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I've never been to Tennesee but I spent some time in the Philippines and the pictures of your place remind me of a place called Baguio. It's a northern part of the main island.
Your place is strangely a little MORE isolated than a third world country, lol.
These are rice terraces in Baguio. When you get done growing all your grass, you and Mike can start on this project next :
Hello everyone. It's time for another chapter in the Mike and Lisa world. There are a couple of things I need to mention. First this is for Caroleg who asked for a diagram of our electrical. I haven't gotten around to doing that yet but I found a link that is close. As soon I as I can I will get "our" diagram to you. Here is the other link:
Solar Generator | Solar Houston | Home Wind Generator | APowerSolutions.com (http://www.apowersolutions.com/index.php?p=1_39_Solar-Electric-Power-Battery-Backup-FAQs - broken link)
Another thing I found out concerns the people who were asking about our batteries getting cold. I just read that for battery storage "sheds or garages are good places. The contents of batteries should not be subjected to boiling or freezing. Freezing will only occur when the batteries are in a state of discharge." Our batteries are never in a state of discharge. For more info it is in the above link.
Lisa, I have enjoyed your story and pictures!
With regard to the battery location, my caution was related to 1) the capacity of the batteries when cold, and 2) the life of the batteries when hot.
If the batteries get down to -22F, then their capacity will be reduced by approximately 50%. Your batteries probably will not get quite that cold, but their capacity will drop with the temperature. Since you have fewer hours of daylight in the winter, and you are probably more likely to spend time inside, I just wanted to make sure that you will be happy with the reduced capacity at a time when your demand might be at a peak.
For the higher temperatures, every 15F above 77F cuts the battery life approximately in half. I am not sure how hot your storage container will get, but if it is in the sun (which is looks like it is), it might get pretty warm.
hi L&M . , great posts as always . . love the pix and your stories as always too .
one question ??? you didn't mention what , if anything , you did for july 4th . . h ope you had a g ood one . .
i await next week's saga . ;0 have a great week Jeanne
L&M any plans on building a Pole Barn/Garage/Workshop to keep your 4 wheeled vehicles in ? Love your choice of Green also. Your SFG is lookin good too !
southernfried- I also like the picture of the clouds rolling in. Since I can't paint I will have to settle for an enlarged picture.
lovesMountains- The house stays comfortable. Not as cool as a complete underground house but not hot. We have cool nights so I open the doors after dinner and again in the morning until 11:00am or so. The walls don't get hot but the glass on our sliding glass doors get hot from about 2:00pm-6:00pm, that's when the sun hits them directly. It creates a lot of heat so we keep the blinds closed. It's a good thing we aren't south facing. That would have been a huge mistake for us. And we don't want shade trees because that would block our view. We have one very small portable fan that we used once because we got overheated from working outside. Other than that we stay cool. And that says a lot because I am usually hot all the time, lol.
CASweetPea- I am glad you got to read the story with no withdrawals.
Pam&Bill- I bet Niki would love Petie. I know she misses have doggie playmates from the campgrounds we used to go to. She has no interest in the cows this year. Probably since she got kicked by 98 last year.
piperspal- I love watching the storms coming over the mountains and we are about as safe as can be considering we are not entirely underground. Makes you think more houses should be built on a variation of ours. I remember when we had bad hurricanes in FL and there was no escape. You just hid in your house in the dark and hoped for the best after it was over. It is not a good feeling.
Alaskapat and Sunnydee- Thank you for writing in.
Caroleg- I hope those diagrams were helpful.
Awaiting- Great pictures. Thank you for sharing. We look very isolated but we really aren't far from civilization, lol. We are only about 7 miles from town.
About those terraces, I think I will let the cows handle that. They make great walking paths sideways across the mountains.
Solar4me- Great info. Thank you for that link. It did work. I'm sure you have figured out that MIke is pretty stubborn. I give him info and he does things his own way to "see for himself" how things work. He likes to learn that way. Me, I'm the information junkie and I like to read everything, lol. Unfortunately I am lost with a lot of the specifics about the solar especially the wiring, lol.
JEANNE61- No plans here for the 4th. Just thankful that we are free enough to be able to live on our mountain. I hope you had a great one.
MrsCLO- The 4-wheeler and mower will be stored in the green building. The gray building is Mike's workshop. The barn is used for things that we don't need very often like scrap wood. The only thing we don't have protected is the tractor. We were going to do a roof along side of the gray building but I'm not sure if Mike still wants that.
Good morning everyone. I had a rough start getting on this morning because CD was so busy. I hope you all had a wonderful week. It's time for another view into the Mike and Lisa world.
6-18
Today it's time for a job that is long overdue. Last year when we put the metal roof on the house we never finished the edges. This has been on Mike's mind for quite some time so we ordered the edging and picked it up from David's last week. Now it's time to get it on the house. Mike thought he would have to buy a tin cutter to do this job but they were kind of expensive for just one small job. That was one of our delays. Just trying to decide what we would use to cut the metal. Next he thought he could use the saws all(reciprocating saw) but that left a sharp and jagged edge on the house. Finally he decided to use his "trusty and favorite" cut off wheel. To do this job Mike has to first cut off the excess metal on the edge around the house and then we can install the new trim pieces.
Here is Mike cutting off the excess from our roof on the first side.
The roof trim comes in 10 foot sections. We measure the length and space the edging evenly on the roof. After those are cut to size we put the double sided tape on the roof. Then we stick the roof edging to the tape and then Mike can screw it into the side and top of the house.
Here is Mike screwing in the new trim.
We get everything to look good and we work our way down the roof top. The first side of the house is done.
After the first side is done we move over to work on the second side. The back trim is different so that will be last to go on.
Here is Mike cutting off the excess metal.
And cutting off the last piece on that side.
After the last piece is cut off we have to clean off the metal debris and filings that are on the roof. I go into the building and bring the blower back for Mike. We like to clean the easy way, lol. He blows off the roof and we measure out where the trim pieces need to go. Next we are ready to tape.
Putting the double sided tape down onto the roof.
The first pieces of trim are on.
Mike is screwing down the trim.
Yay the second side is done.
Now we just have to do the back piece which is the long one.
Here is Mike cutting off the excess on the back of the house.
6-19
We had more rain this morning which messed up our appointment with one of Jimmy's guys. We were hoping to have the house backfilled but it was just too wet to bring any trucks up. We'll have to wait until next week.
After the rain stops Mike and I go out to finish the back trim. The back trim doesn't need any tape. This just gets screwed down.
Here is Mike screwing on the back trim.
And the back trim is done.
Well at least the house has a nice finished edge and nothing can get underneath. I would have rather re painted the house before we put the trim on but Mike has a thing about getting material off the floor. Oh well just more cut in work.
Little by little we are getting some of the finishing touches done. Our plans for the outside of the house include changing the paint color, adding clover to both sides of the house, planting a garden along the whole back of the house, doing stucco on the front walls, finding plants for the front garden, finding an awning or something for the front doors, and adding a table and chairs.
I walked out in front of the house and our front lawn is starting to come in.
6-20
This morning it is very windy and cloudy. It was a rare day because Mike and I both felt relaxed. Woo hoo. We are very rarely chilled with no guilt about it. So for the first time we enjoyed our morning coffee on our new patio. We sat in the plastic chairs that we had from the last 3 years.
We plan on buying a round concrete marble topped table and benches for the patio. We decided to go with this because of the maintenance free aspect. It doesn't need to be moved or covered. Once it is in place it will stay forever, lol. We called all different places and no one has one. I found one place that can make one so I asked him to call us when he makes one. I would have thought that at least one would be made for the summer season. I don't think they are big sellers because they are just too hard to move. One table and 3 benched weighs 1200 pounds I told Mike "when we get the table we have to call Randy the Bear to help us move it". There is no way Mike and I will be able to move it to the patio.
I have also been on the look out for 2 resin Adirondack chairs with the foot rests. They are so comfortable. We've had 2 different sets over the past 6 years and we love them. Our one chair broke and of course I can't find another tan one. Why do they make outside chairs in blues, reds, yellows, etc.? What does that have to do with outside and natural? Anyway it is really hard to find. Mike thinks he saw them at Lowe's but they don't sell the foot rests. Looks like if I find them it will be at different places.
So back to our relaxing day. I did some work around the house and Mike went up to work in his building.
He installed more ground wires in the electrical box.
We also have a ground rod next to the gray building and a ground wire.
Next Mike found a piece of wood that he wants to use for an address sign. First he paints it green.
After it dries he will add a no trespassing sign and put our address numbers on the sign. Then it will get hung on our front bottom gate.
6-21
First thing this morning as usual I turned on my computer to go on line. My whole computer screen was black. Thinking it was something I did I shut it down and re started it. It seems fine now.
Today is the first time Mike and I are meeting anyone we have met from CD. We are meeting "the geezers" for breakfast in town. They will be retiring to our area. They picked a great spot. It turns out they were a really nice couple and they can talk as much as Mike and I, lol. We spent hours with them and had a very nice time. I wish them all the best in building their dream place.
After we left them we went to check on the other property. Looks like it's time to mow again. We go home change into work clothes, load up the trailer and head over to the other property. While we are there we notice that the rest of the tree on the island came down. We will have to come back and get that when we have an empty trailer.
That was just another quick update in our life. I hope you all enjoyed the story and I will write again next Monday.
Thanks for my weekly "fix" Lisa! I am amazed I was able to get on CD today. I did get on earlier - for about 2 minutes - then got the dreaded "server too busy" msg. Well, at least I got your update before I had to head to work. Do you have Big Lots or Ocean State Job Lots near you? I get a lot of my bigger supplies there & have seen resin adirondack chairs & foot stools there in the past.
Why do they make outside chairs in blues, reds, yellows, etc.? What does that have to do with outside and natural? Anyway it is really hard to find. Mike thinks he saw them at Lowe's but they don't sell the foot rests. Looks like if I find them it will be at different places.
Forgot to mention, Lisa, Krylon makes a spray paint specifically for plastic & resin - comes in different colors. I helped my friend cover a royal blue resin kiddie table in white. I thought for sure the blue would show through the white, but nope -it looks good!
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Batteries
I hope you had a great one.
I told Mike "when we get the table we have to call Randy the Bear to help us move it". There is no way Mike and I will be able to move it to the patio.
Anyway it is really hard to find. Mike thinks he saw them at Lowe's but they don't sell the foot rests. Looks like if I find them it will be at different places.
It turns out they were a really nice couple and they can talk as much as Mike and I, lol
