DAY 35 Homestead

Set the alarm for 8 am and got up at about 9 am. It was dark at 8 so I wasn’t really motivated to abandon my warm, not so comfy pull out couch. Had to get up because my bed mate Suzy, the 6 lb Yorkie, had to go and had to go now. I quickly got some warm clothes on and found my shoes before she had no choice but do her business on our bed. Once I was up, I made coffee and stoked the fire in the wood stove. I really need to get the oil stove going. It is down to something in the 40s in the house when we get up in the morning.

Started the day with the dirt guy calling me to say he was through for the season and wouldn’t be doing our job. Spent the rest of the morning worrying what to do now. About 1:00 the guy I bought the stove from called and told me that one of his buddies that did dirt work would be calling me. I apologized profusely for giving him a hard time about the missing parts of the stove as I solved the stove problem and still only paid about half the price of a new oil stove. He was very gracious in accepting my apology. I rarely apologize for anything but this was a case where I truly owed an apology.
About 2:30 the new dirt guy called and we arranged to meet later.

Summer and I pulled wire for the kitchen electrical outlets It was a pain as there was no real way to get directly to the kitchen. Through three walls and five 90 degree turns we slaved away. Have the wiring done now we can sheet rock the kitchen walls. Still need to get water in the kitchen. Figured out that the previous owners had run the water through the cabinets instead of the walls. Guess we will do the same.

The dirt guy showed up after another phone call saying that he was on his way. He was very knowledgeable and found us another source of gravel for less than half the price that we had been quoted. He will get the job done by Friday so that we can get the 40′ shipping container set next to the house. After that we can unload the 28′ trailer full of tools and furniture. We got the school bus unloaded but there are so many boxes that we can’t unpack for lack of places to put it. Everything in it’s own good time. I guess.

An other tragedy happened as we were celebrating finding someone who would and could solve our landscape problem. A PVC pipe joint failed and blew water everywhere. I repaired it with a hose connector and a couple of hours later we were out of water. One of the freaking hose clamps failed and dumped 200+ gallons of water. Almost too embarassed to call Quikdraw, the water purveyor, as we’ve had them deliver water 5 times in three weeks. I’m sure someone down there is wondering “How stupid are these people”.

The last chore of the day was to set up the diesel oil tanks for the oil stove. Summer and I got the tank stand onto a level platform and wrestled the partially filled tanks onto the stand. Tomorrow I’ll run the copper line to the heater and see if it works as advertised.
Had homemade Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans for my 2nd meal of the day. I cleaned my plate.