Like all of Auckland, I am sick of the rain. I have been out digging wee channels today, diverting water, so that I can step from house to car, and back again in my “going out” gumboots, and not the caked in mud ones. But let me start where I left off…..
I have talked about the solar panels, the generator ( a wee lifesaver ) and how the sun is such an appreciated part of the day. I almost have to limit how many times I open the Solar Usage App, as it can be almost addictive watching the charging figures, hoping the numbers are rolling high like a slot machine, then checking the discharging figures, and placing a bet on whether to turn on an appliance or not. Even on these grey old days, the solar batteries charge up beautifully, and the generator has been used only once in the last week. If there are sunny patches and even some cloud cover, charging will reach the goal of 100%, by sunset.
The other Mother Nature provided amenity is water. I have a 5000 litre water tank, which, with our rather wet winter, is constantly full. The rain is collected from the roof of Lil Pad and with a pump, available at the turn of a tap. This water should be bottled as it tastes fantastic. It also makes a difference to my skin and hair. Nothing added I guess, so it’s just how it was intended to be.
So now to the subject that gets quite a bit of attention, the loo. I have a composting loo, and it has been the biggest challenge. Not a challenge because it’s hard to adjust to, no, it’s actually easy to adjust. I love not flushing away beautiful water. A challenge because I was almost driven mad by the smell that would greet me when I opened the front door after work. Not a “poo” smell, a kind of earthy smell, but even so, unwanted. I knew it shouldn’t smell as I had read so much about the systems, and knew that it was possible to stop this earthy smell greeting me. I use sawdust as the bulking agent, so I read up more on that…all good. I had some rather nice sustainable loo paper and wondered if it was just a bit too nice and didn’t break down as well as those cheap brands, that break down when you don’t want them to…all good. I tried some coffee grounds as well as sawdust, not much difference, but I quite liked the slight coffee odour now joining the earthy smell. OK, I thought, I’ll empty it, probably a little too soon, but I had to try everything. I got myself kitted up in almost COVID style gear and opened the chamber. I was pleasantly surprised, not much smell and it didn’t really resemble what it had been, just looked like compost really, with some sawdust and white bits of paper through it. OK, emptied, put back together and away we went again. Next day after work…..OMG, still smelly!!! anyway, long story short. It was a wee tightening key on one of the pipes that was not as tight as it should have been, so the fan was not being as efficient as it should have been. Key tightened, fan got really sucky and NO MORE SMELL 🙂
Inside the tiny house is just awesome. I love the mezzanine bedroom. The sound of rain on the roof is rather close, but it is always quite nice to be snuggled under a duvet, while it’s raging outside. The cats sometimes get a bit nervous at the sound as it is literally just above us. I don’t have curtains and have witnessed some impressive thunder and lightening displays too.
Next blog, I will tell you about my bath, my heating and my deck. Loving this life and can’t wait till summer 🙂
Space Waitress' Travels on Earth 