dang, approximately where in GJ? that’s where i’m located and i’d love to get some inspiration. i see some stuff like that in Fruita sometimes.

100%

oh dang, shutters! i forgot they’re not just decorative.

i might do something similar when we eventually replace everything in our house with electric stuff, but for now we have a gas-powered water heater. i am saving for a full solar installation on our roof, though, which would power everything. solar is the one energy-producer we have here in absolutely wild abundance.

that’s where i saw that video! appreciated.

i’d love to move, but i want to improve where i am while i’m here. we have some plans for trees and sunflowers or amaranth on that side, but i think it’s a “both/and” situation rather than an “either/or” for me.

yes, that actually is my very long term strategy, but the trees are not in place yet. my wife and i had a permaculture analyst suggest plants that produce edible foods for our area, so there are some plans for that and maybe also sunflowers or amaranth to do a natural block. but for today, i’m thinking awnings.

yeah, i’m thinking (tentatively) about trying to get some non-plastic, manually retractable cloth ones. then i can leave them fully extended for the hot-as-balls summer and dial them back for other seasons.

i wanted awning before that video, but that video made me start pricing out my options! ha.

To answer my own question, a couple things. Today my wife and I mounted two cat shelves to give our boys a way to get to a high and inaccessible place - my wife got a couple of carpet squares from her workplace and glued them onto two shelves, which we mounted today.

i also recently built a really basic compost bin. baby steps, right?