Settling In & Some Stats
Full moon setting at EM (it’s not the sun!)
We’ve been back home at EM now for almost 2-weeks. The weather has been classic springtime in the mountains: sometimes sun, sometimes rain, sometimes snow, sometimes hail. Sometimes they even all conspire confusingly together and happen all at the same time!
We collect rain water (and snow as it melts) off the roof and have been getting plenty to meet our washing up needs. We are still hauling drinking and cooking water from Missoula. We are starting to use our new Lifestraw filter to convert the rain catchment water into drinkable water, but it’s a pretty slow process and takes a fair amount of babysitting time, as the hopper of the filter only accepts so much water. The filter has a max flow rate of 3.1 gallons per hour, but it’s taking quite a bit longer due to - and I’m guessing here - the colder temperatures we have on hand.
Using our Lifestraw filter for the first time
I keep a log of a few different elements pertaining to our living systems and set up. Things like: solar system battery charge rate; indoor & outdoor temperatures; what time the sun rises over the mountain; how often I fill up our indoor potable water jug; and how often I change out our 1lb propane tank on our cookstove. Here are some of our current EM living stats, if you’re into that sort of thing:
Current EM Stats
Average early morning outside temperature: 28-degrees
Sunrise over our particular close-by mountain: 9:15am
Sunset in our canyon pocket: 6:45pm
Propane: we go through a 1lb canister of propane approximately every 3-days
Drinking water: we use approximately 6-gallons of water for drinking & cooking every 3-4 days
Washing water: we fill up our 5-gallon foot-pump sink, which we use for washing hands & dishes, approximately every 2-3 days
Composting toilet: We fill two 5-gallon buckets between the two of us per week
________
Out of curiosity, I recently kept close track of our indoor temps based on woodstove use for a full day, just to get a sense for how long the cabin was holding heat for. So, more stats!
One day in the life of cabin temperatures
6:50am: 63-degrees inside the cabin (30-degrees outside); I started a fire in the woodstove
7:13am: 66-degrees
7:24am: 70-degrees
7:44am: 76-degrees
8:15am: I stopped feeding the fire
9:44am: 76-degrees
11:04am: 73-degrees
12:25pm: 70-degrees (39-degrees outside)
3:06pm: 68-degrees
4:13pm: 67-degrees (43-degrees outside)
6:00pm: 66-degrees (45-degrees outside)
7:30pm: 67-degrees (38-degrees outside); Mike started a fire
7:45pm: 68-degrees
8:15pm: Mike stopped feeding the fire
10:00pm: 70-degrees (32-degrees out)
5:00am: 60-degrees inside (27-degrees outside)
5:20am: I started a fire
Sometimes springtime looks like this here
In short, at this time of year, we tend to run the woodstove once in the morning and once in the evening. The same was true for us last fall as well. In the morning I feed it longer, simply because I wake up so early AND I genuinely enjoy fire tending as an activity. At night we mostly just get the woodstove going to drive some heat into the cabin and then leave it alone. Our 12X14 cabin is well insulated in the floors, walls and ceiling, so our dwelling place is small and mighty in the heatability department. One of the luxuries of living small is that we heat up fast and stay pretty warm even with low temps outside. Once-in-a-while we’ll strike up a fire mid-day when it’s cloudy and snowing out, but that’s typically more for psychological comfort than physical need.
We are settling in here at EM. On the days when the winter weather rolls in, we sometimes go into hibernation mode. Mike can be found on his phone doing all the things he does on his phone - a lot of which involves researching stuff for us, like how to set up a shower house in the woods when you don’t have running water (status update on that front: we just ordered a shower set up that involves a battery for powering a pump and a propane tank hook up to heat the water!) - and you can find me on my laptop writing and drinking tea. I also work remotely for Deer Park Monastery, so 3-days a week I do that for a few hours. On the sunny, warmer days we’re outside chopping wood and getting things set up for upcoming building projects. We’re managing our water systems and ground clearing. We’re taking walks after dinner and reconnecting with the land.
I am really enjoying this simple way of life. Mike too, I’m pretty sure, though he’s carrying more weight on his shoulders being our sole builder and all - did I mention we have a LOT of work we want to do? One step at a time, that’s all we can do. We are doing what we can do as we can do it. We’re hoping we can get our cabin done this year and then I’d love to build a couple of smaller huts for folks to stay in. Also on the list is a multi-use space for meditation, indoor gathering space, and a community kitchen. Slow and steady. Breathe and smile.
Also: please check out our events calendar tab on our website to see what we have planned coming up this year for community gatherings and events. We sure hope to see you!