The big job was to build steps into the cabin. It sits two fee off the ground. This gives me some wiggle room when I need to get underneath it for future plumbing. Tammy's the carpenter, so I let her take on the step project while I did what I call "prison farm work."
We needed an outhouse, a way to shower, a washing station, a campfire builder and cook. Those were my jobs. Before leaving Austin, I built a box frame out of 2x4s and attached a toilet seat to it. I inserted a Home Depot bucket under the seat and called it "the bathroom." Even though it was really a joke on Tammy (who has been very adamant that she is not squatting in the woods), it is actually kind of the perfect portable composting toilet. My aunt gave us a little pop-up outhouse about a year ago. It's really a deer blind tent, but it easily camouflages in the woods while housing my rural potty.
As I looked around the property for some kind of compost that might have a "nice smell." I saw a pile of debris from some brush and cedar clearing. I scooped it up into the original Lugable Loo, and used that as my poo coverage. It actually smells like cedar, and thus, a smell free, composting toilet.
The key to smell-free is to only do the dirty work in your toilet. Urine needs go elsewhere to keep the pot from getting wet and stinky. Dirty work covered in composting dirt and cedar chips is less offensive. This is intimate and scatological talk, but it's serious and real business. Folks. I have created a crude, stink-free potty.
Eventually, I took down the deer blind because Tammy felt cramped and to my surprised, preferred to have her pot in the natural surroundings of the woods, tucked out of sight behind the cabin.
Let's move on to showers.
Earlier in the week, I naively bought a two and a half gallon sprayer at Carmine Farm and Ranch, and I filled it with water. It was my makeshift fire extinguisher. It was a dumb idea for fires, but a great idea for a rural shower, hand washing and dish washing station. Two and a half gallons showered us 4 times, plus hands and dishes for 2 days. We even washed our hair.
Eventually, I took down the deer blind because Tammy felt cramped and to my surprised, preferred to have her pot in the natural surroundings of the woods, tucked out of sight behind the cabin.
Let's move on to showers.
Earlier in the week, I naively bought a two and a half gallon sprayer at Carmine Farm and Ranch, and I filled it with water. It was my makeshift fire extinguisher. It was a dumb idea for fires, but a great idea for a rural shower, hand washing and dish washing station. Two and a half gallons showered us 4 times, plus hands and dishes for 2 days. We even washed our hair.
Besides a shower and a toilet for refined comfort, we only needed a pot for water, coffee and a french press. We effectively moved all we ever needed from civilization to the country. We heated water and cooked in our outdoor kitchen. We could actually relax while we worked.
Tammy worked on her stairs.
I made sure I looked thoroughly embarrassing taking care of pots, showers and fires.
Although we've moved in a futon bed and my old kitchen table and a chair, the interior of the cabin still needs walls. However, for now, it's our country home, and we love it.
Although we've moved in a futon bed and my old kitchen table and a chair, the interior of the cabin still needs walls. However, for now, it's our country home, and we love it.
Hopefully, it won't be long before I can write about interior work, but first, we need to build a fence around the building so that our dogs have more than an 8x8 pen. I'll fill you in on that progress after the weekend.
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