Solar power installed

It was a very warm day yesterday of 34.6°C (94°F). The temperature in the evacuated tubes (solar hot water) is in Celsius, yes! That's 275 degrees Fahrenheit!



It's useful to note here that the water in the tank is 70°C (158°F) and the pump will not run once the water has hit 70°C.. so there is no risk of getting 135° water through the taps inside. :)

That's when Cathy called to say she would come and finish the solar panels. Everyone worked so hard in the heat, they're all so tough!







The end result is quite minimal! I am surprised that they look so small sitting up there on our shed roof.



The system was tested to see if everything worked, but it is currently turned off until a safety inspection is completed.. and after that the electricity company needs to upgrade our meter. So we're almost ready to start making our own electricity! Hooray!

Solar power is on it's way!

This is about all there is to see of the solar system so far! Bright and early this morning Cathy and her crew of 3 came and installed as much as they could of the solar system. The panels should arrive before the end of next week - so there is much excitement around the old miners cottage!

The picture shows the big yellow inverter and, I think, a fuse box or two. I'm sure we'll get a better idea of what is going on once it's all installed and switched on. :)

Until next time!

Many bags of manure

We have found ourselves a local source of free horse manure! We've picked up 3 loads so far, and we'll be sure to go back for more. I'll endeavour to take a picture of the huge pile we're slowly working our way towards bringing home. ;) For now, I have a picture of the first load in the back of the little car.



We've been working hard on the 1st garden bed out the front. First came pulling out the old rose-tree-thing that was near dead (and quite ugly even when in good health), and then the post that was holding it upright - you guessed it - was concreted in. Marty spent several days working towards the goal of removing it!



We have since thrown quite a few bags of horse manure into the dry dust, and it's looking really nice now. We're going to plant some flax seeds in there soon! I hope they like their bed.

Yesterday we had a visit from the solar power people to see where they might be able to locate panels. We didn't want them on the front of the house (100 year Old Miners Cottage goes solar.. hmm), but it seems that it may be very possible to locate them on the roof of the shed. Nothing has been set in stone as yet, but solar power is looking promising so far!

In the front garden today we planted 19 poa labillardierei nearby the natives, and a Japanese blood grass near the bamboo. I'll get a picture of the end result tomorrow morning since it was late by the time we finished.

Finally, here's a shot I liked - a bug was confused about what to do once it reached the top of the bamboo.



I'll update with more pictures of our toils tomorrow!

Action and Activity!

It rained last night, which gives me enough time this morning to post a little update instead of watering the garden.

We're lucky enough to be eating from the garden a little! Well, little isn't what I'd call this beetroot (and the biggest is still in the ground!)...



The beans are quite flavourful and have a nice texture - as long as we keep picking them small! The large ones are not really edible. :p



Something we've been aiming towards for some time now, has been getting rid of our old inefficient fridge and replacing it with a chest-fridge instead. The power savings are suppose to be well worth a little inconvenience. Now, generally we can't just go out and buy chest-fridges from the local shop, so we had to convert a chest freezer.

The unit that controls the temperature is a Fridgemate, and we followed the assembly instructions given in Rob's blog. The unit is in the background, and the hobby box is in the fore.



While I cut the hobby box to fit the unit..



..Marty stripped the wires of an extension cord.



A fair amount of fiddling around later (it was all-consuming and we forgot to take pictures of the process!!), we ended up with this box sitting on the new fridge!! We attached it with velcro so it doesn't fall off when we open the lid.



That's the "pretty" shot, and this is how it looks like now we've been at it!



It looks like our old fridge, but squat! As well as the significant power savings, it also makes the kitchen seem bigger (which is always welcome!) and we're both very happy with it. I'm keeping tabs on the power usage, and I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes.

Other news in Stawell: Last night we attended a meeting by the Stawell Climate Action Group. They would like to get as many people within a 50km radius of Stawell to sign up for solar power before June 30th. (After June 30th the Australian Government rebate will change from offering upto $8,000 for installation for people earning under $100,000 a year, to a lesser rebate offered to everyone regardless of income - we would like to take advantage of the current scheme).

We expressed our interest along with quite a few others in town. We just hope that enough people sign up to make it happen! So, if anyone living around this area would like to be involved, send us an email and we'll give you the contact details to find out more information.

Until next time!