I suppose most of you don’t know my husband and I ended up
living off grid. As much as off grid is so popular today we were not expecting
to live off grid and have quite a few issues to resolve as we journey through
this process. We bring water out for drinking and cooking. We also bring water
out for washing and cleaning. The first is filtered, the second is from a
spigot. Very quickly we worked out a system for this. We buy bottled water in
the big jugs as well as the individual bottles from the store. We get our
spigot water from a friend. Without this it might be near impossible to get
enough water in our systems and for the daily use around the house. Conservation
is a key, we use about 200 gallons of water a month. The average household of
two people use about 3500 gallons. This is based on 50 gallons per bath or
shower per person per day as well as the remainder for drinking, cooking and
cleaning the household.
We use two gallons a day per person for bathing and the remainder
is for drinking and washing and cleaning. It is possible to be clean and
hydrated without any overuse.
We do not yet have a well. We have a usable cistern but it
needs work and a lid to produce usable bathing and bathroom water. It is not
considered potable (drinkable) yet and this next spring we will be getting that
project sorted out. Each project seems
to take more funds than we have available so they are finished at a slower pace
than one would expect.
I don’t want anyone who is exceptionally green living to have
a cow because of the plastic bottles. We have a plan to reuse them to build
foundations for raised gardens on the property. Nothing goes to waste around
here. Except of course the waste. That is transported off the property for disposal.
We seem to spend a lot of time coming and going.
From the latter comment you will understand when I say, hand
shoveling a sewage plane for the sewage field is also a very slow process. No,
we don’t have big equipment and no we don’t use credit to rent equipment or to
hire other people to get the work done. So, I spend every day shoveling dirt
when the ground is not frozen. My husband does the same when he is off work. I
hate to admit it but I enjoy shoveling dirt. The process is slow and I know for
a fact my neighbors think we are a bit unusual because they see us shoveling
all the time and there have been plenty of comments. Really though, if that is
the only way then get to it right? Because that is the only way we can get the
usual services in place, shoveling is a way of life around here. Mostly we ignore the lack of acceptance.
Every day we get closer to having what other people consider is normal but we
will never take it too far. For, we have begun to embrace the off grid
lifestyle to a certain point.
Electricity was resolved pretty quick, our land was ripe for
selective logging, enough to trade the trees for electricity to the property if
not the Tiny House. A couple of electric cords from the live pole give us light
and the use of electricity in a small way. We did not completely log for a
couple of reasons. We have streams, you cannot log around those for profit. We
also did not want to clear cut. It is too beautiful out here to get rid of the
trees. We did however take all of the trees away from the house and house
landing because of the chance of wildfires and tree damage to the house.
Another thing we have done is cleared the land within one
hundred feet of the house to make a fire barrier. We have placed used rock
offered to use by another friend to keep the low growth down and away in the
fire barrier as well. This too was hand shoveled. One would think I was strong
and thin. Not so darn it all as to the thin part.
We have lots to do on the tiny place we have the smallest of
budgets. It works out to about $50.00 per paycheck. Now I know that seems to be
a very tiny amount, but you would be amazed at how far I can make that go. On
one of our projects we needed twenty two-2 by 4’s. I went to the store to
purchase what I thought was going to be four of them to begin the purchase
process for the project. Once I got there I got to talking to one of the
employees of the store. He shared with me they had what was called culls. These
were the not perfect stock that ended up for sale for 70% off. He took me over
to a pile of 2 by 4’s and showed me. There were 23 boards sitting there. I paid
.83 cents apiece for them. That was a total of 19.09. I had enough left over in
the budget to purchase a role of tar paper and a box of screws. That particular
project was finished in a weekend.
That is how it goes. I plan a project. My husband and I
figure out what we need for the project and then it is my job to find the
materials for less than budget. Seriously, that is my job. I no longer work a
regular job, besides being an artist and an author. My job is to find the used
materials either for free or for the least amount we can spend on our actual
budget. As long as the materials are sound and can be used within the
parameters of building codes then we will use them.
If you are a professional builder and you have excess on your
job, the bits and pieces that weren’t good enough for your build but cannot be
returned to the store? Send it my way will you instead of throwing it out? We
still have a few things to build. I would love a room that those of you call an
indoor bathroom and shower. I would also love a real bedroom. I would like a
garage as well. Nothing fancy, but I can wallpaper a pig you know. I’m pretty
creative like that.
A shovel, a hammer and a few tools. A few helping hands in
the beginning, the first ten days anyway, and a lot of sweat equity. The one
other thing? A lot of prayer and miracles.
As an author, I am writing in depth about all of this in a
book called Diamond’s in the Dirt. I
tell all about how we ended up near homeless. I talk about each part of the
build. I even tell some seriously funny stories about individual events along
the journey. I throw in a few recipes for chili, we ate a lot of chili the
first six months.
Buy Light Within Cobblestones Paperback
Go to Light Within Cobblestones EBook on Amazon
Dinner With Cecile And William, a cookbook
