August 25, 2011

What a day! I had slept almost 12 hours and got up around 5:00 am. While enjoying my morning coffee, I spotted a doe and her fawns enjoying the shrubbery in the back. Yet again, I thought they were dogs, until my eyes focused! They stayed for quite a long time and I was able to get my camera and take some pictures without scaring them away.

Once they were gone, I wondered if the job was going to start. At 7:30 my wondering was over, when the excavator and the machinery operator arrived. By 8:00 they downed a tree, dug the hole for the tank and pumped out the water that was seeping up through the sand.

The rest of the crew arrived and Matt worked outside while Steve did the inside work. The kitchen sink was redone and he roughed in the bathroom sink.

I am beyond excited to finally be so close to having a sink in the bathroom, as I'm sure my guests will be when they don't have to use the kitchen sink! Steve also worked in the crawl space and reworked all the PVC pipes. The tank arrived at 8:30 and the driver had the tank in and was gone by 9:30. They dug a trench to lay the drain piping and then they work came to a giant halt.

At the time, I didn't know they were expecting the inspector - but once that was explained, and they had inspected the work, they were gone and the work started up again. The job was given two-thumbs up and a giant blessing from the county! The lawn was tortured by the machinery and now we can add another chore to our outside To-Do list when the soils settles back into place.

The next project they tackled was the removal of the original home-made holding tank. It was truly home-made. They had used an old propane tank and we are lucky it even (sort of) worked!

By 3:15 their trucks were loaded and they were pulling away. A new lid for the tank and some concrete work will finish the job tomorrow. I still cannot believe it is done. With all the problems we had with the DNR and permits and the height of the river, I never thought it would get done - and it took over a year and a half to boot! We are relieved in more ways than one! That's a pretty $hitty joke - bam...one bad pun after another!
I visited with Betty for a bit and then cleaned up when I got back. I put the stuff back under the sink and cleaned up the utility room and bathroom.

I hung a drop table in the kitchen to have additional counter space.

I was happy to have some food in the freezer to defrost, since I was too pooped to go out.
Although I didn't do anything today except walk back and forth and snap photos, I am exhausted! Time for TV and sleep...or maybe both!