12/28/2012

Christmas has come and gone.  Not only did we all survive, but we had a great day!  We missed our kids and grandkids and family who couldn't be here, but we enjoyed the kids, grandkids, and other family who were here.

On the greenhouse front, we have snow peas, cucumbers, and strawberries blooming in the greenhouse.  The snow peas have almost 3 dozen blooms on them, and the blooms are pink and burgundy, very pretty!

The solar system is complete now, and he has been in process of testing the capabilities.

Panels halfway there

All the panels mounted

Junction box for joining the panels together

Wiring Fun

PV Array done.  900 watts

Solar mechanical board for the charge controller

It's Alive!  Solar is all hooked up and working!

12/16/2012

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here.  He and the kids (our adult kids) put the tree up Thanksgiving afternoon.  The grandkids had fun decorating it.  The day after Thanksgiving, a couple of the girls were here to help me put up the Christmas village.  I sure had fun watching them.  LOL

Tricia and Angie did a great job of putting the "villages" together:

On a homesteading note, then Lee has been working on his latest project, the mount for the solar array:

He said he has 4 lines to chalk and 32 holes to drill, and then he can mount the solar panels to the array mount.  It's been pretty busy around here.  

Another Project Finished.

He has another project finished. Lee got the indoor wood stove all hooked up yesterday. He cleaned it out today, I wiped it down on the outside. We swept and cleaned the hearth. He has all the fire makings loaded and ready to be lit and a stack of firewood sitting handy on the porch.  Put our cast iron fajita skillets on the top to use for trivets for now.

I'm tired. Things are getting done, but I'm tired. Thanksgiving dinner was great. Christmas is coming up. Got a lot of stuff done this year that I just haven't bothered with much over the last several years. The house looks nice. Decorations, tree, Christmas village, it's all very pretty.  Christmas cards are addressed, stamped, and ready to be mailed.  I *think* our Christmas shopping is even done.  I'll have to get some photos of the village this year.  

There always seems to be another project, another list, another something that we want to do, though. My current project is the guest room. I want the TV stand, the TV, and my vintage video game consoles and games set up in there, as our 14-yr-old great-nephew, Isaiah, is coming to spend his Christmas vacation with us. The tv and video games in there has been the eventual plan all along, but just hadn't gotten to it yet. Sometimes, I wonder if we will ever run out of projects or be completely moved in or completely done adding little "touches" to the house. I do believe that all the additional light and space in the house, as opposed to living in a dark little cracker box, has been good for me. So far, the Christmas spirit and decorating has been great! I am learning to delegate some things, though.

The house has been a blessing, that's for sure.