Almanac 84 Mini Zine

It's been about a year since we closed on our 84 acres of land in Manitoba. I have spent a lot of time over the last year developing skill-sets and researching with specific land projects in mind. I managed to put together a mini zine round-up of those skills along with a few short essays.

This small zine is available as freebie if you order Plot 13. 

Or contact me (wingedsnail99@hotmail.ca) if you would like to trade! 

DIY Reclaimed Wood Bench with Manual Hand Tools!

Construction skills are going to be an important part of life on the good ole homestead and my history with successful woodworking includes a failed MDF shelf project and a hammer that was used exclusively for hanging artwork so I really needed to improve my prowess with a hammer and nails.

We needed a bench for the front entryway of our apartment so I decided to give it a go!  

There is a well-established scavenging culture here in Yellowknife so I was able to get the majority of the wood for this project from free pallets. Free wood reduced the stress level of this project a lot because if it didn't work out I had not wasted money but only time. 

I decided to use manual hand tools (hammer, saw, sandpaper) instead of purchasing electric hand tools because the upfront costs of those tools is great and because we will be off-grid on the farm so I want to reduce my reliance on electricity for these types of projects. Manual hand tools are time and labour intensive but they are safer than electric tools. 

The bench turned out surprisingly sturdy which I think was due to the over-kill support but this bench can hold my husband and I and seems to be very stable! A success all around!  

I posted a lot of photo updates of the project on my instagram and I'll be including rough plans in the 2016 edition of Almanac 84.