We’ve been living on the property for over a month, which sounds crazy. Priority #1 has been a return to some sort of normalcy in the space.
Living
in a camper is totally fine with us, but a full size refrigerator and a washer and dryer sure do make life easier. Especially the washer and dryer. For the past 250+ days, Jamie has been loading up all of our laundry and taking it to her aunt’s house every Monday and Friday for laundry days (THANK YOU SO MUCH, JOHNNY AND KAREN!). While we are incredibly grateful for the use of a washer and dryer for so long, we are ecstatic to have our own washer and dryer hooked up again. Laundry days went from
6-8 hours away from home twice a week to one much larger load every other day. Bonus; we use the dryer exhaust to help heat the space.
I bought a kit to vent the dryer outside but decided not to install it yet. We’ll use the heat this winter and I’m not 100% sure the dryer will stay where it is. It might go in the kitchen/dining area
after we build the loft. The dryer heat is nice, but, of course, it increases the humidity inside the shop. Mississippi is already really humid, and with the dryer running, we were seeing inside humidity levels in the mid-70% range. In my last shop, I had a dehumidifier just for the winter. I hooked it up and placed it on top of the washing machine so it can dry into the utility sink.
Adding a utility sink next to the washing machine is something everyone would find handy. The sink came with a faucet and drain for $150 new at the blue lumber store. I say over and over and over that if it’s not convenient, you’re not going to use/do it, whatever it is. This utility sink makes it incredibly convenient to fill up our commercial mop bucket, so we find ourselves mopping up dirt and mud regularly. It’s convenient to pre-rinse/wash
muddy clothes and clean muddy boots. Tyler Kay likes to play kitchen with her dolls, where she makes mud pies and herbal soups. Of course, the dolls just don’t have good enough hand-eye coordination to not get muddy while eating. Cleaning them in the sink is now an exciting task that she enjoys instead of a problem she has to solve.
Because I knew we would use the utility sink for muddy stuff, I repurposed the 2″ conduit I put through the slab for future electrical expansion for a gray water drain. I don’t want dirt to fill up the bottom of our septic system. I connected the gray water drain to the last 40′ of our septic “clean water” discharge. We aimed the discharge pipe to the area where we plan on having a row of wildflowers and pollinators. So, essentially, every time we use this gray water utility
sink we will be watering our plants. If water is still flowing on top of the ground 10-15′ away from the discharge pipe, we may make a small “pond” for frogs, birds, and any other wildlife. I have to research that more to see what beneficial plants I could use to help purify the water.
We have our fill size fridge working again. That
one speaks for itself. Finally a decent amount of freezer space to buy in bulk. If we purchase a half steer again we will likely get another chest freezer.
