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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Tuesday, January 06, 2009 Down the road we go I've been posting merrily away for a couple of days, but it's back to work today, a wide swing around the state from here to Richmond to Tidewater (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, etc.). The good part (besides earning money) is that I'll be bringing home another 65-gallon potable water barrel. The bad part is that when the trunk is full of wheelchair, overnight bag, file box and miscellaneous work-related stuff, and the back seat is full of water barrel, there is absolutely no place to put the cooler and my portable kitchen. So I can't cook on the road.I'd choose an extended-stay hotel that didn't require me to carry the hot plate, pots and pans and dishes, but the Suburban Hotel there hasn't had a handicapped room available in weeks. Because Clarence is in a wheelchair, we really don't have a choice about that. And as it happens, Richmond is the one area we stay in where the Candlewood Suites are substantially more expensive than the other choices, so much more that my penurious soul just rebels at spending the extra money. In addition, because we stayed there so often, one of the other hotels offered me a terrific discount. So we'll be eating fast food for dinner and hotel food for breakfast, or at least Clarence will. I'll carry my home-made yoghurt and some raw vegetables for myself, and eat more yoghurt, and fruit from the hotel's breakfast bar, in the morning. I can at least pack two day's lunches, since we'll be away from home only one night. There's room for a small soft-sided cooler in the car, stuffed down behind one of the seats.All this just to bring home another water barrel, but it's worth it. A fellow in Chesapeake buys them locally from someone who imports olives, so they're food-safe. I have other water barrels, as I've mentioned before, but they held car-wash detergent so they're not suitable for drinking water. I can just barely manage to haul one barrel at a time in the back seat of the Yaris, so my son picked up four of them for me and stashed them in his back yard. Every time we go to Tidewater, I stop at his house and bring another one home. Two more trips and I'll have them all.Then it will be time to get going on the rainwater collection system for real. I need to build some kind of first-wash diversion system (that keeps the first and dirtier part of the roof run-off out of your drinking water), and a sand filter, and then I need to get a big tank into the ground. Everything up to that point has been relatively easy. I don't know yet how I'm going to dig that large a hole in this rocky hillside. I have a suspicion it's going to mean either hiring someone else to do it, or renting a mini-excavator. Neither choice is cheap, and every penny I spend on rainwater is one less penny I have to put into another water choice, like the manual well pump and its accessories. But I keep hearing people say things like, "I thought my pump had died, but when I pulled it out, I found that the water level in my well had dropped 100 feet!" We're very lucky to still have good water close to the ground, but I'm not putting all my chips on that one source.Why do I want barrels if I'm going to put a big tank in the ground? Because the placement of the porches means I can't run all the water back to the end of the trailer where the tank will be located. There are six downspouts on the trailer, and three of them will still need a barrel underneath. The other three can be directed to the main collection point. Any barrels that don't get used to collect roof-runoff will sit in the open and just get rained into (with suitable screening to keep bugs, leaves and general gunk out of them).The other reason for the barrels is that if things go completely to pot before I can get the storage tank in the ground, I'll still have a way to collect and store rainwater. I like to hedge my bets.Off down the road now, no posting until Thursday, most likely.Labels: rain barrels, rainwater posted by Liz @ 7:49 AM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
I've been posting merrily away for a couple of days, but it's back to work today, a wide swing around the state from here to Richmond to Tidewater (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, etc.). The good part (besides earning money) is that I'll be bringing home another 65-gallon potable water barrel. The bad part is that when the trunk is full of wheelchair, overnight bag, file box and miscellaneous work-related stuff, and the back seat is full of water barrel, there is absolutely no place to put the cooler and my portable kitchen. So I can't cook on the road.I'd choose an extended-stay hotel that didn't require me to carry the hot plate, pots and pans and dishes, but the Suburban Hotel there hasn't had a handicapped room available in weeks. Because Clarence is in a wheelchair, we really don't have a choice about that. And as it happens, Richmond is the one area we stay in where the Candlewood Suites are substantially more expensive than the other choices, so much more that my penurious soul just rebels at spending the extra money. In addition, because we stayed there so often, one of the other hotels offered me a terrific discount. So we'll be eating fast food for dinner and hotel food for breakfast, or at least Clarence will. I'll carry my home-made yoghurt and some raw vegetables for myself, and eat more yoghurt, and fruit from the hotel's breakfast bar, in the morning. I can at least pack two day's lunches, since we'll be away from home only one night. There's room for a small soft-sided cooler in the car, stuffed down behind one of the seats.All this just to bring home another water barrel, but it's worth it. A fellow in Chesapeake buys them locally from someone who imports olives, so they're food-safe. I have other water barrels, as I've mentioned before, but they held car-wash detergent so they're not suitable for drinking water. I can just barely manage to haul one barrel at a time in the back seat of the Yaris, so my son picked up four of them for me and stashed them in his back yard. Every time we go to Tidewater, I stop at his house and bring another one home. Two more trips and I'll have them all.Then it will be time to get going on the rainwater collection system for real. I need to build some kind of first-wash diversion system (that keeps the first and dirtier part of the roof run-off out of your drinking water), and a sand filter, and then I need to get a big tank into the ground. Everything up to that point has been relatively easy. I don't know yet how I'm going to dig that large a hole in this rocky hillside. I have a suspicion it's going to mean either hiring someone else to do it, or renting a mini-excavator. Neither choice is cheap, and every penny I spend on rainwater is one less penny I have to put into another water choice, like the manual well pump and its accessories. But I keep hearing people say things like, "I thought my pump had died, but when I pulled it out, I found that the water level in my well had dropped 100 feet!" We're very lucky to still have good water close to the ground, but I'm not putting all my chips on that one source.Why do I want barrels if I'm going to put a big tank in the ground? Because the placement of the porches means I can't run all the water back to the end of the trailer where the tank will be located. There are six downspouts on the trailer, and three of them will still need a barrel underneath. The other three can be directed to the main collection point. Any barrels that don't get used to collect roof-runoff will sit in the open and just get rained into (with suitable screening to keep bugs, leaves and general gunk out of them).The other reason for the barrels is that if things go completely to pot before I can get the storage tank in the ground, I'll still have a way to collect and store rainwater. I like to hedge my bets.Off down the road now, no posting until Thursday, most likely.Labels: rain barrels, rainwater
Labels: rain barrels, rainwater
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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