The winter was long and wet, followed by a cool wet spring, much needed after several years of summer drought in BC.
In late April I was able to return to my land after spending the winter in a small loft apartment, and over the past two months have been enjoying warmer weather, lots of intense gardening, and making myself more comfortable here.
A couple of weeks after returning home, my water pressure dropped, meaning that my on-demand hot water heater no longer worked. So cold showers for almost three weeks while I figured out what was happening. The solution was to install a cistern, which I was going to do next year anyway, and connect to the well so that the cistern always remains full while preventing the well from running dry in the dry summer months. After three weeks of cold showers you cannot imagine the pleasure of a hot shower!
Other improvements include:
- installing some used kitchen cupboards in the shed (hard to find - I actually had to remove the cupboards from a kitchen under renovation and pay for them as well!). This meant I could put my dishes and glasses in a cupboard, freeing up the 4' counter space for meal preparation.
- upgrading from a plastic basin and hose for washing up, to hooking up a small outdoor sink to the hose (inspired by a stainless steel outdoor sink that Lee Valley has in their spring/summer 2017 catalogue), with a bucket underneath to catch the gray water, some of which I use to water plants.
- concerted effort (with my cat Monkey's help) to stop mice from entering the shed by plugging up a hole with steel wool, and setting out mouse traps.
- moving the sink into the shed - the downside of the outdoor sink was trying to wash in the rain or at night in the dark. I also plan to install a drain pipe from the sink to my gray water pit, eliminating the need to empty buckets. I can still catch rinse water in a basin and reuse it for watering my garden.
Then I decided to look for used tubs and found a beautiful jacuzzi tub that someone was offering for free. Installing that in my outdoor shower room has created completed chaos. We had my neighbour come in with his backhoe to dig a trench from the shed to the tent (some 150 feet) to lay piping for water and electricity. To refill the trenches I am putting in a layer of sand first, and removing the many rocks that were dug up.
Then I removed one wall of the shower room to accommodate the tub and slightly expand the space. We will install a clear roof over the tub, leaving the shower part still open, hardwire the jacuzzi tub, connect it to my water heater, and run a drainpipe out to another gray water pit. Having electricity there also means we can install a plug for my tent, and no longer have a very long extension cord lying outside to my tent for my light and for charging my laptop.
So later this week I will have the pleasure of having a soak in my outdoor jacuzzi!
