It's getting notably colder and wetter.
Temperatures don't pass 20ºC
anymore and in the early morning they are getting well below 10ºC.
We still haven't lighted the woodstove as it stays quite warm inside
with temperatures never falling under 20ºC so far.
With trees and shrubs showing yellow and red, it is remarkable
how green the grass is turning, especially in the mown areas.
Looking east over the area of the ponds.
12 Oct 11:12
Green grass consisting mostly of the annual Bromus
diandrus in the mown area around the house.
13 Oct 12:24
Iris pseudacorus (right)
and Sparganiumerectum with Lythrum
salicaria at the back in the superior pond.
13 Oct 9:10
___________
With
the introduction of a new washing machine we are almost reaching a decent standard of living.
More seriously: life is getting a bit more independent over here.
We were a bit worried about
its energy consumption and if the solar panels could cope with it,
but after some measuring with an energy consumption tester it became
clear it could, provided we don't use any water heating. This
restriction isn't really any problem as we use the warm water from
the solar shower system, which on sunny days delivers water well
over 30ºC.
The washing machine drains into the same filtering canal and pond as
the shower. We use of course biodegradable washing soap but
nevertheless the pond turns quite white after the washing and
aquatic wildlife is seriously affected. After some days the water is
transparent again, but it is clear that the system needs more plant life
to cope with the excess of nutrients in the waste water. My theory
is that the necessary bacteria, algae and some mosses will start
thriving on their own accord but higher plants will have to be
introduced. I planted already many clippings of Veronica
beccabunga and Lysimachia nummularia from the other
ponds.
The
washing machine stays outdoors under a simple roof and care must be
taken to avoid damage by frost (by draining all the water inside).
2 Oct 13:22
Milky water in the drainage
pond.
14 Oct 12:48
______________
Work on the house is limited to some finishing touches of painting
and staining. The roof rim of black EPDM sheet was painted with a
brownish red colour which matches quite well the pale brown colour
of the earth plaster. We had to apply 3 layers of water-based
acrylic paint to cover the sheet satisfactorily.
Looking
north.
12 Oct 11:02
Looking north-east.
13 Oct 12:28
______________
The compost toilet uses straw in stead of water, but this straw has
to be chopped for which I used a cheap
weedwhacker. In order
not to get choked by the dust myself and to concentrate the chopped
straw in a bucket, I made a hole in the cover through which the arm
of the
weedwhacker was introduced. But this machine got probably suffocated
by the dust inside and went out of order recently. Then I started to
experiment with alternatives and found a simple and effective
solution in the form of an electric drill with a mortar mixer. I
tied some plastic string, used for the weedwhacker, on four
positions around the mixer and it works fabulously. As the machine
stays out of the bucket there is no risk of getting smothered.
50 Liter bucket with the straw-whacker
system.
14 Oct 12:40
