New Year.. Ready to get this thing rolling again.

It has been a while since I have posted and I am ready to get this blog up and running again.  This past year I have planned quite a bit and I am ready to start putting some of these plans into actions.  To start, after hiking the Appalachian Trail I wanted to become more self sufficient.  I got rid of things I hadn't used in years... clothes, dishes, clothes, toys, clothes, workout gear, etc.. oh year did I mention clothes?  I have no idea how I accumulated so many clothes over the years.  Anyway, I sat down with autocad and after several revisions I ended up with a 16' x 32' cabin with a loft.  I have the cabin dried in and wrapped with Rigid Foam Board Insulation.   I have several projects coming up and sometime this spring/summer I will start adding the siding and windows.  I tried to design the cabin to maximise passive cooling.  I designed it to run E-W and I designed the slope of the roof to be at the correct angle for solar panels for this location.  I left trees along the E, S, and W of the house and utilized a highly reflective metal roof.  The Rigid Foam Board has a foil wrap that reflects a fair amount of heat as well.  I actually moved into the cabin last winter and have been in the cabin for about a year.  The first year I relied solely on 2 solar panels, 2 batteries, limited size converter, etc.  I had the panels on the ground instead of on the roof so they had limited sunlight.  I have just installed 9 panels on the roof, I am up to 8 batteries, good components, etc.  I will write a blog about the solar panels and setup soon.   My next project will be installing a shallow well.   I am not sure if I will be able to generate any water, but I am hoping to jet a well down to about 25 feet.  I am also about to start working on a rainwater collection system.    Lastly, those of you that know me know that I do enjoy photography and I just purchased a Panasonic FZ150 and should be arriving in a few days.  I have lots of things planned for this year and I will start to introduce those soon.   Hope all is well. 

“We need to defend the interests of those whom we've never met and never will.”
― Jeffrey D. Sachs