Confession

I have to confess...I'm bonkers.

To many of you, this will not be a new detail about my life.  What I'm hoping is that talking about it will make it easier to live my day to day life without a breakdown.

I am completely focused on, freaked out about, and obsessed with the water situation here.  Understandably, it's been a huge thing to tackle on many levels.  The financial cost is pretty ginormous, but that doesn't bother me as much as the conserving water or budgeting time to haul said water on a weekly basis.

The well drilling rig came out Monday afternoon, and after the guys spent about 30 minutes setting things up, they disappeared...haven't seen or heard from them since.  In the meantime, it snowed an inch or two, and the temperatures dropped into the single digits.  This means that the snow is staying, and where we've driven up and down the driveway on it repeatedly, it's gotten pretty slick.  Consequently, it is a bit dangerous to drive the non-4WD truck up and down it multiple times to haul water. 

I'm getting really tired of conserving as well.  I'm grossed out by unflushed toilets, and I freeze in the shower where I spend only 3 minutes under hot water, and the rest of the time soaping, shampooing or conditioning & shivering.  It worries me to use extra hot water to thaw the frozen water-ers from the below freezing chicken house.  I finally broke down today and did a load of laundry because I put on my last pair of clean underwear this morning.

It is taking it's toll physically.  I am not sleeping well - I wake multiple times a night and think about what I need to do that uses water, whether I'll be able to do it, and if I might be able to haul a load or two in the upcoming days.  I have a chronic headache, and I'm starting to get a chronic stomachache.

It sucks.

This is how I used to feel every time I saw a forecast for a winter storm for a few winters after the one that left us in the dark and the cold for over a week.  (Oh yeah, there's one coming tonight, so the driveway will not be getting less icy any time soon.)  That anxiety is better now, especially since I have this new obsession to focus on.

I'm not sure how to deal with this.  I'm trying to make use of the nervous energy by tackling all of the end of the year projects I have.  I've tried to distract myself by listening to podcasts or reading, but I can't concentrate.  If I could just SEE someone out here, starting work on the well, it would do a world of good...for a while.  In the meantime, send all of your warm weather this way.  That and some Valium might just do the trick!

Deep Thoughts

"If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down?  We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason."  - Jack Handey

 

The title of my last post reminded me of the "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey" segment that  used to run on SNL back in the day.  I had to go look up some "Deep Thoughts" and have a good chuckle!

The well driller came out last weekend and has selected a spot to drill for a new well.  Unfortunately, he will not be able to start for another week or two.  In the meantime, I've called the "PA One Call" number, and expect people out to mark the buried electric lines next week.

Three of the four vehicles are now in working order.  I take the van in to the Toyota place this week.  I am pleased to say that I was able to tear out the old glove box and surround, and then install the new one in the Subaru by myself!

Ole Bessie returned from the Ford Service department last Friday, and my dad was able to use her to haul water on Saturday.

We have really been trying to conserve water, and it seems to be working...a full cistern is lasting the 6 of  us almost a week.  In the meantime, we have become proficient at the 3-4 minute shower where the water is turned off while shampooing and soaping.  It's a bit chilly doing that some of these mornings, but luckily the weather has not turned super frigid yet.   We are sticking to the old adage "If it's yellow, let it mellow.  If it's brown, flush it down."  Please don't be offended if you stop by to use our bathroom!  In addition, I have been waiting until I have a really GIANT load of laundry to run the washer, and I try to repurpose dog, cat, rabbit or chicken water for the plants.

Chaz went out for a stroll in the clover this weekend

It is amazing how much we take unlimited running water in our homes for granted.  I know that I will do a little happy dance during each shower once I am able to leave the water running the entire time!

L's final soccer game was on Sunday afternoon.  It will be lovely to be able to observe "Girls' Night" again tomorrow evening.  (JP works late on Tuesdays, so the girls and I usually do something fun, like playing Wii, watching a movie, or going swimming in at the HS pool.)

The weather has been so lovely lately, that she, the dog & I had a great time playing in the leaves yesterday afternoon.  I've also been able to spend more time in the garden in the past 2 weeks than I have in the past 2 months!

The girls have a 4 day weekend coming up, and we are looking forward to it!

 

It's all sunshine and roses up here on the hill (watered only with rainwater & tears.)

Boo!

It is definitely Fall in our neck of the woods.  Last week, our route into town looked like this:

 

Last weekend, we got 3 more inches of rain, which emptied many of the trees of their leaves, and leaving it not quite so pretty.  The evenings have been cool, however, and we've had some overnight frost in the low lying areas a couple of times.

Consequently, I have been working hard in the garden, trying to get everything harvested and weeded before winter sets in.  It is coming along fairly well.  All of the tomatoes are pulled, so I am FINALLY done with the weekly canning/cooking of tomatoes!  Same with the peppers, although I still have a bag full in the fridge, waiting to be chopped and frozen - I already have about 3 gallons frozen...should never have to buy another pepper for cooking!  Half of the cornstalks are pulled as well.  I dug the carrots, and they were fairly nice this year...there are still a few beets to dig.  Most of the basil has been harvested, and I plan to make Thai Basil Chicken for dinner tonight.

 

Unfortunately, October is the month when 2 of the vehicles need to go for inspection, so I have spent a lot of time at the Auto Repair Shop over the past 2 weeks.  JP's old truck, which mostly just sits around these days, has had issues with the battery draining over the past year.  Last year we bought a new battery, but the thing died again.  This time it cut out on me in the driveway (luckily I was on the way home.)  I also had to take Ole Bessie in a few weeks ago, as it died while Dad was hauling water - had a cracked fuel line.

On Tuesday, I happened to check the cistern on the way back from the garden.  It was distressingly low, especially given that Dad had just hauled 6 loads (1200 gallons) 5 days earlier.  I cleaned up slightly, and jumped in Ole Bessie to go haul some more, and the ignition was locked - key wouldn't turn at all.  Unfortunately our Fix-It-Man (Dad) was out of town for a couple of days, so we had to break down and get a truck of water delivered...much more expensive. 

JP messed with it a bit that evening, and ended up with the key stuck in the ignition!  Dad was able to remove the key lock cylinder (with the key still stuck inside) yesterday, and it is my job today to take it back to the Ford dealership to try to get a new one ordered.  Yesterday I was at the Subaru dealership to order a new glovebox, which L destroyed back in the summer when she was having a temper tantrum in the car all the way to the next town.  I Gorilla glued it, and it limped through the past 4 months, but now it is done for.

So...sigh...there is still the question of whether our well is also done for, and the water hauling truck is still out of service.  I am getting a bit weary of all of these extra worries and expenses.

Luckily we had some fun stuff going on that lifted our spirits!  As relative "newbies" in town (we've been here over 13 years now), we are still trying to wrap our minds around the strange custom of holding Trick-or-Treat festivities on the Thursday BEFORE Halloween.  It makes no earthly sense!  In any case, that happened yesterday.

J was informed last year that she would be too old to go this year.  Instead, she and a friend took her friend's little sister around.  The 2 of them dressed as "Spice Girls."

J had this spice bottle pinned to her shirt.  She was
 "Cayenne", and her friend was "Curry."

 

L walked around with some friends in town.  She was Hermione this year, and one of our friends was Harry Potter.

 

She and I made our Jack-O-Lanterns last night.  Alas, J was too busy with Geometry homework, so perhaps she will do hers tonight.  We used the volunteer pumpkins from the chicken yard.  Mine had a hole in the top from insects of some sort.  JP suggested that I use it as a bullet hole, so mine ended up as a sad, deceased JOL.  L's has a deathly hallows symbol (more Harry Potter stuff) amid many flourishes.

I hope you all enjoy your Halloween festivities....when it actually rolls around!

Pat on the Back

I seem to have won the admiration of some random truck driver when I was at the local potable water station this afternoon.  He approached me when I was filling up my water buffalo for the second time.  "Would you teach my wife to haul water?" he asked.  "It sure would help me out."

"No problem!" I told him, and then we lapsed into small talk about dry wells and dry summers until my buffalo was full.

I'm pretty proud of myself, actually.  I finally mastered the art of driving Ole Bessie (1989 Ford F150 = big, old and stick shift), and then jumped right into hauling around 1600 lbs of water in the back!

The temperature seems to have dropped while I was out there, and now I am chilled to the bone and the bed of the truck is slick with ice.  I have a nice cup of tea brewing.  Ahhh.

No Showers Again!

The girls took a lengthy shower together tonight, while I picked strawberries in the dimming light.  Most of their showers are lengthy, as they find the acoustics in the stall great for singing, plus they fight over who gets to use the hand held shower head.

When I returned, hands red and sticky, they were snuggled up on the couch with JP, listening to the final paragraph of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.  I turned on the water to wash my hands, and a fine trickle of water dribbled out.

Perfect.  Another summer of hauling water?  Sigh.

We tucked the girls into bed, then started a team effort to regain water - because you never miss it as much as when you don't have it! 

Old Bessie was filled with a most of a load of wood mulch that I didn't get around to putting on the flower beds over the weekend (although I did get them weeded.)  JP backed her up to my flower bed, while I found a giant tarp.  Then we both shoveled mulch on to the tarp until Bessie was empty again.  At the same time, my Dad came over to repair the Water Buffalo, which blew out of the lean-to one windy day over the winter and sustained some minor damage.  Then he assessed the well situation, and (we're just guessing here) it doesn't appear that the well is dry, but that the pump is damaged...perhaps because of the half a dozen or more brown outs in the past week and a half.  Finally, I scrounged up a handful of quarters, and JP headed out to the potable water station at quarter to ten at night.

He has returned now, and it takes a while to empty all 200 gallons into the cistern.  I think he plans to return for a second load yet tonight.  In the morning, I will need to call our Well Man to check the situation.  Dad will probably need to make another couple of runs for water.

Well, at least we'll get showers tonight.  For now though, I need to rustle up a few more quarters!

Un-Gardening

We have had problems about once a year with the grey water (water from the sinks and showers which does not go into the septic) backing up into the downstairs bathtub.  The builder is guessing that this is occurring from where the grey water pipes crossing over the septic pipes, and then the lot of them settling, causing an uphill area that backs up when there is enough other garbage in the lines. 

A couple of weeks ago, I went downstairs and found dried up yucky stuff in the tub...telltale signs that the water has backed up.  We called the builder, and began carting our shower stuff to the guest bathroom and the extra bathroom for our showers.  Although I'm extremely glad that we have the option of getting our showers elsewhere, the other shower is TINY!   Imagine shaving your legs in a phone booth, and you'll get the idea what I'm dealing with lately!  Our builder called us back after a day or two, estimating that he could be out to work on things by the middle of this week.

I went to our local nursery to pick up some free flower pots over the weekend, because JP warned me that the grey water lines were under my perennial bed.  Last night the builder called back to give me an idea where they would be digging, and said that they would be out tomorrow morning, weather permitting.  It rained all day today...nearly 1 3/4 inches all together. 

So...after I got off work this evening, I picked up a pizza for dinner.  I plopped the girls down in front of a netflix movie with their pizza, and got to work digging.

Here is a picture of what the perennial bed looked like in the Spring.  It has filled out a bit since then.

Here is the scenario now that I have taken down half of the fence and cleared out the lower 3 feet of the bed.  I hope that is enough!

Even after all that rain, the soil under the plants that I dug was only a little moist, and hard as bricks.  I guess that explains why our well is not keeping up with our consumption this summer.

In a couple of weeks, I will get to plant things back all over again, and mulch again too.  So.  Much.  Fun.

One of Those Weeks

The windows are all flung open, letting in the fresh, cool, Fallish air.  J is off to a birthday party, while JP and L took Ole Bessie to get water.**  So the house is quiet, except for the pets.  Lizzie the kitten is sitting on an outside windowsill of the Library where I sit, taunting the dogs, who run from window to window, trying to get to her.

This has been one of those weeks where I don't feel like I managed to accomplish much.  The minutes spun by so fast, that every day it was 10:30 PM before I'd managed to sit down to catch my breath.  Of course "accomplish much", means that I didn't do anything besides homeschool Lauren for 5 days, work 2 shifts, take the girls to violin lessons, piano lessons, and 2 soccer practices.  On top of that, the girls and I went to the pool one evening, I took a CPR class, I drove to and from Washington with my Dad to pick up manure (that we couldn't find), I attended a Library Board meeting, AND I managed to make dinner for everyone every night except one.  I guess it just takes sitting down in the quietness to assess all that I DID manage to accomplish, rather than what I have not.

I've been thinking about those kinds of things this week.  How many of my interactions with the girls, or with JP for that matter are critical ones, rather than positive ones?  What sorts of things have I done in my few extra minutes gleaned here and there...wasted time blogging or playing Plants vs Zombies, or read.  If I have only a limited amount of time in my life, or in one day, shouldn't I spend it doing things that count?

Of course, I've found that in order to "recharge" my brain, I  need some down time.  Sometimes watching Netflix (haven't had any TV reception since the Olympics) or playing computer games can fill that bill, so I won't completely stop playing with Zombies.  But both JP and I have been reading a lot more in the past month...could it be the new Kindles??

So, instead of wasting this lovely day at the computer, I am heading out to the clothesline to hang out clothes, and then down to the garden to do some weeding and hopefully plant some Fall lettuces.  I have some painting to do, and then, if time permits, I'll finish weeding, fertilizing and mulching the trees in the orchard.  I find that I dread these activities so much that they drag me down just thinking about them...until I actually do them, and then I enjoy myself AND feel incredibly fulfilled.

Enjoy your weekend, my friends.  Use your time wisely, but let yourself unwind too.  It takes a good mix of play and work to be whole, I think.  My goal is to NOT be wholly nuts.

**This might be an unusual sounding adventure to some, but probably 50% of the pickup trucks in our area carry "Water Buffaloes" around in the back - and not the wild beast type, these are plastic containers designed to hold hundreds of gallons of water.  Because most of our county has been mined under for coal, there are many, many people who have lost their wells.  If you have a Buffalo, you can fill it at a potable water filling station for $.25/ 50 gallons.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

According to our weather system, mounted on a post of the garden, we have had over 21 inches of rain on Poplar Ridge since Jan 1st. On the news tonight, they announced 17 inches in our area in the past 42 days. Even without exact measures, we all feel water logged around here.

We will never be in danger of flooding up here on the Ridge, unless another flood of Biblical proportions is imminent. We are losing portions of our driveway and garden, though. Some of JP's acquaintances have reported their gardens are rotting in the ground.

The wood for our raised beds arrived bright and early Saturday morning, but we are unable to even set foot in the garden for fear of sinking in mud up to our knees. The peas and radishes seem to be doing fine, though.

On the positive side, things are looking incredibly lush and green (including the weeds in the garden). All of the trees in the nursery now have leaves, as do all but one of my ornamental pears. Even the tiny hybrid willow twigs that we planted a couple of weeks back have sprouted green whiskers.

Recently JP calculated the amount of water if one inch of rain fell over one acre. By extrapolating (bear with me, Math Man), I came up with the sum of approximately 29,662,500 gallons of water that fell on Poplar Ridge so far in 2011. I'm incredibly grateful for it all too, even though our rain water cistern only holds 500 gallons. I'm hoping this means we will not have a dry summer!

But ENOUGH ALREADY! We need the rain, blah, blah, blah, now dry up! I know I'm not alone in this request.

Blowing Away My Funk

I should have titled yesterday's post: "Pity Party". I was wallowing in self pity for sure.

The wind has picked up today. One of L's friends described it as "blowing as strong as a twister out there!" I don't feel like I'm about to be blown to Oz, but it seems to be blowing away the February Funk I've been in.

The laundry is on the line, whipping around. The girls had their kites flying high earlier, and are presently muddying their second set of clothes for the day. I grilled Nathan's hot dogs on the grill for lunch. We ate at the picnic table, situated in a shaft of sunshine, and tried to keep our Cheetos from blowing away!

School is already done for the day, so I'm getting ready to open up some windows and settle down in that recliner with my book.

And by the way, our old friend the Kubota backhoe drove up the lane not long ago. Hopefully that means that our water worries will soon be a thing of the past!

Swimming Hole

JP and I needed an uplifting activity after the depressing movie (The Lovely Bones) that we watched last night. So tonight we have been scheduling his yearly "summer vacation" week since the girls collapsed into bed. Last year we moved during his week off. The year before that, we worked on several projects around the house. This year, being in denial about the many projects we have on the back burner, we are planning to play. Our 19th anniversary conveniently falls into that week, so one of the reservations we were working on is an overnight get-away for the two of us. (Mom and Dad have already agreed to watch the girls.) Another one is our yearly Idlewild trip.

The girls were tuckered out after a long day of playing. We spent several hours at the Elementary School parking lot riding bikes. J is doing so well...she rode and rode and rode! We realized that L's little bike is really too tiny for her, so we ended up getting her a new bike today as well.



All the bike riding in the sun left us feeling a bit wilted and sticky, so we took our neighbor up on his offer of using his swimming hole. It's a lovely little place, back in the trees, spring fed and deliciously cool.



Even the dog jumped in, though she is not a good swimmer. JP and I had to help her a few times as she was going under. I read some where that the name "Poodle" came from the German "pudel", meaning "one who plays in water". Hmmm. Since this was her first time in the water, I guess I'll give her another chance to display her water dog abilities.



Now I'm ready to collapse into bed myself. Nighty night!

...moan...monday...

Eh. That's all I can muster at the moment...and I should be in bed, but I was just able to get a photo off JP's phone that I wanted to include in my blog, so here goes:

Friday morning, JP told me that I needed to be ready to leave by 2:00 that day, and to pack a bag. Apparently one of the reasons that my parents came out this weekend, was so JP and I could finally celebrate our anniversary (August 10th) without kiddos. (Another reason was to bring some more of their things!) In spite of the fact that J had school, and my Aunt arrived that morning with my 92 year old grandmother to visit, I managed to get my bag packed by 2:00.

This is not the first time that JP has surprised me by whisking me away some where nice for a night or a weekend. He is much better at managing surprises than I am, and is a very thoughtful and romantic man, so I knew this would be lovely.

We drove to Pittsburgh, where we stayed at a nice hotel with views of the river, and PNC park. That evening, we walked a few blocks to a posh restaurant, where they were expecting us, and ate a completely amazing meal sans bibs, wipeys and whining. They brought us this lovely platter of dessert with coffee after the meal: triple chocolate mousse and creme brulee with fresh berries (sorry...cell phone picture).

After another stroll, we retired to our room to watch "The Proposal"...very funny, I recommend it. We had to return to reality and our kids on Saturday, but it was a much appreciated and fantastic break...thank you honey for planning it, and Mom/Dad for keeping the kids.

Mom says that after breakfast on Saturday morning, J said "It's kind of a mess around here! We need to clean things up for Mommy!" And then she proceeded to put things away, vacuum, sweep and water the plants! I've got such sweet little girls!

Sunday was to be J's first soccer game, but we had been planning to go to a concert in Wheeling for a while. JP, L, and I have this icky cold and didn't feel up to travelling...didn't feel up to sitting in the sun during J's game either, so we laid around here.

Labor Day didn't pan out to be a good one for outside recreation...too cool and moist. The good news is that the dead thing in my laundry closet wall didn't stink as much in the cool weather! The other good news is that Big Lots is open on this holiday, and we had fun finding interesting things there!

Today we had planned to shock our well again...water test didn't come back the greatest...but after emptying the 2000 gallon cistern this morning, we ended up without water all day. Apparently our well is low! So...no showers, limited toilet flushing, and tooth brushing with bottled water only happened today, and here's hoping for a shower tomorrow to start off the 2nd week of school!

One Misty, Moisty Morning, When Cloudy was the Weather...

This is the view from the deck this morning. We have had a lot of spectacular views with low-lying clouds and fog lately, as well as some doozies of rain storms. We noticed this sunset up the road on our way home from the Greene Co. Fair last night.

I'm beginning to feel a bit like Mrs. Noah, shut up in the Ark up here on the ridge. (Minus the animals...haven't heard the mice for days and days now!) Much of the soil meant to be lawn is washing down the hill with all the wetness in the past few days. I did notice a few brave sprigs of grass popping up off the porch.

I don't know if it is the weather affecting me or not, but I feel like not all of my brain synapses are connecting lately. I walk around in a daze from one half-finished task to the next. It has been a bit busy here lately. JP's sister and family, along with his mother came to visit for a long weekend last week. The girls were overjoyed to see their cousins, and their cousins were very sweet about playing with them which gave a few of my synapses a rest! Here is everyone except Bro-in-Law (who is taking the picture) on our deck.

JP needed to use up the rest of his vacation/personal days from his '08-'09 work year this week, so he had Monday-Wednesday off. We managed to get most of the pictures hung, and some garage organizing done, but it seems like the projects still overwhelm our time to work on them. You may have noticed that I changed the title of this Blog to "A Home on Poplar Ridge". It is definitely feeling like home, especially since we hung our collage of family photos on the landing wall of the stairs.

The bedrooms are now finished enough to photograph, so here is a shot of the Master Bedroom...

...And this is the Guest Room. We do have a framed print of Monet's Water-Lillies for over the bed, but the frame was broken while in storage, so it needs to be repaired first.

We continue to have critter sitings. The raccoons and mice are rarely seen these days, but the deer, turkeys and other lovely birds have been abundant. Just the other day, JP noticed this Little Brown Bat hanging from the soffit on the porch.

Today I must tackle the pantry. Everything is organized well enough for me, but the rest of the family has trouble finding certain things, and items have mysteriously vanished after recent grocery shopping trips. My parents will also be here soon and need room for their own canned and dry goods. We have a trip to Morgantown planned for later today to resume J's violin lessons after a 2 month break.

Spider in the Basement

The builder spent some full days on the hill in the past 2 weeks. Our list of things that remain to be finished has been whittled down from 2 pages to about a dozen things. Unfortunately, he got injured several days ago, so he really needs to take a couple of days off. This conveniently comes at a time when we are expecting guests. JP's sister and family, along with his mother are coming this afternoon from Virginia to spend a long weekend with us. JP's mother will stay an additional week here.

This morning we were finally able to use our beautiful shower again! I had noticed that the grout just under the lip of the bench was cracked open, and the whole bench seemed to be bowed up in the center. They had to remove some of the tile in order to discover that the bench seat (which was made of plywood) had gotten wet at some point, consequently swelled up and caused the problem. Of course, by this time, the grout was no longer in stock at the building supply place and had to be special ordered. This morning, however, it was dry and ready to use!

Yesterday evening the "Always Hot" hot water heat was finally finished being installed. It was a frustrating project for our builder, who was working with one of these for the first time. This one supplies hot water to the kitchen, master bathroom, kids' bathroom, and will power the radiant heating in the floors downstairs. It is run by propane, so hopefully it will still be usable in a power outage. It looks something like a spider or octopus (or some sort of maze) with all of the pipes and tubes coming out all over. The blue pipes are for the radiant heating. It looked more like a bird's nest inside while he was working on it, but I'm not brave enough to open it up to photograph!

The girls and I cleaned all the pictures and brought them in from the garage this week. Hooray! We are finally at the hanging pictures stage! We hung a few in their room, but are waiting for JP's opinion and assistance on the rest.

Some of our next projects include cleaning the garage floor and painting some kind of epoxy floor covering down, and putting things away in there, setting up the big screen projector downstairs, covering the walls of the girl's hiding place with panelling, installing the weathervane, and building a composter.

The landscaper came out to look things over on Tuesday. They won't be able to get started until the end of August/beginning of September...SIGH...no grass this year!

In the meantime, we have guests coming, summer is winding down, and we still have an Idlewild trip to fit in! All of J's school supplies came by UPS about 2 weeks ago. Everything is stashed away in her school area downstairs. The first day of classes is September 1st.

My Heart Stopped Today

We are nearing the end of swimming lessons, thank goodness! It has been a long week at the pool. I'm sure the girls enjoyed it much more than I did. I'm pretty disappointed with the lessons this year...neither of the girls has learned much at all.

L fell in the water over her head this morning. It happened while I was scanning across the pool to be sure J was doing alright, so I wasn't aware that she was under until my friend started yelling "L is in the water! Get her out!" I took off running into the pool fully dressed, but one of the lifeguards managed to pull her out before I got in past my ankles. She was across the pool from me, coughing and gagging and shivering...so close, and yet so far away. All I wanted to do was hold her in my arms. When I finally did, I realized how much I was shaking too.

This evening, L told JP how she "got in the deep end and got water in my eyes and ears and nose"...no big deal to a 3 year old, but absolutely terrifying to a Mommy!

We spent the entire day at the pool, and came home tired and feeling a bit like raisins in the afternoon. The crew was just about to leave for the day. They put forms up for half of the concrete pad, and moved things out of the way for the excavators tomorrow. They also cleaned the porch and patio and sealed them with something called "Shark Skin", to make the concrete less slippery when wet. They look a bit darker and sorta shiny now. The porch hasn't been this empty since it was poured!

The cupola arrived and is in a giant box in the garage. J and I managed to put the "whimsical pig" weather vane together last week, so it is ready to go!

The pig garden is in full bloom! We released J's preying mantis out there this evening, after keeping it in the bug cage for most of the week. I was worried it would die, since we were having a hard time supplying food that it liked. We enjoyed watching it for several days...good luck in the wild Timmy!

When it Rains, it Pours!

It's been raining quite a bit here in our neck of the woods. The downspouts from the gutters and the french drains are now connected to our rain water cistern, which is full and over flowing. (Any one want to bring their gardens over for a drink?) The crew has been alternating between working outside when it is not raining, to working inside or on the porch when it is. Our breezeway between the house and garage is nearly finished, just needs a door on the porch side and then we can fill it up with shoes and coats.

The builder promised to hook up a temporary source of hot water for us on Friday. I was looking forward to finally using the dishwasher and this beautiful shower in my bathroom.

Here's a picture of the entire bathroom, which is basically finished. Might hang a picture in there later...dunno.

We ran the dishwasher on rinse last night before going to bed, as a preview for the next day's dishes. It wasn't long before water was puddling out from underneath. I called Sears again...the first available appointment they had for repairs was NEXT Friday! GRRRR!

JP was the first to try out the new shower this morning. I was happily cooking pancakes when J ran up from downstairs, yelling "It's raining in my room!". Yes indeed-y, it was! Water was running out of air vent in the girls' ceiling..quite a lot of it. It seems that there is some problem with either the shower drain (although we used it when running all of that water to empty the cistern after shocking the well) or the hot water to the shower. **Big sigh!** I'll have to wait a bit longer to use that shower.

The repairman returned with the part to fix my washer on Friday morning. When we brought the dryer in from the garage to hook it up, we found that the plug for it did not fit into the 220 volt outlet that was installed. I had already washed 5 loads of clothes in anticipation of the dryer. JP replaced the plug on the dryer today while I was at the laundromat drying stuff. After emptying the pecans and mouse poo out of the dryer vent, I put the last load in. Ahhh...so nice to have working appliances!

One other little issue we've discovered...we can't reach the second row of windows in the great room to open or close them. We have a doo-hickey, well really a 9 or 10 foot long pole, that we use to close the window on the back wall way up by the ceiling. It's too long to use for the other windows. It's been a bit chilly at night, so, for lack of a better idea, JP put J up on the ledge to close the windows. L thought it looked like great fun and wanted to be up there too! Now they ask to go up every day!

Coon Huntin

Just a little update about life in the new house...

It feels so HUGE after living in that tiny apartment for 7 months! I am officially tired of moving. Good thing we are living here until the end, eh?

JP has been working on unpacking and organizing books in the Library. I think we had at least 30 boxes just of books. It is nearly finished and the wall of built in bookshelves is filled.

I have been working on the kitchen. There were a lot of kitchen boxes too! I was able to get rid of a bunch of items...after all, I managed to feed us 3 meals a day in the apartment with 30% of the stuff! Some things we are really glad to see again, like our ice cream maker...just in time for the 4th!

We got the girls' furniture set up, and I unpacked all their things (also managed to hide some things away for the Thrift Store Donation Box). They are overjoyed to have their toys back, and spend lots of time downstairs playing together. That is really helpful while JP and I are trying to get some things accomplished, but I hope once we are settled they will bring toys upstairs to play too.

The repair men were out in droves this week. Yesterday a man looked at the washer. Apparently when you store washing machines, you should fill them with RV antifreeze so the pump doesn't crack. We have a new pump ordered and I should have a functioning washer and dryer by the end of the week (no more Laundromat excursions I hope!) The refrigerator guy fixed the fridge and the men hoisted it back over the bar. The stove dude found that the problem with the 2 burners on the left is that the controls are switched: the left front control works the left rear burner, etc. He has ordered a part AND a new cook top (just in case) and will be back in 2 weeks.

It is interesting living at a construction site. JP and I are up until midnight or later every night, and then the crew arrives at 7:15 to begin work. They are mostly working outside, but along with the birds in the morning, we get to hear the heavy equipment and nail guns. I'm not complaining, honestly, I'm still sleeping better than I have for 7 months. Our builder actually pulled a couple of men off this week to start their next project. I'm a bit sad to see them go...they feel almost like family now (and L has a bit of a crush on one of them, and his blue truck.) This morning, when I came out of the bedroom, they were working on the soffit of the prow and were way up in the air!

This week they have nearly finished all the siding, soffit and gutters, and have the furnace/air conditioning almost ready to run. They started putting the drop ceilings in a couple of the closets downstairs, so that should be completed by tomorrow.

I am on the rodent rampage again...trapped 4 mice over the past 2 nights. The raccoons got into our trash last night and spread rotting watermelon rinds all over the garage. JP has seen them on the porch several times, and run out with his gun, but scared them away in the process. I think we need a dog and/or cat!

We are still waiting on hot water in the East side of the house. Thank goodness we decided to put a shower in the washroom off my Craft Room!

All in all, we love being here! We are so happy with the house, although when pressed we could recite all the places we had to compromise (I try not to though...stop me if you've heard it!) We love the quiet, the space to roam, the virgin walls where we get to make the first holes. J and I "went to town" today, and when we returned, our dining table was in the dining room. So, by her measures, we now live here!

Things That Go "Bump" in the Night (Or Welcome to Country Livin')

The desktop is up and running, so I was able to upload a few pics from my camera.

It is now the 3rd day that we have been here, and it seems that little progress has been made. Even though I tried to label all the boxes in storage REALLY well, I look at them now and say "Lamp? What lamp? And why are there mouse traps in with the lamp?" It's slow going to say the least.

Since we found the first nest of mice last week, we have uncovered at least 2 more. This means that on top of moving everything out of the garage, unpacking boxes and finding new homes for things, not to mention putting furniture back together (no easy feat in itself), I have to steam clean all the couches and chairs. EWWW. Haven't seen any more of the nasty critters though, thank goodness, although I did find the mouse traps when I unpacked that lamp.

The alternate propane company delivered this beauty on Thursday afternoon. I wonder if I'm allowed to paint a hot dog bun and some condiments on it? I guess I'll just plant some shrubberies around it.

Thursday night, a muddy raccoon climbed up over the hood of JP's truck...

through a half open window in the back...

and rummaged through his trash can, leaving dirty footprints everywhere.

The builders were out on Friday, and with the exception of putting trim around the oak bookshelves by the stairs, they worked outside. They finished up the deck, and put vinyl around all of the posts on porch. They also wired the garage.

One of the first orders of business on Friday was to "shock" the well. This involves dumping large amounts of Clorox into the well, and later into the 2000 gallon holding tank, letting it sit for hours and hours, and then emptying it all out. Want to take a gander on how long it takes to empty a 2000 gallon tank? It took about 20 hours for the whole process, all told...probably should have let things soak for longer, but we got impatient. So...without having it analyzed, we have been drinking the water. So far no one has developed uncontrolled vomiting, diarrhea, fevers, or bleeding from the eye balls. J did loose her other top tooth this morning...related????

I was in the process of washing dishes when the cistern emptied. (Did I mention that there is no hot water in the kitchen yet? I'm heating water on the stove to wash with!) This coincided with a tremendous downpour, so I captured some rain water from the roof to use.

I may have to revise my glowing review of the Sears Outlet store. It seems that on top of their very poor delivery service, the appliance damage is not only cosmetic. Our new refrigerator does not work, and only the 2 burners on the right hand side of my induction cook top work consistently. A repair guy is coming out Monday (some time between 8 and 5) to look at them, along with my washer, which sprung a leak while in storage. Unfortunately, once the countertops were installed in the kitchen, there was not enough room to maneuver the fridge back out, leaving the only exit point up and over the bar. It took 4 men to make it happen!

I need to get to work if I want anything to get done today since I spent the morning at the Laundromat! I will try to post about rooms as they get finished...it might be awhile!

We're Here!

We rented a small U-Haul on Wednesday and made 2 trips out to the house. After cleaning the apartment on Thursday night, we decided to spend our first night at our new home. It isn't perfect...we have no air conditioning or hot water in the kitchen and 2 out of 3 bathrooms, but we are slowly emptying boxes and making it feel like home. J commented this evening, "When we REALLY live here, we'll have a table!"

We've had a number of interesting experiences already, including washing dishes with rain water caught in a 5 gallon bucket. More later when I can add photos...just doing wireless with the laptop at the moment.

If there is a front door, we can move in...right?

Oh yeah! We have a front door! Of course, none of the doors have any door knobs yet, but they are there...hooray!

In addition, the siding is completed on the front of the house

and the driveway side.

The ceilings are finished. This is in the master bedroom, showing the finished ceiling against the tray. The tray will eventually have faux tin tiles (I think).

The great room, kitchen and dining room will have wood ceilings. They have been working on staining the wood.

They have also been painting trim in a buff color.

The well man finished connecting the well to the holding tank to the house.

Now he is working on digging a hole for the (much smaller) rain water cistern. This water will be used for watering the garden and washing cars, etc. Or we could use it for a swimming pool!

The builder is working on installing our on demand water heater. He tells us that we are the "greenest" clients that he has ever worked with. We are still sad that many of the "green" things that we hoped to incorporate were too expensive to seriously consider.

Some seedlings are sprouting in the pig garden, despite the nasty horse hooves.