10.05.2010

October Update! Interior Work, Rainbows and Our Autumn Garden



Today was an otherwise dreary Fall day except around sundown I happened to be outside and see this rainbow quietly stretching across the sky above our enclave.

This week we are trying to wrap up the bulk of the sanding and varnishing that remains to be finished inside ARK-A.

The bathroom is nearly complete and fully operational. We installed a medicine cabinet with a mirror and corner shelf and next week the sink and faucet will be connected to the rain-water cistern on the roof. The Shower has worked for several weeks now, it has a filter attachment built into the shower-head and, although we weren't sure if there would be enough pressure from gravity alone to run through the filter, it does indeed get by. But a larger roof tank would increase the pressure to a more ideal level. The kitchen sink has also been working for a few weeks now.

With all the rain we've had, keeping the cistern topped off has not been a problem, but I would like to be able to store a lot more water. It is a shame to have the gutter just running out onto the ground, but we are at maximum capacity.

The green-roof garden has been essentially left to its own devices for the last couple months. The strawberries have taken over their corner of the bed, while many of the cucumbers have rotted on the vine as we just couldn't eat them fast enough. I thought the onions were a loss but they look quite healthy now. The peppers are still growing strong, even after a few thorough harvests this Summer it looks like we'll have one more late harvest to look forward to! I want to heavily mulch the garden before snow falls and see what survives in the Spring since it looks like we won't be dismantling the garden/roof deck for transportation anywhere anytime before Winter sets in.

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