Tonight we had pizza, it's great to have something that does not come out of a can! It was different and it was good. I made and cooked the pizza dough on our wood burning stove, I made about a dozen 6 inch pizza's, I took the blank pizza's to our neighbor and finished assembling the pizza's, I used tomato soup for the sauce, I used dry italian seasoning, dried beef and cheese. We ate pizza until we thought we would pop. It's also nice to get to watch some TV, though I really don't miss it much, I do wish I could keep up with more national and local news, it's OK that I don't know everything that is going on, probably keeps me sane! :)
The last couple of days were windy, last night, we were sleeping and a gust of wind blew through, sounded like a freight train! We both came awake from a sound sleep, fortunately it didn't get any worse than that, it was a while before we went back to sleep. The next morning, things were in pretty good shape, a few things got blown over, but nothing major. The wind blew pretty hard most of the day. but the sun was shining so the batteries were able to charge up, that is a pretty important thing for us, one cloudy day is not bad, but 2 or more cloudy days in a row can make it hard to have movie night! The next few days are supposed to be windy, but clear, so we will be just fine.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
PDFTuesday, January 22, 2008
Pix Fixed
OK, sorry about the pix thing, I had a lot of pix uploaded but apparently they weren't showing up, I could see them but they weren't visible to anyone else, I fixed the problem, now the pix will be visible to everyone.
Here are the entries with pix:
http://wretha.blogspot.com/2008/01/big-accomplishments.html
http://wretha.blogspot.com/2008/01/solar-stuff-mice-and-smoke.html
I believe the other entries with pix were visible.
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Here are the entries with pix:
http://wretha.blogspot.com/2008/01/big-accomplishments.html
http://wretha.blogspot.com/2008/01/solar-stuff-mice-and-smoke.html
I believe the other entries with pix were visible.
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2 Comments
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Big Accomplishments
01-20-08
Big accomplishments, we now have a metal roof, our big wood burning stove and the sink drain has been plumbed.
First, the metal roof, we were gifted with the material for the metal roof, it was left over material from other projects, it was given to us by our good friends out here, it's about 3 different colors, but no one can see it unless you are standing on the roof, and we are now water proof and much more wind proof. A few days ago, the weather report said we might get some rain, thunderstorms and possible snow, we had one day's notice! So Bob went to work in the morning and didn't stop until it was complete, in fact got sick from doing it, breathing all the dust (the panels were coated in dust and dirt, like everything out here) and the wind was relentless that day, sunny but cold, he had gotten a bit run down and having to cover the entire roof in one day just about finished him off... (he's getting better now).
I didn't get to help him, I wished I could have, that was the day I watched my neighbor's dog Sam, and Sam couldn't be left alone. Bob did a really good job, as usual :)
The next day, it drizzled, for about 10 minutes, just enough to make the tiniest layer of moist dirt, couldn't even call it mud, but it was enough to make water run off the roof, nothing dripped inside, it's also more quiet, when the wind blows it's a lot quieter. We never got the rain, thunderstorms or snow.
Bob also plumbed the sink, no running water yet, but I can do the dishes inside at the sink now, and I can pour liquids down the sink, it runs through the floor, outside to the ground, we dug a pit and will fill it with gravel, basically gray water disposal.
Yesterday, I made a water run to my neighbor's house, as I was leaving, Bob was hauling the big wood stove from the side of the house to the back of the house, this thing is big, it weighs around 300 pounds, Bob designed and made this wood stove, it works great, we used it to heat our whole house where we used to live, so it should have no problem heating our little one room cabin! :) I told Bob that I would help him with it when I got back, he smiled and said he would see me when I got back. Well, when I got back, he was on the roof, finishing the chimney cap and spark arrestor. He had, all by himself, removed the small wood stove, and put in the big wood stove, please understand, our cabin sits about 7 feet in the air, there is a 4 step tall wooden porch, that takes you half way to the door, you have to use a ladder for the last few feet to get inside the cabin, so carrying ANYTHING into the cabin is harder to begin with, somehow he managed to lift a 300 pound metal box, over 7 feet into the air, and got it inside the cabin and moved across the floor, and completely installed, all by himself!
He used a tow strap with a ratchet, like it was a block and tackle to lift the wood stove, I wished I could have seen that, I am continually amazed at what he does, all by himself. Last night, we were able to burn real logs, ones that last for hours, we cranked that baby up so hot, we had to open the windows to let in some cold air. I decided that I could use the surface of it for a cook surface, I took some heavy foil and layed it on top, I cooked homemade tortillas on it, they turned out great! It also heats up water for various purposes, mainly for making coffee, I also heat food on it, I open cans of soup or other foods, and I put the can on the stove top, it pretty quickly heats up the contents of the cans, fewer dishes are always welcome!
Animals
Oh, I almost forgot, I have to list all the animals we have seen in the last 2 weeks. We saw a family of collared peccary, these are wild pigs, native to the area, we saw 2 adults, a couple of juveniles and a couple of babies, they walked from the west side of the property, through our "back yard", and up the mountain. One of the adults came over to investigate the compost pile, that was when I could gauge how big it was, and I must say, if it wanted to, it probably could have pushed over our wire compost pile if it had wanted to, no matter how many stakes it had. I was very happy to see it amble off after just sniffing around.
The other animal we saw was our little fox, it is really cute (yes, I know it's a wild animal and I respect that), it came around at night, we threw a tortilla to it and it ran off with it's prize. We don't intend on making that a habit, the occasional handout is fine, but we don't want it getting used to getting freebies all the time, we do intend to have chickens at a later date, and I don't want any more problems with the foxes than we have to.
I also saw the herd of feral donkeys, these are the descendants of the working animals that were part of the ranch land that this used to be. I don't know exactly how many there are, but usually I see 4 or more, they are on the small side, and seem to do very well around here. This is the first time I have seen them since I have been back here to live, I did see them once before while visiting, I was happy to see them again.
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Big accomplishments, we now have a metal roof, our big wood burning stove and the sink drain has been plumbed.
First, the metal roof, we were gifted with the material for the metal roof, it was left over material from other projects, it was given to us by our good friends out here, it's about 3 different colors, but no one can see it unless you are standing on the roof, and we are now water proof and much more wind proof. A few days ago, the weather report said we might get some rain, thunderstorms and possible snow, we had one day's notice! So Bob went to work in the morning and didn't stop until it was complete, in fact got sick from doing it, breathing all the dust (the panels were coated in dust and dirt, like everything out here) and the wind was relentless that day, sunny but cold, he had gotten a bit run down and having to cover the entire roof in one day just about finished him off... (he's getting better now).
I didn't get to help him, I wished I could have, that was the day I watched my neighbor's dog Sam, and Sam couldn't be left alone. Bob did a really good job, as usual :)
The next day, it drizzled, for about 10 minutes, just enough to make the tiniest layer of moist dirt, couldn't even call it mud, but it was enough to make water run off the roof, nothing dripped inside, it's also more quiet, when the wind blows it's a lot quieter. We never got the rain, thunderstorms or snow.
Bob also plumbed the sink, no running water yet, but I can do the dishes inside at the sink now, and I can pour liquids down the sink, it runs through the floor, outside to the ground, we dug a pit and will fill it with gravel, basically gray water disposal.
Yesterday, I made a water run to my neighbor's house, as I was leaving, Bob was hauling the big wood stove from the side of the house to the back of the house, this thing is big, it weighs around 300 pounds, Bob designed and made this wood stove, it works great, we used it to heat our whole house where we used to live, so it should have no problem heating our little one room cabin! :) I told Bob that I would help him with it when I got back, he smiled and said he would see me when I got back. Well, when I got back, he was on the roof, finishing the chimney cap and spark arrestor. He had, all by himself, removed the small wood stove, and put in the big wood stove, please understand, our cabin sits about 7 feet in the air, there is a 4 step tall wooden porch, that takes you half way to the door, you have to use a ladder for the last few feet to get inside the cabin, so carrying ANYTHING into the cabin is harder to begin with, somehow he managed to lift a 300 pound metal box, over 7 feet into the air, and got it inside the cabin and moved across the floor, and completely installed, all by himself!
He used a tow strap with a ratchet, like it was a block and tackle to lift the wood stove, I wished I could have seen that, I am continually amazed at what he does, all by himself. Last night, we were able to burn real logs, ones that last for hours, we cranked that baby up so hot, we had to open the windows to let in some cold air. I decided that I could use the surface of it for a cook surface, I took some heavy foil and layed it on top, I cooked homemade tortillas on it, they turned out great! It also heats up water for various purposes, mainly for making coffee, I also heat food on it, I open cans of soup or other foods, and I put the can on the stove top, it pretty quickly heats up the contents of the cans, fewer dishes are always welcome!
Animals
Oh, I almost forgot, I have to list all the animals we have seen in the last 2 weeks. We saw a family of collared peccary, these are wild pigs, native to the area, we saw 2 adults, a couple of juveniles and a couple of babies, they walked from the west side of the property, through our "back yard", and up the mountain. One of the adults came over to investigate the compost pile, that was when I could gauge how big it was, and I must say, if it wanted to, it probably could have pushed over our wire compost pile if it had wanted to, no matter how many stakes it had. I was very happy to see it amble off after just sniffing around.
The other animal we saw was our little fox, it is really cute (yes, I know it's a wild animal and I respect that), it came around at night, we threw a tortilla to it and it ran off with it's prize. We don't intend on making that a habit, the occasional handout is fine, but we don't want it getting used to getting freebies all the time, we do intend to have chickens at a later date, and I don't want any more problems with the foxes than we have to.
I also saw the herd of feral donkeys, these are the descendants of the working animals that were part of the ranch land that this used to be. I don't know exactly how many there are, but usually I see 4 or more, they are on the small side, and seem to do very well around here. This is the first time I have seen them since I have been back here to live, I did see them once before while visiting, I was happy to see them again.
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1 Comment
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nanabird2000 said... How proud you all must be to have the roof on and warmth kept in and noise and rain out, yeah applause applause to you. Was wondering about the wood stove if it had a big eough surface for cooking or heating food, many years ago we had a wood burning cook stove it was the best cooking stove ever and such good flavor. Glad you are doing so well and making great progress, look forward to each new addtion to your blog, sorry to say tho I am not able to view the pics you have posted was anlt to veiw the first entry but not since then have contacted my grandson so have him check it out for me. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers for a safe and fun journey....Nancy
Monday, January 14, 2008
Roof Roof Woof
Dog Sitting
Today was different, my neighbor had to go into town, not the nearby town, but one further away, it is an all day trip, I volunteered to take care of his dog while he was gone, his dog does not do good at being left behind, my neighbor usually takes his dog everywhere, but this trip just wouldn't work with a furry friend along. I got up early today, about 7:30am, boy was it COLD, the infrared temperature reading device said the ladder outside the door was 9 degrees F, the floor inside my cabin read 24 degrees, the food cabinet read 35 degrees (whew!). I walked to my neighbor's house, I've been here most of the day, I did some laundry and dishes, I also cleaned up a bit, he is ex-military and he is very neat and clean, so it's hard to find too much to clean, but I found a few things (grin).
Our other friends who live out here came by for a while, they went to the store in town, they offered to do some shopping if we needed anything, I gave a short list of food we needed from the store and they got it, it's real nice to have such great friends out here, people really look out for each other out here.
The Roof
It might rain and/or snow later tonight, so the roof became the item of the day to work on, the roof, up until now had consisted of 3/4 inch plywood over 2x4's, Bob used heavy builder's plastic (sound familiar???) over the top of that to make it waterproof, since for the most part, it's pretty dry here, that worked just fine, but since we have been here full time, we have walked on the roof quite a lot, and the builder's plastic is not in as good of shape as it had been, so we knew that before the next rain or snow, we would need to take care of this.
Bob had collected recycled metal panels referred to as "R-Panel", it's called that because of the shape of the panel, he had enough to cover the roof, last week when he went to town to get his tooth looked at, he picked up a gallon of roof coating (tar), today he spent the day installing the metal panels to the roof, he also needed to pick up or cover up some of our stuff that is still outside to protect it from the possible wet weather. I wished I could have been there to help, but I was busy dog-sitting, so I had to suffer all day long, watching TV (the cooking channel and the DIY channel), washing with HOT water... life is tough out here... :)
Today was different, my neighbor had to go into town, not the nearby town, but one further away, it is an all day trip, I volunteered to take care of his dog while he was gone, his dog does not do good at being left behind, my neighbor usually takes his dog everywhere, but this trip just wouldn't work with a furry friend along. I got up early today, about 7:30am, boy was it COLD, the infrared temperature reading device said the ladder outside the door was 9 degrees F, the floor inside my cabin read 24 degrees, the food cabinet read 35 degrees (whew!). I walked to my neighbor's house, I've been here most of the day, I did some laundry and dishes, I also cleaned up a bit, he is ex-military and he is very neat and clean, so it's hard to find too much to clean, but I found a few things (grin).
Our other friends who live out here came by for a while, they went to the store in town, they offered to do some shopping if we needed anything, I gave a short list of food we needed from the store and they got it, it's real nice to have such great friends out here, people really look out for each other out here.
The Roof
It might rain and/or snow later tonight, so the roof became the item of the day to work on, the roof, up until now had consisted of 3/4 inch plywood over 2x4's, Bob used heavy builder's plastic (sound familiar???) over the top of that to make it waterproof, since for the most part, it's pretty dry here, that worked just fine, but since we have been here full time, we have walked on the roof quite a lot, and the builder's plastic is not in as good of shape as it had been, so we knew that before the next rain or snow, we would need to take care of this.
Bob had collected recycled metal panels referred to as "R-Panel", it's called that because of the shape of the panel, he had enough to cover the roof, last week when he went to town to get his tooth looked at, he picked up a gallon of roof coating (tar), today he spent the day installing the metal panels to the roof, he also needed to pick up or cover up some of our stuff that is still outside to protect it from the possible wet weather. I wished I could have been there to help, but I was busy dog-sitting, so I had to suffer all day long, watching TV (the cooking channel and the DIY channel), washing with HOT water... life is tough out here... :)
Thanks!
Thanks to everyone who has posted comments, I really REALLY appreciate them, please keep 'em coming, ask questions if you want, I'll answer, I try to put in as much detail as possible, but it's easy to forget that in my mind (that's sometimes a scary place, the echo is terrible), I am familiar with what I am talking about (???!!!) and I know what the subject/item(s) look like, it's too easy sometimes to gloss over something and not give enough of an explanation. So ask questions if you want, ask about anything, make requests, I'll do my best to answer asap.
Wretha
Wretha
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Wood, Grass & Teeth
Bob the Lumberjack
This morning, Bob went out and cut down a few juniper trees. they are about 6-8 inches in diameter and the part he is using is about 8 (+/-) feet tall, he is using them for posts and beams inside the cabin, it is going to strengthen up the cabin considerably, and it will lend a rustic look too, I'll try to snap a few pix when it is done.
Grass
I have been eyeballing the local grass, it grows in clumps and gets 18-20 inches long, it is quite strong, I have been considering ways I can use it, such as weaving it into mats, baskets & bowls, making wall coverings and window blinds. I will have to look on line to learn more about weaving, but not knowing about something has never stopped me before! ;)
Dentist
Bob had to go into town and go to the dentist, he has a bad molar, the dentist gave him a prescription for antibiotics, he will probably have it pulled, it's cheaper than fixing it, money isn't something we have in abundance, he has to go back in early February and will decide then how to proceed. Hopefully we can come up with something between now and then. I had a filling come out just before we moved out here, I went to my Dad's dentist and he fixed it, I am very happy with his work, I wished he was out here...
Last night was COLD!!! I think it was the coldest night yet, we used a laser thermometer, I tested several surfaces outside, the metal ladder said 9 degrees(!), the ground registered 19 degrees, a few other surfaces registered between 14-19 degrees, that was early in the night, I know it got colder as the night went on, there was a light breeze from time to time, Bob stayed up all night keeping the fire going, we really need to get our big wood stove in the cabin. Fortunately once the sun comes up, the temps raise up into the 50's, at least it feels that warm in the sunshine, if you get in the shade, you are reminded that it is still winter here.
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This morning, Bob went out and cut down a few juniper trees. they are about 6-8 inches in diameter and the part he is using is about 8 (+/-) feet tall, he is using them for posts and beams inside the cabin, it is going to strengthen up the cabin considerably, and it will lend a rustic look too, I'll try to snap a few pix when it is done.
Grass
I have been eyeballing the local grass, it grows in clumps and gets 18-20 inches long, it is quite strong, I have been considering ways I can use it, such as weaving it into mats, baskets & bowls, making wall coverings and window blinds. I will have to look on line to learn more about weaving, but not knowing about something has never stopped me before! ;)
Dentist
Bob had to go into town and go to the dentist, he has a bad molar, the dentist gave him a prescription for antibiotics, he will probably have it pulled, it's cheaper than fixing it, money isn't something we have in abundance, he has to go back in early February and will decide then how to proceed. Hopefully we can come up with something between now and then. I had a filling come out just before we moved out here, I went to my Dad's dentist and he fixed it, I am very happy with his work, I wished he was out here...
Last night was COLD!!! I think it was the coldest night yet, we used a laser thermometer, I tested several surfaces outside, the metal ladder said 9 degrees(!), the ground registered 19 degrees, a few other surfaces registered between 14-19 degrees, that was early in the night, I know it got colder as the night went on, there was a light breeze from time to time, Bob stayed up all night keeping the fire going, we really need to get our big wood stove in the cabin. Fortunately once the sun comes up, the temps raise up into the 50's, at least it feels that warm in the sunshine, if you get in the shade, you are reminded that it is still winter here.
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3 Comments
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nanabird said... Hey look forward to reading your blogs almost like talking to you at Curves. Nothing worse than a bad tooth poor Bob. FYI the Haltom Curves is closing as of this Friday and merging with the Richland Hills store so many ladies are not happy and have resigned the reason she is isn't making any money at that location. Don't know what I will do I joined here for convience......You are so lucky to have such a wonderful neighbor and friend so close and so willing to help you out. Hope thing continue to go well for you guys find all your stuff quite interesting keep up the news.
Nancy
- nanabird2000 said...
Glad to hear things are going well sounds like you guys are moving right along.......know you must be thankful for such a good friend and neighbor. I enjoy your explanations of the new things you are using and trying quite interesting I must say. Hard to believe keeping your food so cool out of a refrigerator. OUCH! Bob feel for that tooth hope the meds work......keep warm and keep safe. I'll be watching for your next entry...............Nancy
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Wretha said... Thanks Nancy, I appreciate your comments, keep 'em coming! :)
Saturday, January 12, 2008
01-12-08
Lazy Days
The days blend one to the next, most of the time, I have to look at my cell phone to know what day of the week it is, today has been a lazy day, I haven't even really gotten dressed yet, I just hung around in my long johns, I sleep in these, it keeps me warm at night, and makes it possible to get out of the warm bed in the morning. I need to go out and take care of some dishes, I don't have a proper way to really do dishes yet, I have a sink, but it isn't plumbed yet, no running water and no place for the water to go, so for now, I just warm up a container of water, usually on the wood stove, and do the best I can do outside, I also use a little bleach water to sanitize everything too, can't be too careful. It is a little trouble to do, without a sink and outside, but it does get done, eventually...
Pee jars
We decided to keep our urine separate from the humanure toilet, it is a small deviation from the Jenkins method, he says to do everything in the bucket and don't worry about it, but we chose to keep the urine separate, mainly do we don't have to dump the bucket quite as often. We have several empty containers with tight fitting lids, we pee into those, and once a day or every other day, I take them outside and dump them into the compost pile, the nitrogen in the urine is good for the compost, and NO, it doesn't smell. In fact, I have made the third "deposit" from the bucket into the compost pile, I covered it in a layer of leaves and grass that I raked up, then I tamped it down and it was done, the next thing I do is clean out the bucket, I pour a little water in it, squirt a bit of dish soap, I use a long handled bristle type scrub brush to scrub the bucket, then I pour the soapy water into the compost pile (the soapy water is also good for the compost). I don't even bother to rinse the bucket, (I do rinse the scrub brush), I set the bucket and the brush in the sun for a couple of days, the sun helps to remove any lingering odors in the plastic. I take a fresh bucket, I place a couple of inches of grass and leaves in the bottom and it goes back inside the house to start again.
Dishes
I just finished doing the dishes, I will sure be glad when I have my sink plumbed, it will not have water right away, but if I can pour water down the drain, it will be a big help :)
When I am at my neighbor's house, if I see dirty dishes, I (almost) always wash them, I just do it, he tells me that I don't have to do his dishes, (for the record, there are rarely more than 2 or 3 dishes, for a bachelor, he is VERY NEAT), anyhoo, I tried to explain to him that it is my small way of paying him back for allowing us to use his water, laundry and such, and besides, it is a real treat to get to do dishes with hot water! :)
Lazy Days
The days blend one to the next, most of the time, I have to look at my cell phone to know what day of the week it is, today has been a lazy day, I haven't even really gotten dressed yet, I just hung around in my long johns, I sleep in these, it keeps me warm at night, and makes it possible to get out of the warm bed in the morning. I need to go out and take care of some dishes, I don't have a proper way to really do dishes yet, I have a sink, but it isn't plumbed yet, no running water and no place for the water to go, so for now, I just warm up a container of water, usually on the wood stove, and do the best I can do outside, I also use a little bleach water to sanitize everything too, can't be too careful. It is a little trouble to do, without a sink and outside, but it does get done, eventually...
Pee jars
We decided to keep our urine separate from the humanure toilet, it is a small deviation from the Jenkins method, he says to do everything in the bucket and don't worry about it, but we chose to keep the urine separate, mainly do we don't have to dump the bucket quite as often. We have several empty containers with tight fitting lids, we pee into those, and once a day or every other day, I take them outside and dump them into the compost pile, the nitrogen in the urine is good for the compost, and NO, it doesn't smell. In fact, I have made the third "deposit" from the bucket into the compost pile, I covered it in a layer of leaves and grass that I raked up, then I tamped it down and it was done, the next thing I do is clean out the bucket, I pour a little water in it, squirt a bit of dish soap, I use a long handled bristle type scrub brush to scrub the bucket, then I pour the soapy water into the compost pile (the soapy water is also good for the compost). I don't even bother to rinse the bucket, (I do rinse the scrub brush), I set the bucket and the brush in the sun for a couple of days, the sun helps to remove any lingering odors in the plastic. I take a fresh bucket, I place a couple of inches of grass and leaves in the bottom and it goes back inside the house to start again.
Dishes
I just finished doing the dishes, I will sure be glad when I have my sink plumbed, it will not have water right away, but if I can pour water down the drain, it will be a big help :)
When I am at my neighbor's house, if I see dirty dishes, I (almost) always wash them, I just do it, he tells me that I don't have to do his dishes, (for the record, there are rarely more than 2 or 3 dishes, for a bachelor, he is VERY NEAT), anyhoo, I tried to explain to him that it is my small way of paying him back for allowing us to use his water, laundry and such, and besides, it is a real treat to get to do dishes with hot water! :)
Monday, January 7, 2008
Wood panels. and more wind...
01-01-08
Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later... I got angry, I lost my temper, normally it takes quite a bit to make me display anger. The problem (I have) is the propane stoves, we have a one burner and a two burner stove, we use an empty lighter to light them (it still sparks, and that is all you need), when I turn on the gas, I place the lighter close to the burner and start sparking it like crazy, well, for me, most of the time it doesn't work, I get jumpy and pull back too soon, well after a few time I feel I need to stop, turn off the gas and let it air out, I'm not interested in creating a fireball, I just want to light the damned thing! Bob finds it amusing, not in a mean way though. He tries each (AND EVERY) time to explain why it doesn't work for me and how to make it work, I just get even more frustrated with the whole thing, today I was trying to cook breakfast, and nothing I did would light the two burner, Bob started smiling and started to explain (AGAIN), I just couldn't take it, I turned off the gas, and tossed the skillet and the lighter on the counter (I really wanted to throw it!). That really made his smile even more, he seems to find it amusing when I get angry, much like seeing a young child or small animal get mad about something minor. I reminded him about when he gets angry, how he would react if I laughed at him, he agreed that he would not like it at all.
Breakfast did get cooked, I resorted to using a match, we had toast, toasted on a well seasoned cast iron skillet (not the one I tossed), and scrambled eggs, the eggs came from a local resident's chickens, the eggs still had a few down feather attached, talk about fresh! I can't wait to have my own chickens, fresh eggs every day...
We spent this day putting up more plywood to the cabin, at least half of the walls were basically heavy builder's plastic and wire, it kept out most of the winds, and kept in most of the heat, but it was noisy in the winds, now, I'd say that 85-90% of the walls are covered in at least 1 layer of plywood, many of them have two 2 layers, one on the inside and one on the outside. I helped as best as I could, the plywood panels are heavy, and we had to get them up at least 8 feet off the ground, not an easy task with the wind gusting like it has been. Bob got on the ladder and I worked on the ground, we do make a pretty good team, though I'm not as strong as another guy would be, I do my best with what I can do. Bob is pretty ingenious at doing the near impossible, I think I'll rename him MacGuyver.
Now the next thing we need to concentrate on is getting the roof in better shape, it is doing good for now, but if it rains, we will most likely get wet, fortunately there is a rainy season, and it's not this time of the year, right now it's just windy and cold. We just ate dinner, and now it's time for me to go to our neighbor's house to get water, he has been such a big help to us! Thanks neighborino! :)
The other thing I did today was to collect grass for the compost pile, it's essentially a large wire cylinder staked to the ground, we placed a thick layer of grass on the bottom and placed a layer of tall grass (18-20 inches long) around the perimeter inside the wire, this keeps the "stuff" inside, and if anyone looks at it, they will not know what is inside ;) About once a week or so, I dump out the bucket from the humanure toilet and place another layer of grass and leaves on top. No, it doesn't smell in the least, and it's not unsightly at all, all you can see is a tall wire cylinder and some tall grass lining the sides, in fact it blends right in to the surrounding area, I will continue to fill it until I can't add any more, then I will start a new compost pile, the first one will set undisturbed for a year, then it will be fully composted and completely safe and sanitary.
I think tonight is going to be a blustery night (as Pooh would say), it should be quieter for us inside the cabin, but that means we will be able to hear the other sounds that were previously drowned out by the plastic popping, crinkling and snapping in the wind. Sometimes I can hear creaking, it makes me think of being on an old wooden pirate ship. :)
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Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later... I got angry, I lost my temper, normally it takes quite a bit to make me display anger. The problem (I have) is the propane stoves, we have a one burner and a two burner stove, we use an empty lighter to light them (it still sparks, and that is all you need), when I turn on the gas, I place the lighter close to the burner and start sparking it like crazy, well, for me, most of the time it doesn't work, I get jumpy and pull back too soon, well after a few time I feel I need to stop, turn off the gas and let it air out, I'm not interested in creating a fireball, I just want to light the damned thing! Bob finds it amusing, not in a mean way though. He tries each (AND EVERY) time to explain why it doesn't work for me and how to make it work, I just get even more frustrated with the whole thing, today I was trying to cook breakfast, and nothing I did would light the two burner, Bob started smiling and started to explain (AGAIN), I just couldn't take it, I turned off the gas, and tossed the skillet and the lighter on the counter (I really wanted to throw it!). That really made his smile even more, he seems to find it amusing when I get angry, much like seeing a young child or small animal get mad about something minor. I reminded him about when he gets angry, how he would react if I laughed at him, he agreed that he would not like it at all.
Breakfast did get cooked, I resorted to using a match, we had toast, toasted on a well seasoned cast iron skillet (not the one I tossed), and scrambled eggs, the eggs came from a local resident's chickens, the eggs still had a few down feather attached, talk about fresh! I can't wait to have my own chickens, fresh eggs every day...
We spent this day putting up more plywood to the cabin, at least half of the walls were basically heavy builder's plastic and wire, it kept out most of the winds, and kept in most of the heat, but it was noisy in the winds, now, I'd say that 85-90% of the walls are covered in at least 1 layer of plywood, many of them have two 2 layers, one on the inside and one on the outside. I helped as best as I could, the plywood panels are heavy, and we had to get them up at least 8 feet off the ground, not an easy task with the wind gusting like it has been. Bob got on the ladder and I worked on the ground, we do make a pretty good team, though I'm not as strong as another guy would be, I do my best with what I can do. Bob is pretty ingenious at doing the near impossible, I think I'll rename him MacGuyver.
Now the next thing we need to concentrate on is getting the roof in better shape, it is doing good for now, but if it rains, we will most likely get wet, fortunately there is a rainy season, and it's not this time of the year, right now it's just windy and cold. We just ate dinner, and now it's time for me to go to our neighbor's house to get water, he has been such a big help to us! Thanks neighborino! :)
The other thing I did today was to collect grass for the compost pile, it's essentially a large wire cylinder staked to the ground, we placed a thick layer of grass on the bottom and placed a layer of tall grass (18-20 inches long) around the perimeter inside the wire, this keeps the "stuff" inside, and if anyone looks at it, they will not know what is inside ;) About once a week or so, I dump out the bucket from the humanure toilet and place another layer of grass and leaves on top. No, it doesn't smell in the least, and it's not unsightly at all, all you can see is a tall wire cylinder and some tall grass lining the sides, in fact it blends right in to the surrounding area, I will continue to fill it until I can't add any more, then I will start a new compost pile, the first one will set undisturbed for a year, then it will be fully composted and completely safe and sanitary.
I think tonight is going to be a blustery night (as Pooh would say), it should be quieter for us inside the cabin, but that means we will be able to hear the other sounds that were previously drowned out by the plastic popping, crinkling and snapping in the wind. Sometimes I can hear creaking, it makes me think of being on an old wooden pirate ship. :)
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2 Comments
- Anonymous said...
For lighter the propane stoves have you tried one of those spark lighters used to light propane torches?
example: http://www.flameengineering.com/Spark_Lighter.html
It has more of a handle that keeps your hand out of the direct flame area. - Wretha said...
Thanks for the info, actually I have gotten a lot better at lighting the stove, the problem was the % of chicken I had (grin!), now I light it like a pro, occasionally I have a little trouble, but nothing like I used to have, most of the time, I get it lit on the first try.
Wretha
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Solar stuff, mice and smoke
01-05-08
Life is good! We finally got all the solar panels set up yesterday, it was too late in the day to benefit from sunlight, it was nearly dark. Bob wired up the Xantrex charge controller, this device is wired between the solar panels and the batteries, it makes sure the batteries don't get overcharged, it does other things too to make sure the batteries are maintained at peak performance. I created an image to show our solar setup, it's a very simplified image, but it shows basically what we are using.
We have:
It goes basically like this, the solar panels are on the roof at about a 30 degree angle facing south, they have a positive and negative wire running to a cut off switch (this is like a large on-off switch), from there the wires go to the charge controller (this regulates the amount of power that goes to the batteries, and maintains the batteries at peak performance), from this the wires go to an inverter, this changes the power from DC (direct current-battery power) to AC (alternating current-this is what comes out of your wall), from there I have an extention cord with multiple outlets and I can plug in whatever I want as long as it doesn't exceed the voltage or amperage allowed by the inverter, the inverter is one of my bigest bottlenecks, it can do 1000 watts sustained, and 2000 watts surge (when you first turn on anything, it usually requires a surge of higher power then it settles down to a smaller power requirement), and it can handle up to 8.5 amps, so I can't run any single item or sets of items that requires more than that.
Click on the image below to see the full size picture.
For the most part, I am running small items, a couple of low wattage fluorescent lights, a small radio/CD player, a laptop computer and charging my cell phone. I have a dorm room size refrigerator, but so far we haven't needed to plug it up, it stays fairly cold, even during the day when it warms up, in the shade it's still pretty cool, we keep our milk, eggs, cheese and butter in a 5 gallon bucket, we keep it in the cabin most of the time, if it gets too warm inside during the day, we set it outside in a shady spot and it stays cool enough. Right now we are using our refrigerator to store foods outside and protect them from animals, I expect this spring & summer we will actually plug in the refrigerator and use it for what it is supposed to be used for.
Sometime in the future, we will also have a wind generator, we have all the parts for the windmill part now, we just need to get a long pole and a few other items to set it up. We have enough wind here that we should never be without power, the sun shines all day (most of the time) and the wind blows all night (and often during the day as well).
Mouse in the house
We had a uninvited guest living in the cabin for some time now, it was a cute little gray mouse, it would come out at night after we went to bed and dine on or chew up what it could find. The other night, shortly after I went to bed, I heard it scurrying around and heard it chewing on things, so I got up (man was it ever COLD! I wasn't happy about getting out of my warm bed!), I saw it running across a 2x4 piece of wood heading for the table (and the cookies that were left out), so I found the mouse traps I had purchased a few days earlier, and baited it with peanut butter, I set it out in a likely spot, and about half an hour later, the trap went off. Bob went over to the trap just in time to see his (or her?) little tail stop wiggling, it appears that it didn't suffer, the kill was quick and clean, of that I am glad, I'm not interested in torturing the little critters, I just don't want them in my cabin chewing on everything and pooping everywhere. I set up another trap but haven't seen any evidence of any other mice, I am hoping that one was a lone ranger.
The Stove
Right now Bob is fabricating a directional wind screen for the wood stove flue, with all the winds around, often smoke is forced back down the flue and into our cabin, that happened to us twice now to the point where we had to pull the burning material out of the stove and put out the fire, last night it was bad, our cabin filled with smoke and nothing we did would stop it, fortunately it wasn't very cold and we could open up the windows and air out the place. So today, Bob is using an old paint can to make a directional cap with an opening on one side that will blow away from the wind and not allow the wind to blow down the flue, it will help with the draft in the fire box too. I'll try to get a picture of the finished "product" and upload it here.
At great peril, I did manage to get on the roof and snap a few pictures, and it works! The opening faces away from the wind and prevents the wind from blowing the smoke back down the flue, it also assists with the draft, Bob came back inside the cabin and lit a small, smokey fire, he opened the door on the fire box completely and tried to make the smoke come into the cabin, it would not, it continued to go up the flue, that is a good thing!
I'm not afraid of heights, but boy is it scary to be up on the roof of the cabin when the wind is blowing and gusting hard, (it's essentially 3 stores tall) on top of that, you have to be careful where you place your feet, it is best to be on top of a rafter and not in between, you know when you have stepped in the wrong spot, the deck bows under your feet, not a very good feeling, especially when you are trying to keep your balance against the wind!
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.
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.
.
Life is good! We finally got all the solar panels set up yesterday, it was too late in the day to benefit from sunlight, it was nearly dark. Bob wired up the Xantrex charge controller, this device is wired between the solar panels and the batteries, it makes sure the batteries don't get overcharged, it does other things too to make sure the batteries are maintained at peak performance. I created an image to show our solar setup, it's a very simplified image, but it shows basically what we are using.
We have:
- four 55 watt solar panels
- three 15 watt solar panels
- four Trojan Deep Cycle batteries
- one commercial grade cut off switch
- one Xantrex C35 Charge Controller
- two 1000 watt (2000 peak) inverters
It goes basically like this, the solar panels are on the roof at about a 30 degree angle facing south, they have a positive and negative wire running to a cut off switch (this is like a large on-off switch), from there the wires go to the charge controller (this regulates the amount of power that goes to the batteries, and maintains the batteries at peak performance), from this the wires go to an inverter, this changes the power from DC (direct current-battery power) to AC (alternating current-this is what comes out of your wall), from there I have an extention cord with multiple outlets and I can plug in whatever I want as long as it doesn't exceed the voltage or amperage allowed by the inverter, the inverter is one of my bigest bottlenecks, it can do 1000 watts sustained, and 2000 watts surge (when you first turn on anything, it usually requires a surge of higher power then it settles down to a smaller power requirement), and it can handle up to 8.5 amps, so I can't run any single item or sets of items that requires more than that.
Click on the image below to see the full size picture.
For the most part, I am running small items, a couple of low wattage fluorescent lights, a small radio/CD player, a laptop computer and charging my cell phone. I have a dorm room size refrigerator, but so far we haven't needed to plug it up, it stays fairly cold, even during the day when it warms up, in the shade it's still pretty cool, we keep our milk, eggs, cheese and butter in a 5 gallon bucket, we keep it in the cabin most of the time, if it gets too warm inside during the day, we set it outside in a shady spot and it stays cool enough. Right now we are using our refrigerator to store foods outside and protect them from animals, I expect this spring & summer we will actually plug in the refrigerator and use it for what it is supposed to be used for.
Sometime in the future, we will also have a wind generator, we have all the parts for the windmill part now, we just need to get a long pole and a few other items to set it up. We have enough wind here that we should never be without power, the sun shines all day (most of the time) and the wind blows all night (and often during the day as well).
Mouse in the house
We had a uninvited guest living in the cabin for some time now, it was a cute little gray mouse, it would come out at night after we went to bed and dine on or chew up what it could find. The other night, shortly after I went to bed, I heard it scurrying around and heard it chewing on things, so I got up (man was it ever COLD! I wasn't happy about getting out of my warm bed!), I saw it running across a 2x4 piece of wood heading for the table (and the cookies that were left out), so I found the mouse traps I had purchased a few days earlier, and baited it with peanut butter, I set it out in a likely spot, and about half an hour later, the trap went off. Bob went over to the trap just in time to see his (or her?) little tail stop wiggling, it appears that it didn't suffer, the kill was quick and clean, of that I am glad, I'm not interested in torturing the little critters, I just don't want them in my cabin chewing on everything and pooping everywhere. I set up another trap but haven't seen any evidence of any other mice, I am hoping that one was a lone ranger.
The Stove
Right now Bob is fabricating a directional wind screen for the wood stove flue, with all the winds around, often smoke is forced back down the flue and into our cabin, that happened to us twice now to the point where we had to pull the burning material out of the stove and put out the fire, last night it was bad, our cabin filled with smoke and nothing we did would stop it, fortunately it wasn't very cold and we could open up the windows and air out the place. So today, Bob is using an old paint can to make a directional cap with an opening on one side that will blow away from the wind and not allow the wind to blow down the flue, it will help with the draft in the fire box too. I'll try to get a picture of the finished "product" and upload it here.
At great peril, I did manage to get on the roof and snap a few pictures, and it works! The opening faces away from the wind and prevents the wind from blowing the smoke back down the flue, it also assists with the draft, Bob came back inside the cabin and lit a small, smokey fire, he opened the door on the fire box completely and tried to make the smoke come into the cabin, it would not, it continued to go up the flue, that is a good thing!
I'm not afraid of heights, but boy is it scary to be up on the roof of the cabin when the wind is blowing and gusting hard, (it's essentially 3 stores tall) on top of that, you have to be careful where you place your feet, it is best to be on top of a rafter and not in between, you know when you have stepped in the wrong spot, the deck bows under your feet, not a very good feeling, especially when you are trying to keep your balance against the wind!
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2 Comments
- nanabird2000 said...
Hey....just read your latest posting gas stoves can be infuriating, ha-ha Sounds like you guys are making much progress. Glad to hear it. The pictures posted in the blog didn't make it through, wah. What did I miss. Just found your email with your phone number will call and leave my number shortly. Until next time............Nancy
- Wretha said...
Hi Nancy, hmmm the pix don't show for you? I see them on the blog, please try again, there are several pix so they might be taking a while to load, I just don't know...
Thanks for writing, it makes me feel like I'm not doing this for nothing (bad English, I know, grin).
Wretha
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Say Hi!
I would like to know who has visited my blog, please post a comment and let me know who you are and that you visited my blog! :) Post your greetings here, I look forward to seeing who has been here! :)
- nanabird2000 said...
Hey......Will be visiting regularly looking forward to hearing about your adventure into a new venture...wishing you good luck and good will
Nancy - Anonymous said...
Evalat0r is watching your blog
Why dont you have your electrical.sys
hooked up yet?
wind mill
wind mill
wind mill - Alma said...
Hi Sis,
Miss ya bunches. It helps to read your blogs to kinda connect with ya. I called & left a message New Years Day but didn't get a call back :-( guess you were busy. Call me when you get a chance. e-me on juno. - Wretha said...
Woo Hoo! Thanks to everyone who posted a comment, it makes me feel like I'm not writing this for nothing. Keep 'em coming! :)
Wretha - Wretha said...
Elevator, we finally got the rest of our solar panels hooked up, it's made a big difference, now we have to get our windmill set up, gotta find a pole (insert joke of choice here) of sufficient length, we have more than enough wind1 :)
Wretha - LaChapponieDeb said...
Hello there,
I am avidly reading your blog from England and look forward to hearing about your progress.
Regards,
Deb
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Pictures came through great great stove bet it puts out the heat. Been meaning to ask how the bug likes the roads out there. Handle like you want it to ?
Nancy
January 23, 2008 9:33 PM
Hi Nancy, the stove keeps us toasty warm, in fact a lot of the time, we have to crack a window to cool things off.
The bug takes the roads great! It's rough, but these bugs were designed for this, on Christmas, we took the bug to go to a friend's house for dinner, one of the wheels on the bug was loose and fell off! We walked back to our property, it wasn't far, we got a few tools, found the lug nuts on the road, and put everything back together, nothing was damaged, this was the one tire that we didn't change before we left, Bob hadn't checked it, I'm glad it didn't happen when we were traveling out here! Anyhoo, it didn't hurt anything, we put it back on, tightened it back up and went on to dinner. :)
January 25, 2008 9:22 PM