My House: 29 Dec 2010

29 December 2010: My House

The House at Ginty Creek

This is my house.  It was built in five weeks by five women, two of whom were there for only a few days.  We used no heavy machinery; we lifted the heavy beams with ropes.

raising beams

Living off the grid

On the left of the first picture are two solar panels.  They are used to  power this computer (a laptop as they use far less power than desktops) and the satellite internet, which is the only way I can receive anything resembling high speed in this remote area, although the speed falls far short of what most people are used to in a city.  The dish for the satellite signal is the round thing on the right of the house – it does not receive TV!  If the weather is not too gloomy, there is power for lights as well.  When I can afford to drill a well, I hope there will be enough energy to run the pumps.  Right now, everything must be done the old way.  I heat and cook with wood and at the moment I must haul most of my water, which I do every two or three weeks when I drive 40 minutes to the nearest post office.  At present I am melting snow for dishes and bathing.  Snow is always full of pine needles and bits of bark blown about by the winter storms, and I filter the meltwater through an old towel.  I am used to all this, having lived off the grid for many years.

The building is far from finished.  The basement and attic are as yet cavernous spaces; the window holes in the attic are covered with plywood.  The main floor is divided into two rooms; the first is basically a large porch storing tools, a work bench, and two dog kennels.  The living area is warm and light but still very primitive.  The floor and counters are plywood and possessions are stored in cardboard boxes.  But the first cabin I built on this place was never intended as a permanant home and I could not wait to move in here. It is far from neighbours, which is what I like, and very beautiful and peaceful.

3 thoughts on “My House: 29 Dec 2010”

  1. What an incredible blog you have shared with us. I would love to live like this but it will have to wait as the family comes first right now. Thanks for let us live vicariously through you!

  2. I remember taking baths standing in the middle of a galvanized livestock tub with snow melt warmed on the woodstove. Hauling water up the hill was less a chore in the winter with the abundance of snow. I used to hang the toilet seat near the woodstove and take it out with me to the outhouse. Was much warmer than sitting on an ice cold seat. 😉

  3. Wonderful blog! Reminds me so much of my years living in the backwoods of Maine. My cabin was similar to your house albeit on a smaller scale. Oh, do I remember the many feet of snow and sub-zero cold! Many decades later, soon I will be settling into another small place off the grid, this time in the Chihuahuan Desert. We will be like mirrors 🙂

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