So yesterday, the meter box pole was to be delivered around midday but Thursday morning my phone rang at 7 AM (!) and it was the guy from McCoy's saying it was loaded and could be there by 8 AM. Uh, OK. So I dragged myself out of bed, got dressed and went over to the shop property about 7:30 with the heavy rake thinking that I would rake out the dirt around the house, smooth it out, make sure there was a slope away from the house. John the septic guy moved that huge pile of dirt that came out of the hole for the septic tank and spread it out for me with his tractor along the front and back of the house. As I'm sure you can imagine it was uneven and lumpy and even higher than the pad in some places. 8 AM came and went, 8:30 AM came and went, 9 AM came and went and finally the truck pulled up a little after 9. By that time I had finished raking the dirt into a nice slope all the way across the front of the house.
Anyway, the meter box pole got delivered and dumped on the ground near where it will be installed
and I went home for coffee and breakfast. Later Gunnar showed up with an estimate for hooking up the water and they would be here Friday. Well, here it is end of day on Friday and no plumbers and no hole dug for the meter box pole. Though I did get out there again at 7:30 this morning and worked on raking (and shoveling this time) the dirt across the back of the house which is an even bigger job as I have to deal with the septic tank that he piled the dirt on. It's a little more problematic along the back as the dirt is mostly at least as high as the pad and the whole point of the pad was to raise the ground up under the house higher than the surrounding land so that water wouldn't get under the house when it rained. I only got about two thirds done on the backside because for one thing I was working in the sun as opposed to the shade caused by the house in the front like yesterday, leaving the worst third in the center for another day. I know it will pack down some with time but I really want to get it graded before it rains again but who knows when that will happen.
It's really hot out there, late August hot and dry and omg so humid. The humidity is nearly as high as the temperature and the temperature is supposed to hit triple digits this weekend. Believe me, I won't be out there with the shovel and rake til this weather pattern changes. At 6 PM it is still 94˚ out there. At least we have our blue sky back again as the dust from the Sahara has dissipated for the most part.
And because It's so hot and dry, I've been doing a lot of watering again. The hose in the big backyard has/had three places where the outer covering had cracked and the inner tube was bulging out through the crack
and this morning when I went out and turned on the water, one of the spots finally gave and I had a geyser shooting up through the little hole. So off to the feed store for a repair/splice kit. They didn't have the size I needed so I tried the Tractor Supply which had a one size fits all so I bought two and should have gotten three. Anyway, it took a couple of tries to get the damn things on there tight enough so they didn't leak and they are huge.
I still need to get a third one but at least I can use the hose for now.
I see how that splicer works, but I sure couldn't get it installed.
ReplyDeleteI've used those before.
ReplyDeleteI'm still trying to figure out who is living and working where?
we live in a house. the acre and a half shop property across the street has the shop building that we use for storage and glass art making. the manufactured home that is being set up on the shop property is for my sister who is downsizing.
DeleteThank you so much.
DeleteEllen! Why is it your job to do all this work? I'm sorry. I'm just a nosy old hussy. But I know what this heat is like and it's not fit for mad dogs OR Englishmen and definitely not for even the toughest, strongest, scrappiest of glass artists. I'm looking at the chore of simply picking in the garden and at 9:30 it's already so hot that I'm not sure I can manage it.
ReplyDeletebecause if I don't do it, it won't get done unless I hire someone to do it. my husband has a lot of plusses but he is not an outdoors/physical labor kind of guy. he was better about that stuff when he was younger, he did build the barn but that was his swan song as far as that sort of stuff goes. I quit out there by 9 and by then I'm already soaked.
DeleteHope that weather pattern changes soon.
ReplyDeleteHmmm.... seems like its time for a new hose...
ReplyDeletenot until it gets too short to reach the furthest flower bed.
DeleteYou probably know about these, but I'm a great fan of those expandable hoses. I got a 50' one at Home Depot, and use it all the time at work. The primary benefit is that once you've turned off the water and the hose has emptied, it weighs less than a pound. I can carry it by looping it over my arm. I know some people say they don't last, but this is my third year for this one, and it often stays out on the dock in sunlight, etc. It hasn't worn by being dragged over concrete, either. As I recall, it was about $30, but if I can get three years out of it, I'm good with that. I know I don't have to tell you to be careful in this year. I'm good until about noon, but then I'm done until about 4 or 5, even if I have shade.
DeleteYou are an extraordinarily capable woman. Brute force manual labor and the most delicate strokes of art. You have such range.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy physical labor and I like to dig although usually I'm digging in the gardens and crumbling the dirt with my hands. this heat is a killer though.
DeleteI've never seen a splice kit like that! Dave's had to fix our hose a couple of times, but fortunately the breaks have been near the end, so he just cuts the broken end off and reattaches the nozzle. The hose gets shorter, but no more leaks.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't either. I much prefer the ones that are sized to the hose and the clamps screw together but these were the only ones I could find that would work.
DeleteAnd you do all this in that kind of heat. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteonly if I get up early and I'm done by 9 or 10 at the latest.
Delete