Load-shedding
Heavy metal and maybe a watershed moment
What better way to start writing my 75th blog about living off the grid and in a state of continuing ignorance than with a power cut?
Yes, this morning the anniversary celebratory candles metaphorically blew themselves out.
I could call it “load shedding” as they do in South Africa – it sounds much better than power cut or blackout – but it’s the same thing, and in Joburg and Cape Town it’s becoming a real problem right now.
Of course I could just turn on the generator and get on with my day – confident the sun will have fully recharged the batteries by mid-afternoon – but where’s the fun in that?
The most exciting part of all this will be working out which pump or piece of equipment went wrong yesterday to use double the usual daily power requirements. I have a suspect in mind.
But who would want to shatter the peace of a beautiful Saturday morning in this blissfully quiet valley by pouring in some petrol and cranking up a noise machine?
Simon the dog accompanied my early morning trip to the solar house as I assessed how long the freezers might be off, discussing with him the possibility we may have to eat all the meat, fish and everything in the freezer over the next two days.
He reassured me it wouldn’t be easy, but he would do his best, and that without wanting to speak for Garfunkel the big dog, Simon thought he would probably be OK with it as well.
There’s something soothing about watching the valley mist quickly burn off and the sun’s morning rays gradually creeping their way towards the solar panel array, wondering when the numbers on the solar system app would start going up.
We heard birds in the trees and the lilting sound of cow bells over the hill, but it was the distant barking of a pack of dogs that caught Simon’s attention and raised a casual woof.
Has hunting season started again? I thought it was August or September? I’ll have to check because I owe the Cow King and his mates a video of the hunt they invited us to film.
I reset the inverter a couple of times, hoping there’d be enough light reaching the panels to get things going, but each time it clicked off and the red warning light came on.
On the basis that a watched kettle never boils, I returned to the house to attend to an actual kettle which had been boiling since I started faffing with solar panels and daydreaming; we have a gas cooker for a reason.
Back then it was a similar kind of unexpected power surge that destroyed the old lead-acid batteries that came with the house.
Now have a small server-sized rack of lithium batteries which bounce back from this kind of shock really well.
And we’ll be in tip-top shape once our solar system expands even more in the next week or two.
The supply chain crisis had plunged our battery order into a black hole, but Iain reassures us we’ll soon have more power than we know what to do with (electric car charger anyone?)
I now know what most things are in the local wood shop, materials yard and farm supplies place, and thanks to Rui Dias and the reception room we built together, I learned a lot about reinforced concrete, bricklaying and roofing.
“Ah yes, I see,” I’ve nodded to myself knowingly as the materials for the new build have been arriving – the steel rebar and the different grades of stones, gravel and sand.
Building permit and book of works in place, we had a building meeting with Sr Manuel which focussed on the location of the infinity pool and where its machine room should go...and ended up with a plan for a wine cellar...if we can afford it.
It was on a local swimming pool fact-finding mission with our engineer José, that we stumbled upon the Monte do Casarão rural tourism spot Sr Manuel had built years ago.
We turned up full of questions for the Dutch Riemslag family and they kindly offered us a coffee, a little tour and some great advice.
Their lovely off-grid place has six separate rentable houses each on their own hilltop – hence the English name www.a-hill-of-your-own.com.
Water security is still high in our minds given the drought and the amount of water evaporating from the lake at the moment...the level stone has been high and dry for a while now.
The Riemslags had a similar water filtration issue as us – we’re trying to avoid an expensive reverse osmosis system which uses a load of power and wastes half the water.
They successfully use an ion-exchange filter...and I’d never heard of one of those before...anyone know much about them? I gather there are pros and cons?
Niels knows his science and is sceptical about ion-exchange, but I guess it’s worth exploring...as was the new beach that he and Sibylle introduced us to after reading last week’s blog on our list of must-see spots to visit.
It’s fantastic, and one of those beaches I ain’t naming, joining the list of secret beaches you’ll have to come here to be shown.
It’s long and rugged, well-hidden and so practically deserted all the time – even in the height of summer – and certainly one for Simon & Garfunkel to get up to speed on...maybe even this afternoon.
For the last few blogs I’ve been trying to work out a good way to segue into an update on what our daughter Oda’s up to in Los Angeles, and the arrival of building material rock and heavy metal provides me that opportunity.
Oda is on tour...managing her boyfriend Derek and his band Classless Act on a stadium tour of America!
When we lived in LA, the kid from high school who we would watch busking on the streets of Sant Monica is now opening for Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett as they pack stadiums all over the States.
Derek has always had that unmistakeable star quality - he’s a born performer. We and our friends who’d watch him perform at Viper Room, The Whiskey, Roxy, Troubadour and The Baked Potato would always nod and say knowingly to each other “one day.” Talent and hard work has paid off.
Next week Classless Act is playing two nights at Boston’s famous Fenway Park...and they’re having a ball.
And so much for the hard rock lifestyle, they’re healthier than we are...staying sober all tour...no drinking, no smoking...just soaking up an amazing experience.
Hope you’ll come and play here in the Vale das Estrelas soon, Rock Stars!
And just before we head off to the new secret beach with the dogs, you’ll be glad to hear the batteries are already up to 90% and still climbing.
I’ll get on the hunt for the faulty pump tomorrow. We’ve come a long way in two years...and 75 blog posts...so this kind of madness doesn’t faze us as much any more!
Oh, and congrats on the 75th!
More difficult, the engineers used distillation but that was on a large scale and was expensive. I know RO but I've only seen it in brewing, small-scale and slow. A tricky problem, I don't envy you.
I've got an embarrassment of riches, an average of 12,700 litres a month off our barn rooves! I'm looking at rainwater harvesting at the moment.
Really enjoying your writing Al, I wish you all the best.