Air-Plant Filtration Sytem

I have designed and built two prototypes of an air-plant filtration system. The design is based off of the research from Dr. Wolverton, a NASA scientist. http://www.wolvertonenvironmental.com/bcw.htm

The activated charcoal filters a great deal of contaminants out of the air. The plant roots also absorb contaminants from the air as well as from the charcoal. The fan is connected to a solar panel so it uses no coal produced electricity. The watering system is gravity fed and is relatively easy to manage. Again no pumps needed. (Although the current watering system for prototype 1 does use electricity to run the well pump).

new year snow '08

Between 10 and 18" of snow has covered the terrain and flora in the last several days. The streets are passable in most areas, but walking around is a bit laborious. The first part of the snow, Dec. 31 - Jan. 1 stuck to everything creating a winter wonderland scene. The Jan. 2 snow seems a bit more fluffy. Today the temperature has dropped down to single digits. At noon it was 10 degrees.

1st snow of 2008

snow

We awoke to a good deal of snow. Much more came on 12-16-07.

mmc century

Men on a Mishawaka to Carmel Ride
Six of us left Van's home in Mishawaka and soon joined up with two others to pedal down to Carmel. Saturday we arrived at a campground in Peru with our odometers reading 87 miles, so we turned around to put on another 13. The weather was fantastic, the wind was at our backs, and the company was great. Sunday was almost a repeat except for occasional headwinds and a bit more heat. We pulled into Steve's yard with an additional 64 miles.

 

muddy mayhem

The pleasure of clay is irrestible. Uncle Phil worked on pumping out the last of the water from the new addition to the pond. Torrential rains came before the pond was filled and the essential water-holding clay was washed off of the sides of the basin. The kids found the slippery mess and made it a spa day.

Muddy Mayhem

sold!

moving to 219 Carter Road

We had figured that we would spend quite a few more years at 914 S. 8th St. That is why we began the kitchen remodeling project about one year ago. That kitchen project expanded to include plumbing & electrical updates as well as improvements in the upstairs bathroom.

Early in May, our friend and realtor, Jeff, showed us a house that got under our skin. The new house is larger that our current home, however the remodeling project we completed in January was more of a heart and soul project rather than a simple update. We invested more time and money into the project than we would have otherwise because we anticipated living at 914 for a long time.

Saturday morning we were pleased to accept an offer on our house from a couple that is moving to Goshen. They are planning on raising a family one of these days and we are so glad they seemed to really love the kitchen. 914 is a great place to start a family. It worked for us for 12 years and could have served us well for quite a bit longer.

Tomorrow we close on our new home, 219 Carter Road. We will clean and move some items over during the week and have the “big” move July 21. It is difficult to visualize how all of our stuff will actually get moved, but we also aren’t forced to get out of our current home. We hope to close on 914 during the first week of August.