GRAYnomad Nature Photography :: The GRAYnomad Chronicles :: #086
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Editorial

One thing you might notice about this chronicle is return of embedded videos.

This is mostly because I've been pretty active making them for Youtube of late and I thought that some of them could do with being here as well. Only those that are apropos to the diary entry of the day though. There are many more on my Youtube and Patreon channels.

But I don't want this to become just a video platform because that's what Youtube et al are for and for the last 20+ years people have come here to READ about our exploits. Videos certainly add a new dimension, but you should still be able to see what we're doing without having to use your bandwidth to watch a video.



Till next time then, and remember,

Don't Dream it, Be it!

Fri 4 Dec 2020

We will need mattresses for the Cruiser and I reckon that foldable ones will be best because they can be stored out of the way and maybe even be used as a backrest in the folded position.

Clarke Rubber have a couple, one is $79 and the other $179 and I can't see the difference...well yes I can, the cheap one is not in stock. So I think bugger, what to do now?

Ummm, ever heard of Google?

We found these on Amazon.


 

Just the ticket I think.

Mon 07 Dec 2020

Shortly after going to bed we hear a massive bang, apparently from the bedroom roof. I'll check it out tomorrow.

Tue 08 Dec 2020

Chris wakes up (and gets up) at about 5AM, I'm also awake but couldn't be bothered getting up just yet.

Two minutes later she returns, "There's no power" she says.

I investigate and find that the big inverter has shut down. I start it up and there's a bang from the DC end but that's all so I think maybe a gecko got fried or something and maybe the device is OK now. But then I notice that the AC end is making a strange noise.

This is not the time or place to look into this so for now all I have to do is swap the power lead over to the backup inverter and go back to bed.

Redundancy is important.

Wed 09 Dec 2020

Did I just mention redundancy?

Guess who had just bought yet another inverter because he was worried that the old one might fail.


 

This one is the 5000W version of the 3000W one I installed a few weeks ago.

I think this will be used simultaneously with the 3000W inverter, with that one being for the house and the large one for the workshop. This means two separate circuits which will isolate the two halves of the house and maybe with the 5000W I will be able to run the compressor without the generator. That would be good because I would often like to use compressed air just for a minute but it's not worth starting the gennie up just to blow some dust off a tool.

But for now I'll just mount it on the wall in place of the dead inverter in case we have another failure.

Sat 11 Dec 2020

I'm right back into track making now. The plan is to try and complete the loop I started all those years ago.

Sun 12 Dec 2020

I am walking past the dead tree that's next to the house and notice some odd-looking wood on the ground. The tree has been shedding bark of late but this isn't bark, it's real wood that appears to have been shredded.

I look up and see this.


 
 

The tree has been hit by lightening it seems. That was the bang we heard the other night. Yikes, that was a near thing.

Tue 14 Dec 2020

Time to do some more work on the addition of the new solar panels. To wit the running of the cable underground and up into the tool shed where the batteries are.


 

It's a bit of a bun fight with only one person, but I eventually get the wire through.

While doing that I smell grey water and have a look at the kitchen drain outlet.


 

The turkeys have made a perfect dam at the end of the pipe. I wonder if that is deliberate in order to have a more permanent water supply, or just a happy side effect of the way they constantly scratch the ground.

Talking of new solar panels, I will replace these five horizontally-mounted panels with ten mounted vertically, IE, oriented like the new one propped up in the foreground.


 

The five panels I remove will then join some others in another array mounted out on the ground, facing west.

And yet another project, I've planted four potatoes. I don't have much hope that they will grow but it's worth a shot.


 

Tue 22 Dec 2020

I buy some steel to make the frame for the solar panels that will be west facing. The guys at the steel shop know me pretty well by now and they like to chat so I seldom get out of there in under a half hour or more. Today they tell me of some price rises coming down the track. Good thing I don't have much more to do now.


 

Then I decide to use one of the new lengths to rest the new panels on as I fix them to the rails. This gives me a straight edge so the panels look nice and straight, and also stops them from sliding off the roof while I'm fixing them in place.


 
 

Because the previous panels were mounted horizontally the rails are really too close for the new orientation, and the panels cantilever by about half of their length. I hope that will be OK.

Wed 23 Dec 2020

Simon (my neighbour) has 12 buckets of fine blue metal he wants to get rid of. At first I can't think of a use for the material but then I think if the floor in the forge area.


 
 

It looks good and is great to walk on with bare feet. As to how practical it is, time will tell I suppose.

 

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