WinSol +

As the third atmospheric river of the week is pounding WinSol right now, I noticed the first hurricane developing off the Florida coast.   and that's two weeks before the official start of the hurricane season (June 1).  After a record setting, strong el Nino winter, are we in for a normal summer?  I think not.  There are a lot of signs that this could be a somewhat cooler and maybe not so dry summer.  Yeah!  Three years ago we had a similar summer - a bit of rain every month and mild temperatures.   Of course all the talking heads are warning of a heightened fire season - you know the usual fear mongering:  because of the wet winter there will be SO much vegetation that'll dry out quickly and become fuel for large wildfires.  As opposed to a dry winter, where the fear mongers claim that the lack of water makes everything more dry and THAT becomes fuel for large wildfires.  Take you pick of which fear mongers you want t...

I constantly struggle to stay downshifted.... to keep it in low gear.  It ain't easy.  It's the ole 'one earth equivalence' that has guided my lifestyle.  It wasn't easy transitioning from the mainstream hamster wheel of constant go-go-go, get more-get more, me-me-me, what about me? routines.  It took many years for my behaviors to change, to accept living with a small footprint, to get and REMAIN humble.   Along the lines of Kermit saying 'it ain't easy being green'  I'd like to say it ain't easy staying in low gear.   There's so much temptation out there, so many things that can make life easier - an illusion at best!  so many things to experience, to do, to keep up with... the human race.  But what about keeping up with nature by tuning down?  changing behaviors Peer pressure has a huge influence over human behavior.  What your friends and family do has a driving influence over your behavior.  It's BF Ski...

Winter has finally moved on... and temperatures are consistently in the 60's for the first time since December - a real winter, after 5+ years of being spoiled. The fruit trees have blossomed and leafed out - the first time in 2 years without a snowstorm killing the blossoms, so there should be hundreds of peaches and cherries ++.  The rhubarb sprouted up first.  For some reason rhubarb seems to do really well here - we've split one plant over 10 times and have so much rhubarb we give it away! And now the hard work in Spring begins in earnest.  Getting the learning center going again for interns and helpers are a two year hiatus is the major project right now. There's about 12 more olla pots for a couple raised beds put back into production.  the strawberries from Peaceful Valley are doing wonderfully.  They are SO much better quality than other nurseries.   As any property owner knows, murphy always shows up in certain repeat trends.  T...

Enough already!  Having returned from a 2 week hiatus - mostly down south, it's nice to be back at this forest sanctuary.  BUT - there's another winter storm coming tomorrow.  The drive through snow country (hwy 88 - minden to WinSol) was awe inspiring if it wasn't for the endless cars parked on both shoulders with snowmobiles, skis, sleds, and gawking people.   Records broken Mammoth ski area had more closed days this season, than ever before - and they are staying open (weekends only) until July 4th.   Tioga Pass at Yosemite won't be plowed thru until late June or later.  Yosemite valley buildings have suffered a LOT of damage for snow loads.   So it's now inching toward 8 weeks of non-stop winter.   The outside temp today was 55F (March 25) and the last time it reached that temp was in the 2nd week of January.  I've never seen a continuous winter without a break like this.  That's why I headed south to Death V...

After a cold start, it's turned nice.   Temps are 65/42F and the solar house is working beautifully.  inside temps exceed 85F with curtains open and no indoor fires. But when it gets cloudy, it's downright cold inside:  A solar house without sun really sucks. The 12ton Trombe wall holds latent heat for about 2-3 days without the firestove going.  I usually fire up the stove on the 2nd day without sun and that keeps things warm.  Over the years I've been able to 'train' my body to be comfy down to 45F.  There's a snow workshop back east where people are trained to stand barefoot in the snow -- the first day they last 5 minutes, after 5 days of 'hardening up'  they can stand barefoot in the snow for 30+ minutes.  The body adjusts... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last summer, the big project was building an RMH (Rocket Mass Heater - see other blogs) in the bedroom - which is heavily i...

After experience the first beams of light on Winter Solstice sunrise at 7:43am...  Sun beaming on the eating nook, and bedroom pillow. A couple hours later it floods the entire house, including back wall in sun. I once again appreciate the beauty of the ancients and their passive designs (think adobe, mesa verde, etc) to maximize winter sun intrusion.  Winsol heats and cools itself.  But it needs a little help from outside conditions.  I've been there in January when it's 20F outside, sun is shining, all curtains are open and it's 85F inside.  WinSol is buttoned down for the winter.  with the holidays, snowfall, cloudy days... it's a challenge to stay at Winsol during winter.  As I always say:  'a solar house without sun really sucks' - and so I tend to be a bluebird kinda guy. The logging around WinSol has finally started.  It's been a 6+ month wait for this to happen.  i am both sad and happy about this logging.  It wi...

WinSol is coming out of a hiatus.  The original grand opening of the Living Energy Learning Center (LeLc) was postponed last June for various reasons, and slowly things are congealing again.  We are now set for a 2019 spring opening.  Here's a progress report: (1) For the first time in 5 years, we have vegetable gardens (raised beds) producing again .  With the addition of several kitties, the persistent munchers and pesky rats are retreating to less threatening environs.  We'll see how the kitties fare during winter and the racoons.  so far, so good: lessons learned from previous kitty ventures. (2) The LeLc dome floor is now 95% finished.  We've had to take out a few rough spots and repair some cracks.  The main progress has been along the outside permieter where snow and rain intrusion was next to impossible to stop. So we cut a 2" gap around the perimeter with the chainsaw to allow speedy runoff.  (3) Our re-Focus will be tow...