It's 95 degrees outside. The trailer's AC unit is running non-stop to try to get the temp in here below 83.

Yesterday, Chris's cousin dropped by and spent the day helping him get the main unit for the house hooked up. It turns on now and then. The temperature in the house right now? 74. Gotta love good insulation.

A Better Week

We woke up the morning after my last post to a collapsed section of trench. All the rain we got had weakened the sides of the trench and a mini-mudslide had ensued. I used the tractor to dig out as much mud as I could, and then went to work with the shovel.

The mudslide wasn't all setback. I found two glass marbles as I was digging.

We managed to get the trench dug out and the pipe laid, then went on vacation. Instead of the beach, we opted for a quicker, closer trip to Chattanooga where the Finley, Joe, and Z got their first amusement park experience. I was kind of glad that Zivah was too small for some of the more intense rides like the tilt-a-whirl. I can't handle as much as I used to.

Z and me at the top of the ferris wheel.

Chris and Joe in a paddle boat.

Brutal bumper cars.

One of my favorite things there was the sky lift. It reminded me of the long-gone Peony Park in Omaha.

Finley and Reanna on the sky lift.

After exhausting ourselves on the roller-coasters and other rides, Chris, Reanna, and I managed to convince the younger, more energetic kids that it would be in their best interest to head to the hotel. We stayed overnight in the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel, then spent the next day at the aquarium and Lookout Mountain before heading back home that evening.

The day after our trip, a guy from the electrical company came out to inspect our trench. With everything a "go", we had the other inspector out the next day to see if he would give us a service release. The orange sticker below gave the electric company the green light to hook up power to the house, and as of 10 a.m. this morning, we have electricity in the house!

All that's left (I think) is flooring, cabinets, and plumbing fixtures........ Pinch me. I might be dreaming.

It's Always Somethin'

Stomach bugs are no fun. And when they last for six days, things can start to look really bleak. Thankfully, I have a husband that would stop at the grocery store after a long day at work to bring me chicken noodle soup and kefir and whatever else I needed, and a mother nearby who was willing to help Finley and Zivah bake birthday goodies when I felt too lousy to do it. 

So last Sunday, my digestive system was finally starting to feel a little bit normal, and we had a little birthday party for the girls who turned 10 & 6 this week. Once again, Finley topped her cake with a horse, and Zivah's cupcakes had little fishes and a big worm swimming in the blue icing. 

 Thursday afternoon, our neighbor took me to pick up a bigger trencher, and in a couple hours, Chris had the trench deepened. The plan was to finish digging out around the water and power lines Friday morning so that we could start laying the pipe in the trench that afternoon. We had about four more inches of dirt to remove when it started to rain. It rained off and on all day and night, and this morning, the kids are out playing in the big puddles, looking for turtles and frogs. The trench work will have to wait.

To make the most of the current setback, I took the opportunity to fix my goof in the electrical panel. The wire-nutted extensions for the neutral and ground wires that wouldn't reach are tucked back in the corners, so the panel doesn't look as disastrous as I thought it might.

As soon as we finish the trench and the electrical company gets the wire pulled, and the inspector gives us the green light, we might actually get power to the house. That will be something!

A Long Week

 Last week started off with anticipation. With the deck down, all we needed to prepare for the trenching was to dig up the water and power lines running between the trailer and the pump house so that we wouldn't put ourselves in a pickle by cutting them as we trenched.

Although the ground was a little hard, I found them easily enough without damaging them,

 In my digging, I even found an old, clay marble. Sometimes, I think I should pull out the metal detector to see if I can find any lost treasures on this property. But the truth is, there are so many old nails and broken bits of farm equipment that the place would be peppered with holes with only a slim chance of finding anything of real value. So I figure it is a lot more fun to be surprised by the random, nearly worthless things I find while digging in the garden than to face a lot of disappointment in an intentional search for something of great value that may or may not exist.

Wednesday, my mother left for high school reunion in Montana, so it was my job for the next two days to sleep over at their house and make sure my dad didn't get into any trouble while she was gone. I am not used to staying up as late as my folks do, so by the time the 4th hit, I was a bit tired.

That didn't stop us from having some fun, though. The kids went crazy and shot off fireworks all evening, running through the smoke, trying to catch parachutes, and acting generally excited and wound up. We went to watch the little fireworks show that Chapel Hill puts on, then came back to my folk for even more fireworks.

 The next morning, Chris rented the trencher.

Two feet in, we hit a big rock that we had to dig out. From there, thing went a little easier, but the 36" trencher was leaving us with only a 32" deep trench. It seemed it might have been digging the 36", but leaving a lot of loose soil in the bottom of the trench. Trying to get all that loose soil out of the trench by hand would take forever.

At some point during the day, I spotted a grub in the excavated dirt. As is my custom, I snatched it up as a treat for some lucky chicken. Almost as soon as my fingers closed around it, I felt a hard pinch which caused me to drop the grub back to the ground. That made me mad. No grub that pinches me is going to get away with it. I found my gloves and picked the sucker back up and fed it to one of our favorite chickens. I don't know what kind of beetle that grub was going to turn into, but I hope there aren't many of them around.

Near the end of the day, we hit a rocky patch, and it took quite a while for the trencher to even dig two feet down. Eventually, we called it quits, knowing that if the electrical company wouldn't let the shallower hole slide, we'd have to rent a bigger trencher. Monday morning, I called the electrical company, and sure enough, we need to rent the bigger trencher. I also found out we needed another permit for the HVAC, and as we had some more questions I decided to have the inspector out for a consult.

Tuesday morning he showed up. Turns out, I terminated the main panel wrong, and should have separated the neutral and ground wires. Since we had a disconnect panel outside, that technically makes that main panel a sub-panel. The inspector did compliment me on my work, though, saying it looked nice. Well, it won't look quite as nice when I'm through fixing it...

All these setbacks. To boot, I have been suffering from a stomach bug for the past few days. I spent yesterday afternoon on my bed, willing away chills and headache, praying each trip to the bathroom means I'm nearer the end of my misery.

And since I need to end on a positive note for my own sanity, here is a picture of one of the two chicks that came from Lizzy's (may she rest in peace) eggs. To our delight, they are growing a tuft of black feathers out of the tops of their heads. Reminds me of a miniature Mr. T.

The little joys of life help pull us through the harder parts.