Accumulation Day

Well, I didn't get much done in the way of projects today, BUT it was a grand accumulation day. Those are the days when you put together all the materials you're going to need for a couple of the next big projects. It doesn't feel like you did much, but it lines up everything else for much more efficient work! Or so they tell me.

Today we got the woodstove and all of the materials to build the hearth. That's some flat-ish cinderblock things, a bunch of pavers, and assorted stovepipe material. Tomorrow Kathy starts building the hearth. That's old hat for her. She built one a couple of years ago at our house in Illinois.

I, on the other hand, will be climbing up on the powerhouse roof to install the solar panels and then to wire up the charge controller to them. I'll have to move all of the batteries and assorted components over to the powerhouse and then we're ready to throw the switch. That's pretty amazing to me. We've been talking about solar for years and now here we are about to DO IT this week!

I love how all of this is coming together. My bank account has been rapidly depleted by all this activity but we're about at the end. I talked to the well digger today and I can expect the well to run about $3500. That will have to wait. We have a water solution, though it's not the greatest. I'll make do for now. I still don't have the rain catchment done yet, but that's on the list right after I get the power finished. I haven't wanted to empty out the 550 gallon tank to hoist it to the water tower. It's got 300 gallons left in it and we're not yet out of the RV for cooking and bathing. The cabin is yet to have any degree of plumbing installed, as rudimentary as it was going to be.

I guess at some point I ought to organize this into a checklist, but as for now my fingers are blistered and I need to go secure everything for a real windstorm tonight. They say it's gusting out of the desert around 9pm tonight at around 22mph. You can already smell the dust in the air. At least it's going to be warmer at night for the next few days. Around 55 degrees.