Lazy Rainy Day At The Homestead But Out Of Water

It was a cold, wet and cloudy day so Melanie and I took a bit of a break. Well, as much of a break as you can on the homestead. Chris had the day to rest as well.

Melanie and I watched some videos as I studied how to better cut trees with the chain saw. We sort of had a day of rest. In part due to the sudden drop in temperatures and in part due to the wet weather.

We have not seen the sun in days now. It seems to rain all the time but with no quantity. It is always like a constant heavy mist but nothing gets into the off grid tiny house rain water tanks. Nothing at all.

Our reserve tank is empty and our main tank is empty. We have not had any real rain at all this year.

Our water pump burnt out the last time we tried to use it. It was a Harbor Freight marine water pump rated at 12 volts. It was perfect to get water from the creek with the truck. But it quit working recently and we have not been able to replace it yet.

This leaves us without a way to get water on the homestead other than hand carting 5 gallon pails full out of the creek 1/4 mile away.

In past years I had so much rain here that I wanted to dig drainage ditches on the property to prevent flooding. The garden would become a flowing mass every time it rained. But this year we never saw much rain at all. Not through the entire summer.

Due to the sudden fall in temperatures we stayed inside for the most part. We have had 80 to 90 degree daytime temperatures or above since May this spring. Non stop. Now suddenly it is not reaching 60. It was in the 50s all day. And it was wet and humid.

Melanie and I took care of the animals and the chores but that was pretty much all. I hauled in fire wood and got the wood stove in the off grid tiny house going again for the first time this year.

This of course caused the inside of the tiny house to be in chaos. Melanie had decorations on the wood stove and things all around it. This is fine for summer but in winter we have to move everything far away from the wood stove.

So we had to spend the afternoon looking for space for everything.

I am learning how to safely drop trees from YouTube videos, comments and emails I am receiving from helpful people.

I went out and bought a wedge today to help in felling larger trees safely using the new method I am learning.

I was taught how to drop a tree a few years ago by a friend. I have since dropped possibly hundreds of trees with no incident. But this one tree that went sideways on me gave me cause to stop and think a while.

While out shopping I got a giant 17.5 pound squash. It was sold as an edible decorative squash for only $6.99 total. This is very cheap because normally squash goes for 1.79 up to 3.29 per pound around here. That is per pound!! So we do not buy squash for this house.

When I saw this huge monster sitting in a pallet sized box waiting for me I grabbed it and hauled it all through the store. I did not even want to put it down. Everywhere I went, people asked me what I was doing with such a large squash. Many asked where I got it. I told everyone I am going to eat this thing.

It was funny how many people talked to me about it. Even out in the parking lot people asked about it. This truly is an amazing squash. And a lot of food.

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Troy
http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com
http://www.theoffgridproject.com

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