Well, I’ve been told to get off my butt and start posting again. So here we go.

This winter was a frustrating mix of disaster and minor victories. Being somewhat human still I have to confess that the non-stop disasters got me down. At one point I was thinking of packing it all in, selling out again and disappearing into the sunset, again. But being stubborn as hell I refused to prove all the naysayers right and believe I can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

So has there been any progress? Certainly, maybe not as much as I had hoped but I have made significant progress in several areas and decent progress in others.

Over the winter I made great strides insulating and sealing the shack. Our last cold snap had the mercury dropping to about 14 degrees outside. Using a kerosene heater I kept the shack at a comfortable 65 degrees barely noticing that it was so cold outside. This coming winter I hope to be insulated and sealed to the point that I can heat using only candles and a kerosene lamp. Frankly, I prefer lighting with candles over LEDs.

With summer coming I’ve put in LED lighting which generates little to no heat. I tried 12 volt compact florescent but they fail nearly as fast as you can replace them. I’m having very good luck with the LEDs though I’ve only had them in place for about a month. I have several more to try and will be putting them up sometime soon.

Thanks to all of you who have shopped Amazon from this site I now have 400 watts of panels and 440 amp hours of batteries in place. I just finished wiring everything up a few hours ago so I can’t really say how much more capability I now have. Before today I was able to run a 12 volt freezer, lights for a few hours a night and a small fan for a few hours. During the day I had enough surplus on a sunny day that I could charge my lap top, drills, flashlights and phone. Today is the second day in a row that we’ve had heavy clouds with occasional rain so I’m topping the batteries off using the generator. Since I just doubled the battery bank storage I’m not sure I’ll be able to fully charge the batteries today.

I’ve started a deck on the front of the shack. When finished it will be mid level between the first and second floor. I have steps from the first floor porch and will have another set of stairs from the deck to the second floor porch.

My site, yes this one, was hacked for some stupid reason. It took what seemed like forever to get that straightened out. On the heels of that WordPress went south which was another painful process to get back on track. I’m working on a full tilt site to replace this one. Right now I have very little in place regarding registering and commenting. Hopefully people will find it easier to comment if anyone is so inclined.

In a cost cutting measure I’ve had my internet cut off. I’m using the free wifi at the camp ground when I’m back in town which isn’t very often. It’s slow so I’m not sure there will be any pictures with this post. I’m considering getting satellite internet out here in the swamp if I can find a plan that works for me.

Well, it’s a post. Not very good I’m afraid but a start.