane B.

Your best bet is to look at books and websites for making model railroad and other diorama items. "Hobby" stores will have a lot of the supplies too, and you can probably ask the clerks there as well. There would be lots of ways to create miniature structures like those though, and the model railroaders/etc may only use some of them, so also check out searches like these: http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+make+miniature+structure+building+barn http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+make+model+railroad+scenery+building The structures can also be more or less realistic looking, have frames onto which other materials are put or be all-one-piece, and can be made from all kinds of materials. If you want to check out some of the ways we make miniature structures with polymer clay (and sometimes other materials), check out this page at my site: http://glassattic.com/polymer/houses_structures_gingerbread.htm ...and this page has similar techniques for "box" type shapes that could be used for structures: http://glassattic.com/polymer/vessels.htm And there will be a bit more on these pages about structures and also about dioramas, etc: http://glassattic.com/polymer/kids_beginners.htm especially > Scenes & Dioramas http://glassattic.com/polymer/Halloween_etc.htm > Scenes, Dioramas, Houses http://glassattic.com/polymer/Christmas.htm > Houses & More Scenes http://glassattic.com/polymer/sculpture.htm especially > Settings & Bases That first page linked to will have some info about making "stone," etc, for various structures/paths/walls/wells/etc, but there are other pages at the site too that deal with with the details of being able to make "fauxs" of all kinds since polymer clay can easily simulate many other materials--like rock and stone, metals, wood, bark, leather, jade/turquoise/pearl/etc, and much more, on these pages: http://glassattic.com/polymer/Faux--many.htm http://glassattic.com/polymer/faux--turquoise_wood.htm http://glassattic.com/polymer/faux-ivory.htm http://glassattic.com/polymer/inclusions.htm And this page has a lot on simulating water in various ways, if you're interested in that too: http://glassattic.com/polymer/other_materials.htm > Faux Water Made with Resins/etc. You can probably also find lots of videos at YouTube about model railroading, dioramas, model structures, and miniatures of all kinds including structures: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+miniature+structures+model+diorama http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+miniature+model+barn+stone+wall HTH, Diane B.

Hedgerows and Stone Walls in NE England?

Relative to the Roman occupation of Britain, when was the North East of England split into fields using hedgerows and drystone walls?

ashkirkian

Question answered by Sclich

last friday 14:35 GMT

Why is cement bad for the environment?

My eco warrior mother in law refuses to use cement or concrete in her garden. She is wanting me to build a retaining wall without cement.

ian f

Question answered by Avalon

First the actual production could be said to be harmful for the environment with the amount of energy used to obtain it and damage to the environs. Secondly where it was laid as driveways etc. water is not absorbed but runs off causing problems with flooding. For this reason you are no longer permitted by planning laws to have solid non- absorbent driveways. Thirdly you can get concrete canker and it will eventually crumble. Sounds like a drystone wall could be the answer.

How come i never seena snake before in the wild?

Okay i'm fifteen, and i live right next to a huge bush that i like to walk around in. but i've NEVER seen a snake before, not one in the wild. Obviously i have in pet stores, but not one in the wild. I live in Canada, and i know theres plenty of garter snakes, and i haven't even seen one. I've only seen bunny's and some bears and some fox's. But how come no snakes?

West Coast life

Question answered by Dean

They are very secretive, and slide away long before you can see them. Canada has a very sudden warm Springtime, and this would be the best time to search for them - when they are hungry after hibernation and wanting to mate. Go somewhere unspoilt and quiet.Try looking for them on sunny days early in the morning - when they bask in the sun to warm themselves up - look at banks and slopes facing the morning sun. You'll see lots of lizards too. Edit:-- On cooler dull days, try looking under stones and rocks - lots of interesting creatures hide there. Some Canadian snakes will live in gardens (garter snakes) so, if your backyard is big enough, you could attract snakes by piling up rocks or building drystone walls where they can hide and bask. Sheets of black polythene warm up quickly and could provide warm hiding places.

What are some good structures we see in our daily lives that are apprealing yet useful in function?

Is a bag also considered a structure???

LOLLIPOP

Question answered by wollemi_pine_writer

I particularly like fences and gates... they are very useful and some of them are constructed in very apealing ways.... think of the old drystone walls.... and fences made of hedges.... and other such creative ways we declare our boundaries.... and gates are amazing.... there is such an array of gates for all kinds of entrances and fences... yepp a bag is a structure... basically a think that is constructed is a structure...

Do you have drystone walls in america?

I build them.

Truth Speaker

Question answered by Don

According to Wikipedia, drystone walls (rockwalls stacked dry, without mortar) are common in New England and are a notable characteristic of the bluegrass region of central Kentucky, where they are usually referred to as rock fences. This type of structure is common in areas with rocky soils, such as New England, Central Kentucky, and the Napa Valley in north central California. The technique of construction was brought to America primarily by Scots-Irish immigrants. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry-stone_wall#Dry_stone_walls

Can I use optical glasses cleaner/wipes on vinyl records?

I wanted to clean my vinyl record collection and was wondering if I could use the wipes/fluid that clean glasses (optical) on my records? Will it damage them in anyway? Thanks for your answer MD,very useful! But some parts I don't understand. Why the dots? Thank you so much for your answer though! :)

Scott

Question answered by jonal

If the records are really mucky rinse them under the tap and wash them gently in warm soapy water. Rinse well and leave them on edge to dry. Do not dry them with a cloth. For maintenance cleaning optical wipes are fine. A product labeled as a record cleaner is nothing special. It's just detergent and water or isopropyl alcohol (IPA)and water or a mixture of both and some have anti-static chemicals added. You can buy IPA in pharmacies around $6 for 500ml. Dilute it to 5 liters with water and add a few drops of detergent.Mix well. That's the best window cleaner going and I cleaned windows in an airport with sticky fingers all over the glass every day , a come down from my usual chemistry lab jobs but it paid big money as a government job and I ain't fussy. I've dug trenches too and built drystone walls. Anyway you've got 5 liters of cleaner made up Pour some into 3 nicely shaped 100ml bottles and label them High Class Record Cleaner. Pour some into 2 fashionably attractive 50ml bottles and label them High Class Spectacles Cleaner Pour some into 5 techy looking 20ml bottles and label them High Class Lens Cleaner. The other 400ml can go into a spray bottle for window cleaner. Dye them all different colours if you like , with a few drops of food colorings like cochineal and methylene blue.. You only need a small amount for windows, enough to dampen a clean cloth when it's sprayed onto it, not enough to wet the window as you wipe.. Wipe the windows and watch the clean bits come up like a TV commercial. 10% IPA, a few drops of detergent, and water. Beats the rest of them hands down witjh one exception. To buy that lot will cost you $15 or more. You got them for $6 plus some bottles. The only lens cleaner that's better is the stuff NASA uses and that's ROR1. Brilliant! Worth every cent and worth the postage over the Big Pond before the stuff was available where I live. I have around 60 vintage cameras and I've had a darkroom for over 40 years.. I also do astronomy and make the mirrors (Look up 'ATM telescope') so optics are all over the house. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/439303-REG/ROR_VV_ROR1_Residual_Oil_Remover.html

can you give me everything you know about the Shona settlements?

everything you have about the settlements of Shona would be great! i need facts about how it was back then you know, not like about the ruins and stuff present day. thanks!

Monica

Question answered by Shay p

There were some large stockaded villages prior to colonial settlement, but in some areas people lived in scattered family hamlets. The dominant settlement pattern is one of villages with homesteads spread out in lines next to agricultural land. The traditional homestead included a number of round, pole- and-mud huts with conical thatched roofs. These huts have largely been replaced by brick houses, roofed with zinc, sometimes in the traditional style of round huts. The ancestors of the Shona settled in their region in the first millennium A . D ., introducing settled agriculture, cattle, and iron mining to the area. Although the Shona have been organized, for the most part, into small, independent chiefdoms, from time to time during the course of their history, conglomerations of chiefdoms have been united into larger states. Control of trade in gold and ivory with Arabs and Portuguese on the coast constituted both a motive and a support for political rulers to expand their spheres of influence. From the twelfth century onward, techniques of drystone walling were developed by the Karanga in the south, who, with the formation of large states, constructed a number of large stone buildings. In the nineteenth century, the Shona were disturbed by Nguni migrations from the south, particularly by the Ndebele who, possessing superior military techniques, settled in and dominated the southeast of what is now Zimbabwe. Colonial settlement came at the end of the century. An uprising against the settlers was defeated. Independence came after further wars in Rhodesia and Mozambique in the 1960s and 1970s. From the nineteenth century onward, the Shona have migrated to work in the mines of South Africa. After the colonial settlement of southern Rhodesia, employment became available within the country, on farms and mines, and particularly in the growing industrial cities. Some groups were moved off their land to make way for settlers who wanted to farm it. Widespread education was introduced by various groups of missionaries, who also established hospitals and diverse forms of technical training, including training in improved agriculture. These services were subsequently taken over and expanded by government. Plow agriculture is now prevalent. Social Organization. Shona societies are primarily organized around kinship. Relations between nonkin may be formalized in bond friendship, which imposes mutual obligations of hospitality, material assistance, and certain ritual services. Heavy tasks, such as thatching a house, clearing or plowing a field or reaping the harvest, may be performed by work parties, at which neighbors work and are rewarded with supplies of millet beer. Attendance at such parties imposes obligations of reciprocation. Political Organization. The principal Shona political unit was the chiefdom. A hereditary chief was ultimately responsible for the distribution of land, for appeasing the territorial spirit guardians, and for settling disputes. Larger chiefdoms were sometimes subdivided into wards, each with its ward headman. The details of distributing land and settling minor disputes were left to the village headmen, but in the colonial era his main function became keeping a tax register. Although the traditional political authorities are still recognized in order to maintain Shona culture and values, they now have little power. Dispute settlement is now in the hands of elected presiding officers, and land distribution is controlled by government administrators. Social Control. Serious crimes, such as incest and homicide, used to be in the control of the guardian spirits, through their mediums. All other offenses were dealt with by a hierarchy of courts from the village level to the chiefly level. Now offenses are dealt with by a hierarchy of government-controlled courts, from the community level to the High Court. Conflict. Warfare between the scattered Shona chiefdoms was rare. A number of Shona groups suffered from raids by Ndebele armies during the nineteenth century. Tensions between the Shona and the Ndebele have not yet been totally resolved. Read more: http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Shona-Sociopolitical-Organization.html#ixzz17a9fR04O

What is the Weather like in Britain in January and Febuary?

Pavel

Question answered by Ambi valent

Firstly, the weather across Britain is highly variable. The weather in the north of Scotland will be different from that in Cornwall, possibly more than a similar 1000 mile difference would make in other countries. Height makes a massive difference - the Pennines, Dartmoor, Scottish Highlands, SNodon massif, will have very different weather from nearest cities like Manchester, Exeter, Aberdeen, Swansea. The west is always wetter than the east but winter snow does sometimes come from the east and this means that Kent, in the south-east, is well known to have severe snow in some winters. It's the northern hemisphere winter, and Britain is a long way north (a lot further north than any part of the USA apart from Alaska). So you can't really be surprised to learn that it's cold - but in fact it is usually much, much warmer than equivalent latitudes owing to the Gulf Stream. And, as an island, in the north Atlantic, it's not surprising that it's wet and that in higher and more northerly areas (in particular) that rain can easily turn to snow. That said, where I live in the high north Pennines (central north England) we often get that wonderful bright sunny weather with frost sparkling on grass, drystone walls etc. I love it!!