"Water Wait" is OVER!

After 10 days without running water, let it be known that at 8:05 p.m. tonight, our water is flowing again! I took pictures throughout the whole day of digging, so I will let them do the talking on this one....

This machine is SO MUCH BIGGER than the the one Dan used. LOL

Where the sidewalk ends!



A few feet down, it turns out our yard is totally full of rocks!
I'm saving these for landscaping or maybe a fire ring.



The pile of Earth that's been dug out completely hides the fence between us and our neighbors.

Ready to hook up!

With tranches on both the North and South sides of the yard, a few more feet and we could have a moat!

The trench running from approx. the center of the south of the house, down the driveway, nearly to the street.

While hooking up the water line, it came loose and blew water all over Pat.
Here's what he had to say about that.

Under the Earth our house stands on, we have lots of rocks it turns out.
I was so impressed with this one, we're keeping it above ground from now on.

Let it also be known that when the water again flowed forth from our tap, we literally sang a round of "Hallelujah!"

On the Stove Again!

At 10:43 a.m. today, we flipped on the stove top and we had power again!  As it turns out, the electrical problem keeping the stove from working was in the box on the front of the house and wasn't going to be resolved until the main was moved from that old, not-up-to-code box to the new main located now on the north side of the house.  According to our electrician, it was such a mess in that old box he didn't even want to touch it.  This morning, the switch to the new line rendered that mess powerless and I was so happy to see that thing get taken off the front of the house and thrown into the dump trailer along with all the other stuff headed to the dump!  The first thing I made was a pan of brownies, followed by mac n' cheese for my lunch, and then a loaf of Beer Bread (LOVE Beer Bread!!!).  I was practically dancing around the kitchen I was so excited to finally be able to cook on a stove again!

A welcome sight!

Removing the old main from the house, the box on the front is about to go bye-bye!

Hooray for Beer Bread!

Tears Falling for Cedars

Today was a very low day on the emotional rollercoaster that is home renovation.  In preparation for the digging that needs to happen this coming Tuesday to install the line to the city water, the cedar trees over our driveway - on the south side of the house - needed to be trimmed back.  This included one tree lining the west side of our property (the front side of the house) and the trees hanging down over the south edge that actually belong to the neighbor but hang down over the privacy fence.  The excavating company plans on piling up the dirt next to the fence and needs clearance to do it.  So, Dan went and talked to our neighbor, Arnie, about trimming up his trees and Arnie is such a great and helpful neighbor that not only did he say "sure!" to trimming his own trees, he offered to help Dan with ours.  "This is wonderful!" we thought, because Arnie had the tools and even a friend with a wood chipper for hauling away the branches.  This was going to work out so well! 

Well, they wasted no time Saturday morning getting to work.  Before I was even up and going myself, I could hear the pole saw roaring and I had somewhere to be so I busied myself with getting ready.  No big deal.  Just a casual Saturday morning with some errands to run and a trip to see friends a little later in the day.  When I left the house, I stepped out and only noticed the southern most tree on the west side line of trees (the one over the driveway) was as I had gasped "bald!"  But I figured at least the excavating equipment should clear going under it and I kissed Dan good-bye and went on my way.  I took Maddie along so she wouldn't be in Dan's way and I kept her out much later than we had planned when we discovered a parade was going on in Cambridge, the town we had travelled to to meet up with some regional friends in a location more central to all of us.

It was well after dark when we drove up our street and my headlights swung into the driveway.  I looked up the trimmed trees, looking for what used to be my low hanging cedar branches.  My eyes travelled further and further upward.  It was dark out, but one of the things I immediately noticed was the bright light streaming into my yard from the entry lights at the school.  Normally the lights would stream down the driveway, but not through the trees, which worked nearly as well as a privacy fence would.  Well, if the fence were suspended from the powerlines above, hanging downward.  I am 5'2" and there were some branches I had to duck under to reach the street.  I liked it that way and immediately knew it was gone.  I went in the house and said so to Dan right away but I wouldn't feel the full impact of the loss until this morning.

Before leaving for services this morning, I first looked out of my windows.  The swaying sprigs of green that hung so gracefully and that I could see from the main window facing westward from my living room were gone.  In fact, at first glance I had to look a second time in deciphering which thin wooden column was tree and which was power pole.  My heart sank.  Looking out the newly installed front door, from my love seat, I had to crank my neck to see the green from the neighbors yard (the trees that hung over the fence).  These were two of the views that I really enjoyed.  Of course the one through the new door being just a couple of weeks old, but already much appreciated.  The stark brown bricks from the school across the street are now just there.  No foilage to soften that view.  I went outside to take a closer look.  As soon as I walked out into what once was such a great, and to me almost magical, front yard I could feel tears welling up in my eyes.  It looked as devastated as I felt looking at it.  I got into our van to leave, practically scolding myself really, "there's no use crying over trimmed trees!"  But the full realization of it had taken hold and before I knew it, I was rummaging through the glove box to find napkins in which to blow my nose and wipe my tears. 

There were a handful of reasons for crying.  For one, I really love trees!  I like to look at them, I like to sit under them, I like to lie in my bed and watch them sway.  It's meditating really.  When I was little, I would even lie in bed and watch them sway, asking God to make the branches move this way or that to communicate to me that He was there and listening.  So just losing the green is hard for me.  But then I started to think about the vision I had of this place.  Our Everhaven.  I picked the exterior colors and styles of windows, doors, and siding all for the purpose of playing up on the cozy cottage feel.  In fact, the trees surrounded the house in such a natural embrace that the views out the windows were a cozy extension of what I felt indoors.  When I surveyed the area, in the northwest most corner of the yard, my heart sunk even further.  That little corner was the area we first landscaped this past summer.  At the very corner were two trees standing intimately close to each other, we called them the "love trees" because the one was "hugging" the other with two branches on either side of it.  One of it's "arms" is now gone and the branches trimmed so high that the little animal and bird sanctuary I had envisioned for the space feels next to impossible.  I had planned to hang bird feeders and houses throughout those low hanging branches, we had placed our bird bath in that corner.  But then again, maybe the animals and birds wouldn't have liked their little sanctuary to be so close to the street and probably the "love trees" would have only grown to kill each other, but I am not sure I will be able to stand to find out.  To me it looks so stark and barren I want them all cut down, but people have been telling me that maybe next spring they'll fill out again, though I can't imagine the look we had will be restored.  I cried even harder when I imagined how many years it might take to even come close.  Our house had been nestled back behind this veil of green and I am in mourning, not only for my cedars but for a vision that may now take years to recapture. 

I'm not angry with Dan or Arnie.  Dan feels terrible, he's the one that had to listen to me cry all the way to church this morning, and Arnie was just trying to do us a favor.  They just got a little carried away and I wasn't home to say anything.  I don't like looking out of my windows right now, but I can imagine that next spring I can choose some new trees.  With the new windows in, I was agonizing over what to do for window treatments because I liked the natural view so much with the colonial grates in the windows that I wanted them completely unobstructed, but now I think until we can plant new green things to look at we'll slap the mini blinds back up.  Dan and I joked while in the store earlier that maybe we could buy some artificial Christmas trees and put them up so we have green to look at.  Hopefully, when the real snow falls and we get some Christmas decorations up, and the siding up of course, it won't look as bad on the outside either.  Until then, I just gotta suck it up.  Even if I cry from time to time when looking at what was. 

Our house nestled in behind the trees.  Spring 2010

An early October snow.  2009
(The "love trees" framing the Northwest corner of the yard where
I planned the animal and bird sanctuary are on the left)

Sunset - Summer 2010

A devastating change of view

We're not nestled back behind the trees anymore...

Looking as devastated as I feel looking at it!



The "love trees" :(



Day #5 of "Water Wait" - Update

After calling in the pros yesterday, the only answers we have are price tags.  To install a new pumping system, $1000.  To connect to city water, $1586.  Initial estimates for connecting to the city were over $2000, but after finding out we can use the more affordable PEX tubing instead of copper, the price tag came down to the $1586.  We agonized over this decision for several hours last night because we wanted to save as much expense as possible and consider expediancy as well.  The well people can probably get it done in a couple of hours, whereas the digging people will take at least until next week because they have to do a "Call Before You Dig" - even though we just did one a week ago for the trenches we've dug over the past week.  It turns out every contractor must make their own call.  If they call today, the earliest they can start their dig is going to be Monday or maybe even Tuesday.  At this point, Dan is SO burned out on trying to figure out the well that he just wants the city water and forget the well.  The only 2 reasons we could think of to keep the well while doing pro's and con's of our choices last night was that we don't have a water bill and we like the self suffiency of having our own water supply - but then again I suppose not having the technical skills to maintain the well or fix it when it breaks down rules that a moot point.  Dan has done a great job of figuring it out so far, but he's pretty clear that he's just DONE with that thing after this week.

Last night, after working on it some more, and after I said "let's just try it one more time, maybe something was clogged and will work now" and it DID, for about 5 minutes, the choice is now pretty dang clear.  City water here we come!

Rampage of Appreciation

I went to bed last night after the past 4 days of disappointment feeling like I needed to reconnect with the flow of goodness that I know exists.  Perhaps it is no coincidence that the flow of water is interrupted and I feel blocked in other areas as well.  Our reno has actually hit a complete standstill this week.  The windows are delaying the siding.  The electrician has had other, emergencies I presume, jobs come before ours.  We are completely behind schedule and now definitely over budget.  Last night while agonizing over how far past budget we can go to restore our water I asked Dan if this is what wits end fees like!  The numbers we had were between $1000 and $3000 or more, depending on whether we chose to try and fix the well or connect to city water.  To say we were in a funk is even an understatement.  But thankfully I know what the antidote to being stressed or in a funk is.  Enter gratitude.  I'm going to do a rampage of appreciation for this renovation because I really am excited and grateful to be having it done.  This is just an exercise in getting myself back to gratitude instead of focusing on the things that are challenging us and lack.  As Stretton Smith says in the 4T Prosperity class, "Don't try to set it right, SEE it right."  I can't do a thing about my windows or the expense of getting water flowing back to our house but I can shift my own perspective.  Then, even if I feel the funk of less than ideal hygiene at least I'm going to feel at peace. ;)

Stand back.  Here I go....

I am so happy and grateful that we are having this work done.  My house is going to look amazing.  It already looks so much better than it did.  This house, our home, is worth so much to us.  It is priceless in fact to have a home and to be able to make it our own.  We are adding our own personal touches and we like the changes we have made.  We are excited about the changes we are making now.  It is so amazing to have hot and running water.  To have reliable electricity.  To have a roof that keeps out the rain.  I love the charm of my home and the character of the older things.  The new things are fun, too.  I am so grateful to have a friend like Jason that can help us transform our dream into reality.  I like the looks we've chosen for our home.  I am celebrating already that it is getting done.  It is going from my mind to paper to skilled hands to reality.  What an amazing transformation.  I saw the potential of this house when we first looked at it and hatched our plan to save ourselves from having a mortgage and here it is!  Becoming more than even I had first imagined.  I like having a house in a quiet town.  I like sitting under the stars here.  I like sitting around the fire here.  I like feeling cozy.  I really like my view.  I like my trees.  I like my yard.  I like that we have space to build a great patio.  I enjoy cooking and baking for my friends and family.  It is going to be so wonderful to be able to cook again!  I am so grateful that life keeps showing me my own resiliance and strength.  We have accomplished great things and our adversities have made us more compassionate with ourselves and others.  Thank you, God, that I can see this.  I am open and receptive to receiving my highest good and so many blessings that I"ll have to share with everybody I meet!   I love you, I love you, I love you!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

It works!

Day #4

Tomorrow will be Day #4.  Dan re-installed our original pump, which still works, earlier in an effort to restore our water.  It did not work.  Tomorrow's agenda includes going to my brother's apartment in town for a shower and calling a professional.  Good-bye budget!

Reno stood still today while Jason works on another job for a couple of days - our window issue and the siding not being in yet makes being here somewhat pointless.  The electrician didn't show today either.  But on the upside, I did make it through the day without an anxiety attack! :)  At one point I thought it was inevitable with a sick child at home, no water, and a muddy dog all seeming intent on driving me nuts, but it all worked out.  Managed to get the dog in his kennel, clean the house as best as I could, and took Maddie to the doctor.  Tomorrow is day #4 of no water but another day nonetheless!

Day #3

Today is the third day of having no running water and it SUCKS!  On Sunday, Dan spent ALL day digging  and repairing the water line between the well house and the house.  Sunday night, we thought it was all done and I was running water to clean something - renovation is dirty work let me tell ya!  So I'm cleaning away and all of a sudden the water stops running.  I alerted Dan.  Now it must have been around 8 pm when this happened.  They had just finished filling in the hole where the repaired line was buried.  Dan immediately worried that somehow the weight of 8 feet of earth had crushed the new line - despite the fact that the tubing we bought was specifically for what we were doing.  He didn't really know what to think about this.  The pump was still running, he could hear it.  He spent the next several minutes thinking and checking connections in the basement.  Maybe a line had been shut off.  He and Patrick were stumped.  Dan looked like he was about to cry.  Poor guy.  He had just spent more than 12 hours on this project and now he couldn't figure out what was making the water stop flowing.  Just as he was feeling totally defeated and asked me to take him to Rice to pick up his semi so he could drive it back home to Royalton so he could get a quicker start in the morning, he went to look at the well pump one more time.  He immediately saw the problem.  A hose had blown off the end of the pipe that goes into the tube underground, to the house, so the water was pumping right back into the well house!  When he "checked" the pump before, he had only listened and heard it running, he hadn't gone and looked.  There was probably a foot and a half of water covering the bottom of the well house.  He unplugged the pump and we went and ran our errands to let the water drain away.  When we returned home he was able to reconnect the pipe and hose.  The water had returned.

Then yesterday morning, when Dan got up for work, it was off again.  He woke me up to tell me before he went out to check on it.  This time, the other end of the hose had blown off the pump.  Wonderful!  Dan said he could fix it when he got home from work in the evening and I just had to buck up and prepare to live for another day with no running water.  I had a few jugs filled with water to last the day.  What really sucked was that I needed to do dishes after a weekend filled with running around and working on renovations they were totally piled up.  When Dan got home then he immediately got to work.  He primed the pump and water only trickled out.  "What on earth is going on?" we thought.  The line just would not pressurize!  It was Patrick's birthday and we had plans to go out for dinner, so Dan had to put it to rest.  He was exhausted from the intensity of working on it on Sunday and had no desire to work on it when we returned from supper.  He told me I would have to wait one more day and then he would even consider getting a new pump all together.  The current, non-working, pump was a new pump that he just installed last month.  He is thinking that when the hose came off during the night that by running dry all night it burned it out.  Man, I hope not.  I don't know what it could be, I don't know how the thing really works, I just hope it won't be a costly repair.  So, today is the third day (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday!) that we don't have running water.  I've loaded the dishwasher and tried to neatly stack the rest of the-desperately-needing-to-be-done-dishes.  I don't think I've ever been so disappointed not to do them.

Dan is going to work on it as soon as he gets home tonight.  I'm praying for a good outcome  - and water.

Update - w/pics!

Ok, so much has happened in the last few days I don't even know where to start.  Hmmmm, let's see....
Well, first of all I am back online via computer.  Jason (our realtor/contractor/computer parts man ;) hooked us up with an old CRT monitor.  That's the old kind that takes up a ton of desk space for those that don't speak techie.  Please see attached pic of said monitor - taken just before I typed this very sentence!

Look!  It's my blog!  On a CRT!

So yeah, Jason brought us a couple of monitors to try out and see if they worked.  What a great guy!  It was later Saturday evening before I got home to find them waiting in our porch.  I was eager to see if they worked and disappointed when I found that neither had a power cord attached.  So on Sunday, while Dan, Pat, and Christian all worked on digging up our yard, I took Maddie to run errands.  We went to Office Depot and had them look at our old flat screen.  They determined it was just fried and I paid $5 to have it recycled.  I looked at the new monitors, which were all very lovely, but I was fretting over spending $100 or more that I really didn't have in my budget.  Dan's called me the "Money Houdini" for years because I am so skilled at moving money around and squeezing out every last penny to make our budget work.  But, not this time.  Not in the middle of a renovation.  So, I'm standing there looking at these monitors I can't afford this week and suddenly I remember - power cord!  At a very affordable $15 I left with a new power cord and hope that this was all I needed to get back to using my computer.  It worked!

Also, last week my van was acting up.  Friday evening after Maddie and I picked up Dan from parking his semi, we were having dinner and when we left the restaurant we got in the van and again - nothing.  Dan went to take a look and found a loose connection to my battery.  He tightened it up and viola! it fired right up and haven't had any problem since.  Thank God that's all it was.  If I couldn't afford $100 for a monitor, I defintely would not be able to afford engine repairs.

Over the weekend, Dan's little brother, Christian, came up to help us.  Saturday was spent running to the home improvement store to get supplies and talk to them about our window problem.  Saturday night we tore out the closet in the front porch to make room for my new office.  Sunday bright and early the guys began digging on both the north and south sides of the house for water line repairs (south) and new electric (north).  I have a ton of pics from all the things that have gone on in the last week.  It's been a week since I had a way to get online with the computer.

Oh, and during the demo of the closet, I dropped my digital camera and messed up the memory card - which has the most pics on it - but I had a spare memory card so I am able to continue taking pictures.  Although, I find it a tad ironic that I nearly demo-ed my camera while demo-ing.  Glad it was just a close call and I hope to take my memory card to a computer geek to try and salvage the pics on it (I Googled it and supposedly it is very possible to do)

So here they are.  Pics from the last week...

Christian and Pat tearing out the closet.

Me.  Happily making room for my new office!

Maddie, on a day off from school, watching Jason talk on his ce --- I mean, install a living room window.



The former closet.  I think I might keep the clapboard siding as the wall in my office.



Digger Dan!

 

The north side of the yard all dug up and ready to be filled back in.

After repairing the water line on Sunday, a connection came loose and the well house began to fill with water.

Do old windows go to heaven?

Some things to look forward to...

Sitting here this morning, TV and computer-less, I am enjoying the very casual pace of eating breakfast and just thinking. Without hurrying to check the news of the morning or to see everyone's latest status update on Facebook. If we do get our satellite re-installed (we all do miss it) after the reno, I'm thinking that regularly scheduled breaks like this one would be in order. Last night after dinner, Dan, Maddie, and I worked on Maddie's turkey that was due today. About a week ago, she brought home a turkey cut from white poster board with the instructions that her whole family had to help dress it up. Waiting until the last minute seems to be my specialty (well to be fair we had other evening activities this week), so last night we settled in at the kitchen table and made a very impressive looking turkey if I may say so! We cut feathers of brown, red, yellow, and orange and wrote something we are grateful for on each one. Maddie wanted to use glitter so we made his head, beak, feet, and gobble sparkle with the appropriate colored glitter. I used scrapbooking stickers to spell "give thanks" across it's body and then used some punched out squiggles and bursts to finish a fun look. I can't wait to post a pic and I told Maddie we would have to use it as decoration every year from now on. That we'd always be able to say "remember making that turkey when Maddie was in kindergarten?" She smiled so big when I said that this morning.

Which brings me back to this morning. I'm sitting here enjoying the calm, blogging again from my BlackBerry, and thinking of the things I am looking forward to. Baking Christmas cookies was the thought that set this train into motion. I should have a working stove and oven again by Monday, maybe Tuesday at the latest. I need to get my family to submit their meal ideas and later when I go grocery shopping I can finally buy things again that need to be baked! What a wonderfully simple thing to be excited about! I love it!

Another thing I am looking forward to - tearing down the wall between the living room and the front porch. We are opening it up to give us more space and then walling off the remainder of the porch to serve as my home office. It's all very exciting. Dan's little brother Christian will be coming up this weekend to help us with some of the work we need to do. Probably will have to demo the closet in the front porch to make room for my office cabinets. We're renting an excavator to dig a new water line and also the electric is being moved under ground so that the boxes on the house can be moved from their current location, the very front of the house, around to the side - without having to take down any trees.

Regarding the windows, we decided to have Jason take one into Menard's and see if they'll give us a discount for the defect in the appearance. If so, we might be willing to live with it. If not, as much as we hate the idea of waiting, we'll probably opt for full replacements and hopefully Jason and Keith can side around the window openings or just get as much done as they can while we wait for new ones.

So yeah, we have a lot to look forward to, including the upcoming holiday's and seeing family and friend's. It's going to be great!

Today's Name of the Game: Aggravation!

I don't mean the game I used to enjoy playing while growing up with the marbles.

Today while more windows were being installed, I noticed a slight problem with the new windows. They look a little cockeyed to one side and several of them appear this way. First we called the store, then the manufacturer. To have a rep come and look at the problem will take 7-10 days and cost $250 if they determine it is not a manufacturer's defect, but we're certain it is considering that even some of the windows that aren't in yet have the same problem. Not to mention I've watched these installations with my own eyes Jason has done a great job on the installs. To get new windows will take another couple of weeks even if we fast forward the warranty process by taking one the defective windows back to Menard's for them to see first hand there. This could potentially be a huge setback! I called Dan and we agreed that he'll see when he gets home tonight. The variance is very slight and more visible on a couple of windows than it is on others. Maybe we can just live with it, but Dan's point is that if we're paying for new windows they better be right. I just hate to think of waiting another 2-3 weeks for our siding, which is scheduled currently for next week. So, if this weren't enough to be frustrated with, our computer monitor isn't working. Can't get on at all (I am blogging today from my handy dandy BlackBerry) and I have business on hold because I can't get on my computer to get the information I need. I can't get a new monitor until tomorrow at the earliest. Jason has a couple extra old ones that might, hopefully, work so I don't have to drop $100 I really don't have anyway on a brand new one.

Also, my van is acting up and the camera on my handy dandy BlackBerry isn't working. The van seems to have a short or loose connection somewhere because the other day it stopped running all together, wouldn't even show any signs of life. We left the battery charger on it all night and still nothing. I needed to move it out of the driveway to make room for Jason to come so I was going to have to push it out of the way. As soon as I slammed the hood, I heard the ding, ding, ding signaling the keys were in the ignition. "You've got to be kidding me!" I said under my breath. Sure enough I climbed in, turned the key and it started right up! The force of the hood slamming shut worked for the time being. I'll be taking it to get looked at soon. As for my BB camera not working, will have to talk to T-mobile. When I purchased brand new BB's for both Dan and myself just over a month ago, I opted to also purchase a protection plan for these way-more-expensive-than-we-should-buy phones, I also bought covers and screen protectors this time, too. I did not for my first BB and immediately regretted that the first time I got a scratch on it! So, hopefully for whatever reason the camera has ceased to function I can get it fixed or have the phone replaced under the protection plan.

Now that I've outlined everything that sucks today, I think I'm going to go take a bubble bath and feel continual gratitude that the house is still greatly improving from where it was - having hot water alone is still cause for celebrating!

Sorry no pic updates until I either have a working monitor or a working camera on my phone. *sigh*

A Rock In a Hard Place

Over the weekend, Patrick attempted to dig the holes for the posts that will support the new entry way. He stopped when he thought he hit a impenetrable root. When Jason arrived this morning, he was dismayed to find that not only were the holes not deep enough, they were even half as wide as they needed to be. So Jason got to digging and when I came outside with a cup of coffee for him, he pointed to this HUGE rock that Patrick thought was a tough root...

That ain't no root!

What a fun way to start off a Monday morning!

Jason said he nearly got stuck in the hole trying to get that rock out - talk about a rock in a hard place!

At this rate....

At the rate we've done laundry at the laundromat for over a year, we probably could have bought a top of the line set by now.  I am so tired of this.  This week we should have the electrical work done and I am going to keep an eye on Craigslist all week looking for an affordable washer/dryer set.  Once we have the electricity all done, it wouldn't make sense to keep spending $30 or more every couple of weeks trying to keep up with "Mt. NeverRest"  

On a side note, while I'm blogging, I am listening to a BlogTalk Radio show that was recorded at the Capitol Rotunda in St. Paul where I gave a speech last Saturday for The Rally to Restore Sanity in Minnesota.  Cool!

Under Construction

Since I last updated, work has been done on the roof and the new entry way.  Here are the pics!

Roof being prepped for repairs and new shingles.

What a mess!  (Glad I don't have to clean it up!)

Won't be needin' this anymore.

Jason sure does enjoy his work!

The new front door and entryway being constructed.

The old door removed.  Yay!!!  One south facing door down, one to go - the other door should get taken out tomorrow.