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Herb & Barbara—Our Interests and Family |
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This site is a forum for Herb and Barbara to share with our family, and other interested parties, some of our interests and projects. We have a variety of topics to discuss and the occasional opinion to promote.
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Dallas, Texas |
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To contact us: |
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E-mail:herbandbarbara@gmail.com |
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Grand Daughters |
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Going Green -
We re-cycle all that we can. In Dallas we have a pick up for recycled materials every two weeks and our bin is always full.
Our garden is a small endeavor that is modeled after the Victory Gardens of World War II. Our objective is to reduce our food costs and improve the quality of the food we consume. Our goal is to consume only organic vegetable products and to cut our meat consumption in half.
Food Storage:
In the planning stages are pages on food storage and our experiences. As we have a very prolific herb garden the plan is to dry some of it and use it for seasonings in soups and stews during the winter.
We use only glass storage containers and will explain why.
What I have learned from going green
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Generating power -
The solar power project was started to demonstrate how to build an inexpensive renewable energy system that could lower our monthly utility costs. The project, once completed, will be linked to the internet and have real-time graphs of the consumption and production for the system.
The objective was to build a fully operational Renewable Energy system, using both solar and wind technologies, that will power one room in our home for under $1,000.00. As I have been fortunate enough to collect many of the pieces and parts I used in the system through my Ham Radio hobby, I have almost been able to achieve that goal. As this is published, I have not completed the system but have all the required pieces to finish it. (what have I learned)
An additional comment regarding the layout of the site is necessary. I have recorded my thoughts as I built the system. This includes my mistakes and where I changed directions because I learned something or found out an original idea was incorrect. I look at this as leaving a trail behind me in the form of an engineering notebook that records both the missteps and the progress in developing a system. My hope is that this will provide some useful information to others who want to use what I have learned.
FIRST UPDATE ON USING SOLAR POWER AND CONSERVING
While the monitoring system is not finished, the bills from our electricity supplier have been analyzed and show a 19% reduction in usage for the month of June and a 30% reduction for the month of July. (July was hotter then June) The bill for August was 21% lower then the previous year and this year the temperature average was ten degrees hotter.
We use the solar system to power the den and turn our central air up to 87 in in the evening. The bedroom is cooled by a small window unit described on another page. In addition we have reduce the usage of our electric dryer by 65% and now hang our laundry on a line in the back yard for drying.
A solar heater, solar oven and solar dehydrator are follow-on projects to help our grand daughter with the science aspects of her home schooling curriculum. I will includes plans of each project so that they can be duplicated by anyone with an interest. |
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David and Adelia |
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Barbara & Adelia |
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Our Family Our family is spread over several states and like most modern families is a blend of two life's. Barbara’s family includes her sister and her family. Herb’s consists of his children, Rusty and Kristie and their respective families… and lest I forget, pets from all sides. |
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August 2008 |
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Son Rusty & Daughter Kristie |
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Zadia—plowing the fields
Not really as this was taken at a historical museum |
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Our dogs are really our immediate family. Shadow, far left, is the Old Man and at 16 is the patriarch of the family. Bear in the middle and Crockett on the right are the young ones. They both enjoy trips to the dog park where they can play with other dogs. |
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Aza, Barbara’s first dog has passed away |
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Sharon, Aaron & Rusty |
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Zadia & Adelia Ready for Halloween |
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David & Kristie |