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| Lifting the solar panels into place |
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| Attaching the panels to the frame |
Then: July 2010
July 1 and we have a fire in the wood stove both in the morning and evening! Very chilly. JB took the trailer Down There to pick up the solar panels. Yea!! They are here! I get to babysit Larry & Elsie's chickens and water their plants over the July Fourth weekend, so when JB returned we drove down to pick up Elsie's ATV for me to drive to and from their place.
The next day I went Down There to pick up supplies for our annual July 4th Family weekend. Austin, his wife, Sue, and son, Adam, arrived Saturday, July 3 and we gave them our bedroom to sleep in. JB and I slept in the livingroom. Adam was thrilled that we had built a sandbox for him (the horseshoe pit). Fortunately it the sun wasn't out or Jesse may have tried to defend his tanning box. RJ and Mike were up each day from their cabin, and the guys went down to RJ's for some target practice. We had a lot of fun and ate a lot of food, but weather was cool and cloudy so we ended up putting a fire in the wood stove on July 4. Each morning after breakfast, I zipped down the mountain to feed the chickens and water the flowers at Larry and Elsie's. So much fun driving up and down our road in their ATV!
But now the holiday is over and it's time to get those solar panels up. First we have to dig the 300 ft trench for the conduit. That's quite a project, but least it doesn't have to be too deep and we get it done. We laid the conduit in the trench without connecting the pieces. Then we threaded the three wires through the conduit that run from the panels to the battery shed. As we did that, we glued each piece of conduit together. When we were all done, we buried the conduit. Whew!
In between all these goings on, I have been pressing wild flowers. JB's Mother gave me a flower press for my birthday that JB's brother made. It's wonderful, and I can press a lot of flowers at once. She makes beautiful greeting cards with her flowers and that will definitely be one of my winter projects.
On July 12, JB went Down There for his annual physical and ran some errands. He called me as he started on his way back so I could return Elsie's ATV. I met him at their place and rode back up with him. The next day we attached the brackets for the solar panels to the pole. Then JB changed the oil in the generator and I pulled weeds. We still have so many daily chores in addition to our special projects.
I just finished reading "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and have started "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." Lisbeth Salander ROCKS!
On July 20, RJ and Mike came up to help us raise and attach the solar panels. Once again we handed the camera over to Mike and he photographed us for posterity. (See pictures above.) We had four panels to lift into place. RJ and JB lifted them onto the brackets and I screwed them in. They are up! JB then finished installing the electronics boxes in the battery shed and wired them in. Larry is going to help him with the final wiring at the panels.
Now: July 27, 2011
Life has been so much easier in the year since we installed the solar panels. We have the water pump on as long as the sun is up unless it is really foggy and dark during the day. We adjust our schedule in the short winter days. Since we have to turn the water off before we eat dinner, we do the dishes the following morning so we don't have to use the generator. Want to use that as little as possible. I fill a big tea kettle with water each afternoon and heat it for washing up at night. We leave the inverter on all the time, so we have electricity 24/7.
Yesterday was a perfect day for working outside and we got an early start. JB finished framing in the sides of the shop while I unscrewed the wood on the deck and then leaned all the wood up against the sides to dry. As soon as the top is dry, we can put the second layer of tar paper on. If it doesn't rain for a few days, we'll get the wood down to RJ's and be ready for our deck wood to be delivered on Friday.
Today we hope to get some of the metal sides up around the shop. Maybe even all of them. The most time consuming part is cutting them down to size as they are 10 feet tall and they only need to be about 8-1/2'. Since we don't have the electric metal cutters, JB has to do it by hand. But it is finally all coming together and the end is in sight.
(See picture of my "wiggle wood" fence below.)
July 1 and we have a fire in the wood stove both in the morning and evening! Very chilly. JB took the trailer Down There to pick up the solar panels. Yea!! They are here! I get to babysit Larry & Elsie's chickens and water their plants over the July Fourth weekend, so when JB returned we drove down to pick up Elsie's ATV for me to drive to and from their place.
The next day I went Down There to pick up supplies for our annual July 4th Family weekend. Austin, his wife, Sue, and son, Adam, arrived Saturday, July 3 and we gave them our bedroom to sleep in. JB and I slept in the livingroom. Adam was thrilled that we had built a sandbox for him (the horseshoe pit). Fortunately it the sun wasn't out or Jesse may have tried to defend his tanning box. RJ and Mike were up each day from their cabin, and the guys went down to RJ's for some target practice. We had a lot of fun and ate a lot of food, but weather was cool and cloudy so we ended up putting a fire in the wood stove on July 4. Each morning after breakfast, I zipped down the mountain to feed the chickens and water the flowers at Larry and Elsie's. So much fun driving up and down our road in their ATV!
But now the holiday is over and it's time to get those solar panels up. First we have to dig the 300 ft trench for the conduit. That's quite a project, but least it doesn't have to be too deep and we get it done. We laid the conduit in the trench without connecting the pieces. Then we threaded the three wires through the conduit that run from the panels to the battery shed. As we did that, we glued each piece of conduit together. When we were all done, we buried the conduit. Whew!
In between all these goings on, I have been pressing wild flowers. JB's Mother gave me a flower press for my birthday that JB's brother made. It's wonderful, and I can press a lot of flowers at once. She makes beautiful greeting cards with her flowers and that will definitely be one of my winter projects.
On July 12, JB went Down There for his annual physical and ran some errands. He called me as he started on his way back so I could return Elsie's ATV. I met him at their place and rode back up with him. The next day we attached the brackets for the solar panels to the pole. Then JB changed the oil in the generator and I pulled weeds. We still have so many daily chores in addition to our special projects.
I just finished reading "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and have started "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." Lisbeth Salander ROCKS!
On July 20, RJ and Mike came up to help us raise and attach the solar panels. Once again we handed the camera over to Mike and he photographed us for posterity. (See pictures above.) We had four panels to lift into place. RJ and JB lifted them onto the brackets and I screwed them in. They are up! JB then finished installing the electronics boxes in the battery shed and wired them in. Larry is going to help him with the final wiring at the panels.
Now: July 27, 2011
Life has been so much easier in the year since we installed the solar panels. We have the water pump on as long as the sun is up unless it is really foggy and dark during the day. We adjust our schedule in the short winter days. Since we have to turn the water off before we eat dinner, we do the dishes the following morning so we don't have to use the generator. Want to use that as little as possible. I fill a big tea kettle with water each afternoon and heat it for washing up at night. We leave the inverter on all the time, so we have electricity 24/7.
Yesterday was a perfect day for working outside and we got an early start. JB finished framing in the sides of the shop while I unscrewed the wood on the deck and then leaned all the wood up against the sides to dry. As soon as the top is dry, we can put the second layer of tar paper on. If it doesn't rain for a few days, we'll get the wood down to RJ's and be ready for our deck wood to be delivered on Friday.
Today we hope to get some of the metal sides up around the shop. Maybe even all of them. The most time consuming part is cutting them down to size as they are 10 feet tall and they only need to be about 8-1/2'. Since we don't have the electric metal cutters, JB has to do it by hand. But it is finally all coming together and the end is in sight.
(See picture of my "wiggle wood" fence below.)
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| My "wiggle wood" fence |
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