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| Our double domed car port |
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| One of our resident wrens |
Then: May 2010
The afternoon of April 30 the wind started to blow. As the evening grew longer, the wind blew harder. It was as though the wind had saved up its force from not blowing all winter, when we really could have used it to blow away all the fog. The wood stacked against the house and the tarps covering it were rattling so much against the bedroom wall that it was too noisy to sleep in the there, so I moved out to the couch. Neither of us got much sleep and ended getting up early the morning of May 1. The wind was still blowing and according to NOAA, Wenatchee was getting 65 mph gusts, so our winds were at least that strong. As I stood looking out the kitchen window, I could see the poles on the west end carport were moving quite a bit, as was the covering. I started to say to JB, "We really need to get out there and. . . Oh, never mind. There it goes." The wind picked up the whole west end carport and it disappeared out of sight.
We both got dressed as quickly as we could and rushed outside. There was the carport in amongst some trees not far away, looking like a double geodesic dome. But nothing that had been in it was missing! The wind soon died down and we spent the day salvaging the carport cover and using it like a tarp to cover everything again. Soon after lunch it started snowing, but just enough to turn the ground white.
We decided that we had to move the carport that was left to a more sheltered area. So we spent the next several days doing just that. Fortunately, after just a month on his new diet, JB was feeling better and had more energy.
Every pole in the damaged carport was either bent or broken, but the other carport had faired much better. The west end poles were tweaked, but fixable. Once again we would not have a shelter in which to work on MAX, but hopefully that would only be til the summer of 2011. Our time and money for this year were going toward the solar panels.
JB had researched the panels prior to our moving back to Washington and knew which brand he wanted, but we also had to get the pole on which to mount them plus all the wiring, conduit and electrical boxes and connections. As it turned out the Kyrocera panels were not available in 2010 because the company had a big contract with a commercial project. The market had changed a bit since he last looked for panels, so it was almost back to square one. Plus, our budget had shrunk. JB finally chose the Trina 175 watt, because of all the places they were being used, and they fit into our price range.
We ordered the panels, mounting rack and electrical boxes/connections with delivery to be in June. Now we just had to find someplace local to get the 12" diameter X 14' tall pole. And the 200 feet of wire and conduit.
Along with all our daily and Spring chores, that pretty much did it for the month of May. It ended much more nicely than it had begun, with no snow and lots of wild flowers.
Now: July 22, 2011
Yesterday morning it was 39 degrees outside when we got up and very chilly in the house. I put a fire in the stove - on July 22 - unheard of! But the house was warm by the time RJ got here for breakfast. He has been working on his kitchen, living room and bedroom floors, and adding a few shelves here and there. He is gradually covering his dirt floors with clay tile, rock and wood. So we promised to go down later in the day and see it all before he leaves tomorrow.
After breakfast, JB started mowing and by early afternoon had mowed all around the house and almost to the south ridge. Definitely a good day's work. I cut three wheelbarrows full of wood - two for the wood shed and one for the splitter. When JB was done mowing, he helped me get the splitter going for the first time this year. I split one wheel barrow full and then actually let him split some wood too. We ended up splitting three wheelbarrows full and I stacked it all in the wood shed. Feels good to finally get some splitting done. The stack of wood we brought down of the east slope this Spring is now almost gone, so it's time to go get some more. There is a lot of downed wood at the end of our driveway, so that is probably where we will start. After we work on the deck.
We are going to pull up the four rows of decking we have screwed in and sell all the 2"X6"X12' decking to RJ. Instead, we are going to put down 2"X6"X12' tongue-in-groove decking. We are also going to put down another layer of tar paper and use cold tar over where we staple it on. Then we will probably put up all the metal sides before we put on the decking. Makes me tired just writing about it. But we want it done right so it will not leak.
We also have to get ready for our August 7 Third Annual Rose Camp BBQ and Potluck. But that is two weeks away, so I'll think about it in 10 days or so.
Our new mouse traps work as advertised! JB set them yesterday afternoon and before we went to bed the mouse in the loft had been caught. Then during the night, we got the downstairs mouse. Hopefully there aren't any more.
The afternoon of April 30 the wind started to blow. As the evening grew longer, the wind blew harder. It was as though the wind had saved up its force from not blowing all winter, when we really could have used it to blow away all the fog. The wood stacked against the house and the tarps covering it were rattling so much against the bedroom wall that it was too noisy to sleep in the there, so I moved out to the couch. Neither of us got much sleep and ended getting up early the morning of May 1. The wind was still blowing and according to NOAA, Wenatchee was getting 65 mph gusts, so our winds were at least that strong. As I stood looking out the kitchen window, I could see the poles on the west end carport were moving quite a bit, as was the covering. I started to say to JB, "We really need to get out there and. . . Oh, never mind. There it goes." The wind picked up the whole west end carport and it disappeared out of sight.
We both got dressed as quickly as we could and rushed outside. There was the carport in amongst some trees not far away, looking like a double geodesic dome. But nothing that had been in it was missing! The wind soon died down and we spent the day salvaging the carport cover and using it like a tarp to cover everything again. Soon after lunch it started snowing, but just enough to turn the ground white.
We decided that we had to move the carport that was left to a more sheltered area. So we spent the next several days doing just that. Fortunately, after just a month on his new diet, JB was feeling better and had more energy.
Every pole in the damaged carport was either bent or broken, but the other carport had faired much better. The west end poles were tweaked, but fixable. Once again we would not have a shelter in which to work on MAX, but hopefully that would only be til the summer of 2011. Our time and money for this year were going toward the solar panels.
JB had researched the panels prior to our moving back to Washington and knew which brand he wanted, but we also had to get the pole on which to mount them plus all the wiring, conduit and electrical boxes and connections. As it turned out the Kyrocera panels were not available in 2010 because the company had a big contract with a commercial project. The market had changed a bit since he last looked for panels, so it was almost back to square one. Plus, our budget had shrunk. JB finally chose the Trina 175 watt, because of all the places they were being used, and they fit into our price range.
We ordered the panels, mounting rack and electrical boxes/connections with delivery to be in June. Now we just had to find someplace local to get the 12" diameter X 14' tall pole. And the 200 feet of wire and conduit.
Along with all our daily and Spring chores, that pretty much did it for the month of May. It ended much more nicely than it had begun, with no snow and lots of wild flowers.
Now: July 22, 2011
Yesterday morning it was 39 degrees outside when we got up and very chilly in the house. I put a fire in the stove - on July 22 - unheard of! But the house was warm by the time RJ got here for breakfast. He has been working on his kitchen, living room and bedroom floors, and adding a few shelves here and there. He is gradually covering his dirt floors with clay tile, rock and wood. So we promised to go down later in the day and see it all before he leaves tomorrow.
After breakfast, JB started mowing and by early afternoon had mowed all around the house and almost to the south ridge. Definitely a good day's work. I cut three wheelbarrows full of wood - two for the wood shed and one for the splitter. When JB was done mowing, he helped me get the splitter going for the first time this year. I split one wheel barrow full and then actually let him split some wood too. We ended up splitting three wheelbarrows full and I stacked it all in the wood shed. Feels good to finally get some splitting done. The stack of wood we brought down of the east slope this Spring is now almost gone, so it's time to go get some more. There is a lot of downed wood at the end of our driveway, so that is probably where we will start. After we work on the deck.
We are going to pull up the four rows of decking we have screwed in and sell all the 2"X6"X12' decking to RJ. Instead, we are going to put down 2"X6"X12' tongue-in-groove decking. We are also going to put down another layer of tar paper and use cold tar over where we staple it on. Then we will probably put up all the metal sides before we put on the decking. Makes me tired just writing about it. But we want it done right so it will not leak.
We also have to get ready for our August 7 Third Annual Rose Camp BBQ and Potluck. But that is two weeks away, so I'll think about it in 10 days or so.
Our new mouse traps work as advertised! JB set them yesterday afternoon and before we went to bed the mouse in the loft had been caught. Then during the night, we got the downstairs mouse. Hopefully there aren't any more.
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