Well, I was only without power the one night, after all. The sister shop of my favorite pawn/rent-to-own had a decent generator in stock that they moved from pawned for sale to RTO, so I got that for $60 down and $22 a week. Not bad, though it's a bit tricky to start. I'm not worried as it gets the job done to power the house, so I'm good until the other one is in the shop and fixed.
Work is going well, in that I am just under 2 months away from being able to bid on a better-paying position which will allow me to make a small car payment each week, thus giving me my own transportation. That will solve ONE issue towards independence. Still have to finish closing costs on the property, insulate the cabin, and get a winter source of heat in here. Likely, that will be wood, even though it will be a new experience for me, because wood is plentiful around here, even if I have to buy it in. Propane is EXPENSIVE. I will be getting some cast iron pots and pans as well if I can get a wood stove in, and learning to cook on it.
Now for Q&A time. I get pretty much the same questions all the time, and I guess I should take a bit of time to answer them all in one shot. All start the same. How do I ...
Q - Cook?
A - I have a microwave, a hot plate and a propane camp stove. I use the microwave to heat up leftovers and cups of water for tea. The hot plate is my primary cooking surface. The camp stove is for backup or extra burners, if I'm doing a lot of cooking. One thing with a camp stove is that they are generally for outdoor use only, so if I am using that, I make sure to have a nearby window vented. When I am done with it, I take it apart and put the cap back on the little propane bottle so that none leaks out.
Q - Get online?
A - I have power with the gennie. With that, I can run anything electrical that doesn't overload it, just like with standard house power. A modem and router don't use that much electric, so they are plugged into regular wall outlets. There are cords going from the gennie that are hardwired into the outlets, and there I am - power for the internet stuff!
Q - Do laundry?
A - Laundromat to wash and dry for now. Once I am a bit further along, I'll be getting an umbrella clothesline and hanging out the wash on nice days. On bad days at that point (cold or wet), I'll have an expanding indoor line to hang the wash across the width of the cabin in the living room area to dry.
Q - Wash dishes?
A - By hand. I use a lot of paper plates, though pots and pans still need cleaning. A couple of plastic dishpans do the trick for washing and rinsing, and I have a regular dish drainer on the counter for drying. Soak the dishes for about 15 minutes and all the crud pretty much just slides off.
Q - Have a toilet?
A - Composting toilet. I've also used a sawdust toilet. With that, you use a bucket, a luggable loo lid, and a lot of sawdust to absorb moisture and odor. TP goes into a small trash can and gets burnt with the regular trash. With a composting toilet, you can put your TP in it but you also use sawdust to absorb. You will need an air freshener doohickey no matter what in warm weather. They do have a bit of fragrance to them that you don't notice after a while, once you get used to it.
Q - Have hot water?
A - Right now, one of two ways. In bad or cold weather, there is the hot plate and a pan of water on it to heat. In good weather, Coleman makes 5-gallon solar shower bags. Fill it up, put it on a towel on the porch, lay it on the towel with the dark side down, and wait a few hours. Works fine for dishes or whatever else.
Q - Wash up daily?
A - Hot water from the pot on the stove or the solar shower bag, depending on what day it is. Work days, it's the pot on the stove. Weekends, more likely it's water from the shower bag.
Q - Take a shower?
A - I addressed this a couple winters ago in detail, but in short, the solar shower bag. Either I will heat it up on the porch with sunlight, or I'll heat up a pot of water on the hot plate and then fill the bag. If it's the pot of water method, you add cold water first, about a gallon, then hot to about half full, then cold to your preferred temp. Take a Navy shower. (Strip, rinse off and wet hair, shut off water, lather hair/body, turn on water, rinse off.) It's not nearly as harsh as it sounds and is pretty good. I have a portable camp cabana thing that's about 4 feet square at the base that acts as bathroom and shower stall right now. When I want to take a shower, I take out the small composting toilet, the sawdust bucket and the small tote that keeps the cats out of the TP and the trash can, then put in a BIG tote to catch the water, and take my shower. When I'm done, I dump the catch tote outside and put the bathroom back together. It's a bit primitive but it works.
Honestly, off-grid homesteading is all in what you make of it. If you think it's all hardships and deprivation, then that is likely what you will find. If you are able to find things to keep busy that don't require power, at any time of your day or night, you will find you are more fit, healthier, more relaxed and happy, and also a LOT more tired at the end of the day.
For now, I need to spend a little time reading and working on my webstore so it can be more income for me as things improve. Hugs and love, all!
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