Snow, Power, Wind...

02-16-08

Today was different, quite fun actually. The weather has been fairly quiet the last few days, sunny, calm, a little wind now and again, warm days (in the 40s & 50s), cool nights (30s-40s) but for the most part, uneventful. The humidity is generally pretty low, in the 20-30% range, higher at night, lower in the day.

Last night the humidity got up to 91%! I looked out the window and could see low clouds coming across the mountain tops, obscuring them. Today, it snowed, not much accumulation though, a couple of times it looked like we were in a snow globe and someone shook it up. :) I really enjoyed the snow falling and blowing, the snow fell for a short time, and as soon as the sun peeked out from the clouds, the snow that had accumulated, immediately began to melt. A couple of times, during the snow fall, there was so much snow falling and blowing, I couldn't see the mountains around me, it was so pretty to see. Sorry I didn't get any pix, but my cell phone takes terrible pix and with all the snow blowing, all it would have shown was white to light gray on white/light gray...

The snow is gone, but the wind stayed, it's not that cold outside, but with the wind blowing and gusting, the heat that is generated by the wood stove is pulled out almost faster than we can make it. It also messed up movie night, it's nearly impossible to hear the little computer speakers on the laptop, that is something that I overlooked before I left Best Buy, I wished I had known, I would have gotten a small set of powered speakers, but live and learn.

Power

We have been doing very well with the power, we have learned how much we can use and still have power left over, ie we don't run out of battery power any more! We have a total of 4 deep cycle batteries, 2 are hooked up to one set of solar panels and 2 are hooked up to another set of solar panels, we use one set for the water pump on the sink and one light, the other set is for the rest of the lights, computer, fan (rarely used), cell phone and occasionally a small electric blanket. Oh, I almost forgot, we are now running a small cube refrigerator, right now we are leaving it outside, covered with a piece of plastic to keep it dry (just in case). It is in the shade (it's on the north side of the cabin, so it never gets any sun), and for the most part, the outside temp stays cool to cold so the fridge doesn't run very much, even so, I unplug it at night, and sometimes even leave it unplugged during the day, just depends on how cool the temps are. This summer, when we need to leave it plugged up all the time, we will have longer days to charge the batteries with the solar panels so that should not be a problem.

Wow, that was a big gust of wind, it sure is noisy and makes the cabin rock and roll, I hope I can sleep tonight, I took a nap today, if this wind keeps up, I expect I will be listening to my MP3 player all night in bed instead of sleeping. Oh well, I can always sleep tomorrow if I need to. :) I am sitting near the wood stove, it really feels good, it's a comfort to hear the logs crackling and the stock pot full of water bubbling away. It's only 39 degrees F outside (it's just past midnight) and the humidity is still pretty high, at 68%, inside the temp is 58 and the humidity is 23% (it normally sits at 16%), but with the wind howling, it feels a lot colder tonight. I guess it's time to shut this down, put on my pink pj's and get to bed.
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3 Comments

Anonymous said...

I enjoy your blog. I may be mistaken but I guess you are in Texas?? I have a few friends down in that part of the country. Having built my home and shops from recycled material I can understand what you are going through. Keep up the good work and I look forward to your next post. Chuck in Phoenix

February 19, 2008 9:41 PM

Dragon said...

Hi,I just stopped by to see how ya were doin.I hope all is well in your neck of the woods,Dragon

February 20, 2008 12:18 AM

Wretha said...

Chuck, thanks for your comment! Yes, we are in far west Texas, I used to live in Irving Texas, this is quite a change for me, though I have always dreamed of living in the desert AND on a mountain, I get the best of both worlds, :)

Dragon, thanks for your comment! We are doing great, I have been learning about bees on that Yahoo group, I plan on trying to find their hive this spring, and I might try to harvest some of the honey if I can, to my knowledge I am not allergic to bee stings, and these bees are very docile, I have learned there is a hydroponic tomato farm not too far away from me, and they use bees to pollinate the tomatoes, I believe my bees may be from there.

I checked our your blog, very nice!

Wretha

February 21, 2008 6:29 PM

More Pix

More Pix

I took more pix today, here they are:

This is the hole that Bob dug, it's about 6 feet deep and 6 feet across, the bucket you see in the hole is a standard 5 gallon bucket, the caption "My Hole Has A Bucket In It" is a play on words, the first person who can tell me why that is funny and where I got it from wins an award. ;)


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This is me, I am standing in the "bathroom" corner of the cabin looking into the medicine cabinet.


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This is the humanure toilet, complete with the obligatory reading material, the orange bucket on the left has the cover material, the smaller red container on the right is my pee bucket, this gets dumped outside on the compost pile.


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This is the inside portion of the power plant, there are 4 deep cycle batteries on the bottom, on the top, from left to right is the on-off switch, on top of that is the small charge controller, to the right is the big charge controller, the red thing on the right is the inverter. This is all sitting on top of a chest of drawers. I know it looks like a rats nest of wires, and for the most part it is, but it works and quite well and is more organized than it looks.


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This is the heat and water heating and sometimes cooking area, you can see the stock pot on top, it is about half full with water, it stays warm for hours after the fire goes out. This is what I use to wash myself and the dishes with.


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This is the food pantry, we have mostly canned goods here, I also have food stores in other places in the cabin. We are eating out of cans a lot, I do try to get creative with what we have, and on a semi-regular basis, I get to town and get some fresh food (salad, greens, cheese, bread...) to add to the mix. We had salad a few days ago, I'm not a big salad eater, but I loved eating the crunchy greens, it made for a different meal and I know it was good for us too. I can't wait to start growing a garden, we will have lots of good stuff to eat then! :)


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This is the bed that Bob built. It's not much to look at, but it is off the ground and sturdy. You can see my pink PJs on my pillow.


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This is my sink, complete with pot and pan storage, a shelf over the top for various things, and lots of room under it for storing our junk.


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02-13-08

This evening, close to sundown, I sat outside on a big rock, out behind my cabin, this is where the deer walk through, they seem to follow the sun, they walk toward sun up in the morning, and walk toward sundown in the evening. I was not disappointed, I heard then saw the small herd of our deer, the young male spike, the several does and the baby, there used to be two babies, but we found one of them on a trail on the west side of our property, it had been partially eaten, and it was stinking pretty bad, poor thing, but that is the way it is out here. I am starting to recognize individual deer, the most aggressive one is a doe with a notched ear, she will kick the bigger males out of her way if I throw a few crackers down for them to eat. It seems that they like crackers, I have been throwing crackers to them in the evening, and they do like them. The other day I had been feeding them when Bob got home, he stayed near on the street side of property (on the south side of the dry creek) and worked on the Bug, I made hot dogs and took them down to Bob, the deer with the notched ear followed me all the way down to the creek, she wouldn't follow me down the bank until well after I had crossed, she stayed about 10-15 feet behind me, every time I turned to face her, she would stop and just look at me, my hands were full, I had 2 plates of hot dogs in one hand and two drinks (of tea) in the other hand, I tried kicking a bit of dirt at her to scare her off, but she just looked around to see if I was throwing more crackers. Each time I turned my back to start walking again, I could hear her following me, I'm not afraid of the deer, but I do respect them, and if startled, they may react toward me with aggression, they can kick to beat all thunder, and I would not want to be on the receiving end of one of those hoofs! This evening, while I was sitting in the place where the deer usually gather behind our cabin, I purposely didn't take any food for them, I only feed them from the safety of my cabin, or very near the cabin, as long as I have something between them and me. I don't want them thinking I always have food, only when it's safe for me to do so, and only from one place, that way I will be safer when I am out away from the cabin, at least that is my plan, we will see how well it works. :).
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11 Comments

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Anonymous said...

OMG i love your blog, you and Bob. How do you'll do coffee? And what about the wind generator? Lots of pics and blogs please.
jealous, Elevator

February 15, 2008 9:33 AM

Wretha said...

Hi Big D, miss you much! Coffee is easy, we keep a water heating on the wood stove all the time, or in a pinch, we have propane, but try not to use it much, gotta save it as long as possible. The windmill is on hold for now, we have more concrete to pour and we can't do concrete work when it is too cold. Hopefully we will be able to work on it more as spring gets closer.

Wretha

February 15, 2008 8:29 PM

Anonymous said...

Good to see some pictures!

February 17, 2008 10:58 AM

Oldman in the boonies said...

Your Adventure is wonderful. I am in the hinterlands of the great white north ( especially today). I am curious about your 12 volt water pump. Can I ask where you got it and how much it cost Please

February 17, 2008 3:11 PM

Wretha said...

Thanks oldman in the boonies, the pump was given to us, I was told it came from a RV, do a search for 12 volt water pump and you should find lots to choose from. I like the fact that it's 12 volt, it works directly from our batteries, and the way it's hooked up, it pumps water as soon as I turn the faucet, the biggest drawback is the noise, it is noisy, but I will deal with that to have running water.

If you have any other questions, or want clarification about anything, just ask, I am happy to talk about our systems! :)

Wretha

February 17, 2008 8:02 PM

lindy said...

I can't believe I am the first one to get your "Bucket in a hole" question! If we ever meet, I play this song on my ocarina lol (poorly, but all the same!)

There's a hole in my bucket... dear liza ... dear liza

There's a hole in my bucket... dear liza ... a hole!

Well, fix it dear Henry... dear Henry... dear Henry.

Well, fix it Dear Henry... Dear Henry... FIX IT!

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lovin' your blog!!!

Lindy :) the off-grid bus dweller

February 23, 2008 11:13 AM

lindy said...

Wreatha
Have you thought about starting sprouts? I eat A LOT of sprouts in the winter.. mung (bean), alfalfa, etc. It really helps with the "I need something green and crunchy" cravings I get in the wintertime.

February 25, 2008 4:52 PM

Wretha said...

Hi Lindy, yes, I have considered sprouts, and will probably do it later, and you do "win" the "contest" for the song, I am working on your "award"... notice all the quotes, I hope you have a good sense of humor... ;) you may need it to appreciate your award.

Wretha

February 26, 2008 10:12 PM

lindy said...

:) I do have a good sense of humor! :) and I really love your blog.

March 3, 2008 7:05 PM

Annie said...

Shucks
I knew that song immed--only I am later getin here boo hoo. My dad always used to sing it with his accordian.
With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza
with what shall I fix it, with what
With a rock dear henry, dear henry dear henry
with a rock dear henry, dear henry, with a rock etc yada yada
Love your blog wreatha--wil have to show my hubby your power sys--cool--we have an rv, so maybe we could double up on the water pump when in the hunter's cabin, and put it back in rv when it's warmer and the cabin isn't needed!!! hmmmm annie

March 8, 2008 6:31 PM

Wretha said...

Thanks Annie! I'm glad you like reading this, I enjoy writing it and I appreciate all the comments...

Wretha

March 8, 2008 6:52 PM

Bed, Bath & Bees

02-11-08

This morning I awoke more refreshed than I have been in a while, the reason is the bed, our bed had been just a mattress laying on the floor, it was comfortable enough, but being directly on the floor, it was cold, we kept 6-7 layers of blankets on top, but the cold seeped in from the bottom and stole our heat, I would wake up aching from being cold. Last night Bob took some of the lumber he got from town and make a frame for the bed, it's not fancy, but it does lift the bed off the floor by several feet, so now we can store things under the bed. It made a lot of difference in the amount of room we have available. When we went to bed last night, the temp in the room was around 40, but the bed was toasty warm.

Bob went to town with our friend the local builder, he is helping him with a project, it will take about a month to complete, this is the first time I will be by myself all day (with the exception of the dental visits), I must admit that I appreciate my "me time", don't get me wrong, I love Bob with all of my heart, but something we both appreciate is the value of private time, and in our little cabin, it's hard to have any privacy.

I took a leisurely "bath", well as much as a bath as one can take without a tub, I took a pan of warm water, a wash cloth and a bar of soap and cleaned from top to bottom, I shampooed my hair too, that felt good, I ran around with rollers in my hair until it dried, that doesn't take long with the warm temperature and low humidity. I used my Avon skin care products on my face, something that I don't always do every day. I put on clean clothes, then did the dishes. It's so nice to be able to wash myself and the dishes in hot water.

I started something, maybe something good, maybe something not so good, we have honey bees in abundance around here, they fly in the house and that's OK, they don't bother anything or anyone, they just buzz around looking for something good to eat. They fly in the front door, and mainly check out the sink area, if I have anything they might like, I try to make it easy for them to get it. Today, I made up a sugar solution in a plastic lid and placed it down for them, one bee found it, sucked up as much as she could hold, then flew out the window, about 20 minutes later, I have 2 bees buzzing around, they both found the sugar solution, and a while later my cabin was a buzz with bees. Right now, there are about 5 bees buzzing around the front door, they will make their way over to the table where the sugar solution is sitting, I hope they don't tell too many of their other sisters about this sugar bonanza. :) Before I had my sink & water set up, and I had to do dishes outside, they used to buzz around me the instant I came out with the dirty dishes, it was a race between me cleaning and the bees eating, they were fast too, they figured out I had something good before I got out the door most of the time! :) I didn't really mind, they are docile enough. As I watch this latest bee drinking the sugar solution, I wonder where their nest is, it must be close, I don't know what the range of a honey bee is, but I don't think they go very far, it's possible that someone around here is a bee keeper, or they might just have a wild nest, I would like to know... mmmmm fresh, wild honey...

The wind is picking up, it has been fairly calm the last 2-3 days, it's still nice outside, the temp right now (it's 2:20 pm) is 70 degrees F, the sky is getting cloudy, high thin clouds, last I heard, it's supposed to possibly rain tomorrow and/or Wednesday. I sort of hope we get some rain, even if it messes up some of our stuff outside, it's so pretty after a rain, and all the plants appreciate it too.

Oh, for the record, it's bad to invite a single bee to lunch, she invites all of her friends, I had about a dozen bees buzzing around inside my cabin, I removed the snack and about an hour later, I was down to one or two bees. a much more manageable quantity... I still want to know where their hive is located. :)
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3 Comments

Dragon said...

Your bee's aren't far off...yahoo has a organic bee keeper group if your interested. Dragon

February 15, 2008 8:41 PM

Wretha said...

Thanks Dragon, my hubby says he knows where they are, and they aren't too far at all. We have a deer carcass not too far from our cabin and today I found it full of bees, I was going to pour lime on it or something like that, it smells terrible and it's upwind from our cabin, when I saw the bees, I changed my mind, don't really want to disturb the natural way of things, hopefully in a few more days, the scavengers will take care it for me. :)

Wretha

February 15, 2008 9:04 PM

Dragon said...

if you start a few top bar hives bee's could add to your income some.
sounds like your Hubby is handy enuff to construct them.
Honey prices are way up due to the colony collapse disorder.
search for bush's bee's for more info if interested.
I wish Ya'll luck out there. Dragon

February 16, 2008 9:52 AM

Nothing specific...

Wind, calm, cold then warm, that is how it goes around here, there is no pattern that I can discern, all I can say is that when it blows, it really blows! I can normally sleep through just about anything, as long as I know what it is, the other night, the wind woke me up and I stayed awake until after daybreak, our little cabin has been reinforced quite a lot, much better than it was when we first got here. But the wind still makes a lot of noise, and for some reason, it kept me awake. The next day was pretty calm so I took a long nap. The good thing about being awake when the sun came up was seeing the gorgeous sunrise, seeing the sun highlight the mountain tops, working it's way down into the valley, and seeing the daytime animals coming to life and doing their thing. I am used to seeing the mule deer walking from the west to the east across our property in the evening, about an hour before sundown, it was nice to see them going from east to west that morning just after sunrise. I also got to see some different birds, I will need to get a bird book to identify these birds, they are much different from what I have seen for years in the DFW area, with the exception of a few black crows, I don't recognize any of the other birds.

Today is warm, the temps are getting up above 70 degrees F, the sun is shining, the sky is clear, and there is just a hint of a breeze today, it was calm last night too. Bob went into town to see the dentist yesterday, the appointment got messed up, blame it on the cell phone breaking up, they called us to confirm the appointment, we called back and got a voice mail, we left a message saying that Bob would be there, but the signal was not very good, and apparently they thought we were canceling the appointment, so they allowed him to come in anyway, but really didn't do much, took an x-ray and rescheduled him for another appointment in about a month. But the trip was not a total loss, he went to a lumber yard and found a really good deal, they had a stack of 2x4's, strapped up, I'm not sure exactly how many, but there are a lot! They were asking $5.00 for the bundle, they were beat up a bit, but perfectly usable for us! What a bargain! These usually cost $5.00 each, he also got more cement powder and a few other items. Our friend who took him to town also gave us some things, a small cube refrigerator, some tools and other things, he is a very nice man, very generous. He is the local builder and asked Bob to help on a job, it should take about a month to complete, so I will not be seeing Bob during the day for a while, but that's OK, the only snag will be the fact that Bob will not be working on our stuff as much while he is doing this, but we are sitting pretty good right now, so a month will not make a big difference.

Bob has been doing concrete work around our cabin, he uses straight cement powder (not the premixed stuff), he is creating what is called soil cement, this uses the dirt and rocks (gravel and larger rocks) instead of buying sand and gravel. This is a common practice by the state to make embankments and such, in fact the embankments and sidewalks in this part of Texas are often tinged pink because that's the color of the dirt and they used the dirt in the mix. This makes a strong concrete and it's pretty too. Bob uses a cement mixer we purchased at Harbor Freight, he uses the generator to run it and he has been pouring footings and walls. It's a long process, he creates a form (for the wall), mixes the concrete, pours it into the forms, tamps it in and waits for it to set. He usually pours about a foot tall and 5-6 feet long at a time. We also have to be conscious of the weather, we can't pour if it's going to freeze, that would ruin it, make it crumble. But once it is done, we will have strong walls, fire proof, rot proof, animal and weather proof.

Life out here is becoming more routine, I am getting used to cooking on the wood stove, heating water on it too, I just have to think ahead, getting hot water isn't just a water faucet away, I try to keep at least 2 containers of water going on the wood stove at all times, one for making hot drinks (coffee, hot chocolate, tea...) the other, a much larger container, a stock pot, is for cleaning, I wash dishes with the heated water, I also wash myself with the hot water, I feel like those old time westerns where you see the water pitcher and the large bowl sitting on the cabinet, you pour the water into the bowl and wash yourself from that, the difference is I have hot water and it makes a big difference! Even if the fire has gone out, the stock pot keeps warm for quite a while, even overnight, makes it nice to be able to wash up with warm water in the morning! :)

Sleet, snow, wind, care packages - PIX

02-05-08

Just before daybreak, we were awakened by the sound of sleet falling on the roof, when I went to bed (at about 3:30 am, yeah I know...), the temp was 42 and steady, the wind was blowing, as usual, I could see the stars out the window so the sky was clear, what a difference a few hours can make! Bob got up and started the fire going in the wood stove, I laid in bed until it got light outside, Bob was making biscuits on the wood stove, he makes a pretty mean biscuit :) I finally rolled out of bed to see the snow, the sleet had stopped and had been replaced by fluffy snow flakes. Everywhere I looked, the snow was swirling, the ground was becoming white, the mountains were looking very scenic. I grabbed my camera (cell phone) and started snapping pix. I put on my thick, quilted coveralls (one of the best things we got before we left Irving!), I leashed up a very reluctant dog and went outside. Once we were out, Pekoe became less reluctant and more interested in doing her business, the clouds were breaking up and the sun was starting to shine, it had just came over the east ridge of the mountains and illuminated the patchy snow on the ground, I snapped quite a few good pix, it's amazing how a little snow can make the most mundane objects look special.

I came back inside when I ran out of memory in my cell phone for pix, the dog had completed her business and my fingers were frozen. I carried 2 logs up from the street side of our property, that's a bit of a walk, all up hill, but I managed, we needed the wood, and besides, I didn't want to have to explain why I didn't bring at least one piece of wood when I was right next to it.

An interesting observation, I noticed that when frozen precipitation falls, it doesn't melt, it evaporates, the air is so dry here, the humidity is nearly always low, when I picked up the snow today, it just evaporated in my hand, very interesting indeed...

Now I am sitting in front of a warm fire, wearing my warm, fuzzy pink PJs, sent to me by my MIL, enjoying part 2 of the weather event that was NOT predicted by the NOAH weather people on line, the clouds came back and it started snowing again.

Care Packages

In the last week, we have received 2 sets of care packages, the first came from Bob's mom, it came via UPS, delivered to our neighbor's house (thanks again to our wonderful neighbor!), it came in 3 boxes, one box was for our neighbor, he has been inducted into the family so he gets care packages too. About half of the stuff was Christmas gifts, a few items were for Bob's birthday, and the rest were things like toilet paper, food items, medicine, paper plates and such. I got a set of pink, fuzzy pajamas, I haven't had PJs like these since I was a kid, they are great, we also got thermal underwear, goodies from the kitchen, homemade prailines, cookies, and bags and bags of dehydrated fruit & nuts.

The other item we received was a weather station (this came from Bob's brother, thanks Jeff!), it has three parts, one part measures the temp and humidity, the next part measures the wind speed and direction, and the base unit that stays inside the cabin, that measures the inside temp & humidity and lets us know what is going on outside. It also had an atomic clock & calendar, it keeps records of everything including the barometric pressure. It's been great knowing all of this information, especially the outside temps. There was one last thing in the package that will come in very handy, we put it away for a "rainy day", thanks so much!!!!!

Yesterday, when I went to our neighbor's house to get water, there was another box sitting there, he said it was for Bob and I, I hadn't been expecting anything, I looked at the return address and I knew it was from Bob's other brother, Chris and his family (thanks Chris!!!), completely unexpected, it was another care package, I could barely carry this (and the water containers and the flashlight) back to our cabin, when I got within 10 yards of the cabin, I hollered for Bob to come help. Upon opening this care package, it was filled with dental supplies (thanks Christy!), cookies for Bob, a package of toilet paper, cleaning wipes and a warm blanket, there were a few other items too that will come in very handy, thanks Chris, Christy and Aubri, these named and unnamed items will be put to very good use. :)

I would also like to take this time to thank my dad, thanks so much for everything! I love and miss you very much, and look forward to seeing you this spring, I can't wait to show you everything we have accomplished.

Pix of the water system, concrete walls, rocks and a big hole...

02-04-08

Here are some pictures of the water system, it is all inside our cabin so we don't have to worry about anything freezing. It basically works like this, we have a 55 gallon plastic (food safe) barrel next to the sink, it is filled with clean water. We placed a length of black plastic tubing (it's like a hard water hose) going down into the inside of the barrel, it goes all the way to the bottom of the barrel. This goes to a 12 volt water pump, this is attached directly to the water faucet which is attached to the wall above my sink. The pump is powered by one of the big batteries in our power system. It is always powered on, but only comes on when the faucet is opened. When the faucet is opened, the pump immediately pumps water from the barrel to the faucet, it creates pressure so the water comes out hard enough to do what I need it to do. Right now, there is only cold water, we have to rely on our wood stove to provide hot water for now, that will change in the future, but for now, it works great!

The graphic I drew is pretty close to how it really looks, but things are a bit farther apart then I drew, the barrel is pretty close to the sink, the pump is really that close to the faucet, the sink is not that far from the faucet, and the battery is not that close to everything else.

My sink

I love my sink, it was a "found treasure", when we still lived in Irving, I was coming home from work, taking one of my usual short cuts, I passed a rent house that was being renovated. There was a pile of trash and stuff sitting out near the street. I saw the sink sitting there and decided that it would be mine. I went home, got Bob, we went back and got the sink and a few miscellaneous items, it's amazing what people throw away! :) The sink has been around for a while, I would guess it's a 40s or 50s model, you don't see them like this anymore. It's enameled steel, white, with a double bowl design, what is different is it has built in drain boards on both sides of the sink, (all made out of enameled steel), it has an art deco look to it. The enamel is in pretty good shape, it does have a few dings in it, but far fewer than my original sink at my old house! The biggest advantage for me is the drain boards, most people now days have automatic dish washers and don't have much need for these, but since I am living more like a pioneer, the drain boards are a real help to me.

Bob plumbed the drains to drain outside into a pit, a gray water system, so now I am all fixed up with pressurized running water. The pump does make noise when it comes on, not too loud, about like a quiet garbage disposal, you definitely know it's running, but I don't mind a bit, though we will have to be aware of the noise factor when one of us is asleep, it would probably wake the sleeping person, since our bedroom is just a few feet off the kitchen and there are no walls inside, any noise made inside the cabin is immediately heard all over the cabin.

Today, I had planned on doing other things, but I ended up helping Bob most of the day, we poured concrete to make walls, Bob poured, I tamped and smoothed, the other thing we did was dig a hole, it's a big hole, right now it's about 3-4 feet deep and about 6 feet across, the digging is not too bad, the soil here is great, very little clay, but there are a lot of rocks, big rocks, if it weren't for the rocks, we would have a really big hole! The hole is going to be a cistern to hold water when it rains this summer. I'll explain a bit more about that later.

Water NOW!

Most days Bob amazes me with his ingenious methods of building things, making things, fixing things, we lovingly refer to it as "Bobbidge", imagine MacGuyver with an attitude, and you have Bob. But on occasion, Bob far exceeds even my amazement, he did this today.

One of the things we do not have is water, we go to our neighbor's house everyday to get water, essentially 3 gallons per day, that is for drinking and a little cleaning, but with only 3 gallons, it doesn't leave much left over for cleaning. We purchased a blue plastic 55 gallon drum before we left Irving, Bob placed that in the "kitchen" area, next to the sink, he filled it with water from our neighbor's house, believe it or not, we hooked up I think about 5 hoses, there may have been more, anyhoo, we filled the drum with water, (Bob had reinforced the floor where the drum sits, water is very heavy!), we also had a 12 volt pump (12 volts is very important, it means we can hook it directly to the batteries, we don't have to go through the inverter, that saves lots of power), Bob took this pump and hooked it up to the water faucet on the "out" side, on the "in" side of the pump, it is hooked to a hose that goes into the barrel, he applied power to the pump, the way this works now, when we turn on the faucet, the pump comes on and water starts flowing, when we turn off the water, the pump stops. I'll get some pictures, I know it's hard to picture based on a description. Basically we have pressurized running water on demand.

Next Bob will start working on a system to heat water, that may take more time, we do have 2 long lengths of black tubing (like a black colored plastic water hose), this can be filled with water and allow the sun to heat the water, we have lots of solar potential up here, it can make lots of hot water in a very short amount of time.

I am just very happy to have running water inside my cabin, it's clean and available. WooHoo!