Trying to take care of my little piece of the planet
For 99.99% of you: “Absolutely nothing to see here; keep moving….for God’s sake keep moving.” But for the other 0.01%, here we go: Items found at the scene of the crime are seen below. Here’s the deal. This blog was originally conceived as a DIY (do it yourself) for the SIY* crowd. (screw it yourself*) [...]
Posted on August 3rd, 2011 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Rainwater Collection | 6 Comments »
Finally got an inch and a half of much-needed rain. The cisterns are now full, and the flowers are much happier.
Posted on July 10th, 2011 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Gardening, Rainwater Collection | 1 Comment »
Following a rare Christmas Day snowfall, we’re tucked away under five inches of snow (so far). The power has flicked off a few times, so I fully expect that it will sign off soon. I’m glad that we’re in pretty good shape if that happens; the woodpile is pretty full, as is the propane tank [...]
Posted on December 26th, 2010 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Nature Diary, Rainwater Collection | 3 Comments »
Yes, he’s back. We thought he was a goner about six weeks ago when a large tree fell on him, toppling him into our small fish pond. As is usually the case, it was my fault. We’ve had an issue for years with pine trees in our woods becoming infested with pine bark beetles. A [...]
Posted on August 4th, 2010 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Family Life, Rainwater Collection | 6 Comments »
If you’ve wandered around on this site at all, you’ve realized that collecting rainwater is an obsession with me. I rationalize that I only push it as far as it’s useful, collecting rainwater when I need it and letting it go back into the ground when I don’t. So our 5000 gallon cistern has an [...]
Posted on January 17th, 2010 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Rainwater Collection | 2 Comments »
I’ve been anxious about our water supply all summer/fall. We’ve had enough to get along. But we never really had a plentiful supply. I could never seem to get the level above 3000 gallons. If you look at the graph below, you can see how the rainfall during last summer (our first one using our [...]
Posted on November 10th, 2009 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Rainwater Collection | 3 Comments »
While perusing the headlines at lunch I came across this piece of video about a microbrewery in Atlanta that uses rainwater to make environmentally friendly (AKA “green” ) beer. Hey! That was my idea! I used to homebrew many years ago, until I realized that the minerals and microbial flora in my groundwater were combining [...]
Posted on October 5th, 2009 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Leisure Projects, Rainwater Collection | 2 Comments »
If you’ve prowled around other posts on this blog, you’ll know that we installed a rainwater collection system for ALL our water needs, including drinking water. It has provided safe (UV-sanitized) and tasty water for over a year now and I’m very happy with it. But the collection part only works if it….yeah, rains. This [...]
Posted on August 13th, 2009 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Rainwater Collection | 2 Comments »
Yes, we’ve had a hint of snow, and I had intended to be ahead on preparations for winter this year, but there were delays in getting the logs delivered, and further delays on my part in turning them into firewood. So I still don’t have that self-satisfying pile of split wood drying safely in the [...]
Posted on November 24th, 2008 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Energy, Rainwater Collection | 3 Comments »
I know. The title of this post is so over the top. But the reality for me, silly or not, is that after the last eight years, I have been pathologically focused on tomorrow’s election. I spend far too much time at my desk checking and re-checking the news. I haven’t had any exercise other [...]
Posted on November 3rd, 2008 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Gardening, Nature Diary, Rainwater Collection, Rants and Musings | 5 Comments »