It’s not easy being Green.

Kermit the Frog was right. Really, it’s not easy being Green.

First of all, getting home insurance has been a huge hassle. It’s not like we have any expensive antiques or fancy jewelry, but if we lose what we’ve built so far, then we lose everything we have. So we need home insurance.

Here’s what we found out: innovation is not looked upon kindly by insurance companies. We keep hearing what a great thing it is that we’re doing – building our home ourselves, figuring out how to do things, recycling when we can – but we were turned down by several of the big companies because we weren’t using a general contractor or following a traditional plan for building.

So praise God for Germania! We are now insured as a homestead/small farm. The representative who came out to assess BaHa Ranch was very interested in our project and loved the idea of a container home. He said that we were paving the way for insurance companies to come up with some type of standard for insuring homes like ours, because more and more people will be building this way in the future.

Secondly, it’s not easy being green because of these little guys:

I don’t particularly want scorpions in the house, nor does BA. Outside, they’re fine. We moved into their territory, after all. However, cohabitation with these little creatures is just not going to work out. If anyone knows of a chemical-free way to keep them out of the house, please let me know! We found three scorpions inside Box 1 and launched an all-out chemical attack with some kind of pest spray inside and some kind of granules outside around the perimeter.

Third, it’s not easy being green because of the lack of information on how to do the projects that we need to do. We asked for advice once at the help desk at Home Depot – advice on how to combine two used windows into one space and mount them in wood on a metal box – and the Home Depot guy said “Oh, we’re not allowed to give advice on anything weird like that.” Now, to be fair, this was a Home Depot in Dallas that we went to prior to moving. The help we’ve received at the Home Depot in Dripping Springs has been absolutely wonderful, but the point is, everyone is just guessing with us because no one has any experience on how to build a container home.  But hey, at least in Hill Country, they try to help us out.  

Fourth (and here’s the biggest conundrum of all), we want to help the planet heal by cutting way down on the amount of natural resources that we consume, and moving to the country has been a big, big part of that, but now that we’re in the country, we have to use more gas to get anywhere!  In Dallas, we could walk to several places, and a short drive gave us plenty of choices for shopping, entertainment, etc. Now, we have to drive everywhere. We’re trying to conserve gas by combining errands, shopping at local farmers’ markets, and planning routes in advance, but I still feel guilty every time I start the car.

Peaches from local farm

So no, it’s not easy being green, but it’s worth the effort. Some things are getting easier as we get used to them, like conserving water to a fanatical degree, using the least amount of electricity possible (our electricity bill was $33 this month - and most of that was from tools we were using for construction), holding my nose when I empty the greywater tank, filling the solar water tank for our showers, taking all the lights outside daily to charge – it just becomes routine.

And we’ve settled into a routine now that is perfectly doable. We have everything we need, for the moment, and we’re done spending money for a while. The only other projects that we’d like to get done by the end of this summer are:

1.        A septic tank (because the RV toilet is a routine that we just can’t tolerate for much longer)

2.       A large water tank and pump (because right now we have to take our five-gallon water containers to town and fill them up about once a week)

3.       Paint for the ceiling (which is the only thing, cosmetically, that isn’t finished yet on the inside)

And hopefully that will be it for a while!

The Tiny Fridge (and other big adjustments)

Living full-time at BaHa Ranch is going to be quite an adjustment for both of us. Because of the small space, we bought a tiny refrigerator. I'd show you a picture, but it's already down there and I'm not. Basically, it's the kind of fridge that you probably had if you ever lived in a dorm. We're going to have to become wiser about buying groceries that need refrigeration, and that's a good thing! Probably half the things in our refrigerator right now have been there for much too long, and the other half doesn't even need to be in there.

Another thing we'll have to adjust to is the lack of light switches. I wonder how many times I'll walk into the bathroom in the middle of the night and swipe my hand against the wall next to the door? I've had years and years of being conditioned to the fact that that's what you do when you want a light to come on. Here's the lighting system at BaHa Ranch:

The three white solar lamps that you see in this picture are our current lighting system.
These three will soon be joined by the six additional lights that we recently purchased.
They operate by pulling a string at the bottom, and actually put out quite a bit of light!

And laundry. Oh dear, I think I have the most anxiety about the laundry! We have a washer and dryer, nothing fancy, but they work great and I am accustomed to using them. However, in the interest of using less electricity, I'm going to start using a solar-powered clothes dryer (AKA: a clothesline). And to wash the clothes? We may try to hook up the washer and use a water-conservation technique that utilizes the rinse water from one load to fill the wash cycle of the next load. If that doesn't work, I saw this on Amazon:

The Manual Washer Hand-washing machine

 And, I have a nice big plastic bucket that would work to manually wash clothes in. Plus, I've already bought some Octagon soap, which is supposedly great for manually washing clothes. 

   

Our anniversary

Our nine year wedding anniversary was last Saturday! What better way to celebrate than by working on our future home?

I wanted something bright for the bathroom floor. I love the way it turned out!

And I think it will go great with the shower curtain, although I've decided to paint the wall blue instead of yellow:

 Remember the door that I made from two used half-doors and a $10 folding door kit? I cleaned it up - haven't painted it yet, though:

BA installed the windows into the window frame, and it was so awesome to be able to leave the shutter open and wake up to the sun shining through the window. It was kinda complicated and involved, but it turned out great:

AND I learned how to tape and float - it's really not hard. I kinda liked it. Didn't take any pictures of that, though. 

I also thought ya'll might like to see the current drainage system. Here's the sink, all set up. The wood that you see against the wall above is the paneling that will eventually cover that wall.:

And here's a pretty bug that I found in the yard. He had wings. A dragonfly, maybe: 

That's all for now!

The New "To-Do" List

Well, about that wind turbine...it doesn't work yet. BA is still toying with it, but with summer coming up, we're going to need some air conditioning soon. So, we called Pedernales Electric Corp., and they sent out two great guys (Mike and Toker) to assess our build site for an electric pole. I know, we weren't planning to go on the grid, but sometimes you just have to compromise. There will come a time when BaHa Ranch runs strictly on wind and solar power, but that time is not now. If the powers that be had more sense, it would be cheaper to build a home that utilizes green energy. But as I said, the guys from the PEC were super-nice (Toker gave the doggie lots of love and referred to her as an "old hound dog," which I think made her very proud =) and the PEC seems like a good, honest company. 

So, here's some "To-Do"s:  

• Get electricity. Because it's already hot. And this is Texas - it won't be cool again until December.

• Blow in the insulation (we got dry cellulose insulation - you have to drywall completely first, then cut a little inconspicuous hole and blow the insulation in with a machine.)

• Install the glass windows into their metal frame.

• Hang curtains. Put down some throw rugs. Hang up a picture or two.

Free curtains, tablecloth, and throw from my mother-in-law, who is awesome =)
The little streak of electric blue in the top two pieces is what I want to bring out -
I might paint a whole room that color!



And I think the linens above will go great with orange.

• Hang some insulating curtains over the metal end doors.

• Install our big wooden door.

• Finish the bathroom:

My mother-in-law's garage is the best store ever. This shower curtain

will go nicely with the blue and tan tiles in the bathroom.

Not sure if you can tell from the picture, but the blue tiles have several shades

 of blue, along with grey and orangey streaks and some yellow/gold splatters.

This creamy tan-yellow color will cover an accent wall in the bathroom. 

I might also paint the bathroom door with it.

After that, we'll have to tile the shower and install the plumbing (which is going to have to include a larger rain-catchment system). You may notice that the bathroom has no sink - for now, BaHa Ranch will have only one sink, which is located around the corner in the kitchen. You might also wonder about the toilet. Where the heck is it??? It's in a box, waiting to be opened - it's a chemical toilet like the ones used on boats and in RVs. "Chemical" and "Green living" might not seem like two words that go together, but honestly, pooping in clean water doesn't make much sense either. And the chemical toilet is not permanent - we will eventually move to a toilet that hooks up to a septic tank and flushes with greywater (our first preference) or a composting (sounds smelly) or incinerating (sounds scary) toilet. 

And that's probably more than you ever wanted to know, right?

The Kitchen Sink

 It's greywater time! After thoroughly studying Art Ludwig's book on
 greywater, I went on to explore the unpleasant realities of digging a ditch in limestone-filled clay in 97-degree weather. It wasn't pleasant, but I was determined!

Here's what I started out with. Me and shovel vs. crazy-hard ground.

Here it is! A greywater ditch (I made this =)

After a day of digging, and a night of rain to make sure I had good drainage at this spot, I filled my ditch with a layer of course sand, a layer of charcoal, a layer of small pebbles, and two layers of larger rocks. Before it was all said and done, I had switched from my shovel to a hammer and spade in order to crack the larger limestone rocks so that I could pull them out by hand. I also transplanted a couple of native plants to make it prettier (if these take off, I'll put more plants in there).

And every greywater ditch needs a source of greywater, I suppose, so I built a kitchen sink.

Had to wait for this wall to be finished to install it.

I used this Ikea table top (that we've had for years and years) and, after using a

screwdriver to make guide holes, cut out the shape of the sink with a saws-all. 

Then I sprayed on four coats of Rust-oleum to make it more water-resistant.

(The Rust-oleum was 1/2 price at Home Depot because the lid was missing.)

Then I put in the sink, screwed it in place with the hardware 

that came with it, and sealed the edges with caulking.

I made this =) 

Eventually it will drain out of a long pipe that I've already cut, through the wall, and into the greywater ditch.

I built the base out of 2x4 scraps, and the legs are made from trimmings that came from 2x6s. I'll post a better picture later, because here I was just testing it out - it's not even anchored to the wall in this picture. I put the sink and counter onto the base, added the drain thingy that goes in the bottom (secured with plumber's putty), figured out where all the pipes should go, and cut the pieces that I needed from a larger pipe with a hacksaw. 

You might also be interested to know where the water comes from. The sky, of course! From the sky into a rainwater basin (aka a kiddie pool), and then into one of those big, clear buffet tea containers with a spigot at the bottom. Then where does it go? Through the pipes, and for now, into a designated greywater bucket that I empty into the ditch by hand. 

Did you know that greywater is really grey? It is. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Progress, y'all!

We made some major progress over spring break. Here are a few of the things we did:

The ceiling - we were just going to paint inside and out with insulating paint until we spent one stormy night in the box. I've never tried to sleep inside of a drum set, but I think the two experiences would be quiet similar.  So, here's the ceiling and what we did to it:

Bare metal ceiling

Rearview Mirror

The clock is ticking. The countdown is on. We will soon be gone from this place (not existentially - I'm just referring to the move from city to country). Will things look clearer in the rearview mirror? Will we be homesick for a place that was not originally home to either one of us?

I've lived in this city since 1999. I've moved repeatedly, and have lived in seven apartments and one house, but I've stayed in this general area. I was happy to get here, but the city has served its purpose. BA and I met at our church. I saw him walking through the parking lot, thought that he was really cute, and wondered how I'd ever find him inside the building (it's a megachurch with 10,000+ members.) Miraculously, the usher sat me right in front of him, and after the service, he gave me his number. Even if that had been the only reason for me to move here, it would have been worth it.

Reasons that I will miss living here:

1. Our church
2. Our friends and the few family members that live nearby (although a lot of them have moved or are moving too)
3. A sushi restaurant on every corner
4. American Airlines Arena, where I can watch the Sharks beat the Stars (hey, it's happened before, it can happen again!) Like last night (April 3rd)...they won 5 to 2...we were there...yelling our lungs out...Go Sharks!!! And thanks for the hockey puck =) You made our 9th anniversary date night awesome!
5. The ability to walk to church, to the drugstore, the gym, a few restaurants and fast food places, the mechanic where we get our oil changed (just drop off the car and walk home)...basically, I'll miss the convenience of this location.    
6. Variety. Choices. The ability to be picky about where I buy the groceries or which movie theater we go to. (We'll have choices where we're moving to, as well, but they will be far-flung instead of a few blocks apart.) 

I could also say that I'll miss the close proximity of great healthcare services and world-class doctors, but it really doesn't matter how close they are when you don't have insurance and can't afford to use them...


Reasons that I won't miss living here:

635 at 9:15 on a Saturday night.
Yep, it's a traffic jam. Any time,
night or day, this hwy sucks.

1. Traffic!!!
2. Loop 635 (Yes, it still pertains to traffic, but it's so bad that it deserves its own number. Especially now that it is under construction...) 
3. I can't have chickens here. Anyway, where would I put them?
4. I can get pretty much everything I need online, so who needs all these stores?
5. BA can learn to make sushi rolls for me so that I won't have to drive to Austin to get them (though we'd probably have to order the seaweed online). I think this will save us some money.
6. There are few things to do outdoors, most entertainment options are overpriced, and club culture here is touristy and focused on 20-somethings (whereas in Austin there is lots of LIVE MUSIC (totally worth the drive), and there are plenty of fun, cheap, and outdoorsy options to choose from in the surrounding area =)
7. Noise. Even the very best of neighbors make noise. And if you do luck out and get some good neighbors, there's still no guarantee that they will stay put. You could have new noisy neighbors next month. 
8. Silly, silly people with broken turn signals and a complete lack of driving etiquette (Alright, so that one also pertains to traffic, but again, deserves its own category.)

I think that's it. And I totally admit that this was a great place to live - it's just time to go. Going off the grid, collecting rainwater and utilizing greywater, recycling and re-purposing materials, building our way, buying local foods from local farms, living off the land to some degree...all these things will be so much easier in the country. And those are the things that we value most right now - being good stewards of the earth that God gave us.

(Side Note: I've never understood why most Christians and most conservationists seem to be in two different camps. If you believe, like I do, that God made the Earth for you, then why wouldn't you want to do your best to care for it, nurture it, and protect it?)