Field Project, a Time Crunch, and a Major Plumbing Problem

Field 4-6-2014

Today's field picture was taken this morning at 8:38 am.  The temperature was 45 degrees Fahrenheit and the winds were light and variable.  It was chilly this morning.  When I woke up it was 35 degrees.  It is becoming warmer in the afternoons, and the plants are starting to bloom.  Yards are filled with jewel weed and dandelions.  I expect we will be mowing grass starting next week. 

Jewel Weed

I've been tied up all week again with working with the plumbers and the insurance company on trying to get the house fixed.  Since they had to jack hammer up the floor to fix the pipes that had rusted through underneath the slab, we decided that while the basement was a total wreck that we would have the plumbers come in to fix another plumbing problem.  When the washing machine cycles through, it overflows from the stand pipe.  The gray water box that the pipe is attached to does not work any more. They are going to have to jack hammer up another section of the slab to fix that problem too.  I'm glad that we decided to go ahead and call someone to fix it because to reach the pipe they need to tie into is underneath the slab, and the plumbers will have to jack hammer across the laundry room area into the room which already has the floor torn up in order to reach the pipe. 

Iris coming up.

So in the mien time, the plumbers had checked the septic tank while making a plan on how to fix the washing machine line.  They said that the tank was almost full.  This is bad news because we just had the tank pumped last year.  Tomorrow I have to call to have tank pumped and have a look at the problem.  Normally the tank is only pumped every five years.  I don't know what the problem is, but I can guess that it is going to be expensive to fix. 

Some of the work we are having done, such as the plumbing, really does need a licensed professional to make sure the work is done correctly.  And we had professionals come in to do the plumbing.  Beyond that, you don't need a contractor to repair drywall, paint, and lay flooring.  Most people have a contractor do it because it is easier and quicker than doing the work yourself.  So, I guess I should have seen this coming sooner, but after we got over being intimidated by the hole in the concrete we decided to do the rest of the repair work ourselves.   Hence, I've been in a time crunch all week trying to get things packed up so we can get to work.  Right now it is just all going into boxes.  When we unpack, a lot of stuff is going to the donation pile.  We have collected way too much stuff over the years and we really need to get rid of some of it.

I don't really mind doing the work.  My husband and I work well together as a team.  Unfortunately, we are in the middle of a floor to ceiling remodel of our cabin.  Before this situation came up at the house, our plan had been to start working up in the mountains this month.  Now our home has to come first and we probably won't start working on the cabin until autumn.  I guess that will push the completion date on that project to next spring.  It is always something. 

 All of these repair problems have put me behind in working on the diorama.  I did get out to purchase some materials, that I will need to build the house for the piece.  I could not decide on the scale of the wood I needed, so I ended up buying two sizes of wooden pieces.  I will have to experiment to see which is going to look best on the size of the house that is to be built.  Hopefully I will have some time this week to get started on things.  That's about all that has happened on my craft work this week.  I can hardly get into my studio with all the boxes stacked up in it.