Pictures

You can see all of my pix here:
http://offgridonthecheap.shutterfly.com/

This is an agave that began to bloom, it sent up a huge stalk, some of the pictures look like a giant asparagus! It grew about 6-8 inches per day, we took pictures most days. We estimate it is over 20 feet tall. Unfortunately, when these bloom, they die right after, the plant is slowly dying now, but there are lots of pups (babies) around it.

Click here to view the rest of the agave pix

Here are some current pictures of the Sky Castle. Enjoy!
Click here to view the rest of the Sky Castle pix

These are various scenery pictures of the high desert mountains, PB took some and I took some.
Click here to view the rest of the high desert mountain pix

This is the prototype roller wringer that PB is making for me.
Click here to view the rest of the roller wringer pix

This is Pekoe and PB, enjoying the view.
Click here to view the rest of the Pekoe and PB pix

This is what you don't want to find under the box you just picked up. It's a black tailed rattle snake, also known as a velvet tail rattle snake. This one was about 2 feet long. PB had been moving boxes out of the shed, the snake was under one box, the only reason PB didn't get bit was because the snake was still cold, it didn't even rattle. Unfortunately PB had to dispatch it, we had no good (safe) way of moving it, there was too much of a chance of it slithering away under other boxes in the shed. CraftyCountryMomma, you might want to skip this set of pix. :)
Click here to view the rest of the snake pix


You can see more pix here
http://offgridonthecheap.shutterfly.com/


All written text and audio podcasts from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute (text or audio) without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message. Wretha, properly pronounced wreetha, (included for the text reader), Thanks for visiting!

Lot's O' Stuff

Hope everyone had a great Christmas, wishing everyone a safe and happy and prosperous New Year! Now with that done, here's an update on things. Last Monday, I did something I haven't done in a coon's age, (and just how long IS a coon's age I wonder...), anyhow I went to the big, big town, about 3 hours away, with a friend. My friend had a doctor's appointment about an elbow injury and didn't know if she would be able to drive home, so I went as a potential surrogate driver. Turns out that they didn't do anything on this trip, just x-ray'd her arm and told her she had bone spurs, her choice is to have surgery or live with it, she has to think about it and decide what she wants to do. Before we went to the doctor, we hit Pizza Hut, did the buffet, it's been so long since I've eaten pizza that I didn't make. Mind you, I make a pretty mean pizza, but getting to eat pizza from a restaurant is a major treat for me. I ate until I was absolutely stuffed.

After the doctor visit we went to Wally World, a super one, haven't been to one of those in a long time, I couldn't find anything! Oh I could see the signs everywhere for this and that, but I still walked around almost in a daze, all the people, all the cars (in the parking lot), it was almost too much for me to deal with, though I will say that for the most part I didn't run into any majorly misbehaving children. The adults were a different story, at least when I was in line, this goth-looking girl/woman was standing behind me, about 6 inches from me, I could see her out of my peripheral vision, she never actually touched me, but I could almost feel her breathing. Every step I took, she mirrored me. Eventually I started playing with her, I would move my cart a couple of inches and step up the tiniest step I could, she would step the same. Maybe she was trying to make me feel uncomfortable enough to find a different line, didn't work though, I finally stepped from between the baskets so that she would have to make some major moves to stand that close to me, problem solved.


While at the store, I decided to buy a comal, this is a flat, cast iron pan mainly used for cooking tortillas and doing things like pancakes, grilled cheese and such. This is something we eat several times a week, I have wanted a comal for a long time, so I took advantage of the situation and purchased one. This particular one is made by Lodge Logic, it's also pre-seasoned, this is important as seasoning a new cast iron pan takes a lot of time, effort, work and in my case, propane. Not to say it's not worth it in the end, but not something I relish doing, so the pre-seasoned pan is a major bonus for me. Of course it worked perfectly, I rinsed it with hot water, placed it on the burner and rubbed it with a light layer of Crisco, the first tortilla tried to stick, after that one, it worked like a charm. We ate tortillas, refried beans with a little cheese, hot sauce and sour cream, it was a good dinner.

I made my tortillas a little different this time, on occasion I add yeast, it makes a slightly puffier tortilla, depending on how long I allow it to rise. It also adds a yeasty flavor (which I really like), I just have to remember to proof the yeast before adding it to the flour, there isn't enough moisture in the dough for the yeast to really dissolve and develop if it's put in dry. This time I did it, but I didn't allow the dough to really rise very much, we were hungry and wanted to eat soon. The last two tortillas I rolled out, they had had more time to rise and develop some extra flavor, I made this thicker than all the rest, made it more like a flat bread than a tortilla, those were for me, LOL!

I also purchased more yarn, I have really gotten into this loom knitting thing, even though I have only made 2 hats to date, the hats turned out great and I want to make more. My MIL sent yarn for Christmas, she did a great job picking out the colors and yarns I like, but like any yarn addict, you can never have too much yarn, so I purchased more yarn, another set of knitting looms, Knifty Knitter Long Loom Set w/Hook &; Yarn Needle, 4/Pkg. and a pattern book called  More Knitting Wheel Fashions. The yarn that works best with the knitting loom is the thicker yarns, referred to as chunky, it's possible to use thinner yarns if you double or triple up on the yarn, (use 2 or 3 strands instead of 1).

My new favorite yarn is called bouclé yarn (pronounced boo-clay), it's a curly, fuzzy yarn, not necessarily thick, I use 2 strands instead of 1, that's what I used to make our hats. I'll post pictures of my hats and any other items I make soon. I am working on a new hat, just like the first 2 hats I made, this one will be for Bob, the only difference is the color, the first hats were made from a variegated bouclé in greens and other earth tones. This one is made from bouclé but in a charcoal gray color. Once I have that one completed, I'll make another for myself but with a little different look, yeah I know, pictures! I'm charging my camera as I write, it was dead or I would have pictures already.

It's been pretty cold, had wood fires every night, can't take the chance of breaking the water pump again. We have also had some big winds, as big (if not bigger) than how it was the first year we arrived here. It's been pounding everything, last night I had a hard time sleeping because of it, about the time I would be almost asleep, another gust would blast us, shake & rattle everything and wake me up. Once I heard something heavy fall over, it turned out to be a door that is propped up outside, I'm happy it wasn't part of the roof or worse, one of the solar panels.

Speaking of solar panels, for the last couple of weeks, we have had more cloudy or mostly cloudy days than sunny ones, it's made things a bit spare around here electric wise, we have enough of a system that if the batteries are full, we can go a day or two without sun, after that we have to really have to be careful about how much power we use for things besides lights. Having 1.5 watt LED lights really make a difference though, we can run them with little concern about how much they are drawing. (Thanks K!, You know who you are!).

I know this is a long post so I'll cut it off here, hope everyone has a safe and prosperous New Year! Oh it just started snowing with sleet mixed in, after such a sunny start to the day, oh boy, this is going to be an interesting rest of the day and night!








All written text and audio podcasts from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute (text or audio) without written permission.


Wretha,
properly pronounced wreetha, (included for the text reader),


Thanks for visiting!

Simple Solar Homesteading Book Review

Before our big move off the grid, I did a lot of research to learn everything I could about living off grid. I used the internet as my main source of information. I quickly found a great source of info at LaMar Alexander’s website. In following with my Off Grid – On The Cheap message, this is a very practical, hands on approach to how to get off the grid without having to spend lots of money. Who is LaMar? I can tell you that LaMar is genuine, he is one of the few people talking and teaching about living off grid, who is actually living the off grid lifestyle. I’d say that LaMar knows what he is talking about. LaMar has taken all of his experiences and put it all together in an ingenious book called “Simple Solar Homesteading” This book comes as both a hard copy and in digital format. It is written in a down to earth language, complex ideas are broken down into easy to understand solutions. You don’t have to be a professional to understand and follow the directions found in this book.
The book is well laid out and easy to navigate. It covers a myriad of subjects ranging from how to build your own cabin to dehydrating food and many other great ways to live off grid and be more self sufficient.
Here are a few of the how to projects in this book:

• How to build a solar cabin
• How to build a solar panel and generator power station
• How to build a solar composting toilet
• How to build a rain water and gray water recycling system
• How to build a solar oven
• How to build a food dehydrator

LaMar’s Cabin

When you open the book, the first thing you see is a picture of LaMar’s cabin. This cabin was designed and built by and for LaMar. He lives here full time, so it has to be functional, yet it is also has a simple charm and style that easy to customize to fit your own needs and tastes.

The book is full of step by step directions as well as lots of pictures. LaMar includes many tips and tricks to help you get things done quicker and cheaper. Not only does he show you how to build your cabin, he also helps you to figure out the best location and proper orientation. The price of this book is incredibly inexpensive, both the hard copy and the digital, it would be a bargain at any price though. It’s very clear that LaMar is more interested in passing on his knowledge than getting rich.
The book also contains LaMar’s history, how he became interested in living off grid, he discusses his childhood living in his grandfather’s and father’s homestead. It certainly is clear where he got his inspiration and interest in cabins and being independent.
What is my favorite project in the book? It has to be the solar composting toilet, or is it the solar oven? What, you expect me to pick just one???
I was able to talk LaMar into taking a few minutes out of his day to answer some questions, a small interview if you will. :)

Why did you decide to build your own cabin, of your own design and go off grid?
I was raised by homesteading parents so this lifestyle was in my blood. Since I was a teenager I have had a dream to build my own small solar cabin and when I quit teaching high school and moved back to my home town the timing was perfect.
When did you do this?
I started living off grid about 15 years ago in RV campers and small cabins but I built the solar cabin I live in now about 5 years ago.
Who is your biggest inspiration?
My grandparent and parent who were true homesteader that lived in cabins and supplied their own food through 3 wars and the great depression.
Is your cabin complete or are you still working on it?
My cabin is always a work in progress as I add things all the time. I recently rewired my lights for fluorescents and will be building an extension next year.
What are you working on now?
I am busy getting www.homesteadernews.com up and running thru winter and in spring I plan to build a deck and room extension. Lots of stuff to do!
What is your next project?
see above
What is the hardest thing about your off grid lifestyle?
Going out in the cold to feed and water animals. I am working on self feeders and waterers.
What surprised you the most about living off grid?
Peoples reactions to my cabin as they think it looks small from the road but once they get up close and see the inside they are amazed at how much room and all my amenities.
If you had this to do all over again, knowing what you know now, what (if anything) would you do different?
I don’t think I would do anything different as I am very happy!
Is money were no object, what would you like to do?
Money has little meaning to me and isn’t a desire but it would be nice to travel to foreign countries.
What do your friends and family think of your off grid lifestyle?
At first they thought I was crazy but after seeing my cabin they were impressed and two of my brothers want to build one for vacation homes.
How far is your property located from your nearest neighbor? Town?
I am ten miles from a small town and a mile from neighbors which are family.
Living in your cabin, space is a premium, what do you do to combat clutter?
Throw stuff away that I don’t need. I give away stuff all the time and keep my necessary items to the bare minimum.
What do you do for fun?
I play guitar and write songs, write books, hunt, fish, play pool, and spend time with Patty and the dogs.
What would you like everyone to know about you?
I enjoy helping people to simplify their lives.
Learn more about LaMar and his book here:
http://www.freewebs.com/simplesolarhomesteading
http://www.homesteadernews.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/simplesolarhomesteading

Wretha

Thanks for visiting.
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Click here to read my book review process.

Off Grid - On The Cheap

It seems that the “green” (or brown) movement is growing faster and faster. It used to be the realm of unwashed hippies, tree huggers and other so called “degenerates” who lived off the grid, in the wild, on the fringes of society.

Lately, I keep reading about how more mainstream people are jumping in, purchasing solar panels, adding passive solar rooms, collecting rain water. I read about people who build $300,000+ green homes, that price doesn’t include the price of the land it sits upon! It’s all fine and dandy for those who have lots of readily available cash sitting around, or worse, they get loans to bankroll their ubergreen homes.I have no complaints about those who can afford the extravagant green homes, if you are wealthy and can afford to do it, then by all means go for it. But what about all of the rest of us, living on fixed or small incomes? Is it possible to live the green dream if you don’t have a cool million sitting in the bank? The answer is YES, you can!...

Read the rest of the story here:
http://www.off-grid.net/2008/12/15/off-grid-on-the-cheap/

To read all of my messages on Off-Grid.net, click here:
http://www.off-grid.net/section/wretha/


Wretha

Thanks for visiting, Please leave all comments on the Off-Grid site instead of here, all the messages from this blog have been moved to the Off-Grid site, thanks!
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Miscellanous Stuff

My garden looks like it's been frosted, I just finished "fogging" the garden with diatomaceous earth, I try to do it about once a week. I haven't had much chance to do it lately because of all the rain, it does no good to try to dust when it's raining or about to rain, it would just be washed off. I have noticed a lot of grasshoppers, though they aren't doing very much damage, I can see where they are eating the leaves more an more. Today was a fairly sunny day so I decided it was time to do something about the grasshoppers.

Bob has been gone most of the day, out with one of our friends, helping him. I became adventurous and decided to climb up on the roof to change the angle of the solar panels. They are adjustable to face the sun, I thought it would be in the morning position, I was close, once I climbed up there, I could see that it was in a horizontal position, flat. The sun had passed high noon and was heading toward the west, so I undid the bungie cord and tilted the panels toward the west and redid the bungie cord. I looked around, enjoying the view from the roof, I couldn't tell you exactly how high it is, but suffice it to say it's around 3 stories tall. That's all for my adventures today. I spoke to my Dad and he is planning on coming out on Thursday or Friday, it's been very rainy in the Fort Worth area, so he hasn't been able to pack the truck, once he is able to do that, he will leave out the following day, I'm hoping he will get a break in the rain in th coming days.

I spoke to my DIL today, she and the baby are doing great, one glitch though, the baby is in a breech position, butt down, so we hope the baby will turn in the next couple of weeks. Her doctor says the baby might come early, not a big surprise, I'll just have to be ready when the time comes.

Pekoe is doing much better, she has had 4 doses of the antibiotics, Monday night she got a dose, Tuesday she got her morning and night doses, and this morning, she got one dose, today she jumped up on me and got in my face, before now, her breath was horrible, you could smell the infection and it was very stinky, it was miserable if she got under the blanket with one of us and started coughing, you would have to come up for air! This time all I smelled was regular doggie breath, it's funny to think that doggie breath would be an improvement, but believe me, it is! I had to take a second sniff to make sure, yep, her mouth is doing much, M U C H better.

That's about all for now, I'm just waiting for Bob to come home, I'll cook dinner, we will listen to the radio or the internet radio and then we will go to bed. Tomorrow, we have to get the bedroom finished for my Dad, it's nearly there, we just need to get a few more miscellaneous things out of there, clear off both decks so he can safely walk around out there.

Wretha

Thanks for visiting, I love comments (but not spam), you may leave anonymous comments (you do not need to sign up or sign in). I do moderate/approve each comment, if your comment doesn't show up within a day or so, try to leave it again, if you still have trouble, email me.
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More Deals For Solar Panels

In keeping my promise to post more often, here goes... While surfing the internet today, I ran across what seems to be a pretty good deal on solar panels, it's on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-50W-polycrystalline-
solar-panel-charger-power-jack_W0QQitemZ120
285442073QQihZ002QQcategoryZ41981QQcmdZViewItem

It's a 50 watt, polycrystalline solar panel, $249 plus $50 shipping,

it's a buy it now thing, no waiting for the auction to end,

Oops, never mind about the buy it now thing, upon further inspection, it is an auction, not a buy it now, but right now, as of this edit, there are no bids, and the price is great, they have other solar panels that are great deals too, some like the Harbor Freight panels for a better price.

Be back for more later...

Wretha

Thanks for visiting, I love comments (but not spam), you may leave anonymous comments (you do not need to sign up or sign in). I do moderate/approve each comment, if your comment doesn't show up within a day or so, try to leave it again, if you still have trouble, email me.
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Lot's O' Stuff

Busy Day

Today was a busy day, I went into town with a friend, I needed to pay my internet bill, I went ahead and paid for 2 months so I don't have to worry about it in a few weeks. I do wish my internet provider would accept on line payments, or even credit card or bank card payments over the phone, but they don't, they only accept snail mail or carry in payments, and since they are a good 30+ miles (one way), it's not likely I will be there in time each month to pay, and paying bills by mail is just a pain. Enough complaining. :)

Glasses & Hair Clippers

While I was in town, I purchased something I have been needing for some time, reading glasses. I noticed a couple of years ago, it was getting more and more difficult to read fine print, up until now, I have just been forcing myself to see what I needed to see, I would strain to read medicine bottles and such, well, now it's just about impossible to read those things, I can't force my eyes to focus enough to be able to see what I need to, so at the store, I tried on the different strengths, I think they only had 4 or 5, when I looked at the test print to decide which ones you need, I could read every line without glasses, so I looked around to find something with small enough print to test. I found the appropriate small print and tried on glasses. It turns out I only need the weakest one, WOO HOO, I'm not totally blind! (didn't really think I was...). I picked out the frames I like and found a pair for Bob too, he is also having trouble reading fine print, we both have to use a magnifier to read most small things, I didn't know which strength to choose, so I chose the weakest for him hoping it would be ok, I picked out the manliest looking frames, he looks pretty good in them! It turns out that he could have used a stronger pair, but for $5,00, it's not worth going back, and they do some good for him.

I also got something else that will come in very handy, it's something every mountain woman needs to tame her mountain man, a set of Wahl clippers, it includes an assortment of guards, a comb, scissors and oil. It's been so long since he has had a haircut that I think I'll have to make a name badge for him so everyone will know who he is, no one will recognize him! :)

Garden

I discovered something new about an ordinary plant that most people put in their garden, radish seed pods. I had a few left over radish seeds, not enough to plant very many seeds, I pulled most of the mature radishes, but chose to leave a couple that had gotten too big to be edible, I allowed them to go to seed, the idea was to produce more seeds to plant. The plant got about 2 or 3 feet tall, had some pretty but small white flowers on it, a week later, there were these seed pods popping up like candelabras all over the stems. The seed pods looked like succulent green beans, I decided to break one open to check out the inside. It was exactly like a succulent green bean, so I tasted one, it really tasted good, it was crisp, crunchy, juicy and tasty. I wasn't sure if these were really ok to eat, I do know that some plants are toxic except for the parts that are ok to eat, potatoes come to mind... anyhoo, I Googled radish seed pods and found that they are very edible, in fact it turns out the whole radish plant is edible, leaves and all, and some radishes are grown just for their seed pods. They can be eaten raw, or sauteed, and in Asian cooking, they are stir fried. I cooked some today, I picked a bunch, added them to the few green beans and immature pea pods I had, I sauteed them in butter, salted them, added some water, covered and let them steam/cook for about 10 minutes. They turned out pretty good, they stay crispy longer than green beans, and I found out that you need to remove the tip, that part stays tough no matter what. I have decided that I like them raw best, I will probably just take them with me and eat them as a raw, crunchy snack, I can't wait for someone to ask, what are you eating???

Now I just have to allow some of the seed pods to mature so I can have more seeds to grow more seed pods... or maybe I can find some seeds still in the store.

I went out after dinner and planted more beans, onions, broccoli, chives and carrots. Gotta have more plants coming for summer and fall.

Solar Panels & Filling In The Cracks

Let's see, Bob got the solar panels back up, he made a frame that tilts to face the sun better, right now it has to be tilted manually, eventually he will have an actuator on it to make it turn automatically. It allows us to catch the early morning and the late afternoon sun, I don't know what that actually gives us percentage wise, but it is an improvement, it's really great!

The other thing Bob has been doing is caulking and foaming up all the cracks, anywhere where bugs can get in, it's made such an improvement, especially in the evening when all the bugs are active and trying to get in.

Food

I finally got my canned meats in from the Internet Grocer, they accidentally sent it to my billing address instead of my mailing address, I had to wait for them to send a label to my Dad's house so he could drop it off at the UPS place. I finally got it yesterday, I was able to try it today. The first thing I noticed was the cans were bigger than I thought they would be, I had ordered the variety pack of meats (it has one each or beef chunks, ground beef, pork, chicken, turkey, butter and 2 cans of cheese), I ordered the small cans, I expected the cans to be the size of large tuna cans at best, well they were much larger, 14 ounces. I opened the beef chunks, and WOW, it is really beef CHUNKS, in very tasty, thick meat juice, not too salty either. Good texture and good taste! I had boiled some egg noodles, I added a packet of beef gravy and the can of beef chunks. It was a real hit at dinner tonight! :) I think the small cans will be perfect for Bob and I.

I can't wait to try the other meats, if they are as good as the beef chunks, I know where I will be buying most of my meats from now on. I'm not one for doom and gloom, but I read an article at Internet Grocer, this one is a bit scary, it turns out that the federal government purchased ALL, the ENTIRE STOCK of dehydrated foods at Mountain House, makes you wonder what is going on...

I am going to try to talk the country store into carrying the canned meats, I know it would be a big seller out here, it's quite a distance to go into town, and having access to good canned meats that aren't like the processed garbage that is sold by other companies would be a good thing for everyone out here.

That's about all for now. :)


Wretha

Thanks for visiting, I love comments (but not spam), you may leave anonymous comments (you do not need to sign up or sign in). I do moderate/approve each comment, if your comment doesn't show up within a day or so, try to leave it again, if you still have trouble, email me.
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8 Comments

seth said...

those beef chunks were good, weren't they.....the ground beef was just as good. will let you know on the others.

July 12, 2008 8:00 AM

Mayberry said...

Holy cow! That Mountain House news is good to know, and kinda scary! I posted on this today, with a link to your site and the story, hope you don't mind, but this word needs to be spread!

July 12, 2008 12:05 PM

tjbbpgob said...

Wretha, the feds. probably bought up Mountain House so they could give it away to foriegn countries. I wish M.H.could do like Barrett and just not deal with them feds. anymore.

July 12, 2008 5:55 PM

Wretha said...

Seth

Yeah, it was very good! I think we will try the turkey next, got a box of stuffing.... mmmmmmm...

Mayberry

I don't mind people linking to my blog, share the love!

tjbbpgob

Yeah, what you said. ;)

Wretha

July 12, 2008 10:28 PM

seth said...

I found a place to get inexpensive eyeglasses. If you have your prescription, you can order new ones from these guys. zennioptical.com

July 13, 2008 7:07 PM

Rook said...

I don't know what is going on. I tried to pull up the story tonight and it was a dead link. Maybe the fed's don't want people to know....

Working on the moat..


Rook

July 13, 2008 8:44 PM

lornkanaga said...

Wretha,

Have you read "The Earth-Sheltered Solar Greenhouse Book" by Mike Oehler? I just read it--fantastic ideas, and inexpensive to implement. Apparently this guy has fairly fresh produce year round from his sunken greenhouse, and he lives near the Canadian border. If you're interested, I'll shoot you a link to his website so you can check it out.

Glad to hear the canned meats from the Internet Grocer were good. How was the cheese, or haven't you tried it yet?

TheMajor'sLady

July 16, 2008 5:52 PM

Wretha said...

TheMajor'sLady

Thanks for the heads up on the book, I think I found the website, very interesting, I think our location would be very doable for an underground or partially underground house, we live on a mountain side, the biggest problem would be the rocks/boulders.

Haven't tried the cheese yet, the only thing we have tried so far is the beef chunks, and it was VERY GOOD! I'll post updates as I open up new cans. :)

Wretha

July 16, 2008 8:09 PM

Miscellanous Happenings

Not too much going on, let's see, the 4th we spent with our neighbor, he cooked a whole crockpot (the large one, not a small one) full of country style ribs, we had bbq beans and potato salad, it was a great meal with a great friend. There were activities in town but we didn't go, it was just nice to sit around and enjoy the day. The next day, we went to another friend's house and ate dinner, too much food to list, and it was all good! These friends have lots of kids, smaller kids, and they had other family over with their kids, I must admit, it was a bit crazy over there, but it was fun, they had a pool set up and the kids played in the pool most of the time, and dinner was so good that it was worth it. :)

Today Bob worked on the roof and the solar panels, the solar panels were off all day, so not much power today and tonight, it really wouldn't have mattered though, it was overcast nearly all day, so today was a good day to have the panels off line. He should have everything back up and running tomorrow.

Update on the house, we now have 2 decks, one on the west side, and now there is one that runs nearly the full length of the house on the north side, this is where we go in and out, and now we have a real set of stairs (WOOHOO), no more going up and down the ladder. Bob extended the roof to cover that deck mainly to protect the wood from the rain.

A bit of excitement the other night, I was using the internet until about 2 am, I was about to go to bed when I noticed a line of ants going along the floor at the wall, that's not unusual, I followed the ants to see either what they were going to, or where they were coming in. I followed them to one corner, then to another corner, they were on 3 corners, surrounding the room, and going up the wall in one corner, and all along one window, they were starting to crawl up into the bed. Ot was an ant invasion! I grabbed the spray bottle of soapy water and started spraying, I woke Bob up to help me. I took care of most of the ants inside the house, Bob got the rest, he went outside to find out where they were coming in. He had a hard time finding the trail, there were no ants coming up on anywhere under the house. He finally found them coming up a tree, crawling down a branch and getting on the roof, from there they were going to a window. He cut off the branches that overhung the house and killed the rest of the ants outside. The next day I swept up a large pile of dead ants. We are using diatomecous earth (DE) to control the ants, I also have some seven dust but we haven't used it yet.

We are waiting for Bob's brother to come for a visit, he will be staying with us for a while, hopefully he will like it enough out here to want to stay. We got a used travel trailer from one of our good friends out here (the one with all the kids), he brought it over and set it up on the street side of our property. It is old, and in need of a good cleaning, Bob and his brother will strip out a lot of the insides and re-do what needs to be redone. It's in pretty good shape though, the floor is sturdy, there is a little water damage but nothing that can't be fixed in short order. Bob's brother will stay in our new bedroom until they get the trailer fixed up, then he can live in there.

Bob didn't like the idea that the trailer could be seen so easily from the road, it is behind some trees, the the trailer being white, stuck out like a sore thumb, so Bob painted it green, then he covered it with military radar net, he stuck sticks and branches in it and on it, now when you go past it, it's very difficult to see, even I have a hard time spotting it and I know where to look! I think Bob's brother will like it that way too.

My dad will be coming out toward the end of the month, by then, the trailer should be set up and Bob's brother can stay in that, my dad can stay in the bedroom or he can stay at our neighbor's house, our neighbor has told us that we can use his spare bedroom if we want to need to, I expect that my dad will want to stay at our house though, we will see what happens.

That's just about all for now.

Wretha

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5 Comments

The Scavenger said...

Wretha, sounds like Bob the Builder has been very busy as of late. Glad to hear about the deck, there is nothing like sitting out late at night, I love it. The trailer will be handy too, you can never have too mcuh room. Sounds like you almost had to build a room on for the ants, I hate those little devils.

July 8, 2008 11:08 PM

Wretha said...

Scavenger, I hope we can get that trailer cleaned out in short order, I think it's only going to be a matter of weeks between the time my bro-in-law comes in and my dad getting here... busy busy busy!

The decks are great, it's great to cook and eat out there, the deer and the fox come around while we are out there, it's great fun to toss some food off the deck and see the wild creatures enjoying their snack.

Wretha

July 8, 2008 11:49 PM

Rook said...

Wretha, that is great with all the new friends you made in a area you haven't been at that long. I would have one problem I would want to eat the deer.

Working on the moat...

Rook

http://foragingprepper.blogspot.com/

July 9, 2008 6:30 AM

Lisa said...

Sounds like things are moving along! Can't wait to see picture updates :)
Lisa

July 9, 2008 7:08 AM

Wretha said...

Rook
Yeah, we have been pretty blessed with all the good friends we have here, and for the deer, there are people who hunt them, not supposed to, but it happens and as far as I know, no one says anything about it, just do it and keep quiet, and just because I have names for some of them, I still see meat on the hoof. ;)


Lisa
Pix may be few and far between, my cell phone was my only camera, and until I can dig out my digital camera, I will not be doing any more pix. :(

Wretha

July 9, 2008 9:03 PM