Sorry about the long lapses in updating you all, but not much had been happening and then all of a sudden a lot happened. So, here we go....
First of all, we finally got our water capture tank!! It's 10,000 gallons and is just so darn cute! It looks like a mini silo. Not sure if the pictures do it justice. It even matches the house! That's the good news. The not so great (but hopefully soon to be good) news is it is not hooked up to the roof run off yet. Our builder is putting this thing together for us and it's his first time. There have been a few visits by our builder and the plumber where they stand around the tank and the pipes and stare at it for awhile and then come up with a solution to whatever the problems seems to be. I am told we need to be able to flush out the system so leaves and dirt don't clog up the whole shebang. This appears to be the snag....finding the right pump/reservoir (what the hell ever!) to do the job. I have been assured it will (maybe) go in next week. I sure hope so because the rainy season is approaching. I have to admit every time it has rained in the last month - which has been REALLY slim, luckily for him - I have cursed my builders name for not having the damn thing up and running. OK, with that off my chest, I resolve to be more patient. Anyway, once it's working our water bill will likely be negligible, except of course when it runs dry in the "Rain? What Rain?" part of the summer.
We also have landscaping!!!! We put in drought tolerant plants - mostly ornamental grasses - in the front along with some small tree/bushes, some sage and some salvia - all non-water sucking. Some boulders - which we dug up out of our yard during construction - will be added in the very near future. The grass is slow to come. We put in some winter rye which seems to be doing pretty well, but is a bit patchy. Hopefully, it will fill in so it's not so darn muddy out there. Wiping Doppler's feet is not ours (or her) favorite activity. In the spring we will plant the regular grass seed. We decided to do seed since sod is UNGODLY expensive! Who knew???? Chuck almost did a happy dance when they hooked up the irrigation system (which is hooked into the water tank, so we have been filling the stupid thing with water which I hate to do since it, to me, absolutely defeats the tanks purpose!). He was very tired of moving a sprinkler around all day every day trying to get the grass to grow. We were also able to use mulch that was created from the construction. All the wood scraps from the house were ground up and we got a ton of mulch out of it. We used about half of it on the landscaping, so we have a nice little hill of it in the back of the yard for later! We used wood that had no preservatives (like formaldehyde) during building so it is safe to put it on the landscaping. I am contemplating a few rain barrels on the gutters of the small portion of roof that will not drain into the water capture tank, also. I figure we can wash cars, give Doppler a dreaded bath and water pots with it.
One other little item we invested in was a pump to push hot water to the opposite end of the house. Our hot water heater is in the storage room off the garage, so it took a bit of time (and wasted water) to get it hot at the other end of the house (the master bath and laundry room). The pump was put under my sink in the master and there is a little wireless button that looks like a doorbell to push to start the pump. You push the button, wait about a minute, turn on the shower and almost immediately have hot water!! SO AWESOME! No more wasting gallons of water just to heat up the shower or bath!
A bit of possible unexpected good news has come our way. Chuck called to check to make sure all was in order for us to qualify for a rebate on our solar panels with our electricity provider. Well, come to find out, someone backed out of their previously awarded rebate and we might be able to get it!!! So, instead of waiting until January and just hoping they are still handing out the rebates, we might get it this year! That way we can get it installed sooner than we planned! I'm crossing my fingers.....
Most of the little "punch list" items have been taken care of (touch up paint, touch up stain, unclogging the guest bath, etc). All we really have left to deal with is getting a ledge built, tiled and installed in the master bath behind the tub. Oh, and finishing up the dang water tank!!!!
We are pretty much settled in and are awaiting the holidays and the long awaited graduation of the number one son in December! It's going to be a great holiday! Now to find the perfect spot for the new eco-friendly Christmas tree..........
Peace, Love and Recycle,
Lori
