Wednesday 6 July 2016

Finally completing our Grid.

We had made the decision to purchase some  big  heavy duty lead acid deep cycle batteries to complete our  storage system for our  house.
We  had arranged with Jarrod from Battery world at Tamworth to deliver the batteries on Friday.
e assumed as he had to travel several hours to deliver that he would most likely arrive mid-morning, but  much to our surprise  we received a phone call at 6.30 am to let us know  he was at our front gate.
He came up  and he and Brian unloaded the batteries off the trailer.
It was early and the sun had just came up and when I looked out I laughed as the circle of batteries  made me think of a mini Stonehenge...
These are huge batteries, each one weighs 130 kgs..
We  soon discovered that  they were too heavy to manhandle  and Brian decided to borrow the carry all from next door and we  were able to slide the batteries onto it .
We then  very slowly moved them up to where they were going to be unloaded.
Brian built a timber platform for them to sit on,
The tractor was reversed in close to the platform and we slid the batteries one by one over  onto it.
Brian then began  connecting up the batteries to one another ,
and began erecting the small shed that would be  placed over the top of the batteries to protect them.
While Brian was working over on that I decided to do some clearing of a pile of old timber and rubbish that has been slowly accumulating over the last few  years.
I  had an old 44 gallon burning drum and over  the two day period I finally cleared it all away. I am a real fire bug and I had a lovely time  tending the fire and keeping it stoked.
Brian completed  the shed and we   lifted it over, we thought we had bought an identical shed to what we had already, but  once erected we found they were slightly different.
They are all now connected to the solar panels and inverter and regulator and are working well, this now completes our  off grid set up it's just a shame we haven't had much sun since, to  really get  the charge into them fully.
While we were doing this,  i  cooked a batch of beetroots in a pot on the  lounge room fire and then water bathed them in the jars in there as well.
It was election day here in Australia on Saturday  and we got together with the BIL and SIL and their grandchildren  from next  and had a lovely hot finger food lunch, we had a very enjoyable few hours together.
We have still been hand feeding the sheep a bit of hay, as even though we have had  some lovely rain, due to the cold weather the grass really hasn't grown  that fast. It is green, just not lush.
I took this photo as Brian gave them a bale of hay in the feeder, I especially  loved  the cute on with the hay hanging out of it's mouth.
The shed is slowly clearing up,  Brian has knocked out some of the shelving, and the old second hand batteries have now been  taken down and  given to the neighbour , who in return has offered us  one of his pigs to butcher  that. he breeds . We are very happy with that arrangement.
It was   a horrible day here today, freezing cold, windy,  and sleety rain. We have laid low inside and I got  busy and made  a couple of batches of  mini quiches. I made 4 dozen salmon and 4 dozen  asparagus. I  have packed them all in the freezer for future use .
Hopefully tomorrow will be  a better day weather wise as  Brian hopes to  be able to go up the back and  cut some more wood so we will be able to keep the house warm next week while the grand kids are here. We are really looking forwards to their visit.
Take care every one , until we  meet  again down the track,
Cheers
Jane.

8 comments:

  1. My goosness, Jane you two have been busy. Glad you got some rain, hope you get more. Your cooking puts me to shame. It is a coolish summer over here and you might think that would mean no mossies and black flies, but you'd be wrong.I got bitten quite a lot as I was trying to clear off a garden bed that weeds took over when we rebuilt a few years ago. But I refuse to give up. Enjoy the warm fires, inside and out when you can. A nice drop of wine always adds to the pleasure, don't you think? Take care.

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    1. Hi Joanne,
      Hope you got your garden weeding all accomplished without too many more bites and stings.
      Can't beaT a few wines and a fure, but sadly have had to reduce my consumption as I have been trying to keep my weight and sugar levels under control.
      Thanks for popping by,
      Cheers
      Jane.

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  2. It's great to see you have your batteries. It seems Brian is always working on a project. Isn't it great having such a handy man around the house! It's a good way to be. And you! - well you put on a good spread. Your baking and preserves always look delicious. It's good to know too that I'm not the only fire bug around. ;- )

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    1. Hi Rhonda,
      There seems to be no end to projects here, but I suppose that was to be expected when we chose to buy a place that had been let run down considerably over the years (but a heck of a lot cheaper as well)..it has been busy, but really fun and a pleasure making it to suit our lifestyle.
      I love to cook as you appear to also...(although often take the cheats and lazy route) ..
      Take care Rhonda
      Cheers
      Jane.

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  3. just caught up with your blog, wow you two have been very busy! your preserves look really delicious!
    very cute & cheeky sheep you have there, made me giggle
    love the supervisor
    take care of yourself too

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  4. Hi Selina,
    We do indeed have cheeky sheep, so sneeky...it has been a crazy few weeks here with more to come, but we are moving forward and really startinh to see the changes..
    Thanks for popping by
    Cheers
    Jane.

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  5. Hi Selina,
    We do indeed have cheeky sheep, so sneeky...it has been a crazy few weeks here with more to come, but we are moving forward and really startinh to see the changes..
    Thanks for popping by
    Cheers
    Jane.

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