Camp fires and music

Monday, September 26, 2010, 7:30pm

So we have reached this place in this whole journey where it is finally all coming together.  I feel that it is becoming more touchable and folks are seeing that we are really building, we are really going for it, our dreams.  Some of the messages I have received in the past week have been some of the best I have had in years.  The fact of the matter is that only a hand-full of people have taken the time or had the time to come out and visit, and folks are starting to show up and show genuine interest in the project, our home.  It is so nice for folks to give their time to come and visit, it has been a long journey this past year has.....We've seen a old house turn into a shed/shower house and most recently we have been able to sit back around a fire and admire the hard work and dreams and strategic crazy risky untraditional decisions it has taken for us to get to this point. 

I do alot of thinking about a friend of mine, Jeff Langford, and how much he would have loved to have seen this place as it develops......this place reminds me of how he started his wood cabin project way back in the woods when I was growing up.....Many of my teenage friends partied their asses of at this cabin of Jeff's....He is no longer alive, but I send him good vibes every day as this house becomes a home.. 

I'm sitting around the fire listening to everyone from DJ Rob Wonder to The Flying Burrito Brothers and am happy to be at this place.....We have a foundation, stem walls, and all of the composite decking board we will be using for top and bottom plates depending on how you look at it.  It is just me out here this evening with Katie, it is so nice to feel like we have a home again.  It gets better and better every visit.....Most recently we were blessed with 15 full loads of mulch, free from a utility company Georgia Power, as they trim around all of the power lines in the area.....I can't help but thank everyone else and all the users of Georgia Power power lines, as they require so much maintenance......I plan on reaping the benefits of it every Fall forever....We won't have power lines, we have and will be adding more solar panels and solar hot water.  I get excited to know that we will be just about 95% off-grid.......The fire now is burning great and mulch is everywhere, so thick it sinks as you walk on it. 

This weekend we have invited folks to come out and help remove debris such as rebar stakes, excess dried concrete as well as earth all within the living space and greenhouse area.  This should help out alot with having a clean job site and much easier once we begin to run the plumbing lines and hopefully set the septic system in January.  I wonder how many folks will actually come out.  We will also be setting the cooling tubes and using my used Hilti jack hammer demolition tool.  Todd and I will be setting the bottom plates and squaring them as they are what the walls sit on.  Can't wait to do this because it requires alot of skills I have not done much of, I love these kinds of challenges too.....So all in all, times are great here at the property, good nightly fires, good music (now listening to some live Galactic recently given to me), good food, a hard roof over my head and Fall is beginning to set in.  Good times, good vibes and new experiences ever day. 

It is hard for me to believe that it is all happening.  The walls are beautiful and I have artistic ideas to add....good night. Andrew

On the side, we have fun in the trailer.....

Mixed bag of pics, where we are today.

The Northeast Georgia Earthship 1

So, I have not written in a while.  Since I last wrote, we have been doing much of the same, living like no one else in order to live like no one else.  We set out on this journey a while back in order to proove to the world that we could build a "Earthship" using traditional building materials therefor causing there to be NO issues of getting a building permit etc...We are in the midst of doing just that.  We have excavated and poured the main back walls of the home as well as all of the interior footings and will be moving forward with the framing in November.  I think it is time that I begin to document this project and will be telling stories behind the project here.  Please check out our photo album titled "Homesteading."

Various going's on's

It is kind of weird to see the build up of items around the trailer.  Maybe when we were kids and we had forts to play in or maybe if this were considered a weekend cabin get away, but no, this is our home.  People ask often if we are living out there and up to now I have replied “no.”   

So I kind of giggle at our life right now….We now have a grill, historically given to me second hand from my sister Emily.  This time we scored with the monster stainless steel grill with cover!!!  Matches the trailer and I only began wishing for one about 1 week ago…

So, this week driveway and demolition of old house, purchase of generator.  I am so eager to begin building a out-building, shower and privy.  A Kyocera 135W panel will then be mounted to the roof, powering the water panel and some lights in the shed and the shower.  We’d like to run a line to the trailer as well for lighting and possibly the use of our 3 way mini-fridge (lp gas,12v,110).  Once we have water, we will then have the ability to have fires and showers and ….life, gardens, and food…

It seems to be taking so long sometimes for dreams to be realized, but on a small scale we are realizing a dream of mine once we power everything with the suns energy….

I continue to feel more and more liberated each day as I take the steps necessary to live a more balanced life.  Whether it be setting new boundaries with family members or focus on my breathing during times of distress, I am beginning each day more aware than the day before…It feels good to stand up for what feel’s right in my heart, to follow my intuition, to actually do what I know is best…even if risky.  Amen!!!!!!  

Below is a picture of our water filtration panel. 

I purchased the supplies to build a worm compost bin for an average home.  I am excited to be able to recycle everything from cardboard and paper to all veggie and fruit scraps minus citrus….We will create dirt and really good liquid fertilizer (worm tea) in a matter of weeks.  I’d like to get a program going here where we currently live, East lake Commons.  Gathering compost from each home to feed a multiple worm composting bins.  The total cost for the bins is less than $20 and the worms cost about $40 and can be used forever more to start other residential size bins….But I think it would be best to have a community worm bin that can be enjoyed and built by the community for the community gardens…..We could even sell shares to raise the funds to do such, I am sure that the amount of worm tea and castings that are produced would be of value for the community gardens…..this could be another version of the 5 acres farm and the produce that is grown, only we are providing dirt and worm tea??  Who knows, just throwing it out there….FYI, we live in an intentinal community located on 26 acres inside Atlanta city limits with a 5 acre CSA farm and 65 units, the largest co-housing community on the east coast.  Gotta run and find a bait store…