October 2011 -

Earthship type homes typically have a roof rainwater catchment system built into their design and this house is no exception. We designed the north side of the house to accomodate four 1700 gallon cisterns that will be buried under a dirt berm. First we leveled the ground area where the cisterns will be placed and added a layer of 3/4" gravel. Should any of the cisterns ever leak or any of the connections ever leak, the french drain is between the house and the cisterns so that any water will be carried away from the house.

You'll notice the sheets of old OSB against the house. We've found that piling a dirt berm directly up against the black 6-mil plastic really puts a strain on it and stretches it until it starts to tear. This wood was destined for the trash, so we put it to good use.

 

 

It took a few phone calls to find some place that carries these underground cisterns, but (to make a long, boring story short) we were able to get them through a local farm and ranch store that got them from other stores in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. Here's the first one we brought home on our trailer.

 

 

It took about two weeks to get all four, but they're here and ready to be plumbed. Check out the size of these tanks compared to Steve.

 

 

Winter finally started to hit just before Thanksgiving. We had started to berm over the cisterns when it started to freeze and we could no longer dig the dirt we needed for the berming. We decided to stop outside work until Spring and start concentrating on the inside electrical and plumbing. There are a lot of decisions to be made about where to put fixtures and switches. Steve is working on the electrical drawings in AutoCad so we can have a hard copy to work with.

Bobcat

December 2011

Off and on thru the years we have lived here, we have seen the tracks of a bobcat, remnants of rabbit fur near where the rabbits hide, and actually have seen bobcats from time to time. It was December 26 that we saw another bobcat just outside the little cabin where we live. He (or she) was scouting out various piles of pipes, wood, and other junk we have lying about nearby. He spent the night next to some metal pipes that the rabbits call home. He was still there the next morning just after 7:30 AM. We don't know when, but the bobcat's patience paid off. Later on that day there was a pile of bunny fur near the pipes. We saw him roaming around the cabin for a total of three days consuming at least three rabbits, then he dissappeared. As things go, we bought a new camera for Christmas and the battery was not charged nor did we have a memory card for it.

 

Just a few weeks later, on January 13, 2012 we saw him again, this time the camera was ready to go. Kathy snapped these pictures standing about 20 feet away from the bobcat. He didn't seem to see any threat so he kept on searching for rabbits. He's looking under the covered woodpile that is sitting on some pallets. We only saw him this one day so it was lucky we got the pictures. What a beautiful creature. He'll be back.

 

 

 

 

More to come....