Going Batty

After a day of installing insulation, we had a pretty good system down. The batts are an eco-friendly type... without treatment of chemicals like formaldehyde.

That's all, for now, folks! You'll have to wait another week or so for pics of the interior.   :)

Exterior & Windows

The exterior covering is very simple... tyvek, plywood and slab wood over the seams (not done yet so pics of that detail will be later).

The windows are double pane, of course, two are single hung, one is a slider and a double hung for in the loft.

The Roof

In the words of my nephew "You now have a shelter."

roof joists

osb

tar paper

galvalume metal in place

Raising Walls

A group of wonderful, salt of the earth folks (friends and relatives all!) came for a day, and many scattered days thereafter, to help with this project. We are thankful beyond words. You know who you are!!!

wall #1- north side

wall #2- east side

all four!

loft floor joists

upper walls to support the roof

A Bunkhouse

After a famine of posts, get ready for a feast! We have been crazy busy building a bunkhouse. It's 12 x 12 feet, on skids, with a shed style roof, built with passive solar design in mind with lumber milled from our own trees. Very cool. And cute! 

In future, guests will have a cozy, private little space all their own! With amazing mountain view of the other side of the creek valley.

 A series of posts with construction photos follow.

Here are pics of the floor...

built upside down, insulation and skids are added

turning it over

putting on the plywood flooring

dragging it into location

Plagues...

… of grasshoppers eating up all my potato and onion plants not to mention every other plant in their wake… and various grass seeds wheedling their way deep down into the fur of the dogs (and our clothing).

Ugh!

Officially Off-the-Grid

We are officially off the electric grid now!

About one month ago we disconnected. Unfortunately, we don't have a pv system yet so we are still heavy on the fossil fuel grid. Sigh.

It's been a learning curve.

Keeping the batteries maintained. Making sure we have gas for the generator (which we affectionately call "geny"). Remembering to take our power cord with us to charge the laptop at the library, etc. Weaning ourselves off watching movies in the evening to conserve on fuel used to power the geny which charges the laptop. So much to think about!

It sure will be nice to generate our own solar power soon!

Late Spring Rains

 
Goodness gracious, we've had tons (a slight exaggeration) of rain the past 2 weeks! It's slowed up final stages of the infamous bridge re-construction, but sure does make plants grow beautifully.

Here is a pic of our hugelkultur beds. We didn't get nearly as many built and planted as we wanted, but this fall we will. In the meantime we're sort of experimenting.   ;)  The pic above shows the potatoes in one loving life! That was taken 2 weeks ago, they are twice that size now.

Yum, taters!

Harbingers

Aside from the spring equinox, spring has really sprung in our neck of the woods. Ask residents of Ferry County what the typical harbingers of spring are here and you’ll hear answers like: seeing robins, bluebird sightings (a personal favorite), or spotting the first little sunny buttercups. 

In the past week we’ve seen all three, including twitterpated robins. Groups of juncos hop around everywhere giving our house cat some entertainment. The chickens keep escaping their yard to scratch around in the soil, much to the chagrin of our young dog who feels they should stay out of his yard.

And then our Shetland lambs have begun their arrival! The hens are providing 8-16 eggs per day. The warm sunshine and breeze feel glorious, and the soft rains are welcome! 

Winter White

 As a young person, fun in the snow was the main attraction of the winter season I so loved. Adults said to me “just wait until you have to drive in or shovel it.” Some people don’t like winter because they think everything looks dead and ugly. Others consider snow an unmentionable word.

Even with their relative inconveniences I deeply appreciate and enjoy all the seasons. Fall is probably my favorite with its golden light, rich colors, crisp air, and fragrant ripe apples! Winter is next, even though I am an adult who has to deal with the hardships it brings.

To me winter is when the earth is at rest, simply sleeping under its cozy white blanket of snow. My mind’s eye envisions seeds and plant life underneath regenerated by their slumber just waiting for it to warm up so as to spring back to life!

I love how this white blanket softens the edges of our landscape and covers over a multitude of imperfections. I still enjoy playing in the snow or just watching the dogs gleefully plow and submarine through it! I love watching snowflakes float gently earthward like so many down feathers, landing as soft as a whisper, fascinated by the thought that each delicate crystal that has ever fallen since time began is unique from any other. I love the giant shimmering icicles that form along the roofs edge. I love how even on a cloudy day that pure white blanket reflects light and seems to brighten life. I love nights when the snow is awash in silvery moonlight. I love the glorious blue-sky days when practically blinded by the sun’s reflection on the sparkling surface, but oh how good it feels on the eyes! I love how quiet and peaceful the world around seems as the snow muffles sound.

As spring steadily approaches, I think how I will miss the snowy white blanket, but also how I will revel in the beauties of new life springing forth in their characteristic noisy fashion!

Off-Grid...

... Off the Grid... terms heard and read frequently these days. What is a grid? What does living off-grid mean? And why do it in the first place?

Living off-grid is by no means new, even though it is fairly new in the consciousness of most since being popularized by television and celebrities. Think about the settlers of this land, Native tribes, and numerous other peoples around the globe; none of them were tied in to utilities. Being off-grid is not out of the ordinary anymore- Home Power Magazine reported in 2006 that the number of families living off-grid has jumped 33% each year for a decade. Importantly, the phrase does not refer to 'being off one's rocker', although there are those who feel folks actually choosing this manner of living are just that. :-) Nor is it to be confused with being 'off the map' , 'under the radar', nor any other extreme notion referring to a desire to completely disappear from the company of society.

The grid does refer to any one of several public utilities- electric, water, sewer, gas. Being off-grid, then, is living without reliance on any one or more of said utilities. A truly off-grid home is able to operate independently of all traditional utility services. This is our personal goal (more on that later.)

The answers as to 'why' are as varied as the folks you could ask. Many reasons are similar, some unique, a few honestly strange. Too each his/her own! The top two reasons are saving money and reducing carbon footprint. Others include unavailability of utilities to rural land, financial hardship to connect, survivalist philosophy, spiritual connectedness.

"All very interesting, but what are your reasons, Tom and Krystal?" Alright already, hold your horses! Our main reasons, detailed below, are: financial freedom, environmental responsibility togetherness, and health. However, many of the above mentioned reasons play a small part, also.

Financial freedom: We want to retire from the city work-a-day world, live simply and inexpensively, raise what we eat-eat what we raise, be mortgage-free and have no utility bills. Being off-grid allows for these. Such living is a wealthy life, even if one may be cash poor. This concept, unfortunately, was mostly lost with our grandparents generation.

Environmental responsibility: Traditional utilities are wasteful, incredibly destructive to the environment, and pose a danger to health. We feel a personal responsibility to live in harmony with nature as much as possible, within reason, not "ruining the earth." For each person this is different based on ability, practicality and willingness. We are able to choose a rural life and going off-grid. We have been doing what we can in an urban environment and encourage you to, also. It's fun to utilize low-tech ways to be self-sufficient, especially for children!

Togetherness: Trying to make a living is so busy and stressful! It eats up tons of time and energy and makes us feel isolated from one another. We love spending time together caring for the animals, working on projects, serving our God, gardening, cooking, to just be. Tom retiring to our very own ranch would be a dream come true for us both!

Health: Clean air, fresh water, natural home-grown food, animal husbandry, gathering our own wood for heat and cooking, exercise engaging in such outdoor activities, less stress, pure enjoyment of life as we were created- what could be more healthy, both physically and mentally!!!

As briefly mentioned earlier, our goal is to be 100% off-grid. Although each alternative system we install will be discussed in future posts, most likely individually for lots of detail and information (more than you may even want to know on some!), here is a list:
super-insulated, active solar, straw bale home thus reducing needs for heating and cooling; wood, both a renewable and sustainable resource, for heating and cooking; greywater system instead of septic; 'dry' toilet; photovoltaic solar array for generating our own electricity; possibly wind turbine for power generation on stormy days; solar and wood heated water; rainwater harvesting; composting for renewable/sustainable fertilizer needs; using less electricity in general; well or spring water. That just about covers it!