The Catching Up (again) Post

 Things haven't slowed down, but the work that's being done now is hard to see.  Little things structurally, and the plumber, heating man, and electrician have all been here in the past week working away.  Lots of wires and tubes and pipes have sprung up everywhere.  It's not that exciting or noticeable, so days 37 through 43 are combined together.

The biggest thing has been...drumroll please...stairs!

 

No more going outside and all the way around to get into the basement.  It's a magical thing.

And the wires and tubes and such...

It's the unglamorous phase of the construction, but the most important.  My plans for gas heat in the form of a woodstove-like appliance were nixed as there wasn't enough room between the floors to place a vent.  Instead we've gone back to the 4 head mini-split, which is rated to work efficiently to -13*F.  There will be one head in my bedroom, one in the corner of the diningroom, one in the livingroom, and one downstairs in the den.  The money I was going to sink into a gas stove will go toward a generator; if we lose power, I lose heat since the mini-split is electric.  The electrician is wiring for an ample sized manual start generator which will handle the mini-split, the water pump, the refrigerator, and a few outlets.

After seeing what the electrician has set up, I have more outlets than I know what to do with.  Love that!  

Last weekend Mom and Neil were able to burn one of the brush piles, too.  I hate burning brush, so I just watched.

Just a dark spot in the pasture, now.  That makes me very happy!  Mom tried to get the other pile burned, but it just wouldn't catch.  That one may be there for a while.

In the meantime, more rain.  The way the leach field is raised up, it's turned a normally small damp area into a rather large area that collects and keeps water.

I hope to bring in some material to fill in the drop between the leach field and the pasture to make it a little less drastic.  I may take advantage of this wet area and create a large water garden in this spot. 

Yuck.  There's just ice everywhere now.  Spring can't come soon enough.