The next steps

Tom spent last Thursday and Friday in Spanish Lookout getting the building supplies for the next phase. We had originally planned to get going on the second cabin and turn it into guest rooms, but somewhere along the line we heard that when it really starts to rain here – which could happen at any time – the water supply in the pipe gets muddy. So, we decided that our next project would be to put a roof on the little house by the road, which we plan to use as a shop and utility building. We can then collect rainwater from the roof, and use that to fill the 1000 gallon tank that we fill before pumping water up the hill to the other 1000 gallon tank which gravity feeds the house.


This is what the shop/utility house looked like when we first moved on to the property.


Tom and Selwyn spent this morning taking out the old roof supports, which were held up by just a few nails here and there. They’re now rebuilding the roof, and will cover it with zinc roofing. They’ll also build windows and doors so we can lock the building and use it for tool storage, and eventually as a shop for Tom. We’ll probably also put the battery bank in that building, and move the generator down there so the noise is further from our living space. Tom plans to wire the property from that point so that whether we eventually run from a solar or generator powered battery bank, or from electric from the road if it ever gets this far, we can have all the buildings wired so it doesn’t matter what the electric source is.