Snow Day - Power in the Storm

Weather report: 2/17/11

While much of the country has been inundated in snow this winter we have managed to avoid it. Until now. It has been snowing for two days and is forecast to continue for a week. Must be our turn.


Big storms of all sorts wreak havoc in our rural mountains just as they do in towns. The roads can be closed, flooded, or dangerously icy. The wind will blow away what's not secured. And wind, snow, trees, auto accidents, wildfires and other incidents can interrupt electric power. That's the case in this storm. I found out via a phone call from someone, otherwise we would have never known. 
This is when the power independence of our self-sufficient lifestyle really stands out.

Hydro-system, Pelton wheel inside barrel

Right now we are running on micro-hydro power. Not as lucky as those with a year round creek, our system relies on rain and other precipitation. 
The rain and runoff that started before it got so cold got our hydro running, and the snow is now building up a reserve on the mountain above us that will last long after the storm is over. Generally our main winter season power source, running steadily 24 hours a day, hydro-power is almost decadent in its abundance.

The wind turbine from up the hill

Every time a storm blows in the power of the wind makes electricity with our small scale wind turbine. 
Located on a point above a river canyon, it gets wind morning and evening most of the year, but it really kicks into gear in stormy weather. 

Looking up at our wind turbine

This is the most fickle source of power in our locale, where wind is neither steady nor reliable every day. Yet it still fills in the gaps to keep the batteries charged that run our home and soap business.

But the real workhorses of our system, despite being the only ones with no moving parts, are our solar Photo Voltaic (PV) panels. 

Patched together over the years (there are 3 slightly different styles in our array), if there is any light, they are producing some power. And, since there is far more sun here than other weather overall, I think I can safely say most of our annual electricity comes from these panels. 
On top of that we have 2 smaller PV panels that pump water from our spring up to a holding tank, another small panel that runs the pump on our solar hot water system as well as an attic fan, and a tiny panel that runs a fan in our garden's greenhouse.

Our solar PV electric array

In fact, it is solar energy that runs all these systems, as it is the sun's influence on our planet that creates the weather and controls the water cycle that makes the other methods work. 
Even on a dark blizzard of a day like this one.


I think I will go have a hot cup of tea and warm up!

9/2014 Update: This spring we added 5 new Solar PV panels to our system, bringing us to a full 4 kilowatts of charging power. We bought them a year ago when we had the money and the price was good. That almost never happens at the same time! And we finally had the opportunity to build a rack for them and add them to our array this year. It's wonderful to have the extra power.

Love Story

Continuing this Valentine theme, I have been in the same relationship for 39 years.
Somehow this is considered a really long time... It also feels like a long time. It is wonderful right now, right here, and I see us remaining deeply in love and with the special, comfortable, and familiar friendship being together over the years can bring.

Like all things in life, it will always have its ups and downs: long term relationships require a lot of cultivation. Patience, compassion, sharing, surrender, frustration, acceptance, independence and a good sense of humor. It is ever a work in progress.

The history of our personal relationship is reflected in music - as are so many things. From our earliest days in the blossom of youth and romance Joni Mitchell gave us: "My Old Man"


And later the trials and tribulations of raising a family and keeping home & hearth together and those frustrations can resonate with "Give A Little" by Nicolette Larson


From the deepest dark times - we turned to one of the classic songs of all time, Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me"


But these were always followed by reunion - not always easy as shown by David Lindley's "Starting All over Again", here done by Hall & Oates (Lindley's version is better, but I can't find a video).


While this doesn't really describe us, the playfulness and silliness of the love that binds us - in spite of everything - is mirrored in this all time favorite done by John Prine & Iris Dement
In Spite of Ourselves

Overall, however, throughout this relationship and particularly at this end of it looking back - I have always felt that the Beatles said it beautifully: "In My Life"


Happy Valentine's Day. May your life be enriched with love.

Love is in the air

It's the spring thing...

As winter wanes birds, bugs and animals start to think in terms of romance - or at least procreation. Humans, unwilling to wait for the sun's warmth, have their romantic holiday mid-winter in February. Perhaps to warm the heart when the world is locked in cold (at least in the Northern hemisphere).

Valentine's Day (formerly Saint Valentine's Day) has mysterious origins. It could have started from any of 3 martyred men of God, each named Valentine.
The most likely story speaks of Valentine, a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II.

Caught marrying Christian couples and aiding any Christians who were being persecuted under Emperor Claudius in Rome his imprisonment ultimately resulted in his demise. In 496 C.E. Pope Gelasius officially marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.

We hope you will share a little of your Valentine's day spirit with us!

Help the business you love get the help they need.

Vote for Simmons Natural Bodycare of Bridgeville, CA at:
Intuit's Love A Local Business contest

$100,000 in Intuit Hiring Grants will be awarded. Your votes help determine which three local businesses win. Vote by sharing a brief comment about why they love a local business. 

We hope to aid the economy in our community by providing more jobs in our rural area. Help us reach that goal!

Hello New Year!

One week down, 52 to go...

As I get older time seems to speed up. I am not in such a hurry.

It has been a while since I have managed to add a post: busy with life; busy with business; busy with family. Busy with staying warm in this very winter-y winter!
One of my resolutions is to make sure I post to the BLOG at least once each month.

Meanwhile, I have still been writing.
After completing a full year of Haiku poems, a Japanese form with 3 lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables respectively, I have embarked on a new project of writing a Tanka poem every day, thereby upping the difficulty a bit. A Tanka is an older Japanese form with 5 lines, 5, 7, 5, 7, 7, syllables.

Here is some of my favorite Haiku, 1 from each month in  2010:

1/25 - As we walk we flush/ Jays and Flickers, Varied Thrush/ Birds of winter woods

2/5- Earth shakes herself now/ A reminder of power/ Beyond human dreams

3/26 - Snow on peach blossoms/ Can only happen in spring /White kiss on petal

4/11 - As the years pass by/ The treasure of friendship grows/ Ever more precious

5/2 – The plaintive sweet cry/ Coyote on the mountain/ Singing to the sky 

6/11 - Murder in the night/ The wail of some poor creature/ Laughter of the fox.

7/10 - Children of dreamers/ Perceive life abundant/ With possibility

8/14 - Crucible of dreams/ The infinite mystery/ Of night's vast display

9/1 – Earth’s mighty power/ Lies just beneath the surface/ A tempest below

10/4 - Slow to illumine/ These dark days cloud my senses/And prolong my dreams

11/13 - How the chest contains/ A heart swelled with emotion/ Is a mystery 

12/21- Clouds parted briefly/ As Autumn became Winter/ Revealing the moon

 
 And here a couple of my brand new Tanka:

1/2 - Brilliant winter night/ Star fire piercing the darkness/ Yet bringing no warmth/ Down to this ice cold mountain/ From the universe beyond

1/7 - Deep, cold, and silent/ Rain swollen river runs strong/ Carrying the tale/ Hidden in muddy waters/ How raging storms tamed the earth

Let's see if I am up to the challenge!

 

Manual Production

Living off the grid, as we do, gives you a fine sense of power use. When you can use people power effectively you tend to forgo modern machinery with motors.
Once in a while you can be lucky enough to find a perfect piece of equipment from the past that was developed to do the job you need. That is the case with our paper cutter.

This is our guillotine. 100 years old when we bought it, an antique print shop manual paper cutter. That's one big chunk of cast iron!

You probably already know we use environmentally friendly Thai Unryu paper made from Mulberry trees to wrap our soaps.
These fine handcrafted art papers come in large sheets that need to be cut into smaller size to wrap the individual bars of soap.

Cutting the sheets individually is not an option, a print shop style paper cutter, or guillotine, cuts a large stack of paper all at one time. Most modern guillotines are powered by hydraulic motors. This is one of the original manual ones.
You can still buy manual bulk paper cutters, but they are not as beautiful a piece of machinery as this!

You put a stack of paper on the table after adjusting a stop to the proper length, using the wheel you see in front, then turn the wheel on top to clamp it down.
The blade (reflecting the paper) comes down by pulling/pushing a long handle activating a lever. Then it is held back by a counterweight. Primitive machinery, but very effective. 

After cutting into strips the proper width, you readjust the stop and cut into rectangles.
Below you can see the stop on the back of the cutter.

Here you can see the size of the original sheets of Unryu mulberry paper, a cut strip, and the finished size.



On the right is the cut paper for our bath bars, with smaller paper for mini soaps in front.

Below is paper, and soap waiting to be wrapped.
We wrap all the soaps by hand as well.
 Just a peek into how we do things here at Simmons Natural Bodycare.