Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Power vs. Solar.... Trying to stay off the grid...

Hello Everyone,

When we bought the property we knew that it would be expensive to get power out to our property... we just didn't know exactly how expensive.  We had a PG&E guy come over and give us an estimate to put power poles up and lines to the beginning of our property on the road and to the middle, which is where we actually would need it to get to for our homestead site.  Well, as it turns out the estimate from PG&E came back at between 40K to 60K+ just to run lines and put up poles.  That doesn't even get us power to our actual house which is about another 1000ft away from the last pole, if we came all the way to the center of the road along the property.  With this new information we really decided to look into staying off the grid.  I always liked the idea and with living on the boat for the last 2 years we were used to minimal power usage and regulating the solar/generator for our battery banks.  After a ton of research (Chris) we decided to go with Wholesale Solar out of Mt. Shasta.  They are a small family owned company that have been living off the grid for over 25 years and are extremely knowledgable and helpful.  They design the systems for the DIY crowd and are very detailed in the installation videos and instructions.

First thing we always do when we get to the property is fill the pool... this is the kids entertainment and cooling off while we are working... Kava started a new fun pool time activity by making the biggest whirlpool by going in circles... I think 1/4 of the water came out while they were doing this... Super fun, thanks Kav...


So this last weekend our main objective was to get the foundation poles set for the solar panels so that we could install them in the next few weekends.  We are expecting the shipment on Friday so it was important for us to try and get this done prior to arrival.  After staking out 3 different sites for maximum sun exposure, minimal tree removal, minimal slope and of course the least amount of boulders....  We now know that our property has about 2 - 3 feet of top soil and then we hit the decomposed granite and rocks.  We found our site and after measuring and setting our stakes of where to drill we threw the auger on the tractor.  With much optimism with breaking ground we thought we would be at least able to drill about 3 feet.   Yep... nope we got about 18" and less.  Even with Chris standing on the auger while it was drilling (i'm sure that was safe) we couldn't get any farther... Okay so time to call in the bigger equipment.  We called an electrician, John Upchurch, that has been helping us with a lot of decisions for our electrical infrastructure and he was able to squeeze us in at 6:30am to help us drill the holes.  They brought their bobcat and a 12" bit that applies 7000lbs of pressure, a little more weight than Chris standing on the auger bit, and even with this was able to get 7 out of the 8 holes dug for us...

He also gave us a tip about an Ace Hardware in Ione that will rent a cement trailer with a yard of cement so that we didn't have to manually mix and pour 80 60lb bags of cement... Ugh that would have been a nightmare.



Kava came to help us and thank goodness he had the mind set and the shear willingness to tackle one hole that the auger couldn't get through... and yes with a pick axe and shovel Kava was able to break up the rocks that were stopping the auger... weird how they kept stopping the turning rotation of the bit so that the auger couldn't get through it and Kava was able to remove them so we could use ours on the tractor to get a little deeper of a hole dug and then we used a cement form to poor around the pole out of the ground.  I guess the solar bars have to be able to sustain hurricane force winds because of their angle they can act like a sail... so that is why they are set in the ground 4.5' deep with a 12" diameter...




although we learned that our strong winds from the property all come from the south so in theory they would rise right up over the panels.  I definitely notice the strong breeze every afternoon from the south and then it is weird how it swirls around to come from the north at night...

It was also nice to have Kava because he was able to help Chris with placement and alignment of the poles to make sure they were straight up and down, straight in a line and exactly 90" and 7'4" apart from each other.... patience and a new determination to get the job done right helps a ton....


After the poles are set we will go in and measure height and cut them accordingly so they are all level...

All in all it was a very productive 2 days.  Our goal was get the 2nd sheds rafters built before we went up to the property... Our awesome neighbors/best friends came up to help us get these built in record time Friday night... Since we have the walls up we couldn't build them on a flat surface up there so we decided to use the basketball court at home... Thanks Gwen, Jeff, Annika and Jasper!




We were able to get the siding up on the 2nd shed and the solar bars in place.  Again it always seems that things take longer than expected but at least we learn something new every time we attempt a project... and thats what we love.





Next items on the to do list are to finish up the roofing on both sheds, install windows and doors and make them weather tight.  Finish installing the solar panels, build power house shed for the batteries and electrical and then run electrical to the sheds, trailer and water storage container for the pressure pump.  Then we can start thinking about getting the land ready for planting and irrigation for planting.

Again, the sunsets never cease to amaze me and I so appreciate that time... Have I said that before????





Hugs and Love,

Heather

Walking home to the trailer after the sun went down.....

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Hello Everyone,

It is amazing.....When you lock your keys in the trailer and the only one that can fit through the tiny window is swimming in the buff.....



Hello Everyone,

Time is flying by and instead of heading the warning from a few that we should observe the property for a year before we begin breaking ground... we just can’t wait.  We truly love it up there and are so at peace that it is hard to wait.  Our goal is to get the land developed just slightly above glamping so that it is comfortable to stay for a weekend and bring some friends/family to enjoy it with.  

After school got out Alexia wanted to take a few friends up camping since they hadn’t been before.  The girls had a great time hanging out literally in the stock tank since it was 104 degrees the 2 days we were there.  I also brought a friend for Amaia and Alina up so it truly was a girls weekend.  I was able to do some tractor work that needed to be done and also get the foundation railings leveled and set for us to start building the shed when we got up there on the 4th.  



We also came back with a new member of the family.  I went to the feed store to get Amaia some cowboy boots for her birthday and she came out with a stetson hat and a new kitty.  Alexia found him first and since he has a moustache there was no way we were going to leave him there.  The kids have named him Sir Gunthar... but Chris and I call him Pedro.



We have decided that in order to do this we needed to have a few sleeping/kids cabins, a civilized bathroom facility, a hot and cold water shower, and power.  

We have started to build our sheds they are 10’ x 12’ with little porches.  We purchased the blue prints off of the internet from Icreatables.com and they have been really helpful and the plans are incredibly detailed and easy to follow.  




We headed up to the property for the 4th of July week with a goal to get one shed done and the other started.  We arrived on a friday to receive the shipment from Meeks Lumber Supply so that we could begin first thing Saturday Morning.  



I of course thought it would be much easier and high hopes in getting both sheds completely built... LOL.  Chris on the other hand had read through the blueprints and studied what needed to be done and had a more realistic timeline in his head.  Not only was it just Chris, myself, Tristan and Alexia to build these but the temp was also an average of 100 degrees and in the dirt and dust it seems to get much hotter.  By the end of the day Chris and I were pretty exhausted from the heat.  It was quite refreshing to have our little stock tank to dip in with the ice cold well water.  

When we first got to the property the little girls ran to the pool and realized that since we didn’t drain it before we left, it became a frog oasis habitat.  They had the best time collecting and playing with all these little guys while I unpacked the car and the big kids got their tent set up.  















Saturday morning thru Monday night all we did was build, build, build.  It was super helpful having all the kids help us in each step of the process.  Everyone took a part when they could and we couldn’t have done it without them.  


























Along with building the sheds we also had a few visitors to complete some of the other jobs and get quotes on new ones to do.  Allen Epperson our excavation guy came by to help us snake some electrical lines all throughout the conduit from all the future camping sites, solar power shed site and the well.  We also were able to get a water truck and a load of a truck of 3/4 cleaned rock laid on the driveway so when you drive there isn’t a cloud of red dust that follows you down the road.  




The kids busied themselves between helping us with a ton of reading, music, riding bikes, catching frogs and playing in the pool.  They also took many naps through out the day.  




It reminded me of our time on the boat.  Since we don’t have good cell reception it forces the kids to get off the electronics and find other things to do.  They turn to their kindles and just read read read... 






4th of July weekend we were able to get one shed up and the walls of the next... It is so nice to be able to physically see change and the vision of our garden area dreams beginning.  Ultimately what I am envisioning are 3 sheds that will be completely finished on the inside for sleeping, fire pit, covered outdoor kitchen and lounging area, raised beds and water features... but lets take one step at a time...

We also finally got our temporary outdoor shower built... It is so nice to be able to shower after a dusty long day of working in the sun...









As always my favorite part of the day is sitting back and watching the sun go down... Listening to the silence of nature...



Hugs and love,

Heather

Wedding, Birthday and Lavender Oh My...

Wedding family photo... we took several and this is the one that the photographer chose to include.... I think it sums it up... love it. ...