I was sluggish this morning but got to the job site at a reasonable time. I decided that the big posts would require a helper, so I focused on cleaning the sites and taking down the temporary porch supports. It felt good to be organized again. Next I drove down to Chapel Hill for another load of interior lumber. This afternoon I went to the Goat Market and chatted with Eric for a bit, and cleaned up the inside and outside of the cottage. I drove home this evening and the sky was lovely, although it did rain a bit. Luke was heading to bead when I arrived. Pre-school starts tomorrow and he is excited.
Wrestling posts.
Last night I stayed up until after midnight reading, and read more this morning. It was about eleven by the time I finally got to the job site. I started measuring and cutting the 6×6 porch posts. Then I went to get the chainsaw to make things easier. I got eight of the ten posts set. The two remaining are the tallest, and they will be tough.
Back at the honest work.
I got a slow start to the morning as we all slept in a bit and I had several things to pack up. Then the goodbyes took a while as Matt and Krystal left at the same time as I did. My first stop was Cedar Direct in Chapel Hill, where I picked up three smaller bundles of my tongue and groove pine. Fortunately I was able to unload them with my tractor at the job site. I also finished assembling my cement mixer and had my 6×6 porch posts delivered. Also a guy came out to look at doing some grading under the porches. Once he left I drove down to Hillsboro and picked up five IBC totes. I filled one halfway with water at the cottage and then took them all to the job site. I returned to the cottage during the heat of the day to do a little computer work and then returned to the houses to start pouring concrete. My new mixer did really well, although it was still a lot of work. Also I got filthy. But I finished a little before eight and then went to Piggly Wiggly for some food. I have been reading a book on my phone and trying to unwind.
Pretty fun Sunday.
I didn’t get to bed until about one this morning after the water fiasco and then just unwinding on the sofa a bit. I didn’t really sleep in though. We had breakfast and relaxed a bit, the Liz, Luke, Matt, and Krystal went for a hike at a waterfall near Summertown. I did a few things around the house, then napped, which was great. This afternoon we went to downtown Columbia for walk around the square, throw pennies into the fountains, and pick up food from Puckett’s. We then had a little picnic at Riverside. Back home we cleaned up, bathed Luke, and did bed time. He fell asleep very quickly. Liz and I will probably go to bed soon as well.
Normal morning, nightmare afternoon.
This morning I went to get the mower from the Kubota dealer before we all went to the farmers market. Several vendors were missing, which was disappointing, but we still got a few things. Next we went to the playground in Spring Hill, followed by Kroger. Luke fell asleep on the way home, so we quickly dropped off groceries then continued on a scenic drive to Lewisburg and Cornersville. We had lunch upon returning home and then Luke and I did a little quiet time. Afterwards I went outside and started mowing the back field until I nearly ran out of gas.
I was preparing to go get more when I got an email from the water company telling me the amount of our current bill. I knew we had a leak that I was planning on repairing this weekend, but the amount of the bill indicated that it was even bigger than I realized. So I dropped everything and focused on finding it. I went to the front yard with a shovel and was able to quickly dig out to the offending spot. A rock had been pressured down on to the pipe and pressed holes into it. Whoever had installed the pipe used thin wall instead of schedule 40. The whole family went to Home Depot for pipe, connectors, and PVC cement.
Back home I cut the pipe and tried to install the new section, but the glue set too fast and I was unable to work the piece into place. So I went to Lowe’s for more pipe and connectors. I also looked for a better solution, but was unable to find one. I failed a second time at connecting pipe, then tried a third. That seemed to go well, so I began the two hour waiting period for the glue to set. It was 7:15 at this point. So I went to the gas station then came back and finished mowing the back field. I started going over it a second time until it turned dark outside.
Matt and Krystal were here at that point and had brought some Italian food for dinner, so I joined everybody for that. After eating I organized the garage a bit while waiting for the pipe to be ready. At 9:15 I turned the water back on and saw that there was no leaking, but unfortunately there was limited water pressure. I called my buddy Tim and he talked me through cleaning out the pressure reducing valve (pictured below). That didn’t really help. Liz came under the house with me and confirmed that we had full flow to the valve and that it was the issue. After more messing with it I finally found a manual online and saw that when I reinstalled it after cleaning I had one piece on backwards and another had fallen out. Once I fixed that we were back to the good. at this point it was 11:56. Now it is after midnight and I am exhausted, but no longer covered in mud.
