Occupy the Bath House Movement

This is just great! 

Modern Day Redneck is building a solar bath. And for a donation your blog can be advertised on the wall.

Now the solar bath in itself is very cool. I will have to follow his progress and see if I can convince Husband we need to do this. (I have him talked into a redneck or maybe it is called hillbilly, not sure I, I am a flatlander after all,  hot tub)

Now I do believe in the pass it on luck of life. You guys have been so kind to me. You rallied when I really needed the help. I am tempted to get my name on his wall, but with the hay situation, it isn't feasible. So the best I can do is send you that way, to think about getting your name or blog up and that bath house.

Enjoy the bath.

From Modern Day Redneck via comments " Have your blog family mention you sent them and I will put you as a honorary Bathroom Wall Occupier and your name will be on the wall."


Now that rocks. 

When the Amish think you're crazy

My mother and I went up to Yoder yesterday. I went looking for a hand cranked wringer/washer.

First stop was the hardware store. I asked the gentleman behind the counter, a happy soul, he said that they had a lot of hand cranked items, but not one of those. We shopped (Or rather mother shopped) and we went to the Bulk Food Store.

The fudge is awesome. Not as good as my mother's, but still great. I got some barley and thought to ask the woman behind the table if she knew of anyone that might be selling a wringer/washer. She asked if I wanted the entire washing machine. That's what she uses, you can hook it up to electricity, but of course she doesn't have any and it is hooked up to a generator.

no I said, I am just looking for the ringer part.

She then asked if I was getting it to actually use. When I replied that yes, that was my intention, she shook her head and informed me that I was going way back.

When the Amish think you crazy, well. . . ~insert evil laugh here~

Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful

But the oven fire is so delightful. Doesn't really work, does it?

We are in the middle of an ice storm, one that will last for 24 hours, then comes the snow to cover up all that nice ice.

In 2005 we had a a similar storm. Our homestead lost power for 3 days. We tried to tough it out, but after a while, the oven would no longer keep that burning cold away, and we ended up moving in with my mother. Hopefully this year, we can keep our power.

It is times like these that we really talk about living off the grid. We talk about it at other times, but not so much when we have instances that remind us that we are at the mercy of our electric co-op. We do have plans, but it is time and sometimes money that stops us from completion. We are forced to buy/acquire things slowly. I need a sponsor.

The Tools series will be back up. I thought it might be better to do it once a week, instead of having a very long 2 week or so straight commentary on tools.

Where I complain about power

I received an e-mail last night inviting me to join the Alternative Energy Bloggers Network. I went and looked around the site, it looks like a link sharing program, with descriptions of blog posts that discuss energy. The site looks like it is still in it's infancy, and I am unsure of how I would really fit in with the more aggressive alternative energy bloggers out there.

One thing, I don't discuss energy except when I am making plans for my new home, and when I do, it's more about complaining about the price of things. $5,000 US for a solar water heater! No way an average person could afford that. As I said before, it may save you money in the long run, but if you don't have the initial money {most people don't} you are not going to buy the equipment for solar/wind/hydro energy. You'll have to buy the equipment slowly, when you can.

I read an article in Mother Earth News last month about building your own solar panels. My husband says good idea, still not feasible.

So where does that leave us? Passively conserving rather than actively changing. You can complain about consumption until your blue in the face, but until you can make the initial investment affordable to the average person, nothing will change. The consumers will almost always go to the lowest bidder, if Wal-mart sold solar panels, you can bet your farm that more people will go off the grid. It's not only the lack of education, or environmental caring that keeps people from alternative energies, it's the price. $120.00US per unit was the lowest I could find {min 32 units}

Sure there are folks out there that don't care. Yes, there are people that don't understand what the fuss is about or think that alternative energy is just a left wing propaganda. And who knows, it just might be, but what I do know is that those of us that are willing to change, those of us that wish to use alterative power don't always have the funds to do so, and we are left in the dark.

I went to DSIRE to see what type of incentives are available in Kansas after reading an article that stated many states are paying up to 70% of the investment costs. Kansas does not have a program for residential homes, unless you are a non-profit company. {You can check your own state through this link as well}

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Also I have been having problems responding to blogs. I am getting a little tired of blogger not only for this but unable to edit posts, change tags or clean up my side bar without messing up people's feeds.

Have to run back to the bathroom

Your comments on the incinerating toilet were great {as well as just plain funny} The compost potties, well. . . I just can't go along with it. Maybe it's the years of changing diapers, but if I don't have to deal with poop, I will be one happy gal.

As for losing power, with solar we should always have a backup supply, and we will be getting a generator. The thing is, we lose power on the grid now, and really can't flush our toilet when we lose power. Oh we can, once. But after that, the bowl won't fill up because the water pump runs on electricity. So either way. . . it stinks.

We do have another problem, with a traditional toilet we will have to pump the refuse slightly up hill {as you do in all basements} this will require more electricity, and possible back up problems. I am trying to find away around all that. So far the incinerating toilet looks the best. We haven't decided on it quite yet, if there are other options out there, I will gladly investigate them.

My mother has a friend, she claims that country folks don't get sick because "we eat a spoonful of dirt every day". I need to go eat some dirt, for I caught a nasty bug. And on top of that it's raining. So I will be going back to bed. Hope you guys enjoy the rest of the day.

Time for a Bathroom break

When we first bought our homestead, we were told that we could not put in a septic tank. I found this strange, why is a lagoon ok, and a septic not? No one could answer that. After a few years, our neighbor put in a septic system. He just happens to work for the county and informed us, that someone got it wrong, lagoons were not allowed. What? Well there's not much most of us can do about that. The lagoons had been there for awhile. I understand not allowing lagoons as we are close to two rivers {One is actually a flood control river} The county extension office has a program that will pay for most of the costs of re-digging an old lagoon or replacing it with a septic system. We are going the route of a septic tank.

We have already decided on a gray water system for the house, never thinking about the toilet, as it would go to the septic. But as I was looking at the ads in some of those DIY/homesteading/big brother is watching you magazines, I spied an ad for the Incinolet.

The thing reminds me of an airplane toilet {how comforting} but what does it do? It uses electricity to incinerate human waste, turning it into ash. It uses no water, {we have a private well so don't pay for water, but we do pay for the electricity for the pump} no water, means no septic {but I feel that the county will make us do that anyway}

Now to justify the expense, we are going solar, so don't have to pay for the electricity, won't have to pay someone to clean out the septic, and then there are several environmental reasons to get one {or two} Ok, so I can justify the expense of one. I also know that there are several plants that like wood ash, but would they like poop ash? More research needed.

Blimey!

Today be Talk like a Pirate day. Many o' me buckos will be talkin' like this throughout t' day.

Last night my husband and I sat around discussing and working out some of the details to our new home. We are looking at 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, a very large kitchen, an open living room with fireplace, and a library/office. 2,400sf, plenty of room for the 6 of us. Add on's include a mud room that will also double as a canning room and a dirt root cellar with earth coolers. Everything will be underground, so we will have a sunken patio {yard}, that we can later convert into a greenhouse if we choose to. The whole "complex" will be water cooled {If that's even needed as the average temp is between 70f-75f in an underground home all year round, so we are not dead set on getting a water cooling system.} My mother has two wood burning stoves that she is giving to us. My parents-in-law are keeping their eyes out for barn shutters and other things that we can use for the home at the small town auctions they go to. We figured up the price if we had someone else do build it for us and place all new doors, nothing green into the house, and then we figured up what it would cost if we did most of the labor, went green and recycled, we will save 75% of the costs! Of course this is just preliminary, but still. . .

We also find a company up north that sells turbines and solar panels that we are going to visit. Maybe they are slightly cheaper {at least we will save on the cost of shipping it in}. Can you tell I am excited about this? Our current home is a 1984 trailer {mobile home} that is falling apart. It's one of those buyer beware stories. Many lies and truth's with held when we bought this place. It is 1,200 sq feet, so we will be doubling our space. The house we lived in, while playing the suburbanite, was 1,000 sq feet, and that was only if you included the front porch! 2,400 sq feet will be roomy for us indeed. Excavation of the site will begin after the rains next spring.

We also named the kitten that we are keeping, Tomato Paste. We discovered that he will stalk, kill and devoir tomatoes whenever he catches a whiff of them. He stole one off my husband's plate the other night, growling and hissing the whole time.

Phelan, your pirate name is
Bertha the Gold

What is YOUR pirate name?

Blowing sun blogathon entry #21

You mention that you are choosing solar over wind. Is it possible under the rightconditions to use both so you have a constant supply of energy? how many turbines would you need for your area? how big are they/how much room do they take up? ~Rubyreader

Solar stores in a central battery unit, so the supply is constant, and it is possible to use both. For more turbine info click here.

You can buy smaller turbines.

Our problem with room, is the height. Prop planes fly too low for them to be here. Of course, if we decide to look further into this, I will get you more info.5 points rubyreader!

Only an hour left to tell me your farm story {real or not} to be put into the drawing for a hand made scarf!

Solar, wind or company blogathon entery #11

In a recent long drawn out conversation with someone else, we discussed solar energy vs wind, and other forms of energy. We did come to the agreement that at least for my area (western Washington state) you could not generate enough with solar alone. So my questions are, do you know anyone in your area that uses solar as their sole power source and can you generate enough to keep you warm and happy?
My next question is about the cost of solar, do you have a plan to buy the set up panels on a farmers budget? ~ oneforworldpeace

First off, I am sorry about your long drawn out conversation. Kansas has more than enough sun and wind. We discussed wind, but we don't have the room for turbines. Our home will be under earth, it stays a relative 53f {11c}the need for cooling will be a matter of opening windows and a system of pipes that run water out from the house and back into the home a fan will be used to push the now water cooled air through the rooms.

For the winter, we have a fireplace, a cooking hearth and wood burning stoves.

Many electric companies do give incentives, and help you purchase solar panels. What do they get out of it, they get your extra electricity. After your "loan" is paid back to them, they start paying you for the use of your surplus, that is if you choose to continue with them.

5 points for oneforworldpeace {not for the question, for being able to sit and disscuss this with others}

Big Brother is watching blogathon entry #8

I don't even know what 'the grid' is?
~ stumped in NJ

The grid would be the power lines and private owned electric companies. To become self-sufficient we want to not have to rely on them for power, hence going solar.


Map of "the grid"