Category Archives: Do-it-yourself

DIY

The book of Self-Sufficiency

In my last Amazon parcel I got the book with the largest name I know: “The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency: The Classic Guide for Realists and Dreamers“. It’s really amusing! It shows you all kind of farm related techniques, from sowing plants to building gates, from butchering a cow to installing wind mills. Moreover… Read More »

New DIY Greenhouse

Here you have my new super-greenhouse! 130x120x50cm Material needed: – 130x90cm 5mm glass – 2.5m wood stick (x2) – 2x1m polystyrene-glass surface – 100ml of water resistant paint Lessons learned: – Julio, stop thinking about building things! – Pine tree wood is not convenient for outdoor, despite is the cheapest wood. They say teakwood is… Read More »

Keep your freezer without air!

Why am I keeping this amount of bottles in my freezer? Freezer (and fridge) are designed to keep the inside content cool. But it’s funny to realize that most of the content is air. Each time you open the freezer you force to move the inside air with the outside… and the inside temperature rises.… Read More »

My hammock

It’s summer already, and that means it’s hot, really hot. I read somewhere that when the air temperature is above 27ºC, your head can’t evacuate enough heat, and you have various related problems (can’t sleep, headaches, etc). For me, this is my second 2008 summer. I spent the first one in Costa Rica, in March.… Read More »

DIY greenhouse

How can I build a greenhouse, a small one that fits in the balcony, to let my tomatoes become red? This question have been bouncing inside my mind during some weeks. With the cold weather my tomato’s plant can’t grow red tomatoes. I was expecting its death, but for some reason the plant continues blossoming.… Read More »

Back lights for my bike

A few moths ago Barcelona’s city council signed a new law for (against) the bicycles. In the last years a lot of people has started to use the bike here, despite the lack of bike paths. Therefore the city council decided to write laws to maintain the order. But Barcelona is not like most of… Read More »

Helping people from the past

Some time ago I was wondering how we would help the past civilizations if we had a time machine, and could travel to the past to help them. It’s just fantasy, but I daydreamed some ideas… Imagine revealing gunpowder to the Greeks. Or showing a way to create and store electricity to the Roman Empire.… Read More »

DIY level 2: cement

You know when you’ve passed to a new level on do-it-yourself… it’s when you feel able to manage cement. You also know when you start becoming mad… it’s when you feel able to manage cement. Last weekend I committed the biggest DIY project I have ever done. For some weird reason we had parquet floor… Read More »