Going off grid and off politics.

I've been watching a bit of American politics lately. The live debates for the Repulsives and the speech by the leader of the Dumbicrats, who also happens to be president at the moment. I can't predict who will win the next election. The best outcome would be none of the above. However after watching a few hours of current American politicians, I can safely make this prediction: If you live in the US, you are going to be screwed for some time to come. If you live in a country that has anything to do with the US, things don't look good for you either.

The other night was my first yoga class. Power yoga. I tell ya, that shit ain't easy. At least not for a 6'3", 220lb pixel pusher. I'm sure it will get easier with practice though. My fitness goal is to end up a 5'10", 180lb jaguar. We'll see. Mrs. Mud is awesome at the yoga. No surprise, she excels at everything she takes on. I really like her yoga outfit.....

This winter is crunch time. Got to figure out the rest of the systems for the earthbag house we're building. I thought I had pretty much figured out the off-grid electrical stuff but it's turning out to be pretty complicated. Matching the estimated power useage to the ability to recharge the batteries, the right size generator, wiring, fuses, line losses and a whole lot more. I kind of wish Sixbears in the Woods was my neighbor. Sounds like he has helped several people setup their solar systems as well as his own. The Outback user's forum is proving to be quite helpful. My system will be based around an Outback Flexpower One 24 volts. I've pretty much settled on four 6 volt Surrette batteries with a 20hr rate of 680 amp hours. We have 2kw of solar panels and about 3 hours of insolation in the deep of winter. Well, that's one good thing about Canadian prairie winters. (If I can think of another I'll have to put it in another post.) There will still be times a generator is required. Especially when it is time to equalize the battery bank. Our system has to provide enough power for the basics and for me to continue working from home with various computer equipment. And for Mrs. Mud to do her thing, which also requires computer power. And of course to maybe plug in a vehicle for a couple hours so it will start at 40 below.

We just make shit up as we go

For everyone that has read and commented on my blog thank you. I appreciate that you have taken the time to do so. I've just been to damn busy or exhausted to respond. It's been a while since I blogged or even had time to read any of those that I enjoy. For a couple months I was working two full time jobs and trying to get work done on the domestead as well. I'm down to one job now and I get to work from home.  Can't beat that with a stick.

One of the cats has been very busy too. While nursing some kittens, she went and had six more. My plan was to wait until a couple of them were about size 11, then hollow them out to make some slippers. But overnight 5 of them disappeared. Could be coyotes, owls or foxes. There's more life than you might expect on the bald-assed prairie.

exit form for rocket mass heater

Plans have changed on the house once again. A few months ago we realized we would never have time to finish doming in the three we needed most (or even work at all on the other two) so we decided to roof them go for more of a castle shape. I'm glad I built a complete dome from dirt on the property a couple years ago or I would have to consider changing my internet name.

Standing bags between beams

roof will be embedded in bags

After the OSB plywood, I laid down a sticky roofing membrane then screwed tin on top of that. Then the final row of bags (laid flat) will lock everything together. And finally a few more bags to give that knobby-castle-thing look.

The rocket mass heater has finally been worked on as well. The temporary mock-up I built gave awesome results. So now the burn tunnel is mortared in place and ready to put the riser back on and get to the next steps. I was lucky to find a riser with a 7 inch inside diameter and 1/2 inch wall thickness.

And finally, to those dipshit Canadian delegates that walked out on some guys speech at the UN: You should be publicly ridiculed and humiliated, then fired for deriliction of duties and stripped of your citizenship. Assholes.

All Aboard?

Got a dream? Got a partner? If you have both, you may have a problem. That is unless your partner shares your dream or at least fully supports it. The bigger your dream is, the more important this is. The size of your partner doesn't really have anything to do with this. If your dream is something like riding a horse one time then you can probably fit that in without causing your significant other any grief.

But if your goals, dreams are long term, lifestyle type things then you have two choices. First, get a new dream. Or, second, get a new partner.

I'm fortunate enough that the goals I have are shared by my wife. She and I have developed goals that fit both our interests. And it's a damned good thing too. Going off grid, living in the middle of nowhere in a frozen wasteland building a house made out of dirt isn't something a lot of people itch for. For all I know we may be the only two.

 





My lovely wife taking a much deserved break



We've moved many, many, many tons of earth in 5 gal. buckets

Recently we were kind of hitting a wall with the design of one of our rocket stoves. We were both frustrated. But since the project is important to both of us, we just worked through it until we arrived at a solution we are both happy with. No bloodshed, no torn larynx, just arriving there together.

Got convergence?

Earthbag domes calling to me

Soon (but not soon enough) I'll be able to get back outside and get some work done around the domestead. It's been a long winter. They always seem long, but usually there are breaks when I can do things outside. Not so much this year. About all I can do with my domes right now is post a few pictures I was looking through. The first one is the first earthen dome my wife and I built. It is shown without the plaster so you can see the tubes we used. It was a fun project and we learned a lot. This dome was built as a sauna. Heated with a large 'pocket rocket' it gets very warm in a short time.

So then it was time to tackle something a little more challenging. Yeah, just a little. We decided on five larger domes connected with arched doorways. Completely off grid too. "Oh, and lets do a ton of permaculture landscaping while we're at it" we decided. Installing solar panels, batteries, doing our own plumbing at the same time we plant 300 trees and bushes that are ordered shouldn't get in the way of the 1500 earthbags we still need to place. Gardening all the while. Good thing there's two of us. Perhaps going over the deep end will be a blessing and we won't even notice the inevitable exhaustion that's sure to come this summer. Here's a few pics of the domes during various stages during the build last summer/fall.

  

I'm very happy with the way the arches have turned out. I was a little nervous pulling out the form for the first one, but everything remained rock solid. I've even added more layers of bags above and tamped (pounded) them and still no shift whatsoever. Guess maybe those ancient types knew a thing or two after all.

Closed for winter

Well, winter is here. There's a heavy snowfall warning tonight. Then the deep freeze. We had such a lousy spring and a wet summer, our building season was so short. We didn't get nearly as much done on our dome home as we thought we would. Still, pretty happy with what we did get done. There is only my wife and I working on the project. Must be nice to live in warmer climates where people are just planning what to put in their winter gardens.

Not us, our plans are a little more on the staying warm to stay alive theme. Soon it will be minus forty. Our power goes out a lot here so winter survival is a very real concern. Yesterday I went to start up both our small generators to make sure they run. The diesel started but not the gas one. I think I need to do some carb work on it. I can't wait till our off-grid home is complete. Right now a lack of power means no heat, no lights, no well. Once we are heating with wood in our rocket mass heater, no power just means dark. We always have jugs of drinking water so that is never an immediate concern. A move to using the humanure system means we always have toilet facilities no matter what. We've been doing that for a year already.
  

View into the front entrance
Each full bag becomes a 175lb brick

 The front door is installed, and some windows too. The other holes for windows and doors are boarded up for winter. At least this will allow us to do some work inside two of the five domes over the winter. Its actually possible that the two larger rooms may not even end up being domes. The current thinking is that we may possibly put a roof on these. The other three smaller rooms will still definitely be domed. It's been such a busy year, we kinda flew by the seat of our pants. The deep freeze gives a chance to refocus and develop a plan we will be happy with.

Need to get 'er closed up for winter

Temporary roof coming along

Cast Iron

Our new earthbag home will be heated with wood in a rocket stove mass heater. We will be using a wood cook stove for cooking. We managed to pick up a used stove in really good shape for $75. It came from a lady that had been using it since the forties. It's sure hard to find anything that is made with such enduring quality anymore. Pretty much the whole thing is made of cast iron, so it is pretty heavy. The picture shows the dome that will be our kitchen. It's one of five domes that will make up the total structure.

Even though we won't be in the new house till next year, we've started dramatically changing our lifestyles already. Preparing to live off grid. We've started purchasing and using some cast iron cookware. The first pan we bought was a complete dud. Cooked with it once and a big crack appeared. The next one we bought was obviously better quality. Cooked with it a few times so far and no problems. It is a Lodge Logic and we are quite happy with it.

Now it';s kind of crunch time though. Winter is here and there is still much left to do. The weather may still be mild enough for the next few days to get some work done. We have to finish plastering the bags that are in place (first coat), place a few more bags on the entrance walls and place a temporary roof on the two larger domes. In the end there will be no roof as such, since the structures are domes. The temporary roof will allow us to do some work inside the domes over the winter and keep them from filling up with snow.

Domestead Pictures

Some photos showing the recent progress on our little domestead....

We still have a long way to go but I'm pleased with what we have been able to do so far. After all, there is only my wife and I working on this with out the aid of machinery. Well not entirely true. My old lady is a machine. Since I scurry off to my wage slave thing every day, humping a desk for the man, she has built more than half of this place by her incredible little ol' self.