Laundry greywater for irrigation.

Inside of barrel showing drain to hose.

Hose fitting on bottom of trash barrel.

Barrel is on blocks for gravity flow.

Discharge hose from washing machine comes through wall, and into barrel.

I have been using this system for years. After I start a load of laundry, I move the greywater hose to the next fruit tree. Because the laundry water has no food bits, and low bacteria levels, it can be used on the surface for watering trees, shrubs, or even vegetables. Because the water drains immediately, it is not sitting and breeding bacteria or insects.

Southwest Patio

Recently added sleeping patio on south west side of house.

Used wood for rafters and beams recycled by Mariposa Habitat for Humanity. By reusing this high quality dry wood, I saved money, trees and supported the first Habitat house in Mariposa County.

The polycarbonate roof had good optical clarity, with some shading, "smoke" color.

It is more comfortable sleeping outside in our hot climate. Now we have good rain protection for summer thunder storms and a sun or rain winter patio.

Woot, Kitchen Tiled, and Grouted

Hurray! Moving back into Shiny, New, Marblous Kitchen. More Counter Space! Marble Tile! Wonderful New Sink!

Kitchen Remodel Continues

Worked on the tile over the weekend, and working on it again today (Monday). Hope to begin grouting tomorrow. Jim is gone to Merced to buy a few more trim pieces that we need. Got the eating bar trim corners beveled and installed. The 45 degree angles are easy, the saw adjusts to that and cuts great. Anything else is a hassle. First problem was figuring out what angles were needed. Then how to cut them, given the limited depth of the saw blade. Cut blocks of wood to support the tile on the needed angle, and it worked out.

Update, Wednesday, Aug 27, Got all horizontal areas Grouted yesterday! Tonight I can use the Sink! and Counters! and Stove! Huzzah! It looks really good. Of course the issue with fixing one thing is that the thing next to it, that was fine before, now looks horrid. Painting must happen soon, the floor. . . . we shall see.

Kitchen Remodel Day 5

Paul is Done! Plumbing for new sink hooked up, with only one trip (by me) to the hardware store, all other pieces worked. Continued on with tile, nothing grouted yet, but I'm getting more comfortable with the process, going quicker and with less wear and tear.

Kitchen Remodel Day 4

"Yesterday you couldn't spell, "tile layer," now you are one," says Paul Salonen. Is my spelling disability that famous? Oh well. Marble tile counter tops, I'm lovin' it. Paul really encouraged and tutored me, Many Thanks.

New sink installed, backer board in sink area done, progress is amazing.

Kitchen remodel Day 3

Cabinet remodel complete. New configuration trimmed out and Beautiful! Counter substrate installed. Next I'll start on tile in this area, while Paul installs new sink and counter substrate in rest of kitchen. Getting the sink and tile involved two trips to Merced yesterday. The marble stain resistance test involved the three marbles we were considering for the counter tops. The test was dumping wet used tea leaves on the three tiles, leaving them for 3 hours, and wiping off. One of the marbles showed a bad stain spot. The other two were minimally affected. The pink one has a crack that turned dark, but it really looks fine, the dark line is actually pretty. However, the multi-colored beige is the choice. The pink is very pretty, but just not the right color for the kitchen.