"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Thursday, 19 May 2011

Progress

As an interim measure we had installed the batteries, charge controller and the inverter in the roof area of our hose.

But, we have to move the inverter / charge controller / batteries out of the roof area - firstly, the fumes given off by the batteries is not good, and secondly, the inverter makes these beeping noises every time it starts up - which is every 15minutes with the freezer...  As we are sleeping below it, that is not condusive to a good nights' sleep, nor healthy...

RMan had cast the foundations last time we were there.  So, last Friday lunchtime he hopped into the van and drove off to the farm in order to get the construction of the walls of our power room started.

He was meant to be back on Sunday... today is Tuesday...

He just got so carried away with what he was doing he couldn't leave.  Guess it was a case of so close...

Day 2: one wall is complete


Day 2: all walls are complete, now it's time for the roof


Day 3: roof is on and door frame is in situ


Day 4: Plaster is complete and the door is hung.


This little power room has been re-inforced with all sorts of things, so they can huff, and they can puff, they will never blow it down / break in!

Our off-grid power room is finished, next time we will transfer all the contents from the roof to the room, and get it wired into the distribution board which is just inside the wall of the house behind the power room.

RMan even found time to start on the framing for the patio "roof".


We haven't quite decided what we are going to use as a roofing material, as we don't want to permanently darken the inside of the house just because there is a solid roof above the patio.  We have been thinking along the lines of something which is "removable" - either wind up, or take down.

But we will be using some Working for Water black wattle poles to string along the inside.

There is no rush to make a decision - we have a good few months before we have to worry about the heat again.

All in all RMan, I'm impressed.  Well done!!

We're moving forward... :-)
Posted by Dani at 09:20:00
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8 comments:

  1. wickets19 May 2011 at 11:52

    looks good

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  2. Dani19 May 2011 at 14:19

    wickets - thanks - I agree, it does :-)

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  3. Jane @ Hard Work Homestead19 May 2011 at 14:29

    Wow, my husband would have taken 6 months to get that done. You are very lucky and it looks really good.

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  4. Dani19 May 2011 at 15:53

    Jane - RMan did have two guys helping him :-) But when time is scarce it's amazing what one can accomplish LOL

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  5. Anonymous20 May 2011 at 04:02

    That looks great. RMan did get a lot accomplished. Nice to see progress, isn't it?! Emily

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  6. Dani20 May 2011 at 07:54

    emilysincerely - Progress is so encouraging - RMan was a star!

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  7. African Bliss20 May 2011 at 19:23

    I feel your joy at the progress of your dream...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dani20 May 2011 at 19:58

    African Bliss - Thank you - is it that palpable? LOL

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment - it makes my day and removes the "loneliness' of sitting at my screen blogging supposedly to myself ;) I try and reply as quickly as possible so please forgive me if sometimes my response is delayed.

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