The Campfire Trail: August 15 - DIY Homestead

August 15, 2022

Day 238 of the Adventure

The Woods at Camp Run-Amuck

Yesterday I engaged in some "Snarkiness".....and I don't apologize for it. It all had to do with what we are told about inflation. What I do apologize for is letting it drag me down into a mostly negative and sarcastic rant. But that was yesterday. Today, I'd like to remind everyone and reinforce the fact that there are solutions in life, even to problems related to a gnarly economy. And..... I also want to report some good news on the DIY Homestead.

Just this week, we finally saw the first signs of a couple of pieces of real progress down here. The first was in the set-up of the Solar Inverter/Charger to automatically do a battery recharge on its own without me manually making it happen. The Inverter has always had a feature to allow programming of the "Priority" of where it draws its power from, but we had never got it to the point where that could be programmed in. This past week, that happened. We set the battery banks to primary energy source and connected the secondary source to the utility grid. (it can also be connected to a generator) Once complete and the switch was flipped, it took over and did its thing immediately. It's nice to know that we can now run our cabin on batteries 100% but if they deplete to the point of shut down, the inverter simply switches over to grid power or generator depending on how we have it set. It will supply power where needed and charge batteries at the same time.

The other accomplishment that happened this week was the first cycle of our "Self-Installed" septic system. The remarkable part of that was it "turning on" on its own. That's actually what it supposed to do. But until it happened, it was all still just something that was supposed to happen. I had been checking it every day to see if the water level in the second tank was to the point where it activated the pump, and I was beginning to get a little concerned that something was amiss. Today, its turning on and running put all that to rest.

So, each day, or at least each week, we are seeing progress on one front or another. The soffit and eaves are complete, and we plan to get the siding on its way later today. The Self-Sufficient life is taking hold down here at Camp Run-Amuck and I'm happy with the results so far. If you are beginning to feel the urgency for this journey, every day is a new opportunity to begin.

Carry On

Adventure Quote: “Go small, go simple, go now” ― Larry Pardey

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost on the Trail (Guatemala)

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Our solar equipment installation and operation a DIY project

The Septic System installation and operation another DIY project