Bear here...
Ever get tired of the websites where everything is perfect the first time? I call bull crap!
Want to hear some secrets? Not everything works out the way people planned it. Some ideas that sound good really are bad ideas, and sometimes the good ideas need tweaking (repair work) a few years later. People learn from mistakes (usually). Here at Our Tiny Homestead we are not afraid to talk about our mistakes. It's one way we learn and sometimes laugh. Here is an example...
Ever get tired of the websites where everything is perfect the first time? I call bull crap!
Want to hear some secrets? Not everything works out the way people planned it. Some ideas that sound good really are bad ideas, and sometimes the good ideas need tweaking (repair work) a few years later. People learn from mistakes (usually). Here at Our Tiny Homestead we are not afraid to talk about our mistakes. It's one way we learn and sometimes laugh. Here is an example...
In our Youtube video about catio 2, I boasted about how I thought a straw couch would be a good idea, and save us a lot of money. At the time Frost looked comfortable (left below) so it should work for humans, Right? As you can see in the other photo he is checking to see how I was doing. Not too bad. Sure it was lumpy but a thick blanket under me could fix that. Right? I figured the bales wouldn't sink in the mud like chair legs do. We usually get more straw bales every spring so it wouldn't be a big deal to replace the straw couch...
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... Some things I found out after dealing with the couch was:
- Thick blankets didn't work, I'm too heavy and still felt the separate bales under me.
- Straw stays wet a long time after it rains. A lot of the time I would need plastic under the blanket if I wanted to be dry when I got up.
- Mushrooms tend to grow in straw bales, and not the good, edible ones. The shrooms left black marks on the blankets and if the cats ate the shrooms they could get sick or die.
- The bales became mushy over the summer. They didn't sink, they were crushed. The couch was lower and harder to get up from.
- The word ICKY comes to mind when I had to move the large glops of straw with mold and critter droppings inside. The middle of the bales never really dried that summer.
We have learned and we have improved. As you can see (below) we have built a patio in the catio. There is now a space that has no chance of mud. We also found an inexpensive double lounger by Outsunny ($200 instead of the usual $1000). I can nap on it while the cats nap on me.
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Live and learn.
Type at ya later...
Type at ya later...
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