Beginning :: A Loo

Right.

I've very much skirted around this issue because I didn't want lower the tone of the blog...but poop and pee is a way of life, like it or not.

Every off grid book and blog I have ever read has made me wonder about where they do their business.  Without being rude, taking care of your crap is a big issue when you can't simply poop and flush and move on with your life.

Initially, we were using a patch of long grass down the side of a slope in one of the fields.  This was not ideal and was most certainly not a long term plan.  The morning that my daughter was startled from her ablutions by a large red deer was a turning point.  We had also had some rain, and I can tell you that peeing on wet grass whilst being soaked by heavy rain is not fun.  Not in any way shape or form.

I did not find the joy in that moment, and so I had a little tantrum and insisted that we HAD TO HAVE A LOO.

So, as we had already earmarked a place for a composting loo, we decided to get to it and start the build.  I had recently scavanged a load of pallets and we decided that these would be a good starting point.  We used some fence posts and some wood off cuts and some roofing left over from the shelter project and came up with a rustic, yet fit for purpose loo.

At this point can we discuss the appropriate angle for a funnel?  As we were composting, we decided to go for a seperator model, which basically means your pee and your poo are kept seperate.  The poo goes into a large compost bin (again built with pallets and lined with black plastic) and the pee was directed into a large container which would be emptied onto an exploded haybale that I'd gathered up in wheelbarrows and piled up in a heap across the field.  I can report back that there is no smell from either area.

Anyway...back to the funnel.

So, as I am a Lady...it was decided that I should have quite a lot of say in where the funnel to catch the pee was positioned.  Apparently males have a bit better aim - or at least, better equipment with which to aim, whereas girls squat and hope for the best...at least this is my own personal experience.  Getting that funnel at the correct angle was the most challenging thing we had done so far.

I am not kidding. 

And here after the toilet talk, is a picture of thousands of tiny flying bugs that danced in the sun today, looking exactly like fairies.

Little bitey fairies.