Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
sabbytabby- Thanks for writing in. I'm glad you enjoyed or story.
Tinman- Thank you for the link....so far so good o the pond. We even have baby fish and lots of tadpoles. Hopefully they all do well through the winter.
Getting ready for an update. See you all soon
Howdy L&M...
Sometimes i throw some food out into the basspond. The bluegill, perch, catfish, crappie will eat fish pellets from the Grants Pass Grange COOP. Also they will eat some Friskies ocean fish flavor cat food, pieces of bread. The bass want live critters. Sometimes i go out at night catching crawdads either with a trap, or i put a bit of night crawler ona hook & yank em outta the water. Into a 5gallon bucket.
Marvelous! Kind of hard to sum up (and just a quick scan through this, haven't had time to read all of it), but you are doing what many of us would like to do. It IS a lot of hard work, that's for sure. You are really helping people recognize that this isn't just some sort of 'romantic dream', but living life as you are is difficult...but very rewarding.
My wife and I are looking at doing the same thing. We have been looking at land both on the Cumberland Plateau as well as in further east near the 'big mountains'. Thanks for the inspiration...and feel free to share any info if you come across land that could be purchased by like-minded people (DM is great!).
Your fish would love the bugs you pick off your garden...especially the hornworms and the japanese beetles.
When we had our pond, we had an unspoken agreement with our fish. They would jump onto our hooks, and we would always throw them back. Every few years a bunch of the blue gill would be for dinner, but the catfish and bass were more like pets.
The grass eating fish we had are called Amur and we had 2 for a 1/2 acre pond. We still treated for algae and weeds a couple times a year.
Last edited by gentlearts; 09-08-2010 at 08:18 AM..
This has taken me nearly 7 days to read (couple hours a day). I thought for sure when I started reading, that by the time I reached page 210 you would still be building your house. Boy was I wrong!
This is my first post. I just signed up so I could thank you (and Mike) for allowing me, and so many other people into your lives. This has been a truly wonderful thread!
I may have missed it, but I don't recall seeing a nice picture of you and Mike together. I'm sure that camera of yours has a timer on it..
Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you. This has been so much fun to read. I feel like I cheated though, all the fine folks who have been following this thread from the begining, have had to wait for you to post each week. I was able to read the whole story from begining to end (well, up to this point lol).
I look forward to more updates as you and Mike continue to share your wonderful life with the rest of us.
This has taken me nearly 7 days to read (couple hours a day). I thought for sure when I started reading, that by the time I reached page 210 you would still be building your house. Boy was I wrong!
This is my first post. I just signed up so I could thank you (and Mike) for allowing me, and so many other people into your lives. This has been a truly wonderful thread!
I may have missed it, but I don't recall seeing a nice picture of you and Mike together. I'm sure that camera of yours has a timer on it..
Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you. This has been so much fun to read. I feel like I cheated though, all the fine folks who have been following this thread from the begining, have had to wait for you to post each week. I was able to read the whole story from begining to end (well, up to this point lol).
I look forward to more updates as you and Mike continue to share your wonderful life with the rest of us.
Thank you once again,
HM
Quoted because I forgot to add in the smiley faces.
Howdy, Lisa, Mike & Nikki! A friend pointed me at your thread early this morning. I was planning on doing a brake job on my car today, but your story drew me in and I found that I had no interest in getting out. You have done a magnificent job, both in the construction of your dream and in the recounting of the process. Thank you for sharing it.
A few notes:
You might want to consider gluing down the vinyl flooring around the cutout for your wood stove; if for no other reason than to keep humidity from getting under there and causing a mold/mildew problem.
A safety escape hatch in the back wall is a Real Good Idea. It needn't be elaborate; a punchout panel in the wall with a coiled rope ladder inside and a cord hanging down through one of the ceiling tiles, which you will have precut on the upper surface to break when the cord is pulled. The ladder drops, you climb up, push out the panel and run!
About your problem burning yourself with the gas trimmer; I notice from the photos that you cut directly in front of you. Try this: cut to your left, holding the trimmer in your right hand (palm up) and guiding it with your left. You might consider adding a shoulder strap to help carry the weight.
About the possible overheating of the shipping container with your solar system: put vertical standoffs on the sun-side of the container, then attach sheets of diamond-lattice trellis. The stuff is made with one-inch lath and should give you roughly 40-50% coverage. Even this should cut down on the heat inside the container. Adding climbing plants will reduce this even more. Back when I was in the Air Force, as a tactical field communicator, we would put camo netting over our equipment vans for this exact purpose; it worked pretty well.
Have you considered putting in a small gazebo by your fish pond?
I will also echo comments made by others - you have got to write this up in book form, even if it is only a pdf that you let people download. Add in the technical details that folks have asked about (wiring diagrams of the solar system, for example) and you will have a runaway hit.
Again, thank you for inviting us into your lives. You have a beautiful place there. Here's hoping that you and Mike will have many, many happy years to enjoy it.
Well 30hrs later here I am. I got linked to your thread from another forum that discuses survival. Thank you so much for taking the time to write all this and to post all the pictures along with your story. It must have taken an incredible amount of time. You should post a pay-pal account. I would gladly send you 20 bucks just for being so loyal each week and the time you spent writing and answering everyone's questions!
I've lived in Korea for 10 years and have saved (am saving) every penny for exactly what you have done. I've had my eye on West Virginia but now Tennessee's on my mind too.
I was trying to picture in my mind exactly what Rusty Bill (poster above my post) was describing with the emergency exit. At first I imagined a piece of parachute cord that is hanging through a small hole in the ceiling. That cord is attached to a rope ladder, and attached to the roof. When you pull the cord the ceiling tile falls, ladder rolls down and a pre-cut piece of the roof opens downward(like a hatch).
Then I thought no no no. Cutting the roof? Nah. What I think Rusty must be talking about is you pull the cord, ladder falls, climb up to the rafters, and then make a 90 degree turn out through the WALL (not roof). That way there's no cutting the roof. Just make a 24''x24'' panel on the little wall that sits on the concrete wall behind your bed. With the way you and Mike (and princess) do things this would be an easy project. Rusty Bill please correct me if im wrong.
It's always good to have plan B. I know that's already a big part of mike's mind set by the way he has doubles for a lot of things (solar set up, spare parts, and you, with lots of canned food ect.). I personally would go so far as to doing practice drills through that exit until you can go from a lying position in bed to standing outside in under 5 seconds. Chances are if there is a fire, and its to the point you cant get out the front door, the ceiling is probably already going to be on fire and full of smoke. It would not be as easy as breaking out a window and jumping down to the ground. You would have to climb up, and possible, through a lot of smoke and heat. I'm sorry to talk about such a horrible scenario.
Im sure there will never be a fire. Like you said, the wiring's all new and the solar panels dont put out excess amount of juice, plus between the smoke detectors and Nikki, one of them would wake you up. And it's not like you plan on having the wood stove raging while you sleep. You'll be fine i'm sure. But still, please think about having a plan B. You will spend a lot of time in that room and so will your daughter and grand kids someday. I cant think of any reason not to (besides cutting more holes in the wall).
I will bookmark this thread and use it when the time comes for me to follow in your footsteps. Again thank you, I've learned so much.
And to Mike. Here's a big thanks for allowing Lisa to document every little detail for the past 2 years. I would not have liked that lol. You must be a great guy!
I am so sorry I haven't written in for awhile. Mike and I have been so busy doing "other" things. Life is full of that. Thank you all so much for writing in and sharing our concerns and also some really good ideas
Kensue49- Great info about wood stoves. Thank you for sharing it. We are still waiting on a call back from the company about the distance from the tile wall I think they forgot about us.
HawkJ- Good to see you. We are hoping for a warmer winter than last year and hopefully our fish do well. There are a lot of babies which makes Mike very happy. I'll remember that about the cat food.
MountainMarty- Thanks so much for writing in. Good luck to you and your wife. TN is beautiful
gentlehearts- I will have to start bug hunting for Mike's fish, lol. Hey...did you see that horn worm that I posted? That was so cool. I'll share that with everyone in my next post.
Mike likes to fish for fun so it's always catch and release in any of our ponds.....until we "need" to eat them.
HarveyMushman- Thank you for signing up and joining our story. I am so glad you enjoyed it. Maybe someday I'll post a picture of Mike and I...I'll have to teach Niki how to use the camera, lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarveyMushman
Quoted because I forgot to add in the smiley faces.
Can't forget those, lol. I love them...to some people's annoyance I'm sure
Rusty Bill- welcome to our world. Thank you so much for writing in and sharing your ideas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rusty Bill
You might want to consider gluing down the vinyl flooring around the cutout for your wood stove; if for no other reason than to keep humidity from getting under there and causing a mold/mildew problem.
That is a very good idea and not a hard fix.
A safety escape hatch in the back wall is a Real Good Idea. It needn't be elaborate; a punchout panel in the wall with a coiled rope ladder inside and a cord hanging down through one of the ceiling tiles, which you will have precut on the upper surface to break when the cord is pulled. The ladder drops, you climb up, push out the panel and run!
Another good idea.
About your problem burning yourself with the gas trimmer; I notice from the photos that you cut directly in front of you. Try this: cut to your left, holding the trimmer in your right hand (palm up) and guiding it with your left. You might consider adding a shoulder strap to help carry the weight.
Well...I get a little used to my ways and it would be really hard for me to change the way I've been doing it for so long...but I will try. I also have trouble with my hip so we'll see. Thanks for thinking of me. Maybe I should just let Mike do the weed eating, lol.
About the possible overheating of the shipping container with your solar system: put vertical standoffs on the sun-side of the container, then attach sheets of diamond-lattice trellis. The stuff is made with one-inch lath and should give you roughly 40-50% coverage. Even this should cut down on the heat inside the container. Adding climbing plants will reduce this even more. Back when I was in the Air Force, as a tactical field communicator, we would put camo netting over our equipment vans for this exact purpose; it worked pretty well.
Mike was actually just talking about a lattice trellis and plants. I think we will do that next spring.
Have you considered putting in a small gazebo by your fish pond? Not yet...but we will plant a shade tree or 2 and at least a bench.
I will also echo comments made by others - you have got to write this up in book form, even if it is only a pdf that you let people download. Add in the technical details that folks have asked about (wiring diagrams of the solar system, for example) and you will have a runaway hit.
Again, thank you for inviting us into your lives. You have a beautiful place there. Here's hoping that you and Mike will have many, many happy years to enjoy it.
Thank you.
Tlayne- Thank you so much for taking the time to read our story. I am so glad you enjoyed it. It has taken me a lot of time to do this story but there are so many great people who enjoy reading it
Good luck saving for your dream.
I also think Rusty Bill meant going out the back of the house. At least that's how we would do it.
Yeah Mike is a pretty good guy especially when I make him do something "again" because I missed the shot, lol.
Thank you everyone for writing in and sharing your comments and ideas.
Then I thought no no no. Cutting the roof? Nah. What I think Rusty must be talking about is you pull the cord, ladder falls, climb up to the rafters, and then make a 90 degree turn out through the WALL (not roof). That way there's no cutting the roof. Just make a 24''x24'' panel on the little wall that sits on the concrete wall behind your bed. With the way you and Mike (and princess) do things this would be an easy project. Rusty Bill please correct me if im wrong.
You're not; that's exactly what I meant.
The panel would go through that little 2' of wall that faces the parking area, or out the side of the house, whichever Lisa and Mike prefer.
Lisa, on that trellis thing. If you don't want to go with ivy or whatever, you could just hang some pots or flowerboxes from the lattice; use 'em as starters for your garden.
Oh, another thing... that walkway down the side of the house. I'm thinking winter, snow, ice, and sliding down the hill all the way to your barn.
Wow,I started reading this post 1 week ago,This was better than any book I have read.My wife would go to bed at 10pm, and would get back up and order me to bed at 1am.I just got caught up for a week.Thank you Lisa and Mike.and everyone else on here.God Bless.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
.
