Two days of solid overcast, on top of at least three without solid sun, had me casting worried glances at my powershed. It flurried off and on all yesterday afternoon and started snowing more seriously right after sundown – then sometime in the middle of the night, after giving the solar panels a healthy coating of snow, Uncle Murphy played his weather hat trick and cleared away every scrap of cloud. Early enough to let everything get good and cold, of course. So even when the sun broke over the ridge, it took nearly two hours of direct sun on the panels to melt off the snow and let the batteries start to charge. A perfect hat trick would have been for the weather to sock back in just before the panels cleared.
Be that as it may, it looks like my electrical system will be allowed to climb back on its knees today. I never did lose my lights or coffee grinder, though I wasn’t watching any movies at night. And the wood stove is drawing nicely, and the Lair is toasty. My crazy dog is outside in the frigid yard, lying in the shade. A kinder providence would have arranged for him to be born a sled dog, but he takes what advantage of the cold he can. My other crazy dog is nowhere to be seen and may be off hassling a neighbor for sausage. I’m brewing my second pot of coffee.
I was in town yesterday, wanting to see if I could buy any deep-cycle batteries locally. There are some, but not nearly big enough to suit me. My two batteries are 186 amp-hour which is small for a solar power system but a lot bigger than what’s available in town. But Tuesday I’ll be going to the big town about fifty miles away for my eye appointment, and hopefully there I’ll find something usable. My batteries were salvaged out of a fifth-wheel trailer that burned down and worked great while they worked (they’re still sort of working,) and there are a couple of RV places in that town. I’ll probably have to save up some money, but as soon as I know how much I need I can at least try. I noticed that a couple of people dropped donations in the tip jar day before yesterday, which is a start. I appreciate it!
In a bit I’ll go finish cleaning out Landlady’s big chickenhouse and lay down new straw. I backed the Jeep into the sun a few minutes ago so the frost would melt off, seriously pissing off LB who thought he was being stiffed on a ride. It’s just a typical Sunday at the Gulch.
