Happy Sunday!

Sorry to say, but you will probably have to wait a day or two more for an actual post. We got our solar in!!!!! It's in the process of being installed, buttoned up and working...and my computer is running off the power from a couple of days ago and with this crap battery, I probably won't have long tonight before it goes out. I wanted ya'll to know, though, that our power/energy problem is fixed. I think you will be excited right alongside us for our new solar and batteries...it's pretty exciting stuff man! I am also changing some things with my blog, but don't worry everything should be just fine...we won't lose each other, I promise! Also, we went grocery shopping and I have a whole other "lifestyle" I'm starting. It should be interesting for me, er us...okay mostly him, but he's always been one to stand by my side, so.....

Alright until (hopefully) tomorrow, when I have more juice and I can sit down and think about the last time I wrote, we shall meet again.

Until, then Have a Hippy kinda Sunday Funday ya'll!!

PEACE

Pure Energy (sing it)

Hooray, Hooray, our solar is in, Hooray! Not much to run down but this is what's going on inside (& outside) of Joon Van for Solar now. Remember we had those 3 GoalZero batteries that we thought we're the shiznit?? Well, we still have the batteries but they are no longer hooked up to our system. For those of you that don't read this daily, here's a little reminder: We had 3 GoalZero batteries that were 30 AH (Amp Hours) each = 90 AH all together. We had one GoalZero solar panel = 27 watts. If you remember we "returned" all of our GoalZero stuff, really just the solar panel and a cable (that daisy chained two batteries together). They returned most of our money to us but we could not send back the batteries, due to a $500,000 fine to the company. We still have all working batteries and 2 cables, we returned the solar panel. Now that we're all caught up to speed...our new system is much stronger, it's crazy. We purchased 2 new batteries they are LifeLine batteries.

[caption id="attachment_279" align="aligncenter" width="225"] They both fit perfectly behind the driver's seat[/caption]

Each battery= 220ah 6v, making that 220ah 12v when wired in series or 110ah of usable energy!! And we have 2 massive solar panels that sit on-top of Joon Van that are 140 watt panels= 280 watts for both.

[caption id="attachment_280" align="aligncenter" width="225"] One panel (showing)[/caption]

I know ya'll can do the math, I'm just making it easier for you, that's all. Also installed was a breaker box in case there is a short in the system and a Solar controller, this controls the power of the solar panels to the batteries (charges the batteries without ruining them). Then when everything was hooked up J' wired Joon Vans' stereo to run on the solar as well. So now we can turn on the (van) stereo anytime we want, we can run it 100% of the time without turning the key...as well as the TV and the laptops.

[caption id="attachment_281" align="aligncenter" width="225"] The breaker & controller (top left-ish)[/caption]

I think you might have guessed it by now, but yes we now have unlimited power and we're hella stoked about it. It's so sunny out here, where we are, that we get sun (and lots of it) from pretty much sun up to sun down...the trees do shade it a bit, but it's pretty good for the forest! I put another thank you out to Bob for helping us, installing with J' and giving your two sense and keeping my sanity! The rest of the day was pretty much enjoying our new system. J' also tightened a lot of stuff up so there's barely any cords now...hallelujah! I don't hate much, but I hated those damn cords, ugh! We were both on our own for dinner...I couldn't tell you what he had, but I had an avocado, one of my juicy maters with saltine crackers.

I thought it was quite delish actually, but I love me some fruits and veggies (wait is avocado a fruit or a veggie, it has the seed/nut inside....?) I hope you had a groovy day and you're getting energy somehow, someway whether it be from the sun, Mother Earth or music. I hope to see you tomorrow, different time, same place...maybe...

PEACE

Superhero's are installing our Solar!

Today was quite the lovely day...well probably not for J' & Bob....no, not Silent Bob. I can honestly say that I gave Miss Cherry the most girly day she's probably ever had in the middle of the forest! While Bob & J' were playing Installer(s), I showed Miss Cherry what a Tai Shan Spa Day felt like. I wasn't sure at first, if she would even want a mini spa day (believe me, from being in the business some women are strange about  being touched). I asked her if she would mind me pampering her and she said, "Oh honey, you don't have to ask me!" So Miss Cherry was about to get some pamperin' out here in deez woods! *I have to stop because everytime I say the word woods, it reminds me of my favorite comedian, Brian Regan, that did a bit on singular and plural words while being in grammar school and the teacher would always call on him and he could never seem to get it right. Anyway, she was asking him all of these questions like, Brian, what is the plural of Goose, what is the plural of Ox, what is the plural of box etc... at the end of that little bit, he's yelling out all of the stuff he just supposedly learned, although he's completely confused and he's asked something else I can't remember, and he says Moosen lay on the boxen in the woodsen or something like that. So everytime I write that, I am saying woodsen to myself, so don't be surprised if one day I accidentally type it! haha Don't you just love it when I get off topic! This is your brain...this is your brain inside my head! Bwahahaha If you Youtube it or probably even just put it in Google it is Brian Regan ~ Stupid in School, it's hilarious. Okay that's enough *
Yes, yes, Miss Cherry in the woodsen about to get pampered! I don't really know what she expected but I don't think she expected the works! I don't mess around, especially when it comes to someone I adore. Her treatment started off with a soothing soak in nice soapy water with some Rose Quartz and Clear Quartz to release the negative energies (I don't think she has any, but it's nice all the same).

[caption id="attachment_250" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Soaking her worries away[/caption]

After her soothing soak, I applied cuticle gel and pushed back all of her cuticles (every hand needs this from time to time no matter man or woman), I applied Lavendar oil to the nail, then filed and buffed the top as well as the tip of the nail.

[caption id="attachment_251" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Workin' hard for Miss Cherry (sing it)[/caption]

After making sure all of the oil and dust were off of her fingers it was time to break for lunch, perfect time...no one wants to try to eat with their hands when their nails are wet! J' & I were going to cook some chicken and veggies but they just wanted something simple, so PB & J it was. I had a piece of bread with Crabapple Jelly (I bought from the farm next door before we left Georgia) and a banana. We sat for just a bit and chit-chatted while we ate, the men still had a lot of work to do on the Solar...and we did too!

[caption id="attachment_269" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Lunch time[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_270" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Our Rocket Scientists[/caption]

After our totally scrumptious lunch everyone went back to work. It was time for me to paint...the real fun part! I asked Cherry to pick a color at the beginning and she couldn't decide on two beautiful colors, a purple and a pink, so I said why choose just one when you can do both!? She (almost) squealed with excitement and said, Yes, yes, let's definitely do both! She was totally stoked and I was stoked that she was stoked...we were stoked! I did every other nail purple and then the other ones pink and yes a clear coat was put on bottom and top. They turned out so incredible, she just loves them. She was very excited to tell her granddaughter...Grandma's can be cool too!

[caption id="attachment_252" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Purty girl with purty hands[/caption]

I was so happy to give her a nice relaxing day, even in the woods(en) it's nice to get pampered. All the while, J' & Bob are piecing our Solar together like a couple of pros. One of them is inside, while the other one is outside drilling holes into the roof of the van. That may be one reason, I wasn't watching all of this go down...holes in the roof of Joon Van!!! BUT I trust the boys in that they know what they are doing...at least it looks like it!

[caption id="attachment_273" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Professor Power & Dr. Dynamo hard at work[/caption]

They really are doing a spectacular job and I'm just so glad that Bob is here to help, I'm sure it saved many an argument between the hubby and I (because I have no clue what the little pieces are even for, yet what they do or what they are. Bob has done this a couple of times before so again it was super helpful to have him here. THANKS BOB!

[caption id="attachment_272" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Professor of Power[/caption]

Well, the day is coming to an end. The Solar is still not entirely done but there's probably not much left, hopefully for both of the boys...it's hot working next to those Solar panels! Before it gets too late we are gonna rock out some Hamburguesa's con Queso (Cheeseburgers for you Scholars out there). These burgers, Bubba Burgers, are super fattening but we have not had them in many many months, so we splurged and now we are going to eat some juicy burgers from the grill...did I mention we're excited!?

Sweet dreams everyone, see you tomorrow my friends!
PEACE

This day will definitely pay off

Phew, let me sit down a second to catch my breath from all of the running around we did today! We woke up at a half-way decent time to get out of here, probably 8:15 or so. I was actually still in bed but was woken up by J' starting the van. I said, "We're not like leaving, leaving right now, are we?" He says," Yeah, we're gone." I love how he is so cute to let me sleep in but not when my clothes and my shoes are sitting outside...and he's like come on, let's go! I have to laugh about it now, but at that time I wasn't finding it very humorous. I understand he just wanted to get on the road and down there, we had a lot to do. I got dressed, got my shoes, "did my hair", and hopped in Joon Van. We headed straight to the Postal place, well with a slight detour to Burger King for breakfast...they made us Whoppers at 9:50 in the morning! We figured it wasn't what we planned on but it's better to fill the belly with something rather than nothing, especially when we have to go deal with a lot of stuff (that could potentially be damaged or broken). We get to the Postal place, open the van and J' starts bringing one (big) box at a time. It was a good thing that we left all of our stuff at Tai Shan, these boxes were super big and heavy, there would have been no room for them. After we loaded them in the van, we opened them to make sure there was no damage...better to open them here than get all the way home and then have to make the trek all the way back. Everything looked in good condition, so off to the grocery store we go. Since I sincerely loathe the Wal-mart in Clovis, I wanted to go to a different Wal-mart. J' suggested we just go to a regular grocery store instead of Wal-mart. We found a Save Mart (reminded me of a Winn Dixie). They had some pretty good veggies, so we got just a few potatoes, onions and apples (we were planning on stopping by the fruit stand on the way back). We got some things that they are always out of at that Clovis Wal-mart and a few other things and then had to wrap it up... the prices are definitely not Wal-mart prices.

[caption id="attachment_214" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I think we lost Nana![/caption]

We tried to find another Wal-mart that's a little better than Clovis and it kept putting us at Sam's Club. Our food was starting to get a little warm so cringingly we had to go to the Clovis Wal-mart because there was still a lot of stuff we needed that the other store didn't have and I needed to pick-up a Rx up there. I cannot emphasize enough how much this Wal-mart makes me never want to be around people ever again! They are so unorganized, the people (customers & staff) are so very rude, there's no room to walk, yet alone push your cart anywhere in the entire store, they are always out of everything and are of no help when you ask them for anything, half the time they make up crap just to get you to walk away. It's horrible. We are going to have to find a solution to this because I don't think I can walk in there one more time. I thought it was just me because I am very sensitive to things like that, especially big crowds, but even J' said something to me the last time we were down there about it. Anyway, sorry I think I rant every single time we go there...it's sad to think that's what the human race looks and acts like...sad, very sad. Moving on~ We were almost done and J' just had to run into Home Depot real quick to get the rest of the parts and tools for the Solar install....I stayed in the car with the bug. Forty-five minutes (and counting) later, out emerges J' with his handy little bag of implements! Hooray!! We had one more stop...the fruit stand of course. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. There is a little fruit stand that sits on the corner of these two streets that we come down to drive into town (sorry don't know the names of the streets). I LOVE fresh fruit so we stopped on our way back 'home'. It's just the cutest little stand, probably a small bathroom in a regular sized house. At the very front there is nothing but tomatoes, this probably changes with season.

[caption id="attachment_215" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Maters Maters Maters[/caption]

As you walk into the little "hut" area, there are tons of fresh fruits and veggies. Let's see if I can remember a bit of what they had; Tomatoes, Summer Squash, Zucchini, Italian Peppers, Bell Peppers, Onions, Potatoes, Blackberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, Figs, Plums, Peaches, White Peaches, Apricots, Grapes, Cherries and they had more than that but that's all I can remember.

[caption id="attachment_217" align="aligncenter" width="225"] So delectably delicious[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_216" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Ummm... I'll just take everything. Thanks.[/caption]

And guess who got 'yelled' at??? haha Yep, I'm not even kidding. I told you I get 'yelled' at everywhere I go! Unknowingly, I put my fruit in plastic bags ... crime of the Century I know, well I was told I am supposed to have Fruit in papa' bag and Vege-tables in pwastic bag. Apparently they have signs up that say all of this. I guess I was overwhelmed from all the excitement! I wish J' was there to see me gettin' told by this cute little Asian woman, but I asked him to go get my camera out of the van...rats! In the end, I walked with 4 amazing Tomatoes and 4 Peaches & 1 White Peach equaling out to a whole $3.74!!! Ganga for fresh Fruit...you know this girl (ME) is jumping for Jehoshaphat's!!!

[caption id="attachment_218" align="aligncenter" width="225"] I got some goodies![/caption]

When we got back up to Shaver Lake, we stopped and filled up on water. Don't know if some of ya'll even know this (because we didn't), but in the state of California gas stations HAVE to supply free air and water (they say for automotive purposes, but how do they know what you're using it for!?) We filled up both of our gallon jugs, water bottles, and then our 5 gallon jug, we call it the water cooler.

All stocked up, off we go again, to home, to get this stuff on some ice before all that money goes down the drain. I'm sure J' wants to sit and look at all the new "toys" for the install tomorrow.

[caption id="attachment_223" align="aligncenter" width="300"] We got new solar and lots of other things...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_224" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Our Brand New batteries[/caption]

All of this craziness and racing around (and we were rushing) still took us about 7 hours. No trip to town is ever a 'hurry and come back' ordeal, just glad all of our food is safe, bagged and cooling again. We're going to (try) to eat like Kings tonight baby!!

[caption id="attachment_222" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Only a lot burnt, but still edible[/caption]

PEACE