videos176: How We Live at Lone Bobcat Woods
Peek behind the scenes at Peak Moment TV’s home base. Janaia Donaldson shows guest host Ivey Cone the solar power system, woodstove for heat (and winter waffles), and super efficient refrigerator. Choosing to reduce their footprint, she and Robyn Mallgren, Peak Moment videographer, don’t feel deprived at all. Janaia discusses what led them to leave the Bay Area, what it’s like to live on 160 acres of forestland, which they’ve preserved “in perpetuity” as a wildlife sanctuary, and shows us some of the members of the natural community they live in. (www.peakmoment.tv). Listen to Audio.
July 11th, 2010 at 12:11 am
Janaia,
I really appreciate the tour of your own place. Thanks for the show!
- Johnny
July 11th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Beautiful and inspiring!
July 11th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
What a lovely life.
July 11th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Hi Janaia and Robyn,
She did a commendable job and shows promise.
How does it feel to be on the other side of the microphone? I think Ivey was easy on you and left out the hard questions.
Thank you for showing us how you and Robyn have tackled your problems with living a low impact, sustainable lifestyle. You have come up with some good answers that will help many.
It was very opportune as I am currently trying to figure out how to make curtains that trap heat. Your solution looks like the answer. Adding pelmets at the top would help too. Any chance of a little more detail on how you put them together?
I was a little concerned about the positioning of your PV panels. They were being shaded by the surrounding trees which will really knock off a lot of the availanle energy. You may not want to cut down any trees so a bit of judicious pruning or thinning could really help here.
Keep it up, another good one.
Ed.
July 11th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
That was great to see how you are living - to see the lifestyle behind the show. I think your show is great as well. What resource did you use to find all the wonderful appliances? How do you connect to the internet?
July 11th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Ed,
Well, go ahead and give us the hard questions!
The curtains are made using Warm Window fabric from the Warm Company in the U.S. (check their website). The fabric has about seven layers — polyester batting for insulation, silvered mylar to reflect heat. They are Roman shades, folded vertically for sliding doors or folded horizontally for windows. They’re labor-intensive: you add your own interior decorator fabric, some magnetic strips (which we haven’t really used), and have to add rings through all layers. You can do a simpler version with only the polyester batting.
The panels are being shaded by the trees across our meadow, not the ones you see behind them in the video. We have topped several trees, and also taken down three pine trees in the last few years that had grown tall enough to really reduce the hours of sunlight. Soon we’ll need to do some branch cutting on a large oak. That’s what happens in 20 years — the forest keeps growing!
Hi Valerie,
Real Goods in Hopland, California has an excellent catalog of energy-efficient appliances — for the SunFrost refrigerator. What other appliances??
We connect to the internet now through Verizon digital service. We’re extremely fortunate geographically to have a tower somewhere across the river canyon that we can connect to with an antenna on our roof. Before that, it was ISDN (land line service). Prospects of DSL are basically non-existent because we’re more than a mile beyond where the phone company would want to extend lines, unless mandated by government.
July 11th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Hi Janaia,
Hard questions? Just a bit of facetious humour. There’s nothing in your lifestyle that could raise hard questions. You’re great example of what the rest of the western world should be moving toward.
Thank you for the info about the Warm Company. Fantastic stuff. I’ll have to break my transport miles policy and order some. Now, where is that tape measure…?
July 12th, 2010 at 12:59 am
Hi Janaia!
Wow! So fun to see you being interviewed! Great job! I am so proud of you and Robyn. I appreciated the editing to include footage of Bear, and the Owls and other birds.
I think a second interview is needed, though. Part II should have you share about the solar oven, the cooling cupboard, the hole in the granite for the compost can, composting, water storage for fire fighting, the differences in drinking water from your 2 wells, what you do instead of watching TV, etc.
Thanks for sharing!
Love, Terry
July 12th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Here here,
I’m with Terry regarding Part II. Being remote, how do you get your telephone and Internet connections? And, (hard question) what about your septic wast disposal system?
There are so many things that suburban dwellers take for granted, having to be your own utility/service provider, you have to learn about and develop your own methods. It’d be great to have these extra parts covered.
Thanks for doing what you do.
Ed.
July 12th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
Janaia and Robyn,
Thanks for inviting us into your home. My questions: What all was involved with the prefab home? Was it assembled on location by the the prefab company? Did you pour a foundation? Which company makes it? I guess 1990 prices are not that comparable, but how much did just the prefab home cost? Do you have to shovel snow in the winter to get out of the woods?
July 13th, 2010 at 12:10 am
I’m so glad I found Peak TV. Small is BEAUTIFUL!! Here in France, we only got a dryer after 20 years without: my asthma got worse and needed not to have a musty smell to the clothes (we’re not in a dry climate here and a fan only does so much in my house in winter).
I wouldn’t mind carving a life in nature like that, except who can you trust with prehab materials now? Think: Fema trailers. My sister recently renovated part of her house and she’s now having severe health symptoms.
Great you’re living your dream!
July 13th, 2010 at 5:43 am
Hi Janaia,
So enjoyable to see what you have done with your place, and how you have set it up!! Very creative and innovative. Congratulations on a wonderful job! It looks like the perfect setting.
July 13th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Hi Janaia, your sister gave me this web address to check out. I just want to say how inspriring your story is and it’s great to hear how possible it is to live in the wilderness. Thank you for sharing your story. Enjoy your life.
July 14th, 2010 at 11:38 am
I just want to say thanks for making this series…it is really helpful in regards to giving me ideas and inspiration for homesteading and living a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle. It’s very inspiring, thank you guys!
July 14th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Hello Janaia,
thanks for sharing! your story is very inspiring. was it easy getting started with teh your money or your life program? Or was it more of a stop and go process?
August 16th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Thanks Janaia for showing others your place and explaining the choices you chose to make, a fine example of how we all can live more thoughtfully and enjoy life more. You have a lovely place and a wonderful story.
I’ve been enjoying Peak Moments for 2-3 years now. It’s a never ending source of inspiration for us. Thank you so much for the work you’ve put into this and making possible for others to learn ways they can make a difference too.
August 30th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
[…] world, ourselves, and others.(www.unsuitablog.com, http://www.theearthblog.org).Sept. 26 & 27: 176: How We Live at Lone Bobcat WoodsPeek behind the scenes at Peak Moment TV’s home base. Janaia Donaldson shows guest host Ivey Cone […]