I have two big passive solar prefab house updates.

1. I rarely post here anymore. If you want to follow our off grid passive solar prefab house kit blog, usually updated weekly with lots of random, rambling musings that are not related to prefab construction at all, you will need to go here: http://prefab-green-home.greenmodernkits.com/

2. But here's the latest update:

Yep, it's official: We're Thinking About Living In The Passive Solar Prefab House Sooner Than Later.

We had "A Ten Year Plan." Which is why we built the off grid passive solar prefab house in stages, with a pay-as-you-go slow approach. Now we discuss "let's move... now."

So it's Time To Get Busy on the final construction!

Next week septic starts, then we finish the solar hot water.

Last night, at the passive solar prefab, we watched the stars, all hugging close around the campfire, shivering and wrapping each other into big adult arms and hugs, wrapping the little ones into our coats and blankets... the sky is SO BRIGHT, crystalline clear. We pointed out the little dipper, now upside down, Hercules going sideways, Cassiopeia turning into a big ole 3.

It's beautiful...

With no light pollution, it's easy to see galaxies...

So yes, it's official:

Shockers! Handsome Husband was hired away from RVA!

He has accepted a SUPER job in DC, in technology, of course. I sure would hate to move this tech family out of Richmond... but honeychiles, like many families leaving for nearby, more livable cities, we can afford to do so, so can move to somewhere where one can have the freedom and right to be more sustainable. I'm sorry for the families that don't have that option, like the three struggling families I've chronicled over the past month, two of them jobless, who had their hens taken away.

(NICE job, Richmond.)

I don't even know where to start.
It was supposed to be so... easy. We were almost done!
These were moments where... if it could have gone wrong in the prefab home, it did.

It's all right now.

Deep thanks to Pat Root of Root Electric, Justin Layne and friends and family of Layne Construction.
THEY PULLED THROUGH.
We are grateful.

What happened was that the crazy weather, logistics, and project deadlines on our own off grid prefab project did not fortuitously and  harmoniously meld to meet a certain deadline:
Have all plumbing and bathroom work done by Sunday at One P.M.

You throw ONE WRENCH in (hello, monsoon rain atypical of this region!) plus geographical logistics (hello, twenty minute commute each way to Farmville each time you realize, "Oh I got a wrong part or tool of XYZ size")... you suddenly find yourself... a DAY behind schedule.
A *critical* schedule.
A Guests-Arrive-At-One-In-The-Afternoon-On-Sunday Schedule.

And everything goes wrong, when it could have gone right.
The monsoon hit Friday.
Right outside of Farmville all traffic slowed and pulled over, hazards blinking, as rain pelted the highway... so we arrived late with three children, two dogs to the prefab's home site... turned to mud.

Our goals this weekend? (How hard can this be?)
Clean the house.
[How hard can this be? With three children, two dogs, all paws and toes caked with Virginia clay?]
When it DID stop raining, they turned into Mud Children.
With a little help from The-One-Day-This-Will-Be-A-Natural-Pool-But-Right-Now-It-Is-A-Ginormous-Mud-Puddle.

Mud Hole, a.k.a. Future Natural Pool. Child: "I'm an OTTER!"

Test the water to ensure it's potable.
[Oh. Wait. The cistern extension to the manhole is too short and now the extension warped and now there's MUDDY WATER IN THE CISTERN and we have to
1. pump out that precious rainwater then
2. clean the cistern (which involves dropping children down with sponges)
then
3. REFILL the cistern
4. by the time our guests arrive! ]

They cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned... now it's mid-day, Saturday. And the clock is ticking.

A grateful donation was made to our local firehouse.

Ok. It's mid-afternoon and I can sigh with relief: We have water.

Oh. Wait. Did we just nail through a water pipe?
We did.
Off we go to Farmville to replace that piece.
(Reminder: Each time you hear "went to Farmville" deduct 1+ hours of travel and errand time.)

Now it's Saturday night.
Then it's Sunday morning.
Then the guests arrived.
And we still weren't done.
Through my chagrin and deep mortification the M's remained gracious.
Our departure hour overran EIGHT HOURS.
Eight hours of assuring them this is all okay and we would be out of their hair any minute.
(It really should have taken a minute. But this was not that kind of day. And we wanted to make sure they had clean, potable, running water! And that the cistern wouldn't be muddied, ever, again!)

Then, as the first stars blinked on, we were done.
We apologized again, said our goodbyes, The M's cavalierly walked us outside to say good bye and...
No car.
Handsome Husband had made another run to the shed.

We admired the stars.

Finally, here he is!
With all of us expectantly watching his approach, at the last second, he whirls the car around to quickly back up...

over the dog.

...

...

...

Who...

somehow...

survived.

I'm going to concentrate (hard) on the finer moments of this weekend, and hope the M's will
1. speak to us much less 2. come back again and again as friends.

I'm going to focus on the good moments.
Y'all recall the natural pool?
Without a liner, much less plants, that's now an Official Mud Swimmin' Hole.

Mud childrenz.

I'm going to focus on the good moments.
Like when, after explaining to The M's that People Do Stop By here, up rode The W's on their horses, who then bent down, scooped up Pipsqueak #2, and took off across the field.
I just looked at The M's and said, "See?"

I'm going to focus on the good moments.
 Dog #2 happily rolling in horse manure, only for us all to then encouragingly throw sticks into the Mud Pond: "Go get the stick, GOOD BOY, get the stick!" so he could at least rinse muddy water on himself for the ride home.

I'm going to focus on the good moments.
[One day we'll laugh about this... I think.]

Last week IT RAINED. Stormed. Monsooned at the passive solar, zero off grid prefab home.

After, a neighbor rode their horse by The Land and called to tell us, "Your pond is filled!!!!"
But we don't *have* a pond.
[Unless you count the old breached pond in the woods... but...]
Ah, no, she's referring to our natural pool dug, but with no liner ordered yet... now filled.

I know, I know... I'm already thinkin' whatever YOU're thinkin'.

Aw what the heck: Wooooo! That means the rainwater cistern's full too!

Accidents never happen, in a perfect world... right?

Sunday evening was unexpectedly busy.
Handsome Husband called as he returned from the land after plumbing  and I innocently requested...

Friday I headed back to the Bay while Handsome Husband drove in the opposite direction to spend another weekend on The Land plumbing with Max.
I loosed the children to run wild with osprey feathers and honeysuckle threaded through their hair.

We went thriftin', and got some good deals. But, being a Pirate, I can never tell you where to find the treasure, I can just show you the bounty:
For The Little Girl's Dainty Mod Kitschy Room:
$2 needlepoint pictures someone lovingly and carefully created!!!! And (another) vintage pony to add to her collection of Kitschy Cool China Figurines (you'll see. It will be cool. I promise!).

For The Little Boy's Cabin In A Woods Room:
A green gingham unfoldable seat that turns into a futon for friends- I think it will look nice tucked in that south-east nook / window under the vintage cuckoo clocks! The fabric will be a nice jolt to the otherwise cooler staid tones in that room.

The 11 year old nephew also happily triumphed with the purchase of a LOUD ELECTRIC SYNTHESIZER KEYBOARD which I know his family will be *thrilled* with when he returns.
(Did I mention they just had a baby?)

Ikebana's gotz nuthin' on Nature...

And then it was time for the Deltaville Heritage Day Parade.

 We didn't really talk about it, but although y'all have followed my July 4ths always here, in the Bay village I have known since I was six years old, THIS was a year I would never miss, after this spring.

The tornado may have gone through the center of town, but here we were CELEBRATING barely over two months later. The wreckage and reminders are still so fresh, still here (and may we never forget), but... it was like Whoosville when the Grinch steals Christmas and yet a sound of singing rises as the community gathers around the tree...

We gathered, in Deltaville.

Except *our* Whoville song was a lil' different:

Firetrucks In Deltaville.

Shriners In Deltaville.
[A *very* special thanks to Richmond's ACCA Shriners for always being such a great part of the parade, and we are always so grateful for what you do for children. Being here this year... you have no idea how much we love you.]

I ended the evening sitting in a lawnchair with my daughter snuggled against me on my lap, the creek in front of us, while above, the baseball game fireworks shot into the sky... until, at the end of this video, the gun-shy dog tried to climb into *both* our laps...

Heritage Day Deltaville

At dawn, I took one look at the leaden sky, pictured ourselves with The Family allllll inside together while it rained, and knew: Time to go.

We packed hurriedly, headed towards Richmond, then, five minutes outside: Decided to keep on, keepin' on and headed to The Land. [I mean: HIGHER GROUND.]

We had no clean clothes, no Food Plan, nothing except what we had in our car.
It was fabulous.

The children had a grand time trying out the new, improved Lehman's Wonder Washer ([it's fab. I *love* it. Every single design flaw I noted in the first incarnation is gone (there were only two and they addressed it) and I LOVE MY WONDER WASHER!!!!!]. We got our dirty clothes clean and hung 'em up to dry.

We *might* have fed them chips and hummus for dinner... but the Pipsqueaks and their Cousin didn't care - they were HAPPY.
The dogs were happy.
We were happy.

The children and dogs ran wild and free, we all pitched in and worked, then played, then worked, then played, and... people noticed we were here and stopped in. My nephew noticed, and *loved* the action, and the neighbors he met...

I know there were beautiful fireworks this weekend all across Virginia... but I have to say: gazing at the stars tonight from the prefab house, looking up above a dark field as the cicadas hummed while the heat lightning gently lit, rolled and faded across the sky was a gentle spectacular show in itself.

We sat up quietly with the children listening to the whippoorwill call and watched shooting stars fall from the great, star-filled sky they could still see from their cozy beds.

The next  day we headed to Holliday Lake where there were no jelly fish, no nit picking, and nothing to do but  relax and have fun jumping off of docks into the cool lake water...

Happy Independence Day from the independent, off grid, zero energy prefab modern house kit, live from Higher Ground for Green Modern Kits!

At the prefab zero energy home, plumbing continues. Faucets are installed, plumbing for the tub is laid out, vanities placed, and next is the pressure test, which, if it is fine....we will be able to turn on the WATER!

I can not *wait* to sink into a hot shower not from water boiled on the wood cook stove (then precariously poured into the flimsy camping solar shower to heft up above the tub, hoping the tube won't disengage as the water eeks out, at times a spray, at times a drip...).

And thank goodness, thank goodness, thank goodness, the seed I strew atop our recently graded, valuable soil is beginning to germinate. You can't really see it in pictures yet, the grass is just sprouting; but thank goodness for the gentle rains that fortuitously traversed Virginia in this dry season.

I'm excited to see the big picture of what zero energy / off grid can mean when all the systems come together and actually WORK!  The prefab house kit will be an entirely different experience very soon...

Speaking of off grid homes, there's a neat story telling event in Richmond coming up called, "Secretly, Y'all... Off The Grid."
You're supposed to tell a story about an off grid experience and my friend, who is organizing it, thought I'd have something to add.

This is where I admit... I'm no storyteller. What would I say?


I don't think I'll do it. I mean, the first rule states, "...five to seven minute true tale (no fiction, no monologues, stand up, poetry etc.) with a clear beginning, middle and end."

You lost me at "clear beginning, middle and end" honeychiles, not to mention the FIVE TO SEVEN minutes. Y'all know I tend to ramble!

I don't even know where, or how, to start to tell a tale about being off grid with a zero energy prefab in the middle o' nowhere, surrounded by copperheads, coyotes, bushels o' ticks and a pack o' wild dogs lounging on the sunny road next door...

Off grid is more than a beloved, energy efficient, zero energy passive solar prefab home.
Off grid can be as impersonal as any McMansion suburbia, just with different technology. 


For many in the world, on grid still hasn't arrived, and for many in rural Virginia, we can still remember when "electricity came to town."

Off grid can be  unnoticeable - save for a solar panel, it might not occur to guests that all the running water and electricity are provided by the sun and rain.  

From our prefab cottage line, www.GreenCottageKits.com.

Our own project, built pay-as-you-go, was not that way. 

For ourselves, off grid living is also about enriching soil with compost, no-till fields, counting water as precious, backyard hens scratching freely and learning to enjoy the slightly-longers rather than the time-savers.

What about...

• The time we dropped our kids down the underground rainwater cistern? 
• The time I waited until the cell phone died of my Vera Wang VP ex-roommate who came down from New York Cit-tay to visit to tell her she'd be using a COMPOSTING TOILET during her stay? (I think I saw her soul scream a little, for a moment... and yes, she ended up having a *blast* and can't wait to come back!)
• Non-electric tools...
  • the solar shower... Oh, the solar shower. Until plumbing arrives, I use a solar shower.

    You know, those camping bags you fill with water and hope it doesn't run out?
    Slung over an oak branch in the open air, it's a delicious respite from the heat until you realize that 'round here people just Come A' Callin' if they see your gate open - and hence, the Showerin' In A Sundress was born...

    Later taking that solar shower indoors to hang over the clawfoot tub, heating water on the wood stove, until we can get the plumbing to work... and yes, off grid doesn't have to mean dire: plumbing, heat, electricity are all easily attained, thoughtfully, when off grid.

  • how when Pipsqueak 1 drives me crazy with too much energy I order, "Go grind me some coffee." It takes a lot longer than you think.

Keep grindin', chile...

One of my favorite off grid tools is the broadcast seed spreader.
We're just programmed to think we need BIG IMPLEMENTS when it comes to farming.
Give me a day of casting seed with an eye on a provocative rain cloud, hoping it will gently descend as soon as I finish the field... and that's time to myself a mom rarely gets, with the occasional company of an enthusiastic dog, or child, tagging at my heels...

Off Grid Amish: Everyone is talking like Off Grid is some newfangled idea. Our Amish neighbors wouldn't ever consider being on grid... Mrs. Esh and I like to compare notes on what our families do.

Off Grid Cooling: Cooling means opening the windows at night, shutting the off grid zero prefab in the morning, embracing the passive solar design...
but often, in mid-afternoon, cooling means: LIME BEER.
And pump-spray hairspray cans refilled with water, cooling in a fridge or stream to mist oneself on an especially hot day.

Cooling for many Virginians means, "Get thee to water."
Isn't that what summer is all about?

With Holliday Lake just down the road, if the mid-afternoon heat wilts you, head for the hills and the 150 acre lake until evening arrives to cool things down.

And yes, the natural pool will be slowly built...

IF I were to tell a tale... what would you want to hear?

Handsome Husband:

"Well, I didn't have that outlook when I headed out to meet Max, but I was determined to accomplish significant progress and succeeded. Max and I would design a solution for some aspect, he would train me on  the materials and we would move on to the next project. While Max installed the anti-scald valve in the radiant loop I headed out to the hardware store and as he began his journey back home I settled in for a long day and night to check off our list.

We now have plumbed the kitchen island, retro-fitted the drain for a future dishwasher, connected the main cold and hot water pipes, prepared the bath tub for final connection, installed the remaining section of pipe in the cistern pump.

Basically this coming weekend we have a little bit of work left before we can pressurize the system and leak test - running water is within reach!"

But on to Pirates 2.0.
Pirates. We're like jellyfish: You can cut us, awwww, that's ok; it jest makes us multiply.

• minced onion
• drained, 2 cans of organic diced tomatoes (or fresh)
• drained, 1 can of organic corn (or fresh off the cob)
• drained, 1 can or freshly cooked...
  oh, wait, realize you left the black beans at home and add navy beans
• 2 ripe, diced small avocados
• quartered, squeezed lime juice & pulp
• shakes of salt
• dashes of sriracha... ah, what the heck, add more... 
• stir it up well & serve with chips!

Tales of Quails 'n Such by Havilah Babcock, an Appomattox native and South Carolinian refugee. 

By the way: Last Thursday, Richmond's Green Drinks paid a visit to Acorn Sign Graphics, which not only repurposed an existing warehouse into an energy efficient building, but changed their company culture and how they work within their (not traditionally environmentally friendly) industry:

What a rewarding Green Drinks it was.

http://www.acornsign.com/

We had the opportunity to hear from the owners and employees of Acorn Sign Graphics on how they decided to change the way they work within their industry, their materials, their culture, and how they succeeded way beyond their Richmond hometown but are now sought out nation-wide for thoughtful approaches to signage, where each employee vacancy that (rarely) opens gets hundreds of resumes from talented designers who are attracted to them for their lighter-on-the-ground philosophy.

I loved hearing the owner thoughtfully speak about apprenticeships, how apprentices grew into professionals, to hear their employees clearly have "Job Satisfaction And I Am Allowed To Grow" stamped across their smiles, their good humor, their warm welcoming of us in to tour their site.

It's moments like this that we can all reflect as business owners navigating a difficult economy where culture and stewardship are still so important to us, that they are looking not just at their "here and now" but to the little pipsqueaks coming up and being raised in their business environment further down the line, and we look at the success of Acorn Sign Graphics and say, "Thank you..."

Of note as an improvement in their industry was their use of cloth (see the sign board demonstration below), their choices in inks and technology to offer their customers, while fostering the growth of their employees.

Anyhoo, Good Mornin' from a new day on the Chesapeake Bay.
*Yawn*... I'm now off to turn some mo' pipsqueaks into Pirates.

Our children were gone this weekend. You might assume we kicked back in the modern prefab home, and rested. On the way from dropping them off at 4-H, we discovered this swing, next to a creek, deep in the woods, along the park roadside in the middle of *nowhere.* Lovely!

But there was no time to sit and rest, even on a charming unexpected bench in the middle of the woods. We had work to do to continue our progress on the prefab house kit!

The children may have been whoopin' it up at 4-H Camp, but that meant we worked even *more* on the zero energy prefab home!


 Plumbing continued with Max, with Handsome Husband assisting, and we did a seasonal emptying of an off grid system: the composting toilet. Then I spread not straw but moldy hay over the recent excavation / grading. 
I *know* you're jealous...

By the way: After my last post y'all thought I was going to go off and join the Tea Party, didn't you.
My colleagues did...
I skimmed the literature and  I get it:  
The Tea Party? Yo, they're France!
Don't get me wrong. I love France!

Well, here's the (latest) on France. They have banned all on-air references to Facebook and Twitter because eet does not eeexeest in zer original French lan-guage, and is 'clandestine advertising' zut alors and honeychiles, y'all.

See, the Tea Party is like France in her "protection" of her original language and cee-veel-eez-zation. Language, community, and civilization are organic. They are all ever-changing, influenced, affected by l'argot (that means"slang" for y'all non-frenchie people, y'all...), inventions, new people... I do think we should always mind and reference the Founding Fathers because I do think they got the gist right but... imagine if you transported them here, today... would they really be like France? Entombed in maintaining original culture/outlook? Or would they say, "Cool, yo, I get it, let's move forward and discuss the world situation more my bruthas and sistahs...and put on some bluegrass while yer at it."
Who knows? I don't!

The Tea Party protects "the right to profit." Now I'm all about profit. But if we profit over every piece of land then... what will we have than cement? Whatever happened to being a steward? Isn't it time we look at land and nature as something we depend upon, for our existence, to treat carefully, even with reverence, as a resource we could ruin? I considered that as I toiled over two days seeding the newly-exposed top soil (oh so precious! Please don't blow or wash away! Our family depends upon you!) from the excavating and then spread hay over it again, to hopefully protect it.

But using France as an analogy to condemn the right, also condemns the far left! From the Christian Science Monitor, the French liberals agree that mentioning Facebook and Twitter is unfair to lesser business models:

“Why give preference to Facebook, which is worth billions of dollars, when there are many other social networks that are struggling for recognition? This would be a distortion of competition," Christine Kelly, board member of the French Superior Audiovisual Council (CSA) that made the ruling. "If we allow Facebook and Twitter to be cited on air, it's opening a Pandora's Box – other social networks will complain to us saying, ‘why not us?'”

Well, girl, that's because the person was frickin' talking about Zee Facebook-ah or Zee Tweet-ter, not your undiscovered, uncreated, unremarkable entrepreneurs who are not Facebook or Twitter and I assure you when they start doing something interesting and newsworthy they will get air time! [Sheesh!]

Actually as we delve deeper into French politics we get a big ole Grève mess and...
Oh. Wait. Enough about the Tea Party being all French and all.
Let's talk about the off grid zero energy prefab house kit!

I sowed acres of graded soil with seed and moldy hay in silver Melissa flip flops and a vintage Hawaaian dress. Next time? I'll bring my overalls.

We couldn't find any straw locally, but Mrs. E, our Amish neighbor, did have hay, which had rained on it and was therefore no longer appropriate for their horses, to offer as straw for our newly-seeded home site / area. We were happy to purchase it, a great exchange between neighbors- they got money for not-great-rained-upon-now-moldy hay, which we used as straw and had the added bonus of seeds included that might sprout on top of what we seeded.

Clouds gathered, and we got busy.
I quickly strewed hay-now-used-as-straw, careful on my even-ness: enough to let light in yet heavy enough to prevent washing away of the soil...

Then: there was one moment where the wind *swept* down, and in a deliberate breath overturned and blew away an entire area I had just sowed.

My jaw dropped, then my cheeks flushed high, in shocked indignation at the now-bare soil: as if a suitor had roughly just flipped up the starched petticoat of a until-that-second encouraging beloved.
When lightening flashed we came in.
Immediately it began to pelt a steady rain, and thunder rolled across, heavy. 

So I sit here, waiting for it to pass, with straw in places you've never seen a girl sport in a sunny, vintage Hawaiian dress... I have moldy hay up my nose and down my lungs, ugh.

Nice. I'm now covered with mold from shaking the hay out. I now understand what Black Lung feels like.

Handsome Husband is thrilled with all the cool plumbing stuff he's learned from Max today.

I... I just need a bath.

‎CHICKUNZ and Richmond Green Drinks were out in force at Richmond's Sustainability Forum tonight! 


Thanks to the Tea Party-er who handed me back one of our CHICKUNZ fliers, I was actually able to put that last lone flier directly into the hands of Mayor Jones!
Score!

I arrived at The Carillon to picketing, shouting, and placards.
Others hurried past, quickly inside, to avoid The Rowdy Tea Party-ers. To be fair, the Tea Party was more of a swarm of Anti- U.N. Arguments and... One Loud Rowdy Dude.

(He was actually very nice. Just impassioned. I get that.)

Suddenly: An Angel Appeared! 
Shimmering in blue, this lovely, calm woman descended the steps on her own initiative (which no one else inside did) to engage the shouting and began a dialogue, for which I stood behind her to join. (i.e. Watched. Her. Back. in the sign-carrying, chanting crowd.) Already seeing many of my Green Drinks and Chickunz colleagues inside, I thought my efforts were better placed to stand here.
Honeychiles, I'd like to sound gallant, but she did *not* need any help.  
When voices became raised, we *all* brought it back to civil.

It was only after awhile this girl in blue and I turned and saw each other's faces- "Copeland Casati." "Oh, my, gooooosh... it's been a long time. Christina!" Christina Borland is back, Richmond.
We are better for it.

People calmed down, and Christina and the Tea Party started a nice discussion where people could listen, agree, disagree, and acknowledge that a lot of the things one group was talking about were not in the knowledge or expertise of the other but that they were certainly things for all of us to explore.

With lowered voices and a sense of humor, we  discovered we had more in common than we thought. Or, at least, could civilly discuss why we were there.

Now I haven't read any of this, but I'm putting out there the web sites in the Tea Party pamphlets to go and explore later, because they did have some good points about their concern over larger entities on the individual. We explained that this "Sustainability Forum" was a casual *forum*, not a Government Initiative For You To Be Packed Into High Density Apartments Even If You Didn't Want To or about The Government Wants Your Property; instead, it was an opportunity for all Richmonders to give feedback on areas to explore in our community where we can increase livability.

I present... The Tea Party Links! (Note: I haven't read these yet.)
www.CampaignForLiberty.com/VA
www.Sovereignty.net
www.Freedom21.org
www.Freedom.org

I get their arguments Regarding Big Government: sometimes I suspect I am being taxed multiple times on my same hard-earned dollar.  I am all about paying my way into the community pot, but when I get taxed on my earning that dollar, then taxed on spending that dollar, then taxed on giving that same dollar (which is worth how many cents now?)... I do start to feel suspicious, ha.

And here's something I've been turning over in my head: Why Is It OK that our government does not ask me how many prefab house kits I sell (I just report my income to them, not the number of products that earned it, like pretty much every other business model: they don't ask you how many widgets or chocolates you make a year, they ask you how much money you earned off of those widgets and chocolates, no?) yet my farming friends have to send in a tally of their livestock and produce and their stock's location to the government?!? I don't think that the number o' steers or the heads o' lettuce on their farm should be anyone's durned business. Why is their business different and why does anyone have a "right" to that information?

I believe in property rights - I want chickens in my back yard and think everyone should have that food right. My neighbors want to nuke their lawn with chemicals regularly next to my food plot and waste our municipal drinking water on hot afternoons to "water" their "plants." How do we decide which is a "right" for our community without civil discussion?

Aw, don't worry. Before you think I'm going to go grab mah pitchfork and go rogue, here's an argument *I* presented: 

"My (ex) family farm is in a town of population 40. Now what happens when the road falls apart? You know most of that population 40 can't contribute, they're just eking by, and even those that can contribute could never raise the thousands of dollars to repave their road to bring access and services to their community.  Larger cooperation and services, paid by through taxes, *are* needed. What about emergency response? A town of population 40 can not staff, even as volunteers, emergency services much less afford to buy firetrucks, ambulances... "

"Oh, we're not against that..."

"Well where do you draw the line? I'd also like my laws to protect me from my urban neighbor that's spreading seriously toxic chemicals on the property next door that wafts over to my children's bare feet and our family food plot! Why is that legal? Yet we can't have a few hens?!?   In regards to their property I would prefer they not nuke it next to mine, as it does affect us!"

What they voted. (Why do we need the city to "give" us resources, we're individuals trying to be sustainable on our own with CHICKUNZ!)

There is nothing nefarious going on inside, folks: City officials created a simple dialog with tonight's forum, where, handing out clickers similar to tv remote controls, one could click on buttons to select your answer to their multiple-choice questions, then, a few seconds later, see what the room voted.  It was an opportunity for citizens to provide feedback for some general, very general questions... as a starting point to discuss options with the community they might want to pursue, like, 'Would we like more bike lanes?' and 'Would you use more public transportation.' "

In the end we all had a good time together. But that was the thing- sometimes when you just picket and shout, you don't have an opportunity for dialog and discovering that each other is not crazy. Or, you still think you're both crazy but can remain friends and part of your shared community, with dialog and dignity.

Despite differences and commonalities, these people care. And took the time to show up and say something.

In the end, it's all good. We cool. Stay cool.

And speaking of COOLING, let's talk about cooling an off grid zero energy prefab house with no air conditioning in this heat!

COOLING:

Aside from our prefab house kit's extreme energy efficiency with SIP and passive solar design, we are also building a natural pool to provide a bit of respite on those extremely lengthy dog days o' summer.

Here's an example of How To Build A Natural Pool. We've created the basin, now to shovel the plant ledge and to address the lining. Because our soil is sandy, I'm going with an EPDM liner vs. a clay finish.

From http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/
2002-08-01/Natural-Swimming-Pool.aspx:

"If you choose a liner, select one made of ethylene propylene diene monomer rather than PVC. EPDM is a synthetic rubber twice as expensive as PVC, but it's worth the extra cost. It has protection from ultraviolet rays, and unlike PVC remains flexible in cold weather. If your soil has a lot of rocks or roots, select a 45- or 60-millimeter liner. You can use a 30-millimeter liner if your soil is very sandy and smooth, and if you and your guests aren't likely to tear holes in a liner while frolicking in the pool. Before laying your liner, compact the sod and cover it with a layer of sand or an absorbent material such as old carpeting or newspaper. Newspaper is a good option: When wet, it bonds to the liner, providing extra protection if the liner develops a small hole. 

After the bentonite clay or a liner is installed, cover the bottom of the pool with 4 to 5 inches of gravel. The gravel provides a habitat for beneficial bacteria, which help biodegrade leaves or other natural materials that sink to the bottom of your pool. Make sure you use clean gravel. Fill a 5-gallon bucket with a spigot with some of the gravel you intend to use. Open the spigot and run water through the gravel. If the water comes out dirty, you need to clean the gravel (a taxing, water-wasteful process) or find another source. Expanded shell aggregates and other manufactured gravels are likely to be clean enough to use in your natural pool. In addition to lining the pool with gravel, many people opt to build cobblestone steps for access into and out of the pool. A cantilevered dock built out over the water also provides an easy way to get in and out of the pool, and helps protect the pool's sides."

I then called to eagerly place an order for the liner and was educated on how much of a pain it is to get a gi-normous pond liner to the land. 

Fact: Did you know a 45' x 45' liner is over six HUNDRED pounds in weight and arrives on an EIGHTEEN WHEELER? And that they recommend four people to help unload it. I am going down a mental list of who's who of our friends and which ones own pick up trucks and want to visit us.

*Oh I see you, you're all ducking now!*

And guess what the average liner costs? Oh, one or two thousand dollars... which we don't have...

So before you attempt an "easy" project like this, get quotes on *everything,* honeychiles, everything, not just the excavating. 

A spray bottle o' water & a dime store wading pool are looking pretty good right now...

P.s. As we're on the subject of cooling, let's mention HEATING:

Recommended reading: Although you all know I am in love with my antique cook stove that we sealed up to make it more energy efficient and safe for use in a SIP house, I encourage you to read Lloyd Alter's article on whether wood heat is green or efficient.

I did not expect it, but upon arrival to the zero energy, off grid prefab home, WOW what a DIFFERENCE the grading around the prefab home makes!!!

No longer does the slab show; it's now tucked snugly away, already increasing our energy efficiency with insulation underneath, around, but now: topped with earth!  Instead of hills off to the side, we now have a gently sloping area, easy to maintain and mow without concern the tractor will tip. But the most  noticeable difference is we no longer need to step UP into the house- the landscape is now level to welcome you out for your next adventure on the land!!!!

This is a *lot* deeper / bigger than it looks!

Look at that Future Natural Pool! I tell ya, it IS hard standing around in this heat staring yearningly at that dry, barren basin. But my imagination gives me hope: I picture lush reeds, cool respite, even a bit of shade somehow (I have been thinking of some creative approaches to that, by the way, that don't involve leaves...).

Saturday morning we headed into Appomattox for riding lessons and to celebrate the antique store B & L's twelfth anniversary in business!

We became fans of B & L's awhile ago when I discovered the left room with all the neat nick-nack finds, and were welcomed warmly by Linda and her husband, who grew up and fell in love here. I love to hear Linda's own growing-up-with-a- wood cook stove stories.  I have gotten quite a few useful pieces for the off grid prefab home from them - cannisters for flour & sugar, cute 1970s kitschy owls to put in "The Woods Room," and my beloved, HUGE cast iron pan for the wood stove! (Ahhhh, that pan. Can you say, "Hello, friiiiiiiiiiied CHICKUN?)

Let's switch gears to briefly discuss urban planning and tourism.
Appomattox. Please do not move that visitor's center.
1. It is a friendly, historic, welcoming building - a train depot! Charming! And it's already paid for!
2. It is in the midst of your retailers and restaurants!

Are you kidding me? Picture it: Tourists arrive to the Visitor Center because they want to orient themselves and discover what to do next. They've just driven awhile, and just want to relax and stretch their legs. Thankfully, Main Street welcomes them with plenty of parking, and interesting things to explore while they revive their weary legs.
So.
Don't greet them on the highway (Ew, cold & desperate, honeychiles, cold and desperate).


This is not South of The Border, this is Where Our Nation Reunited! 


 (Does this remind anyone of that Desperation Scene in Cars? Where the lost cars encounter desperate townsfolk?)
Don't set upon them on the interstate, instead, gently happily lead 'em straight into the true, warm, welcoming heart o' Appomattox!

[re: Desperation Scene In Cars. Watch: Ok fine I couldn't find the scene I wanted where I could embed it- where Van and Minnie (get it, Minnie Van, ha?) get lost and meander off the interstate to be scared off by the heartfelt enthusiasm of Radiator Springs, now forgotten and bypassed by an interstate...Don't bring the town Visitor Center to the interstate, bring the tourists to you!...

As we drive out to the land each week, we see more and more of Virginia becoming destroyed, molded into Anywhere USA... weekly, quickly, it happens and the local character is demolished with bland new, insipid structures.  For the record, I see LOTS of value in being Appomattox, Charlotte Court House, Brookneal and more right now, *preserving* what is special and different.]

Even people on bicycles and motorcycles feel comfortable navigating Main Street! Sidewalks welcome all with a gander to stroll! These visitors have spent hours driving; they don't want to stop at some new, could-be-Anywhere USA Rest Stop to then... get back on the highway! (How impersonal!)

Picture: They enter the Visitor's Center, peruse the walls of pamphlets, use the restrooms... Now what?
Here's what: They want to sit & read over their options. I mean, they don't know what's going on this weekend aside from the one Destination Event they came here for, right? How do they discover everything else?!? Ahhhhh look at those lovely sidewalk benches! Just the thing! Let's sit down in the shade and ponder this stuff.

"Hey wait, didja see those Antique Stores, Herb?" (Myrtle is off like a shot, down the street, with a map of antique stores in her hand.)
Herb: "Waaaaait, Myrtle! Did ya see this place Baines Books & Coffee has MANDOLINS?!? And aisles and aisles of books on history and best sellers and classics and anything you want to read?!? And they have an OLD TIME BAND playing tonight, and some darned good scones!!!! Did you see the flyer at their counter?!? It says there's also a band playing in the park Friday!"

Myrtle and Herb spend three or four hours shopping, taking a walking tour of all the historic homes, snapping pictures, and creating memories as they spend dollars on and around Main Street.

Now it's time to check in to their bed & breakfast. They've put their drive behind them, and are already relaxed! Tomorrow? They'll have a great breakfast before trundling happily off to the other end of town, to check out the new branch of the Museum of The Confederacy of which they'd read so much! Which, providing the counterpoint and balance to retail, leads as a gateway to their next stops for another great day: battlefields at Appomattox Court House, camping, Blue & Brew festivals at the 4-H, delightful respite and swimming at Holliday Lake, hiking, the many lovely discoveries as they venture further out before returning home.

Please don't move the Visitor Center. 
 Moving the Visitor Center is a bad, bad urban planning idea.

Speaking of tourism, and discoveries:
I discovered two things today I did not know along this street I thought I knew so well.

That Dollhouse Museum, which we regularly pass and never seems open: we may not have stumbled on it open yet but I did finally learn its thoughtful history:

And in The Appomattox Gallery, I finally wandered into the far end of the store, where, to my puzzlement, I saw:

I don't smell restaurant smells...?
(Well, wait a second, they're offering sandwiches and salads so no, it's not like a belching smellz burger joint, folks!)
Ooooh. I adore cucumber sandwiches!
Look. At. THIS:

I present:
Tea!

Charming tables draped in vintage linens, pretty crockery, all just waiting, ready, quietly for Ladies To Lunch to arrive. The tea room is open... seven days a week, from twelve to two.

As an outsider I had to stumble on it several times to discover it, she, who, all along, was ready and waiting for us.
Now.
We.
Know.
Do it!

Make sure you also wander down to Antiques & More, just a half block further. She has a house full o' old finds, a beautiful smile, and doesn't want the Visitor Center to move, either.

While I'm on a tangent, dreamily picturing myself as Mayor For Life of Appomattox, (That's 'Supreme Dictator Empress Yes Ma'am' to you...) let's discuss the new farmers market.
Now, I know something about farmers markets, having many of my friends here (Aults Family Farm, Frog Bottom Farm, Eli's Greens, Fertile Crescent Farm...) being well known & beloved farmers in our Richmond markets & CSAs... but I also helped (and still do) Lisa Dearden start up one of the biggest farmers markets in Virginia, with over 47 farmers / vendors, My Manakin Market, this spring.

So. Appomattox. Back to yooooou.
Lose the Friday evening market. Open Saturday morning. Sure, you then don't have the "convenient" rushing-home-from-work crowd (they're going to Walmart anyway, no?).  Instead they'll return, refreshed and happy to see their friends and neighbors as they socialize and shop before the heat and chores set in.  With that, you increase your audience as day-trippers and weekend tourists roll by. Previously, tourists might arrive at 10-11ish, as nothing was open before then. NOW they can leave at the crack of dawn, drive an hour or two while they chat, wake up, get excited about their APPOMATTOX WEEKEND, park, walk to the market (because of course your market will not be in some Random Automobile Parking Lot In An Industrial Area but on the field in front of the court house or at Wilburns, all walkable and easy to then walk to the stores as they open!)...

Taaaaa-daaaaaa! Ok now let's move on, and back to the off grid prefab house kit construction.

We also did, thanks to Justin Layne, quite a bit o' Bulldoze-Tree-Release this weekend.
What. You've never heard o' Bulldoze-Tree-Release?!?
Well, take the philosophy of Crop Tree Release, and add a bulldozer.
Dagged weed trees...
Now, a scrawny stand of oaks can spring free to grow tall...
The old cedars are not strangled...
and an orchard will be born.

I'm Officially calling this next part of the post, A Very Bad Idea.
Which the childrenz enthusiastically refer to as, "Snorkeling In The Cistern!"
Which takes Dumpster Diving to a whole new level.

The guys dropped two pipes into the cistern, plus needed the pump placed. The pipes must be retrieved, so Child Labor was Conscripted, who happily squeaked their enthusiasm.

Do not try this at home, we opened all the ports for air & light, and disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer, yada-yada-yada.

"Hey, Momma. Do you want to watch?!?"
No.

Do not try this at home, folks.
In fact, let's just never do or mention this again.
Childrenz: "IT WAS LIKE STAR WARS!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

On a quieter note, the birds were calling and calling to each other all weekend. I heard quail, owls, some interesting calls I can't identify, and thankfully, the whippoorwill I have enjoyed for years!
But wait! It gets better! This time I SAW HIM!!!! Sadly, YOU can't see him, because was so dark, but there he was on the ground right near the tire swing & wood pile singing his *heart* out. And then, a *BAP!* - something explodes right above him, and I think it was his mistress landing to pay him a visit. Check it out!

Whip-poor-will

Ahhhhhhhhhh, summer nears, and with it my House Frau In The House Kit emerges.
I began to attack the construction mess and now insist we begin to put this house literally in order.
So no more soldering, sawing, and sanding inside guys, y'hear???

As I began to frantically, desperately sweep my off grid house kit back into a home and not a job site, I dreamily dreamed of water in my cistern, rain barrels, and natural pool. Water. Water...

When it heats up in Virginia, that just means you head to water. Just like these guys!
Somehow I don't think our building inspector would approve:

I  think The Rapture happened!
We're there! Who knew? Paradise is called... Virginia.

Today the sun shone brightly, so apparently *everyone else* left in the world happily made hay, clouds danced across blue skies, we visited, and lovely gentle breezes, filled with sniffs of clover, honeysuckle, and the deep damp quiet smell of tall pines cooled and refreshed us all despite the heat and sun in the fields.

There has been much progress on the off grid zero energy prefab house kit while I've been gone.
While I was whoopin' it up in New York surveying what's happening in the modern furniture world at ICFF, they buried the rainwater cistern, Max has finished connecting the radiant heat loop, pipes lead towards the future natural pool, drain tile is in the ground, sewage pipes have been run.

Prefab House Kit : Off Grid Zero Energy Construction Update

Speaking of that natural pool, as I was telling Mrs. E, our Amish friend: it's our one unexpected extravagance. But we thought about it and considered: With no air conditioning... maybe I wouldn't say extravagance but an investment in good respite.


Prefab Home, Off Grid, With Passive Solar Functionality


But first: Come drive in to the land with us, taking the back roads once you pass (The Real) Farmville! We finally stopped at a stand we've eyed many times as we traveled odd hours, and... this time they were open, and ohhhhhhh myyyyyyy gosh: The Bakery!

A real bread maker, you know, the way it used to be done, the way it should be done, the way it still is done in storied cities like Paris and New Yawk, yet also right here in (The Real, did I mention there's A Real) Farmville.

Take a gander:

In front, here's Thistledown Farm! Offering fresh, local fruit, vegetables, canned goods, honey, Amish egg noodles from a neighbor, sugar snap peas, eggs, cheese... and if you whine, yer fine(d). I'll let the proprietor tell you all about it, herself:

Thistledown Farm And The Bakery, In Farmville.

How can you not love them?!? Again, it's a family venture and A., the ten year old, clearly did not mind spending the day helping his mom and doing his job. Like my children. Like our Amish friends. It's so good to work hard, and enjoy it.

Then we continued on, bouncing and swaying over swingy, sway-y back roads, past Hampden-Sydney...

We arrived at the zero energy off grid prefab house.
Excavation everywhere, pipes and cistern excitement to ooh and ahhh at, and inside, a mess.
In case you're wondering why we are no longer issuing social invitations right now, here's what we arrive to these days:

While we began to clean up, the children kept busy recycling the discarded systems equipment boxes into Kitty Houses and Hats That Can Carry Stuff And Protect You From The Sun.  In our family, we call discarded stuff TOYS.

05-21-2011- 095
They are also using the rainwater plumbing to play a rousing game of "telephone."

SO, while we're digging and excavating and grading and doing whatnot, they have disconnected the solar. 

That means I'm back to telecommuting on mah tractor battery, folks!

I may be disconnected from solar power, but I never feel disconnected from our community here.
Besides: I now have a swarm of stink bugs to keep me company thanks to breezy open doors during construction. Our stinkbugs (I claim 'em because we are resignedly fond of them at this point?) are gravitating to that big light above the dining table as I sit underneath, on my computer, and type. They swarm into the light, wipe out, then skid back out to land... on my shoulder. On my computer. In my hair.

Live stink bugs in my hair: it's like the modern take on the 1920s gecko.
I'm just ahead of the fashion curve.
Dazed from the light, they careen off and do backflips on the table. A faint citronella eroma emits in their distress.

Lessee. We have Frank and Steve and Oscar and... what. Of *course* stink bugs are all male in my mind. But they're really quite friendly; I'm just not a clique-y person and... they are. Disdainfully, now bored, I note: Stinkbugs are like a fraternity. And I have no desire to join. Buzz off, boys.
So, gently captured and carried, out they go, tossed on their rears, into the dark.

In the meantime, I am doing my favorite night thing: listening to the frogs, and the elusive yet always persistent whipowill in the woods. I'm always so glad, and grateful, each spring, when they're back.

The next morning, I conquered The Hill.

As the day progressed, the clouds gathered, then it rained.
It didn't just drizzle, it poured down rain!
Excited, we watched the cistern fill!

Handsome Husband Explains The Rainwater Cistern And Filtration

Later, with dread, we saw neighbors' hay still in the fields. : (
Here's hoping the next days are dry and super sunny and that mold stays away.

Here Pipsqueak #1 explains how the WISY rainwater vortex filtration works:

A Child Describes The WISY Rainwater Filtration
Now back from the weekend away in the off grid prefab house, the sun is out and the day, bright.

It's hilarious, as we pull in and unload, because *every* neighbor that was ever afraid they *might* ever hear a chicken cluck is out for the day power washing, pesticide-sprayin', and weed wacking. It's like they think,

"Wow it's a beautiful day so let's go get out the power tools and gas our way through!"

It's kinda funny except now we're on Hour 2...
I'm glad we were away most of the day listening to birds and cows!

[Later]
It seems the noise and waste and pesticides we witnessed upon our short return to a nice Richmond afternoon disturbed my eight year old and he decided to confront Catherine and Glenn Vanderspiegel directly. From what Handsome Husband pieced together, apparently he decided to stalk them. This is what I gathered from the eight year old, after the fact:

Little Boy: Calls Glenn Vanderspiegel over to the property line to receive his message. Which is carefully written, neatly folded in his back pack, everything construing the Importance Of His Mission, whereupon he decided to stalk then confront them.
Glenn Vanderspiegel: "What is this about?"
Little Boy: "Chickens."
Glenn and Catherine Vanderspiegel: "Chickens are illegal, you can't have them. We don't want to hear about it. When they're legal, you can have them."
(Little Boy, later, to me: "Mrs. Vanderspiegel looked really angry. I saw Mr. Vanderspiegel spraying his bushes with chemicals and on his patio and he got it on the outside dinner table. Those chemicals could get on them. But I saw Mr. Vanderspiegel in the alley and I think we could be friends.")

He never got to hand them his note, but this is what it said:

I see he noticed the Vanderspiegel's backyard fountain and water waste, ha.

I had a big post ready for a few weeks from now, but it appears my eight year old has prematurely let the cat out of the bag, unfortunately, to our pesticide-spraying, weed-whacking, weekly-lawn-service-crew-of-five-or-more-people-at-once-going-full-blast-with-gas-blowers-and-mowers-and-whackers-for-hours neighbors: Local government has 'come 'round.
The illegality of chickens nears it's silly end. At least in our neck o' the woods.

More on that later.
I was just going to get another flock without saying a word, let them discover it, stew on it for awhile, stress out, then indignantly make the call to complain that they *might* have heard a cluck if they listen really, REALLY hard to then find out... Richmond came round.

Keep your fingers crossed.

And p.s. Here's the thing. These neighbors are going to think I'm a witch and sent that child out to annoy them. We have no time for people like this but we believe in politeness.

Where was I? Here I am, on my laptop, like I have been since our return, typing. I just absentmindedly saw him go into the back yard as usual and got the report back, later, from the child.

I *am* supportive of an eight year old's dedication to take (he said it took him two hours to write that note so he spent at *least* fifteen minutes on it, ha, carefully thinking of his argument and writing it down) the time to write down his thoughts, create his agenda, then screw up the courage to approach adults he *knows* does not support him, and with no parents looking over him to protect him.

Pipsqueak #1, I applaud you, sweetie. That took guts and determination and planning.
I admire your cheery outlook, and your determination to hangdog-gedly stalk (you just might make a good hunter yet), thinking you can just educate and it will be better. I love you so much, child.

I am looking forward to passing on this story to Mrs. E, my Amish friend, because she has been particularly bemused by our urban chicken saga *and* we were just discussing yesterday Pipsqueak #1 and his proclivity for being a little too "all over the place, needs to pay attention." He paid attention all right, and is seeing that mission through.

Good luck to ya, kid.

Who knows. Maybe no one cares. But pipsqueak, you'll learn from this, surely, whatever happens.