This blog has gotten awfully quiet, hasn’t it! We’re still here, camping on the property and waiting to get our permit. We’ve settled in quite nicely at our “campsite” and we’re enjoying the experience. At this point we’re pretty close to our permit (we think!). We’re waiting for one more set of corrections then we’ll submit those to the county and then we should either have our permit or further corrections in about a week to a week and a half. We’re really hoping to get those other corrections ASAP, but it is out of our hands. Right now we’re planning on starting on the foundation and septic system in the next couple weeks, then getting our SIP panels at the end of the month. Nothing is certain though at this point, but it does seem like we are still moving in the right direction. We’ve started looking for a trailer, but so far we haven’t found anything yet. We’d like to have one by the end of the month but since we’ve decided to get a used one it just depends on when the right one comes up and if we’re able to jump on it fast enough to get it.

I’m writing this on Matt’s laptop while I’m sitting on the property. It is completely dark and all I can hear are crickets and one lone airplane far up in the air. The stars are spectacular, especially since the moon isn’t up yet. We don’t have internet access here, but Matt should be able to post this tomorrow once he gets into the office. We’re trying to use MarsEdit to do remote blogging, so we’ll see how that works. I’m not sure I can do pictures this way though, unless my husband is kind enough to add them to the post once he is in the office.

Alright, I’m up far later than I usually am (it is 10:45, my goodness!) and it is time for me to walk the 150 steps to the porta-potty then scramble back to the tent and crawl into our sleeping bag. Yes, it is a different sort of life, but it is actually a pretty good one. 🙂

It was a simple task.

Install a new mailbox at our property so that we could start receiving mail after we move up there.

I borrowed a post hole digger and a pick.

I measured the height of the other mailboxes there and decided that 39″ above ground and 18″ below ground would give me a nice base and put the mailbox at the proper height.

I measured and cut the treated 4×4.

I began to dig with the post hole digger.

The ground was hard so I broke it up a bit with the pick.

I continued to dig with the post hole digger and hit a few rocks.

I used the pick to get them out.

Post hole digger – more rocks.

More rocks.

More rocks.

Larger rocks.

I can’t work the pick in a hole that’s only 8 inches across as I go deeper.

I look over the meager tools at hand – mostly carpentry and a few electrical.

Hmm…a screwdriver…and a hammer…

In the end, I dug most of the whole with a screwdriver and my hands.

I scratched around with the screwdriver until I’d broken up the dirt, then pulled it out by the handful.

I scratched around rocks like an archaeologist trying to get enough free to pull them out.

I occasionally used some well-placed pick blows to break loose extremely recalcitrant stones.

It took me 90 minutes to dig an 18″ hole.

But, here’s the end result:

I wonder what it costs to rent an auger…

When we bought the property, there was already a well on it which saved us the cost and trouble of having one dug – especially because the well is 480 feet deep. About a week and a half ago, we had someone install a pump and pressure tank for the well. It’s a pretty neat system because there’s a controller at the tank that takes single phase power and converts it to three phase power. This three phase power is then run down the well to the pump motor. Since it’s three phase, you can use a smaller wire and it saves you some money in the installation.

Another cool thing is the pump itself. It’s a variable speed pump. When we need more water to keep the pressure up, the controller just speeds up the pump. It’s supposed to be a more economical implementation in terms of power used and easier on the pump. In addition to that, you need a much smaller tank too. Since the tank is only there to provide a little buffer for the motor, it’s only 11″ in diameter and 22″ tall. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of the setup but it’s a nice little package.

We’re going to run wires up to the pump some time in the next month and build small structure around it for protection and to help keep it from freezing. The wires will let us plug in a generator down at the house site. I had planned to hook the generator up to the well at the well head and test it out, but none of the hardware stores in town carried the twist-lock plug I needed so I’ll have to do that next time I’m up.

All of a sudden, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed…

The scheduled part of my day tomorrow
——————–
– 8 AM – go to hardware store and pay for lumber for a small workshop^[1]

– After 8 AM – go to ReStore and see if they have windows and/or a door for said workshop

– 12 PM – meet with a contractor to discuss getting a pump and tank setup for our well and get copies of our site plan

– 1PM – meet with SHS to get our documents for submitting to county (Yeah!) for a permit.

– Before 4PM – submit paperwork with the county

Other things to fit in
——————
– Drop off stuff at storage unit
– Figure out what oil I need for our generator
– Pick up said oil
– Get gas for the generator
– Build ramps to move the generator in and out of truck
– Pick up the generator and other stuff from storage unit to take to the property
– Meet hardware store delivery truck on property (I hope) – there’s a chance they won’t be able to deliver tomorrow
– Meet with someone about a possible office space
– Eat lunch (it’s not pretty if this doesn’t happen)

The only bits that I’m really worried about are actually getting the material delivered and making sure that it doesn’t conflict with either of my afternoon meetings or submitting paperwork.

[1] I’m building a small 8’x16′ workshop to store tools in during construction and to get more experience with actual building.