Preparing for the Winter Months

I'm not eager for this beautiful summer to depart. I've enjoyed the warm days and my tomatoes are just starting to ripen. But the rains usually start by mid October here and it's September 11 today. So the task of gathering firewood for the winter has started in earnest.

Most projects have been completed for now or could continue after the rains start. My one remaining task is to reside my well house. I did remove the old pressure tank through a wall and then put it all back together again. But the press board siding, which has been up for forty years or so, is in bad shape at the base and needs to be replaced. It's not a pressing issue however and could be stretched one more season.

But I did replace the electrical sub-panel and put in a circuit box to protect the pump in case it runs dry. Franklin PUMPTEC. In theory this protects the pump but I have not put it to a stress test yet.

I also added in the pump room a flow timer for my incoming well water. This water comes from the well, goes through a filter and then dribbles into the top of my main water tank outside. When it's full a float in the tank stops the flow. But my well just can't run for days on end even a dribble flow, about five gallons every ninety minutes. I was manually shutting down the flow at night and taking more walks to the well house than I can count. Something had to be done to not over tax the well and yet still use some of my reserve water in my big storage tank.

I did lots of research for this looking for a solution, some costing many hundreds of dollars. The result was a forty dollar hose bib timer, 9000D, by DIG. It' a DC latching valve and timer that runs off a nine volt battery for up to a year. I've programed it to run for about twelve hours and then shut off for the next twelve hours. This will also shift a little of my power usage, pumping at the well, to during the night and morning hours. It's a very small amount but it's advantage.

This will let the well rest in between when it's off. My well is rated at one gallon per minute but that was overly optimistic, especial in the dry months. It's realistically more like a underground spring. But the well is dependable even in the driest of months. So this should work and after more than a weeks use it's working perfectly.

With a slow flow, my dribble set by a valve which is just enough flow to accurately register on my water meter, I can regulate my fill rate and stop over taxing my well. And I can now dip into a little of my water tank's reserve, five thousand gallons, in the dry months when I need to water my garden and other flowers. I always want three thousand gallon on tap for an emergency, like a fire.

This is water system fine tuning and automation. Not much to see outside but it keeps everything dependable and I can go on vacation with less fear. I still have different filters to change, and I must keep vigilant to monitoring everything, but this is progress.

But... back to my winter preparations.
I'm choosy what wood I gather as I prefer Madrone and Oak to the more abundant Firs. But the hard woods keep better and put out more heat when it's seasoned. I also gather Manzanita as my kindling. You have to be carefully how you burn it but it puts out lots of heat very quickly getting a fire going. Since this is a recovering forest there is lots of dead Manzanita under the now tall Fir trees.

This winter saw several downed Oaks and Madrones in several areas. One fallen Oak is right near the cabin and is still fairly green for this year. But one fell in the creek above the falls over the winter and should be about right. Access will be an issue however so some hand hauling will be evolved. But with some new trail work, yet to be done, I'll get get my new motorized wheel barrow closer. Should make it easier. And I still have my old hand wheel barrow, now with a new paint job, red frame with a black load section.

Some wood I'll prepare will be for next season. This will give it time to cure and be ready for next winter. Most of last years piles have already been stored. But I have some big chunks of Oak yet to be chopped up I stored through the winter. Time to get out the maul and get chopping.

Of course I'll need to clean my fireplace flue and inspect everything carefully. But that only takes a few hours to complete and goes fairly quickly. I'll also blow the excess leaves from the various roofs, some of which was done during the summer. But I have to treat these old roofs gently and with great care. Minor roof repairs is on going especially on these old shake roofs.

So for now I soak up the remaining summer heat and take every opportunity to sit on the porch and enjoy the summer breeze.