Good Peaceful Morning!

Hey everyone! I want to share with you some beautiful photos I took on the shores of Lake Huron Sunday morning just as the sun was rising.

Penny and I took a few days off of working on the van, social media and even my computer. I actually picked up a book I’ve been meaning to read for years and have gotten through the prologue.

It looks stormy in the pictures but it wasn’t much. Just low clouds and a bit of drizzle.

And Penny’s action photos:

Penny loves to chase the waves and bite them but she also drinks all the waves she bites! Then she is full of water so I have to watch her closely to make sure she pees out all that water outside instead of inside. I actually only let her bite them a little because it really triggers her OCD.

The sun broke through the clouds for a beautiful, sunny day.

If you’ve never been on one of the Great Lakes, most of the beaches are this sugar sand and the water is fresh so you don’t have a layer of dried salt on your skin when you’ve been in it.

Now that it’s past Labor Day, northern Michigan has fewer tourists and the beaches are pretty empty. I’m actually heading back up there, because it is still hot and buggy here in Lansing and cooler and no mosquitos up there.

So, I hope to see more mornings like this:

Can you feel your blood pressure going down looking at these? I hope so.

I hope you enjoyed this little lake respite for a few minutes. I’ll talk to you later and in the meantime, take care of yourself. You are important!

Continue Reading

So Close!

This post is for patrons who subscribe at the $5/month or higher premium on patreon.com. The patrons allow this site to be ad-free for everyone and helps me offset (but not completely) the costs of running this website. Thank you Patrons!

So, hey Patrons! I bet you’re all dying to see what I’ve accomplished in the last month. This is one thing I actually have some progress on since I work on it 7 days a week (no joke). I got some big things done and lots of little things and I am getting so, so close to being done.

Let’s see. Where did we leave off?

Oh, LOL! This is what the electricity room looked like.

Now it looks like this:

Yeah, does that look insane to you? Me too. I have a friend helping me and she has done all of this work. I started by handing her tools and now I just work on something else while she’s here (or really sit in a chair and talk to her because it’s usually in the evening when she’s here and I’m pooped out).

She said it was ok for me to share her picture on the blog. I call her my electricity angel.

So, what we have here in a nutshell, is the solar panels on the roof of the van are drawing in sunshine and that is going down into a solar charge controller which converts the sunshine into electricity which gets stored in all those batteries. Then, with lots of safety features involved, the electricity from the batteries goes out to the appliances like the refrigerator and the lights and fans and outlets.

I will be able to store lots of electricity in those batteries to use when it’s dark or cloudy and the solar panels aren’t bringing in the juice plus I’m able to charge up the batteries when I’m driving and if need be, I can plug into a house outlet to charge up the batteries. It’s a pretty robust, complicated, professional set-up and I don’t think I would have been able to do it all by myself.

We are about 80% done with the electricity and if you remember, this part of the build has always given me huge amounts of anxiety and trepidation. Just knowing it’s almost done makes me feel like crying. It is such a relief to be almost over that mountain.

And I’ve started on the second biggest mountain — the plumbing system. This has it’s frustrations (I went to Home Depot three times yesterday to find the right connector — always ask an employee there instead of trying to figure it out yourself) but so far it is nothing compared to electricity. Plumbing is just following directions and learning vocabulary (I say before I actually put any water through my plumbing!).

I’ve got one plumbing system to go to the kitchen sink and one for the shower. I decided to start with the kitchen water first since that seemed less intimidating.

And speaking of kitchen…

Look how gorgeous that counter turned out!

This was the counter before I cut a big hole in it for the sink
and with sink

Here is the kitchen now with the three drawers and cupboard:

The drawers were ridiculously hard. And the big, black thing is the refrigerator.

This is what I did with the part of the counter I cut out for the sink:

It gives me extra counter space and can work as a little table top.

You probably noticed I put in the floor too:

It really finished up the look a lot. It’s pergo so it’s pretty indestructible and it was one of the easier things to install.

It is so absolutely cozy in the van now with the lights on and a fan going.

I did some other little things like re-doing the rubber floor in the entryway and it looks sooooooo much better now. Look:

This is how it looked before the re-do:

And after:

This is something that is little, but has a big visual impact (in my opinion) because it’s one of the first things you encounter when you open up the door.

Probably the last big thing I did was finish out the floor of the back of the van where the “garage” will be with the same black rubber from the sliding door “mudroom”.

I also did a ton of small things that I can’t really remember and didn’t take pictures of, but you may see the changes in the images.

It is really coming together and I hope to be done by October 1st (see how that deadline keeps moving?) but I’m not sure. So much is done but there is probably stuff that needs to be done that I don’t even realize yet. Heck, I haven’t even ordered the air conditioner yet (the sticker price is making me hesitate) so that will probably a whole other thing. And the water heater (another expensive item) is probably going to be a thing.

That’s definitely something I’ve learned doing this — everything is a thing. Nothing is easy and everything is much more complicated than I realized. Well, this will be quite an accomplishment when it’s done that’s for sure. Just gotta make it to the finish line……………..

Alrighty, everyone, that’s it from me today. Gotta get back out there and do it!

Take care!

Continue Reading

Well Here We Are

Hey everyone! Well, I’m back from a month-long writing hiatus.

Sunrise on the horizon of Lake Huron

Well, I’m not really sure what to write about here. On one hand a lot has happened and then I think, well, really not much has happened in the last month. Except that the Supreme Court has set back women’s rights 50 years, so there’s that. I think I’m still in shock over that to fully process it yet. I can’t believe we still have to march for women’s body autonomy in 2021. A conservative elected official referred to women as “host bodies” last week, so that was fun. Reminds me when a White House advisor of the last administration called people “human capital stock”. Good times.

So, yes, I’ll be marching October 2nd. Not sure what good that will do though since the Supreme Court doesn’t have to answer to the public and our elected officials have had 50 years to actually codify Roe by passing a national law and hasn’t seen fit to do it. Probably didn’t think they needed to do it? Like it’s settled law? Hmmmmm, well that didn’t work out as expected did it?

Ok, I’m being a grump here. I’ll try to tone it down, but one of my cats is missing (OJ) so not sure how much I can tone it down! He’s been gone for over 36 hours and that is not like him at all.

OK, anyway….

As many of you know, I have spent the last 13 months turning a van into a camper. It’s not quite done yet, but it is getting close. Here’s an outside view of it:

I spent the last month working on it, almost 7 days a week and I will do a big reveal when it’s done, though Patrons have been getting weekly updates on it (you can go here if you’re interested in becoming a Patron) and have been following along on this magnum opus of my life. It was my pandemic project and since I’m almost done then that must mean we are almost done with the pandemic. Right?

I plan on doing a lot of traveling, but it seems like I’m going to have to avoid some of these Covid-filled, overflowing-hospital states, which is too bad. My first trip was going to be to South Dakota to see the badlands but their hospitals are so over-run that I’d hate to get in a car accident there or have a heart attack there, so I’m looking to other locations. Maybe the east coast? Gotta watch out for hurricanes over there though. West coast? Hmmm, fire season there. Is every place doing badly in one way or another?

Alright, I seem to be out of positive things to say, so I’ll end this post. Maybe there will be some good news in the next week and I’ll be brimming with optimism then. Until then, everyone take care of yourself and I’ll talk to you later!

Continue Reading

Goodbye For Now

Hey everyone! How are you doing today? I hope you’re doing ok or maybe even better than ok!

Everyone’s vaccinated, right? Because if not, then I would be really nervous going out into the world right now. I feel for people who have kids or are immune-compromised but also for anyone living where the hospitals are full. I hope no one gets in a car accident or gets sick and needs an ICU bed anytime soon (or ever really). Scary times.

I had a really nice birthday and still have some post-birthday get-togethers planned this week. It’s nice to have something to celebrate and an excuse to get together with friends and family, though we’re back to doing everything outside again.

So, I’m going to take the month of August off from blogging. I just need a little time to myself. Everything is ok and I’m ok. I just need to change up my routine a bit.

I expect to be back here in September and full of interesting tales to tell.

Until then, everyone take care of yourself. You are valued and needed and I appreciate you. See you soon!

Continue Reading

Happy Birthday To Me!

Due to Covid 19 I had to change up how I pay for this blog. I used to get commissions that offset the costs but those commissions are no more. Now I have a subscription-based system where subscribers help me offset the costs and in return, are treated to an extra post each week — like this one. Thank you subscribers!

Hey Patrons! How is everyone doing today? It’s my birthday! Wooo-hooo.

Ha ha! And here I am sitting writing on the computer doing what I always do on Thursdays. Well, I am going out with a friend this afternoon so that is my birthday treat, plus some other fun outings planned for the next couple of days.

So, first off, let me tell you that I am going to take a blogging break for the month of August. I can “pause” your subscription so you won’t be charged for August. Nothing to worry about. I’m fine. I’m just needing a little time to myself.

Even though it’s my birthday, I’m going to work on the van a little bit today, but not much. I’m starting to feel a little burnt-out on the building so I need to take a break. One thing though that I’m going to do today is put on a second coat of sealant on my beautiful butcher block counter and table top:

counter in foreground, table in back in my garage (I call it barn) workshop

After three coats of sealant the counter has to sit for 30 days so I need to get it done soon. Plus, it’s so beautiful I love working with it.

I also installed another dimmer switch. Yay me!

I get such immense pleasure when I complete something electrical. I actually feel like fist-pumping when I do something!

I know it doesn’t look like it, but my electrical room is getting all sorted out!

My original idea was to tile the backsplash in the “kitchen” behind the butcher block counter but I worried about the weight and tiles falling off the wall as I drove so I found this:

It’s actually aluminum, so really lightweight but it’s painted (or something) to look like copper. It was really easy to cut and glue and screw and took about 5 minutes where tile would have been a couple days of fretting and making a mess.

I’ve been doing a lot of “buttoning up” like finishing off the bulk head wall and shoe cubby.

And covering up gaps in the walls with the white shiplap from the ceiling.

I’m not crazy about how this looks. I may change it out.

And I received my teak shower mat that I cut up to fit the shower floor shape. I will be bolting the toilet to this, which is why I bought it, but it’s beauty and the way it takes the bathroom up a couple of notches is such an added bonus!

Yes, the cutting was not very accurate on the left hand side. I did my best!

I’ve also re-thought the space under the lounge. I’m going to leave most of it open because when you leave space at the bottom of something like a bench, it gives the illusion the space is bigger. Also, I noticed my heels hit the wood whenever I started to get up from the seat and it was painted white so you could see a lot of dirt and shoe marks. And now since it’s going to be on view, I had to change out the broken, but still strong 2×4 for a good piece of wood:

I also cut a piece of wood and painted both sides (with the gray paint) for under the lounge. Now that it will be visible, I will use the same final flooring that will be in the rest of the van over the top of that paint.

So, I’m not sure what to do about this part of the van:

This is the wall right above the sliding side door. It curves in a really weird way so the wood doesn’t sit right. I might just take down the wood I have there already and replace it with the black faux leather I used in the cab, if I can’t figure out a better solution.

So I will continue to work on this through August and I’ll keep taking pictures of my progress and fill you in when I come back.

I will notify the regular readers on Tuesday that I’m taking a blogging break so no one freaks out over there.

Thank you for your support. I never forget it or take it for granted. Take care of yourself and I’ll talk to you soon!

Continue Reading

Appreciating Normal

Hey everyone! How are you doing today? Hanging in there? I hope so.

City cats napping

I’m doing fine myself. Bummed about this delta variant and wearing masks again. No, we’re not forced to wear them here in Michigan, but it seems like the smart thing to do when indoors with the random public.

Can’t we just close this chapter and let it go into the history books? I thought it would be interesting to live during historical events, but now I realize it means they were dangerous and/or uncertain times which is interesting but not that much fun.

Alright, besides still living with a pandemic, life is pretty calm right now. We’re all moved in here and adjusting or are adjusted (see cat picture above) and really just battling mosquitoes now. I am a somewhat patient person but mosquitoes swarming in my face, biting my eyelid, getting stuck behind my glasses or in my mouth, really pushes me over the edge. Needless to say the walks with the dogs have not been that much fun.

Surprisingly the place to walk the dogs where the mosquitoes aren’t that bad is on the road heading to the boat launch. Someone must have sprayed the road edges because on one side of the road there are houses but the other side, where I walk, is the park, so it’s just swampy or tall grass and the bugs are not that bad.

This is the wetland on one side of the road. I tried to get a picture of that beautiful cardinal but it wouldn’t hold still

The only downside to walking on the road is Penny wants to lunge and chase anyone driving by or biking by. We are trying to stop that behavior, and though my neighbors probably can’t tell, she is getting better about it. I also try to walk early in the morning or later in the evening when the road is quieter.

Am I sounding crabby again? I think so. Ok, I’ll do better.

Penny was excellent at the dog park last week. She was friendly with all the dogs (a bit over-correcting to one young dog) and had no problem with the humans. She even let a little kid pet her. That was a success with her!

My birthday is Thursday. Yep, I’ll be 54. So far so good. I have plans with several different groups of friends and relatives so I expect to be making up for lost time from last year and celebrating for a couple of days. I’m going to need to pace myself with all this talking and eating and drinking and laughing. Sounds like a good problem to have!

Early morning at the boat launch

I have been having lots of fun with my friends going to places that we all talked about going to during the pandemic, back when we were trying to bolster each other and plan what we would do when things got back to normal. Now that we’ve been back to mostly normal for about three months (has it only been three months?) and everyone is feeling comfortable, we plan at least two, sometimes three, things a week where we do something fun or try someplace new or just get together in person.

No mosquitoes here this morning

We went to a Speakeasy last week and I visited the winery where I used to work and visited with three other friends I haven’t seen since before Covid. There are two new restaurants we’re going to try and we’re going to take a little road trip to another Michigan winery soon. Nothing like a little pandemic to make you appreciate your friends and social outings like never before!

Ugh, come on people! Get vaccinated so we can put this virus behind us! I don’t want to stand outside in January trying to socialize with my friends again!

Anyhow, I am so appreciating being able to be out and about again. I really want to make up for lost time and see all the things and do all the things. We’ve got about another two months of good weather for doing lots of things outside where the mosquitoes aren’t, so I’m going to be busy having fun. Even if we do have to lock down in the fall or winter, I want to know that I appreciated and lived fully the time I had when we were safe to socialize.

Ok, gotta go make some plans! Take care everyone!

Continue Reading

Important But Not Pretty

This post is for Patrons who pay $5/month which allows me to keep this site ad-free for everyone. I prefer this subscription method rather than ads all over the site or me pushing you to buy, buy, buy. This site is not free for me, so I appreciate getting help to offset it’s costs. Thank you Patrons!

Brightly colored mushrooms on the path. I’m sure they’re fine to eat!

So, hey Patrons! How is everyone doing?

I took last week off from writing because I just felt like I didn’t have anything interesting to show or say. My days seem to be running together from one uninteresting day into another. I did still keep working on my van, but it’s not very visual. It’s important though, so I’ll show you what I’ve been up to.

First off, I had someone come over who is an expert in electricity and wires and batteries because they re-build electronic things for a hobby. She checked over the work I’ve done so far (all good!) and we talked about what my plan was for the rest of the electrical hook-up. I was able to ask her questions and text her questions when I couldn’t figure something out and now we’re going to have a work day! I’m excited! I just have to wait for some more items to be delivered and my extra battery.

This is my electric “room”. This will all be under the bed and will be pretty much enclosed by plywood.

It was good to have someone aiding me since this has been such a solo project. It was also good to have a deadline (her visit) to get some things organized and built and forced me to make some decisions. A couple of weeks ago, that picture above would have spiked my anxiety, but now I’ve got it figured out. I’m not at 100% of understanding, but I’d say about 80-85%. It really is like the mist has parted on installing the electricity and now I know what I need to do to complete it.

I think it’s good I stuck with learning the electrical and tackling it myself, because in the future, if something goes wrong, I will be able to fix it. I can imagine being out in the middle of the desert and have the water pump stop working or in the van on a dark, cold night and have the heater stop working. Now, I understand how things work and will hopefully be able to trouble-shoot. It hasn’t been easy. Definitely not. But, I’m glad I slogged through it.

This was the highlight of my week…

… a completely functional dimming light switch!

Everything is so much more complicated than you imagine going in. So, not just the complexity of wiring the lights down to the switch and then that back to the battery, but cutting a hole in the wood for the switch and trying different screws because the ones sent with the face plate were way, way too tiny are all part of just getting this one little light switch working. This van may be the pièce de résistance of my life!

And these little guys were quite a pain.

These are gas struts and they hold open the cabinet door so you don’t have to hold it up or have it held up by your head. I went through three different versions of these until I found the right strength. Yes, that’s a thing. Everything has a thing.

Sometimes one of these doors pop open when I close another so I had to put two magnets to try to keep it closed. I’ve had mixed results, so I think I will have to figure out another solution.

My big cabinet in the kitchen though looks great and behaves.

I’m going to have to give these cabinets another coat of paint when I’m done though because they are getting marked up and dinged while I work on them. You know I’ve been working on this too long when I already have to re-do something before everything is even finished!

I did get my roof rack done too. (that seems like forever ago!) I was just looking at my last van-build post and I was talking about how my nephews helped lift the solar panels up on the roof but since then I got a special bit and drilled a hole in the aluminum and was able to bolt the solar panels to the roof rack in 6 different places so they aren’t going to fly off the roof while I’m driving down the highway! My nephew came back and tightened all the bolts for me after I had done them just to make sure they were on tight.

So, this is how the exterior of the van looks now:

I’m actually pretty proud of how the roof rack and solar panels look. I even added little black end-caps, that aren’t functional in any way, they just make the roof rack more finished looking.

I actually think this looks kinda handsome.

This is how the interior is looking:

It probably looks far from being done, but getting the electricity all sorted out will be a huge item done. I’m hoping now to be done by the fall equinox when summer is officially done and autumn starts. That is September 22nd so exactly two months from now. LOL! Remember when I thought I’d be done by May 1st? I was very optimistic last winter!

Luckily the last two days the mosquitoes have died down and I’ve been able to take Kip and Penny for walks again. It also has been cooler, so when we went out for a walk this morning it was only 57° and there was a beautiful blue sky.

On Tuesday I wrote that I was taking Penny to a dog park and it was going to be a big test for her. I’m so happy to say that she was excellent! She got along with all the other dogs and she was totally unfazed by the other people there. She even let a little boy who gave off nervous energy pet her.

At one point, she did want to over-correct a young dog, not a fight or bite, but she did a low bark at him/her near their face (which is how dogs discipline puppies) whenever it tried running around. I put her back on her leash then for awhile because no owner wants to see their dog being hindered from running and playing when they’ve brought them specifically to run and play.

I let her off the leash a little bit later and she just ignored the dog. It just seems like Penny wants to be in charge wherever she goes. We’ll see how that works out for her!

Well, we’re supposed to have a week or so of beautiful perfect days (72° high during the day, mid fifties during the night) so I’m hoping to be able to get the dogs out walking more. These last two weeks were bad for me too, and not just the dogs. I missed the walks in nature and working outside with all the mosquitoes was a huge drag. I am appreciating the days like crazy right now!

Ok, everyone. That’s it for me today. Take care of yourself. Be safe. Mask up (I’m sorry to say that) and enjoy your weekend. I’ll talk to you next week!

Continue Reading

Slow Summer

Hey everyone! How are you doing today?

Our sky over Michigan is affected by the wildfires in Canada and have been hazy for two days. This was taken this morning

I took a two week break from writing this blog because I’m feeling like I don’t have that many interesting things to say. Then I remember that I was able to write all through lockdown when I was doing even less interesting things and still managed to come up with something to write about, so I really just need to be trying harder I guess.

So, what has everyone been up to? We are under attack by mosquitoes here so my walks with the dogs have been short and quick. It’s been two weeks since they’ve hatched, so technically most of them should be dying of old age soon but I haven’t noticed a difference. These are the strain of mosquitoes that fly into your face and three different times I’ve had one fly in my mouth (I never realized how often my mouth is open I guess!). I had one bite me on my eyelid while I was picking up dog poop off of someone’s yard so I couldn’t whack it quick enough! Supposedly this is the worst they’ve been in Michigan in a while because there were two years of supply of these “summer flood” eggs that have hatched since last year they didn’t have the right conditions to hatch. Here is my source for that little bit of info!

The haze of this picture is not a filter. It was in my jacket pocket and the grass was so wet with dew that it steamed up my phone!

Anyway, how is everyone feeling about Covid? I am going to start taking precautions again and will be back wearing my mask in any indoor spaces and I’m going to stock up on toilet paper. That idea is really bumming me out. You all know I am completely vaccinated, but this delta variant’s ability to spread so easily and quickly means there are many more opportunities for it to evolve in the petri dish of unvaccinated people. My anger at the people who refuse to get vaccinated is not fit for this blog, so we’ll leave it there. I just really want this pandemic to be done so we can get on with our lives!

I’ve been able to meet up with friends and family this summer, and it has been nice. We were able to do normal things like a baby shower and a wedding shower and birthday parties. I really would hate to go back to the time when all of that stopped and we all postponed living.

So, anyway, I’ve been busy adjusting to town life. I say “town life” instead of “city life” because I wouldn’t really call Lansing/East Lansing a city, more like a big town. I’m figuring out where I want to shop for groceries and where to go out to eat. It seems like I’m at the grocery store every other day, but really a week has gone by and we’re out of food, or at least the pets are out of food. Time is weird.

We took my mom out for her 85th birthday and the meal and restaurant were very disappointing. I’m still looking for a reliable restaurant that is good to take guests for a semi-formal occasion. We have a good casual Mexican restaurant we go to, and we have found a really good but pricey upscale restaurant, but I’d like to find a mid-level option. Maybe something new will open up? That would be nice!

Today I’m going to try taking Penny to the local dog park. She is meeting a friend there, which I hope will make her more playful and friendly to other dogs, because I’m a bit nervous about how she’ll behave. She usually seems like she wants to be very social with other dogs and wants to play, but it’s always in an aggressive, kinda wild pulling and lunging on the leash way. Part of this is that her walks have been so quick and abbreviated she has unspent energy but I really need to look into getting her some obedience training.

Summer wild flowers

I have been able to meet up with friends more often now while living “in town”. Part of it is I’m closer to them and closer to more places to go, but also because there is more free time and less work required than living on a farm. The house is smaller and the yard is way, way smaller and the animals are fewer and easier. There is just less chores and responsibilities living here, so more time for leisure and socializing.

Alright, well I made an effort to write, though I have to say, it wasn’t my most exciting post. I hope by next week I can tell you the mosquitoes are gone which then means my dog walks are at least more interesting. I can’t make any promises about anything else being more interesting though. Thanks for sticking with me!

Take care everyone!

Continue Reading

Strong Nephews To The Rescue!

When Covid 19 wiped out the commissions and sponsorships that used to help me pay some of the costs for this website, I needed to find another source so this wasn’t just an expensive hobby. I could have gone the advertisement route with pop up ads all over my site, but I didn’t want that. Instead, I offer subscriptions at $5/month and those subscribers are keeping this site ad-free and helping me defray the costs of running this blog. Thank you!

Hey Patrons! Hello! How is everyone doing today? Did everyone get a long weekend last weekend? Did you get lots of chores done? Or see lots of friends? Or chill with a good book?

Tired kitty sound a sleep on the deck as I build around her
Close up of that pretty trusting Wasabi face

I did a little bit of all of that. Met with friends, worked on the van, read a bit and took a couple of naps. Not that my weekends are much different than my weekdays. Mostly it’s friends and family who influence my weekends.

My sister visited Saturday, with two strong sons, and I put them to work lifting up my solar panels on the top of the van!

This was kind of a rushed project, because I didn’t know if my nephews were coming or not, and I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get the solar panels up on the roof for months. They’re not that heavy. Probably weigh, with the frame, about 125 lbs, but would be bulky and awkward and be an incredibly expensive item to drop!

My build journal and the pages for the roof rack and solar panels

I had a plan for the frame, but this is one of those projects that I didn’t have any instructions for, so I had to piece it together with my own knowledge. Those kind of plans always have obstacles that I have no idea about until they pop up. This was no exception.

Remember last week when I showed you a picture of the brackets I figured out how to install on the roof?

Well, I attached some rails to them:

And I was quite proud of how it looked and started feeling a bit too confident…

Then I realized I had mis-measured (my biggest building blind spot) and the rails that were holding the panels were too short! They wouldn’t span the roof distance from one rail to the other rail. Erg!

Luckily, I have learned through building this van, that there is always more than one solution. So, I moved the rails on the roof to the inside of the brackets like this:

And it worked!

I assembled my 5 (yes, 5, long story) solar panels together on the back deck since they take up a lot of room.

Got them all hooked up to each other:

And then connected them all together to the frame:

So this was what I needed my strong nephews to lift!

I spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday fretting about this and they lifted it up and on the roof in about 5 minutes! Really! One of them just casually bounding around the panels on the roof as they settled them into place.

I wish I had pictures of them, but I was too busy up on a ladder directing everyone!

And this is how it looks now up on the roof. You can barely tell the solar panels are up there.

This was my spot yesterday for several hours

I did have to spend several hours yesterday in the hot sun, on a ladder re-adjusting the bolts that attaches the panels together because they were interfering with the panels sitting flat on top of the rails. I’m sunburnt and sore from that unexpected activity, but it’s done.

Now, I’ve attached the panels to the rails in four places but want to attach it in a couple of other places just to be safe. This requires me drilling into the rack, which I, of course, need a special drill bit for and special screws, but then I hope the roof rack will be securely on the roof and then it will be all done!

I’m waiting on the mail to get some wire connectors to connect all the solar panels into one wire then drill a hole in the roof and run that wire down to where my electricity will be. Does this all sound really complicated? It was to me in the beginning but now I understand it all. This will be a very, very big part of the electricity portion of the build finished.

And to balance out all the metal install work, I’ve been building with wood:

My butcher block counter is ready to be sanded. Isn’t it gorgeous? I have to cut a hole in it for the sink and that seems almost like a crime!

A close up of the grain

I also made a little table top:

You can see my garage workshop here. I work on top of any surface I can find!

This still needs to be trimmed on the edges and then sanded and polyurethened but I am loving it already. I even sized it with my laptop on top of it to make sure it will be the right size.

So, I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with this project! I had trouble sleeping the other night because I was getting excited that it is getting close to being done. I count “getting close” as only having 10 or less projects to finish. So, I still have to finish:

  1. complete electrical
  2. plumbing
  3. kitchen cupboard
  4. garage (under the bed) build
  5. air conditioner
  6. heater
  7. floor
  8. tiled backsplash
  9. tall and short cabinet
  10. basement (under the floor under the bench storage)

I will still have odds and ends from other projects to finish (like the door and the balcony) and I still have some other smaller projects (like extra security locks and awning) but I can name every thing I still need to do in my head, so that means it’s getting manageable.

And yes, some of those items on the list are pretty big projects, but the electricity was/is the hardest and I’m about half way done with that, so everything is figureoutable!

You can tell my van hasn’t been driven in awhile because I watched a cicada hatch from it’s exoskeleton yesterday on the van tire.

Bye body! Thanks for the ride!

I don’t want to drive the van until the solar panels are secure, so I’m going to finish attaching them this weekend then get a friend to pull and push on them to make sure they are secure. I’m also going to contact the company that makes the aluminum and all the attachments I’ve been using to get their expertise. Can you imagine how heartbreaking it would be if the solar panels flew off on the highway? And dangerous? I need to be extra-cautious with them.

So, that’s it for me today. I may just work inside the garage today because the mosquitoes have hatched here (even in town!) and are unbearable. Plus, it’s drizzly and hot outside so it’s good I finished the roof rack yesterday. Maybe today is a good day for research on the computer on the comfy leather chair? Maybe.

Ok, take care everyone and I’ll talk to you next week!

Continue Reading