Storm damage

Wow! Yesterday a small tornado ripped up the neighborhood one of our rental units is in. We got an email that a tree was down and blocking the drive, I envisioned a branch or two but it twisted a full grown Bradford pear to shreds. Trees are down or ripped up all over the area including the nearby park. We've got a big cleanup job this week, lotsa firewood. I'll probably use the biggest bits to frame up a raised bed for the tenants, try to encourage them to grow some food. Today we just managed to clear the driveway for the tenants, fortunately no-one's car was in the drive when it hit and there is no damage to the house.

Personal Sustainability quote of the day

"Every morning, our first thought should be a wish to devote the day to the good of all living beings." - Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Personal Sustainability quote of the day

"Nothing goes right on the outside when nothing is going right on the inside." - Matthieu Ricard

A tragedy, emotional turmoil and the personal sustainability quote of the day

Yesterday was a car free day. I love it when I can leave the beast in the driveway all day.

Yesterday evening we had a graphic reminder of the harm that can be caused by driving. Just after dark, as I stepped out to walk the dog I heard a loud smash and immediate cries of pain and distress followed by a car speeding by at near 60 miles an hour, speed limit there is 25. I hurried to the intersection to see what had befallen and to whom. A dog, a pit bull mix we had seen loose in the neighborhood hours earlier, was struggling to escape from one of my neighbors who was trying to help it. Even though it's hip and leg was crushed and it probably had a broken back it managed get away using only it's front feet. Annie and I stood stock still as it passed us by with the neighbor close behind. What I didn't know was that Jacqui had heard the accident and was frantically trying to find us afraid that it was Annie who had been hurt. She was beside herself when she finally found us and I was close to tears as well.  All I wanted to do was to find the poor beast and comfort it somehow. We stood and hugged to try to calm ourselves.

The police came and a whole cadre of neighbors gathered to look for the dog but it had disappeared.  Who would comfort it now, hold it till it died, stroke it's head and reassure it? How sad that due to reckless driving not only was an innocent dog maimed and left to die alone but so many people were distressed and angered. Jacq and I both lost sleep last night.

"Touch is the vehicle through which we comfort one another and are comforted, via hugs or clasps of the hand."  The 14th Dalai Lama

Personal Sustainability quote of the day

So much about trying to create a more sustainable lifestyle, in a culture that encourages everything but sustainability, is about observation and openness to what goes on around us. This usually leads to the conclusion that some change is necessary. As always change can be challenging and even a bit overwhelming. Here is another way to look at it. From Jack Kornfield

"This is not a matter of changing anything but of not grasping anything, and of opening our eyes and our heart."

At last, a proper rainwater harvesting system!

Two of the giant ones just off the truck.

One of the smaller tanks heads up the drive past the ramp.

The last big one about to slide into place.

One 500 tank is elevated for distribution pressure

Checking the fill during the first rain; the temporary covers are for shade.

At long last, we have our water tanks. The semi arrived a day earlier than expected, but we were mostly ready. I had built a ramp with my friend Carl, as we were responsible for getting them off the truck. Jacqui and I rolled them down the ramp and onto the grass at the bottom of the drive. Three 500 gallon tanks at 100lbs each and three 1550 gallon tanks at 215lbs each, that's over 6000 gallons of storage. We prepared the way, swept the drive and moved obstacles, and rolled them into place one by one. Only one of the giant tanks is hooked up for now, and it's only collecting from a little less than half the roof, but we still collected around 200 gallons in a couple of very short downpours. As that one fills, we'll pump the excess into the less giant tanks, particularly the one mounted on the plinth to provide some pressure to hoses. The Rain Reserve diverter and the Beingwater First Flush units are working great. I'll have to duplicate that setup for the south side of the house as well. This will be routed to the other two giant tanks. Until we get the deck framed in above those tanks, we won't be able to hook the last two up, as we will have to move them to access the structure.  I've yet to do the drawings for the building permit for the deck, but hopefully will get that squared away this week.
Clearly the system is not complete, but it is already far superior to the drip to trashcan system I've been getting by with. The trash cans will go into service as comfrey tea brewing containers;, two are already full of composted horse manure I picked up yesterday.

Personal Sustainability

As my good friend Joe reminded me yesterday, in order to thrive one must look after one's physical existence, mental well being, social interactions and perhaps most important of all, your spiritual life. I get plenty of exercise, eat mostly organic local food, I rest, study and discuss. I've joined a local church and have become involved with my immediate community. And now I've returned to regular Buddhist meditation practice and study. As I consider my spiritual well-being to be part and parcel of my mission to live more and more sustainably, and to spread the word about the challenges that face us and the solutions I believe are evident, I will share a quote from learned teachers, here on this blog, on a regular basis. Today I offer one from Jack Kornfield.

"When we let go of our battles and open our heart to things as they are, then we come to rest in the present moment. This is the beginning and the end of spiritual practice."

dry heat, tank prep, and canned tomatoes

Pad for the big tanks

Tank platform prior to decking

Tomato bed #4

Nicotiana

Our first grapes

It's been in the mid-nineties round here with nary a drop of rain for days and days. We've finally had to start watering with city water. One of my nicotianas is taller than me and has flowered. The squash and melons have wilted every afternoon, only to bounce back in the cool of the evening. Our tomatoes produced enough to need a canning session and the basil is starting to go to seed, so we now have fresh pesto. We've also been enjoying some grapes from the bamboo arbor.

Our friends from Bermuda are visiting, and while Suzy helped Jacq with the canning, Carl and I built an elevated platform for one of the 500 gallon tanks I ordered. We also built a ramp for getting the tanks, three 1550 gallon and three 500 gallon ones, off the truck. I had hoped they would arrive this week but it is not looking likely. I've moved the rain barrels onto the pad until the big tanks get here.
Another project Carl helped me with is the first flush diverter for the collection system. The main diverter at the top of the gutter downspout clears out the big debris before passing on the bulk of the runoff to the first flush unit. It involves a kit of parts to which one adds various PVC pipes and fittings. The long 4" pipe collects the appropriate amount of the first runoff, later drained or set to drip, and then seals to pass the water onto the tank. 

First flush and main diverter

Yikes! We've been greenwashed!

We've finally been doing some research into the supposedly "Green" soaps we've been using in our laundry and kitchen sink. We are very disappointed in ourselves that we waited this long to do the research, but most of all in the corporations that have duped us into thinking we were making a better choice with their products. Perhaps they are better than Tide or Palmolive but they are still not good enough! With every day I grow more and more distrustful of corporations, but in this case I really should have known better than to trust in the first place.

The Seventh Generation products contain biocides and neurotoxins as preservatives as well as boric acid, and the ECOS product we just bought contains anionic surfactants that are negatively implicated in immune system response and allergies.  This of course begs the question, are these chemicals being removed at the sewage treatment plant, or are they being dumped into the lake to be returned to us in our drinking water?

Looks like we will be making our own cleaning products once we have used up this toxic stuff and will certainly no longer be putting the gray water from the laundry or kitchen on our landscape until it is gone. We will also try using Dr. Bronners for more of our household cleaning jobs as we are comfortable, at this point, with putting that on the garden until we can get the research done. As far as the drinking water goes we will have to wait until the rainwater harvesting system goes in and has been tested. We hope that this will prove the cleanest and cheapest source of water available.

Of Black Locust, Joinery, and Sweat

At long last the renovation to glass in the verandah has begun. I found a skilled carpenter willing to work with me who could find a source of locally harvested black locust timbers. This wood is highly rot and termite resistant.

Insulative strips for the slab.

Insulative strip, foam insulation, and flashing.

Before...

During...

The first step was to dress the slab for enclosure. As this space will be expected to provide lots of solar gain in the winter to heat the house and help propagate plants, the slab needed to be insulated, where possible, to break the thermal bridge which would rob the space of heat. I fashioned strips of blue foam insulation, scavenged of course, with 3/8 inch exterior plywood glued on to provide a rigid and protective surface. We painted them up, see the previous post of Jacqui painting the last ones in the midday sun. These were then screwed onto the slab using tapcon screws. Over this we laid a thin strip of foam insulation, found in my father's garage, and then metal flashing with a drip edge. On top of all this we placed the 6x6 posts and a 2x6 sole board to form the base for the windows.

Of course we first removed the old posts which happened to be filled with wasp nests. I was stung the day I removed the step railings, and being somewhat allergic, I swelled up, flushed and went all woozy for the rest of the day. So unfortunately the wasps had to go. We had been co-existing rather peaceably with them since we moved in, but they wouldn't tolerate this level of disturbance, and I couldn't tolerate multiple stings. We sprayed them with dish liquid and smashed the ones that persisted in returning. OM MANI PADME HUM for the wasps. May they be reborn quickly!

Framed for windows.

Pretty, but not ready for sealing...

After the posts and sole boards were in, we measured the windows and framed in the openings for them. They won 't be installed until the wood has a chance to dry thoroughly and gets a coat of finish/ preservative.

We haven't finished the framing because some of the wood we had drop shipped to us was unacceptable, and we are waiting for replacements.

No more steps! We'll have to walk around now.

We also took this opportunity to get started on the deck that will go over the rainwater tanks. As the tanks will be in the way for the initial ledger attachment, we decided to get it done now. Tomorrow we hope the grading will take place for the tanks. This necessitated removing the east steps.

And oh yes, it was hot and humid, and we sweated buckets. The heat index was 99 degrees today, going up to 109 degrees tomorrow... a rest day! Welcome to the south in the summer.

A Mad Dog and an Englishwoman

90º and 70% humidity, Midday

I'll cover what she was doing in a future post but the amazing thing is that she chose to do it in the midday sun, and it was HOT that day! How is it that she, being from Northern England, can endure heat that keeps me, from the deep south, immobile. The dog is just MAD!

All the fireworks I need

Holiday Fireworks

I really can do without all the noise, smoke, and crowds of this holiday. These gladioli are all the fireworks I need.