AUTHORS STILL NEEDED

The upcoming Back To Basics Living Bundle is still looking for authors who would like to participate! This is an eBook bundle loaded with resources on topics such as:

• simple living
• basic living skills
• homesteading
• DIY
• gardening
• food preservation
• cooking from scratch
• herbs
• livestock
• natural remedies
• natural living
• frugal living
• homeschooling
• etc.!

If you've written an eBook on any of these topics and would like to participate, click here! Please use my name as your referral.

Haven't written a book? Maybe you have a how-to blog post or series of posts on any of topics. Copy and paste them into your word processor and export to pdf. You have an eBook! Or maybe you have a video, an online class, or a downloadable you can offer. If so, you can participate too! Click here to sign up and please use my name as your referral.

What's in it for you?

• New authors (never been in a B2B bundle before) receive a 50% commission for each bundle they sell plus + 20% of the author bonus pool.
• Returning authors to B2B receive  a 45% commission for each bundle they sell plus + 20% of the author bonus pool
• Affiliates receive a 40% commission for each bundle they sell (link to sign up as an affiliate here.)

Honestly, I'm not at all a salesy person, but this product is such that you don't have to give a hard sell or try to talk folks into buying it. The bundling allows for the cost of each book to be very economical and the information is the kind of thing that folks can use. It's one of the few things I participate in because I think it's a service to others. 

So, if you're interested, click here. Or if you know someone you think might be interested, have them come take a look. As always, I'm happy to answer questions. 

AUTHORS STILL NEEDED © Dec. 2017 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Milking Room Roof Phase 2

If you guessed "polycarbonate panel skylight" in my "Milking Room Roof Phase 1" post, you were correct! Here's where we left off ...

We had 14-foot metal roofing panels with which to cover 16 feet. The problem, however, lent itself perfectly to use translucent roofing panels to allow in some natural light.

Locally, we couldn't find anything with the same profile as our metal panels. Shipping them was out of the question, but Dan thought he could work out how to put two different styles together. Lowe's best quality translucent panels were half-off, for which the timing was perfect. Even so, we waffled a bit before committing to a purchase. In spite of the manufacturer's claims, they seemed pretty flimsy for the job.

Because of the sale, a new lot of panels were in the rack along with a few old ones. We compared the two by heft and feel, and even though they were supposedly the same product, the old ones seemed heavier and thicker than the new batch. They were a bit dusty and scuffed, and the labels were dirty, but those are the ones we took: 2, 12-foot translucent polycarbonate roofing panels.

Dan cutting the panels with tin snips. Masking tape protects the cut edge.

2, 12-foot panels gave us just what we needed. 

Working on the skylight panel with DIY Swiss seat, just in case.

By the time Dan added another nailer on the roof and screwed each ridge of the panel down, they were stiffened up a bit. Then he added a 1x1 down the center for added support.

Hopefully we'll get a long life from them. I like my solar barn light, but even better, I like having as much natural light in the barn as I can.

Next will be the roof for the hay loft.

Milking Room Roof Phase 2 © Dec. 2017 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Milking Room Roof Phase 1

It's amazing how motivating it is when a project begins to take shape. Reaching the point where it's time to do the roof certainly gives a barn shape to our barn! After building the loafing area overhang on back of the goat barn, Dan spent a couple of days milling nailers for the milking room roof.

He started with the milking room, because we already had some of the metal roof panels. The milking room is the one section of the barn on which they will fit.

We bought them last April when we thought we would renovate the old carport. Then we discovered how badly rotted the carport roof beams and rafters were under the fascia board and abandoned the project. 

The panels are 3+ feet wide, so six of them covered the 16-foot width with a ten-inch overhang on both front and back.

A fascia board was added over the ends of the rafters to accommodate a gutter.

The only "problem" is that the panels are 14-feet long, whereas the length of the roof rafters is 16 feet.

That meant a two-foot gap at the top of the milking room roof.

However, problems are simply doorways to creativity! Can you guess what we're going to do with the gap? I bet you can!

Click here for "Milking Room Roof Phase 2."

Milking Room Roof Phase 1 © Nov. 2017 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/