Weather or Not

Not being at the house on a regular basis is thrown into sharp relief when bad weather arrives.  Today, Hurricane Earl hits the Maritimes.  Although its status had been downgraded to a Tropical Storm, it's still packing 70 mph winds and has the potential to do severe damage.  The current projected path of the storm shows it slicing across mainland Nova Scotia, crossing the entire breadth of Prince Edward Island, then clipping the northwest coast of Newfoundland.  According to the projections, it may miss Cape Breton altogether.  Here's a news report with a pop-out map that shows its course as of now:

cbs4.com/local/Tropical.storm.earl.2.1878260.html

and here is another interactive map from the U.S. National Hurricane Center:

www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at2.shtml

The weather forecast for Baddeck shows heavy rain, and a wind warning has been issued for Victoria County:

www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/CANS0008

The main concern at the property is downed trees.  Of course the woods are going to be full of windfall, that's only to be expected, but hopefully the trees close to the house will withstand the onslaught.  The highlands are notoriously windy.  The bright side is that we have no power lines to come down! 

A local acquaintance told us not to worry too much.  Three years ago Baddeck suffered widespread flooding due to heavy rain, and yet when our friend called the house, the owner had no idea what she was talking about; not a drop of rain had fallen in the highlands!  So I remain optimistic; after all, the place has stood there for decades through many hurricane seasons, and is still standing. 

Still, next time we visit, I'm pretty sure there's going to be a few bushels of fallen apples to clean up ...  :)

First Fruits

Snatching a few days at the beginning of August to get away from the big city with its oppressive heat, the constant brown haze of polluted air that hangs over the metro area, and the seething mass of people in the overpopulated south, we headed down east with that growing sense of freedom that awaits us, if we can only cut the ties to our suburban life.  (Wow, that was a long sentence!)

I was convinced that Friend Bear would have made short work of our budding raspberry crop, but as it turned out our timing was perfect.  The canes were groaning with ripe fruit and I went out with my biggest pan to collect the goodies.  It didn`t take me long to learn that going raspberrying in the Cape means long pants, sturdy boots and a bugshirt, not to mention a can of pepperspray in case of uninvited guests.  When all was said and done I picked 3 lbs of fruit.



Ripe for the picking.



Yum!

I don`t yet have the equipment on hand to make preserves, but rest assured these are safely stashed in the freezer for now.  I did get this great book, "Small-Batch Preserving" (Topp & Howard) which contains a raspberry jam recipe which I'm itching to try.  I'll let you know how it turns out!

Every time I arrive, it seems that the garden has a new and exciting treasure to show me.  This time I was thrilled to be greeted by a gorgeous display of hollyhocks.  These are one of my favourite flowers, and I did have one in my suburban garden, but it fell victim to leafhoppers and the blooms rotted on the stem.  This garden however, being 100% organic and naturally sustained throughout its life, seems remarkably pest-free and the hollyhocks were growing tall and healthy.  I know you guys always want photos, so here are a few. 





Deep purple, anyone?



Or white?



Shocking pink?



Or maybe you prefer pastel shades?

In non-hollyhock-related news, we had more encounters with Supermouse, who had decided in our absence to treat his family to an entire cube of mouse poison treat, and seemed none the worse for it.  He even had the cheek to jump onto Paul's hand when he switched on the porch light!  I know a few ladies who would have been screaming Eeek! and leaping on chairs at this point.  Battle ensued, and waged using the weapon of choice: expanding foam.  There are so many crevices and mouseruns, it's almost like the place was built to be a mouse playground.  I think that when we're there fulltime, we'll be interviewing a few cats for their rodent-hunting skills.

Tom & Jerry, of course, pale in comparison to Wile E. Coyote ...   The first I knew that something was up was when a gunshot rang out while I was innocently folding laundry.  I watched from the upstairs window as Paul hoisted the Marlin to his shoulder and shot two or three rounds in the general direction of the woods near the barn.  When he returned to the house he told me that two coyotes were enjoying a shady clearing at the edge of the woods right alongside our driveway.  One of them bared its teeth and snarled at him, leaving him in no doubt that a couple of shots were necessary.  Hopefully they've got the message.  We discussed the possibility of maybe getting a dog, and researched a few of the larger breeds, but we're not sure yet.  After watching a Youtube video of a cat staring down a coyote in New York City, as well as another one of a cat chasing a bear from a garden, I'm thinking maybe we'll stick with the cat idea.

Meanwhile, we have grapes!  The tiny baby grapes that we saw last time have grown profusely, and the pergola is literally groaning with fruit.  As well, we discovered that the unknown vine draping itself all over our honey locust tree near the deck is, in fact, another grapevine!  And it too is loaded down.  We're going to need a really long ladder ...




Casa Cape Breton ... ?

We never cease to be astonished by this garden.  Waiting to see what September brings ...

So ... did I mention the place needs some TLC?

Bearing in mind that we first saw the place in the depths of a snowy February, there are certain things you tend to overlook. One of these was what I refer to as the "potting lean-to". It's actually the very first part of the house that you notice when you pull up the driveway, and as such, really did not give a good first impression. When we returned in May, we realized just how shabby it looked. As soon as we were able to get in the house, Paul, not being the kind of guy to let the grass grow under his feet, set about taking it apart.





The view from the driveway - not very appealing.









The stone wall is actually quite charming, but the rest of the structure left a lot to be desired. The purpose of the area is to provide a warm, sunny place to start seedlings and herbs. It was fairly obvious that the whole front portion had to go.









All the old frame and torn plastic was tossed. Repairs to the stone wall were also necessary before new wood could be put in place.

Did I mention this was blackfly season? It had also turned over really hot and humid. Highly unpleasant conditions for a job like this.



New wood on the repaired stone wall. That's not going anywhere!



If you're going to do a job, do it right ... Paul also re-shingled the roof over the lean-to.



Did I mention it was buggy?





New wood goes up.



A good angle to catch the sun.



Thick plastic to protect from the elements. This is a temporary fix, which we plan to replace with something like this: http://www.palram.com/htmls/product.aspx?c0=12662&bsp=14172 which will provide the necessary sunlight for seedlings and herbs.

It's strange to feel attached to such a small and insignificant part of the house, but there's just something about this spot that charms me. Maybe it's the worn flagstone step, or the exposed logs, or the wall built from stones gathered from the surrounding land; or maybe it's the thought of growing our own herbs from seed, laid out in rows of terracotta pots, their scent lingering in the afternoon sun.

The dream continues ...

Willow Retreat on Facebook

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that Willow Retreat has a Facebook page now ... you can find it here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/willowretreat/108479239182754?ref=sgm

There's not much on it yet but it's there. LOL.

If you're on FB and want to "like" Willow Retreat, please feel free to give our page a thumbs up! :)

Beaver Wars, Part the Second

The beaver is not called busy for nothing. We soon discovered that as fast as humans take apart, and sometimes even blow up a dam, the beaver simply comes back to the scene and, while aforementioned humans are sleeping, builds the dam up again. So, when we returned a few weeks later, it was fairly obvious that (1) the beaver had his whole family involved in the repair job; and (2) the Department of Natural Resources had done exactly nothing. To make things worse, while we were away there had been a ton of rain. A few pictures will illustrate exactly what we were up against:



Paul is literally up to his knees in water. This is not the pond ... this is the road!



Our car gives a bit of perspective to show just how much water was flooding the road.



And this is what the beaver does best: fells entire trees with nothing but his teeth.


Stalking a beaver at dusk would, we thought, take patience and a lot of time. Strangely enough, we only had to wait a short time before we actually saw the culprit. He crossed the road in front of our parked car, paused to glare at us for a moment, then slipped into the water. After a few minutes he went back the way he had come. I wish I'd been able to get a photo.

Sometimes, especially with government departments, a visit in person gets a result. Within 24 hours, we had a trapper turn up at the house, and 6 traps were placed. Not our ideal solution, but sadly, it didn't take long for the traps to work, and soon there were two less beavers on the planet. The job then became a matter of breaking up the dam (again!) and clearing the culverts under the road which the busy guys had stuffed full of wood and mud.




Paul preparing to clear the culverts. Chest waders this time!




Mud pouring out of the culvert as Paul is clearing it out. Not an easy task.




Breaching the dam.




He's in there somewhere, I swear!




The secondary dam is now high and dry.



The water across the road is greatly reduced after the breakup of the dam.

When we left, the water level on both sides of the road was almost gone and hopefully, will stay that way. A couple of traps remain in place just in case ... but for now, the battle of the beaver is won.

Beaver Wars, Part the First

So, having declared victory in the Battle of the Mouse and the Battle of the Chipmunk, we turned our attention to the Battle of the Beaver. The beaver is a determined and resourceful adversary, but as we need to drive down a road, not navigate a river, we had little choice but to declare war. This is what we faced:




Flooded out section of road, with gravel surface washed away, basically a river crossing the road to a depth of two feet.







The other side of road showing water pouring from one pond, across road, from there it flows into dammed area.




The water flow was considerable, as you can see, and would eventually have eroded away the gravel road making it impassable.




This, you might say, is a small dam. But this is only the secondary dam! This was built just a couple of yards from the road to further raise the water level. In the distance you can see the main dam.




That beaver did a dam fine job.




Beaver dams are extremely well-built and very difficult to dismantle.




The resulting pond on the other side of the dam is actually quite beautiful.




These dead tree stumps look like fingers.




Paul used a rake and his bare hands to take apart the dam piece by piece.




Busted!


Now you might think that was the end of it - but think again. The beaver is not called "busy" for nothing - and he soon repaired the damage and once again, the road was flooded. A few days of torrential rain to follow, and we were in big trouble - but with a call in to the Department of Natural Resources gave us hope. We really didn't want to have to camp out all night with a shotgun ...

Stay tuned for Beaver Wars: Part the Second ...

OK you asked for it: Micro Hydro System, or How To Make Tea

Some of you have been asking for a basic outline of our off-grid power system. Paul to the rescue! (Anne has been sent to make tea, as she clearly has nothing useful to contribute to this post)

Electrical Power System at Willowretreat.

The system is based on basic principles of gravity, and as far as we know gravity is still free and readily available.

All our electrical energy is generated by a micro hydro plant.

Oh you want details?

OK grab a tea/coffee or other drink, and have a seat and I'll start…

The micro hydro system is at the mid base area of one of our larger hills, the water flows year round with varying amounts of flow, gallons per minute (gpm) depending on rain, snow temperature etc etc.

The intake for the turbine is approximately 170’ above the turbine, referred to as the head. And this can be extended another 600’ should we wish to increase power.

The water passes through a small sluice, basically channeling the water to our filter at the intake point; here there is a coarse mesh stainless screen, designed for removing larger objects, such as branches, leaf mulch and small animals.

The water then enters 2” HDP pipe (high density poly), this pipe is tough durable and will take freezing without bursting, trust me I know this from using it in remote camps in the Arctic.

Drop from the intake to the turbine is 170’ and by the time it gets to the turbine manifold we get appx 65 psi water pressure at the nozzles.

Nozzle size varies according to flow, but these range from 1/4” to ½”.

The water is injected at higher pressure onto the turbine blade, there are many calculations that are required to get the nozzle size, distance from turbine and angle correct, fortunately there are a number of programs out there that you can download, and these will do the math for you. Or you could buy a pre-made unit from a dealer, and just bolt it in place, hook up the water and away you go.. NOT……

The turbine spins and via a connecting shaft this drives our permanent magnet generator.
We produce 230v at 60 Hz at the generator head, L1 and L2 are at 116v and neutral is bonded to casing.

Current power production is around 1.1kwhr. Appx 26kw a day.

The power then passes thru a bank of capacitors, and then passes along our power lines, number 8 wire, for a distance of appx 1km.

When the power enters the house, it gets transformed into 12v dc, this splits off to the battery bank and maintains our bank of 20 Nickel cadmium batteries, each battery is 1.2V with 220amps.

Total amp reserve is 4400amps at 24v, quite enough to make toast...

Our battery reserve is used as a load spreader and sudden surge bank.
I.e. if we suddenly use the washing machine, this will overload our generator's capacity, so power is diverted from the battery bank, via an inverter to supply the extra power we require.
When the extra load has finished its demand, the system will automatically recharge the batteries, ready for future demand without any noticeable loss of power to the house.

Now as our generator is running 24 hours a day seven days a week, the system will get to a point where we are generating more power than we can use or store, this happens on a regular basis, this is where the charge controller comes in to play.

The charge controller is basically a switch, that once it detects a increase above a certain voltage, it will dump power.

The power dump at this point is a bank of ceramic coated electrical coils, basically a big electrical heating element, which uses up the surplus power by converting it to heat, a waste of energy indeed.

We have plans to purchase two electric golf carts for running around the retreat and going down to the road to pick up mail and general chores etc, maybe even a plug in hybrid for highway use; this will offset the need for dumping power.

When the cabins are built we will be increasing the power output by a factor of three, this is being planned and built as I type.

The cabins will utilize a low head high volume system, running two units of one stream with sluice gates to direct and control water flow and volume.

This will give us additional 2.3kwhr, and in combination of increasing the head from our original system and increasing pipe size and turbine, we expect to generate another 2.3kwhr from this system as well for a conservative 4kwhr, generated 24X7 by 365 days a year. All from clean non polluting renewable energy.

This is just a basic outline of the system, there are many technical details that I have left out, due to space, time and the fact that I'm not a technical writer etc. but feel free to e-mail us with questions, or better yet plan on a visit...

Our drinking water is a whole other story, that is if Anne makes me another cup o’ tea lol








Battery bank. The batteries were liberated from the old Diefenbaker bunker when it was decommissioned.








After waiting too long for tea, Paul's having a go at the electrical panel. DO NOT DO THIS. ;P