i have had quite the abundance of free time now that the bus conversion isn’t taking all of it up. last saturday i went to the market and came home with 120$ worth of vegetables. oh boy. it is only in the last few weeks that i have missed having a garden this year, it is nice to have a break. but then when you go to buy all the things you could’ve grown, you really feel it. saturday was canning day after spending the glorious sunny afternoon at an 8-year-old friends birthday party. i thought i would be in BC by now, but since i am not, i had to at least do tomatoes: they are my staple for winter soups and stews. i also got a bunch of large heirloom garlic. maybe i will be able to get out west and find land (oh the dream!) before the fall planting season is over. the days have been lovely and fall like, with a warm sun and an average of 20 degrees celsius, i’ve been loving it. i also got a shift this week that i could bike to (as in it starts at 930am, so i don’t have to get up at an ungodly hour to get there on time), so it’s nice to be in the saddle and enjoying the weather even more.

i heard from my mechanic today and my bus has passed the safety inspection! oh i am SOOOOO excited about that as i was a bit worried. it did need a little bit of work, but nothing major. thank you thank you thank you! i am going to go pick it up tomorrow and will give more of an update later.

i got some shopping and other things done while waiting for the bus. i got my house batteries! sweet! so i now have all the basics for a power system. i think the last thing i need is just some heavier gauge electrical wire. i have a 120w solar panel from last time i lived off-grid. bought the inverter at canadian tire a couple of weeks ago. got a charge controller online for 30$, which seems like it will be a good enough one for now. and then on monday i got the batteries. i have two 6v golf cart batteries, 1 year old and reconditioned. i also got the super heavy gauge wire to connect them to each other and the inverter. i am set! that feels really good.

i also tried out everything i want to fit in the roof rack, and that seems like it will work out fine. made a patch for the hole in the woodstove. printed out the school bus maintenance manual. on that note, if anyone out there has a workshop manual for a 3126b caterpillar engine and freightliner FS65 school bus, and don’t mind sharing, i would LOVE those.