Birch Cottage has a new website of its own
Visit the Birch Cottage website to bookWelcome to Lackan Cottage Farm
We’re Steve and Claire Golemboski-Byrne, we live here off grid with our daughter, our dog, cats and horses. We make all our own energy using wind and solar, grow as much of our own food as we can (it varies widely) and have used permaculture design principles to help us create a great place to live.
Here on the website you’ll find stories about the projects we’ve undertaken – what works, what doesn’t. You can come stay in our guest cottage – Birch Cottage and we will show you round, or maybe you just want to find out how to do some of this stuff. Either way, welcome.
Chimney sweeping!
By way of pre-midwinter preparations, we thought it would be a good idea to do a bit of chimney sweeping, and what a good job we did. After six months the flue was full of soot, and desperately in need of cleaning, especially the bit outside where it gets cold. Tar...
Un-consumerising Christmas
This Christmas is different from those that have gone before, for a variety of reasons. First, we don't have a lot of space here in the truck. Second, we do have pretty much all we need. Thirdly, it's tough out there people, and we don't want anyone spending money...
Bye Oak..
Yesterday I lost an old friend, and had to make one of those decisions that you just don't want to have to make. I feel very strongly that when you take on responsibility for an animal, then that responsibility lasts a lifetime. Poor Oakley wasn't blessed with good...
Bicycle fettling
Today I revisited a long forgotten and yet enjoyable pastime, namely that of tinkering with bicycles. My first proper experiences of mechanical things were all bicycle related, and it has generally stood me in good stead. In fact, dismantling, fettling and...
Powerless
The panels have been relocated to a nearby south facing roof. The harsh realities of living off-grid in a country where sunlight is often infrequently seen began to make themselves apparent over the last couple of weeks. The solar panels on top of the truck became...