Again, yes, another perc appointment!

This is the fifth one, so far, and it isn't over yet. It is scheduled for later this week. Today I have to go meet Sammy to discuss some more holes.
Hopefully one day, we will move on from septic hole to water well hole!
I'm trying to rationalize the high cost of Septic World. If I get to use the shale out of the knoll for around the culvert, and use it for the driveway, and pick up the 1100 sq of free new, still bundled, shingles in Chatham, and then get the barn for free, more free stuff from the yahoo freecycle and yahoo reuseit groups, and other places, maybe all the mucho $ I may have to sink into, or rather on top of, the ground for septic, may balance out.

Honestly, I could use a composting toilet or an outhouse! Now, there is an idea. Think about it, how many people use the outhouses at Heldeberg Workshop, for how many years...

Power company

The 'big guy' power company cleared the site for the dig, as per Dig Safely...They left me a message, like Friday.

Eats

Suzie made blueberry muffins for the second presoaking morning romp in the woods...or should I say night romp? It was pitch black afterall. The warm muffin was great at 5:30 am.
I made peach and blueberry pie with a touch of cranberries, along with warm spiced cider for the celebration after the perc. Well...okay no perc, so we ate it during the investigation into other test sites. The snack in the woods of pie and cider was a second treat that morning.
Hey, even though we have no septic site yet, a girl's gotta eat!

Research costs

Sammy's looking into $ for sand, etc. and pricing the septic out. He thinks we can use all the rock for the driveway and around the culvert, so that will save us money and I can consider that savings into the septic.

The rock I'm referring to is in the pics of Sammy's excavator. It is sitting on top of a pile of what he dug out of the knoll.

Too much rock

County guy said the soil up on the knoll is no good for the septic. He didn't do the perc, he just looked in the holes. Anyway, we are going to dig new holes down toward the main road. Hopefully the soil may have eroded down to the lower level and left deeper top soil. Sammy was there and got the info and will bring the excavator back in and do more digging.
I picked up Suzie at 4:40am and we had already presoaked the holes. Well...we are getting pretty good at it. We are developing a system now, lol. I pick her up, she carries the lights, I pour the water, she has baked goods ready to eat for our reward.
Everyone is scheming on how to scare us/me. Suzie talks about witches and then had the idea that Sammy should have left a dummy on the bench. Neighbor and his wife think he should hide in the 6' hole and jump out at us...I'll have to be prepared with heart pills for the next jaunt out into the dark and spooky woods at 5am! Who knows what they will have in store for us.

Pow, pow, pow.

I wish I was running this thing!

It's raining , it's pouring, the old man is snoring.

It is still raining. The county said we should reschedule the appointment.

I felt the blood rush out of my face today. I left a message for the county guy about the rain and inadvertintly said "the intermitent stream has water in it". Never say stream when you are talking septic. That may be the cardinal rule of perc tests!
Hello, Treefort girl, what were you thinking? God, I felt awful, so a big swear word came out of my mouth, repeatedly, when I told Sammy what I had done. (I was swearing at my retardedness, not at him.) He said it would be alright, that once county guy sees the 'drainage ditch' he would see it was okay, and afterall, the stream is 100' from the septic area.
I said maybe I should make up a list of words to never say to the septic, well, road, planning board people or anyone else for that matter, that has anything to do with giving me approvals!

One Pizza Town

I may not have an address from the one pizza place town, but instead from the no pizza town! Since the main road use to go in front of the log home and the yellow house, their address is for the one pizza town. The rest of the road is for the no pizza town.
Once I get a green light on the perc, the well, subdivision, etc. I'll see if I can convince the US postal system that since this piece of land really is part of the yellow house parcel that indeed my forthcoming address needs to be for the pizza town.
Gosh, I just don't want to be from the Holler! lol
It will be funny that I grew up in the one town and now will live on the same parcel, but I will be living in a different town. Huh?

Dig safely

As per my call on Wednesday, digsafelyny.org contacted 4 utilities. Verizon called and came out , I never heard from the others. Verizon left an ok mark, so we are good to go. It was funny because one of the utilities does not do service on the road, another was for a town road (this is a county road) and for a service that also is not available on this road, but bureaucracy is bureaucracy and we all have to do what we have to do in our jobs. Just glad it is all clear for underground cables, pipes, etc.

Perc test rescheduled due to rain

Rain all week, on and off, light and heavy.




Tuesday's test date turned into Thursday and now Thursday's perc test is now next week.

This is all for the best. I need it dry, dry, dry. Not one extra ounce of water to mess up the drainage. This gives me more time to go chant prayers, burn sage, and meditate on a successful perc at the property. Maybe I'll bring some crystals with me this time.

4am

Rise and Shine and get my butt outta bed.

Picked up Suzie at 4:45, yes, AM!!! She had generously volunteered to go with me in to the dark and spooky woods at 5am. Am I lucky or what, to have a friend like her? We had so much fun. I asked if she was ready for an adventure and while laughing, she said she was.

Off we went, flashlights and floodlights in hand. I had a box cutter in my pocket just in case we had to skin The Bear (as he is called). Once at the property with video camera in hand, we found our way in the misty rain, through the mud and over downed tree branches, through the intermittent creek, up the knoll, and squeezed between the excavator and the 6' hole, laughing. Hearing shale falling way beneath our feet, we made it to the other side where the perc holes are. Yeah!
I felt like dancing around and was showing Suzie each hole and what is was for and how deep they were. I showed her the water supply kept under the pine tree in the tin honey cans. We were giggling and acting like children in the excitement and drama of the moment, there in the dark, in the rain, in the moment that effects my future, all of our futures out on the hill.

The perc holes were still covered with plywood and tin to protect them from the rain. I removed the covers and in unison we remarked at how dry they looked down deep. After I put in a couple of gallons of water, Suzie thought I should do more. The directions were unclear, the paperwork said to presoak it, and the phone call notes said to fill it. I went to about 22 inches full and we decided that was enough. Budding engineers we are. Always best to decide collectively, that assuredly makes us correct.

We stood there a bit and watched for it to drain. Suzie saw it drain, I was too preoccupied. On the second hole, I saw it go down. Happy with our success, we tromped off back to the truck and around the mountain to Suzie's house where she had freshly made coffee cake cooling for us to eat.

What really amazed me is how much one can accomplish when they get up early and get a move on, of course, I'm exhausted now and it isn't even morning break time at work.

Hours later the perc test is rescheduled again. The county said not to shoot my foot and we should wait til next Tuesday 10am. (Didn't I try to reschedule yesterday when I asked to do it next Monday or Tuesday and the county said it was just a little shower, no biggie, cover up the holes and they will be fine???) Go figure.

Kobe's visit

I was just about to unload more water at the site when Neighbor drove by, stopped and volunteered to get Kobe to help. Kobe, otherwise known as Kubota, is the coolest little RTV that can do it all. It has a wench, dump box, fat wide tires with thick tread for muddy trails, climbs nearly vertical grades, and more. Off Neighbor went and arrived back with Kobe within a few minutes. We loaded up the water, jumped in and off we went up the knoll. Cool ride and it saved me time and muscle power.