Chapter 21...Underground Propane And Septic Tanks

Off Grid...Chapter 21 Back to Monday- 8-18-08 We were woken up this morning by trucks coming up our driveway. Obviously it's someone we know because they know the combo to our gate. It was 2 of the men from our grading company. They were here to work on another ditch line. Because our road is so steep, it needs to be worked on a little at a time starting from the highest point and working our way down. When we had our first ditch dug we had to wait for a heavy rain to see what the water did. It worked to a certain point and now we have to add another ditch on the other side of our road. Working on the new ditch line. Using a dump truck to move the dirt. Just more equipment. They dug out the dirt, loaded it into the truck(because this is neater), and dumped the dirt for our future pond wall. These rocks also came out of the ditch and will be used for our pond. This is the new future pond site. We moved it down the road and across from the barn. Now we will wait for more rain, which will be hard because we are in a drought, and see what we need to do next to keep our road from washing out. Later that day Mike unscrewed the green board, where I forgot the insulation, and I put the insulation in. Mike re-installed the wall. The corner of the wall is left open until we install our shower. Tuesday- 8-19-08 Today our propane company showed up with our 1000 gallon tank. This is them digging a hole for our tank. Getting ready to put it in the ground. The subcontractor who is digging the hole is new so it took him numerous times to get the hole big enough to get the tank in. Finally they got the tank in the ground. While this was going on I went down to my Wild Blackberry patch to pick some berries. They have been growing wild for years. They need some TLC. I would love to trim them back, clean out the weeds, and maybe fertilize them so I have better and more berries next year. Does anyone know how far I am supposed to trim them? Advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. We also have a lot of apple trees, as I've mentioned before. I wanted to pick some but I can't reach any. The cows beat me to it! I have to buy a fruit picker which is a long handle with a basket and tongs at one end. You reach up with the handle, grab the fruit(apples) with the tongs, and the fruit falls into the basket. Now I just have to find one. I was told that you can store apples underground very easily. You dig a hole, put some straw down, layer non-bruised apples without them touching, put straw back on top, and put the dirt back. Apparently the apples will keep for months like this. I'll have to try it out as soon as I can reach my apples ha, ha. Back to the house and the propane man. These are the gas lines he is running throughout the house. More gas lines. And getting neater. The propane man took most of the day to do this job. Mike and I don't do well with other people around because we can't get anything done. I also used all the insulation we have and almost finished the bathroom. We need to get one more pack. Mike is almost finished installing the green board in the back of the bathroom. Wednesday 8-20-08 This morning Mike went down to the house and started installing our septic tank and our 36 inch wide plastic chambers. We installed a 750 gallon tank. And attached the chambers. The tank and chambers are both plastic for easy handling. We installed a filter in the tank and used 4" pipe to connect the house to the tank and then the chambers to the tank. We used the plastic chambers as opposed to the old perforated pipe and gravel for a few different reasons. One because we are allowed, two they don't clog like sock pipe and three you can use 50% less drain field. Finally we got that done. After that was done we got a call from a couple, Mae and Jim, who we know from camping. They are in town and wanted to stop and see us. They are the sweetest, nicest older couple we know. They are still best friends and they do everything together. I want Mike and I to grow up and be just like them. Anyway, it was great to see them and we had a really nice time. Later on Mike and I went back to the house and used up almost all of our green board. We are almost done with all the small pieces in the bathroom. Now the bathroom is all green and "really" ugly. Thankfully it won't stay that way. I also got a pm from another neighbor. He was told about our story and he lives across the way from us, way up high. We can see his house but not clearly. They also have some solar. He and his wife are supposed to come and meet us "today". I love this area. The majority of the people are really great. That's all for now. I hope you all continue to enjoy our story. Have a good day! Mike and Lisa