Internet!!!

I. Have. Internet!!!! at my house!!! I have learned that if some customer service rep tells you "no" you call back and keep asking until you get what you want. People are lazy and its easy for them to say "We can't find your house on the map, so phone and Internet are not available in your area."

My husband is really against getting a septic system or holding tank. I for one, would like one, but marriage is a give and take so I agreed to a saw dust composting toilet for one year. The conditions are he is in charge of emptying the bucket. He built the "shitter" as he calls it, out of plywood.

. I sanded, stained and shellacked it. There is a 5 gallon bucket that fits in. 

Every time you use it you put sawdust over it. We still have to dig a giant hole for the compost to go in, so its not actually functioning yet. You can use the compost for trees and non edible plants and shrubs. For more information about saw dust toilets take a look at these links.

http://humanurehandbook.com/humanure_toilet.html
http://www.permies.com/t/14440/composting-toilet/Humanure-Bank-idea


We picked up our lawn mower/snow blower today. We were going to pay someone to plow for us this winter but with the size of our driveway and my husband's work truck driving terrible in the snow we did a cost analyst and it would be more cost effective just to buy something of our own to be able to plow anytime we needed to. Plus it has multiple uses.

We are still waiting on the well guy to come out. I'm not sure if people just work at a slower pace out here or if it takes a really long time to pull permits and drill wells and install pipes and pumps. The guy said he has two other customers ahead of us. I don't mind the hauling of water or the truck stop showers but doing dishes outside is annoying.

Friends

I am so grateful for the Internet! (even if I can not fully get it at my house.) I was able to connect with a local home school moms group. I have met with these ladies and their pack of kids for a couple of weeks. All of the moms I have met have been very nice and filled with information, and all of their kids are very friendly and include Ronin in their frog catching and running wild.

One of the moms brought her husband over, who is an ex lumberjack and he spent a 3 hours giving Travis lessons in cutting trees and chopping wood.

We have a small wood pile stacked for next years wood.

Travis still needs to cut the stumps closer to the ground. We still need to source dry wood for this years burning. I guess you can buy a logging truck worth of wood but it might not be all dry. Hayward WI is a big logging community. Along with the dry wood we need to source saw dust for the composting toilet. Travis went to one place and they guy asked "What do you need the saw dust for planting blueberries?" Travis says, "No the shitter."

Our neighbor two houses down is an ex farmer. he came over with his skid steer loader and took out some brush to make a spot for our shed.

Travis and I have zero building skills so we had to buy it. We bought a pretty big shed to store all of our tools and lawn mower with snow blower. Right now we have everything stacked against the house with a tarp over it It looks very white trash.

There are zero closets and no basement in the 360sqft house. My canning supplies and maybe some books might end up stored in the shed.I still can not believe all the books and comic books we have after we did our giant purge before we moved.

With all these trees coming down for the well driller truck, its letting in wonderful sunlight. I started looking at the property for possible garden site for next year. I think I know where I want the orchard to go in. With all the deer and wildlife around I have to consider fencing too. I'm very glad Travis took his permaculture design class in Montanan in 2012.

I remember for my 30th birthday I wanted to save up and take a trip to the Czech Republic but then told Travis I would rather use that money as a down payment on land. 4 years later we are living here. Pretty crazy how hard work and planning can pay off. (maybe I won't feel this way after the first winter.)

Keeping Clean

It's been a week of living in the woods. Without a well washing can be tricky. We have a dish/hand washing station outside at a table. A jug with a tap, hand soap and dish soap, wash bin and drying rack. We heat the water on the stove for dishes or a washcloth bath. We get water out of the rain barrel for this. 

We have a solar shower for after dark showers. The water is hardly warm but it's been in the high 80s with 70% humidity. It's very cold so you have to soap down and rinse fast. 

I have only washed my hair once a week and I do this at the truck stop. It's $8.00 for a private shower. Totally worth it.

We haul in water from town for drinking and coffee/ tea. We also have a Berkey water filter. (Never know if we have to haul water from river.)

Finally, we drive 7mins north to a lake and jump in to rinse sweat off mid day. 

Timber!!

Two of the five trees came down! 

Last night about 3am we were awoken to a loud thunderstorm and it rained all day until about 3pm.  Travis got his gear on and got the trees down. 

The next door neighbor comes over and sees Travis sawing the tree and stands right in the fall path. Travis stops cutting and the neighbor is complaining we are cutting trees. We explain that we have to so the well driller truck can get in. He doesn't care, he starts carrying

on that this oak tree is special to him and that if we cut it he wants the wood. I'm thinking that drinking water is important to me and the tree is going. Next spring once we get settled we are going to start planting a food forest so we will be replacing plus more of the trees we are taking down. I'm not sure what his deal is???

Preparing for the well driller

My husband rented a brush trimmer and spent 4 HOURS cutting brush. Most of the brush is blackberry bramble and tiny oak and maple trees. Tomorrow we have to fire up the chainsaw and cut down 5 trees to make room for the well drilling truck to get through. This should be interesting since we have never cut trees down, I mean I have helped my grandfather when I was a kid. We have watched videos, purchased safety gear and prepared ourselves the best we can.

On the subject of not having any water; you become very aware of every drop you use when you are hauling it in from town. Drinking, cleaning dishes, washing hands, wash cloth baths and solar showers are at about 11 gallons. No water means no toilet. We have been using a hole outside......

There is no a/c at our place and its been in the 85 degree + high humidity. Our son is not enjoying the move so far. We are all very warm. Today all of us will be driving to the beach to jump in the cool lake.