The Road Home

The Road Home
There is no place like home.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Project Preparation Day

Our plans for today were to prepare for tomorrow and take it easy. It didn't end up that way. After breakfast we checked the incisions from my hand surgery and discovered one of them was weeping. A call to the doctor's office ended in a visit there, 60 miles away. That took a lot of our day that we had earmarked for other things, like taking it easy.


The next few days will be very busy. We are renting an excavator to dig water and electric lines. The electric line will go from the new pole the electric company set in the pasture for us a while back, to the barn. That will be the most simple installation we have planned.









The next line will go from the existing rural water line around the chicken pen, attach a no-freeze faucet at the chicken pen, then up to the barn where another no-freeze faucet will be installed.


 
The third line will start at the rain catchment tanks and run 400 feet down to the house. The two water lines will run in the same trench for the most part, so we will need to mark them to prevent confusion.

This is another long-term project that we have looked forward to for a very long time. I will probably give you an update tomorrow or Monday. We will get as much completed as we can over the weekend, while we have the excavator since it will be returned early Monday morning. These projects will meet several goals we have. We have wanted to have electricity in the barn since we had it built seven years ago. It will be very nice to have lights in the barn in the winter, especially since we have baby goats coming in a few weeks. These pictures will look very different tomorrow. I wanted to post these today before all of the digging starts. It should be interesting.


Running the rural water line to the barn will be very convenient. We've debated whether to do this or not considering the condition the world is in, but we will enjoy the convenience for as long as we can. Setting up the rain catchment system will provide us with a more sustainable water supply, than what is 'bought' from the rural water company. Not only will we be able to provide water for the goats, pigs and dog at the barn, it will provide water down at the house in the outdoor kitchen and garden.


Keep working on your preparations, whatever you need to have ready for your family. Time passes quickly, and there are never enough hours in each day. Make the most of it.

Until next time - Fern

10 comments:

  1. Is the rain catchment system pressurized or solely gravity fed?

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    1. Thank you for asking. It is solely gravity fed. If need be, I will attach a motor home water pump if I need pressurized water. But right now, it is gravity fed.

      Frank

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  2. How deep will your water lines be buried? When we dug in Lines for livestock we used to tuck the pipe along the corners of the trench then cover it with straw before we buried it...then [heaven forbid] if we had to redig we knew when we hit straw the line was close.

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    1. Hi, Fiona. At our latitude we customarily bury them 2 feet. The local water department recommends 30 inches. Good idea about the straw.

      Frank

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  3. Do y'all have experience operating an excavator...?

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    1. Hi, Smokey, thank you for asking. I do not have experience with an excavator, but the man that helps me on occasion does. He dug all 500 feet and then helped me cover the lines back up. I used the tractor bucket and he used the excavator. It went well.

      Frank

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  4. Wow it's busy at your place. Having water and electricity where you want it will be such a bonus and make life easier for you both. Hope your hand is on the mend Fern. Weeping wounds where stitches are is never fun. Keeping you both in my prayers.

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    1. Hi, Calidore. The lights in the barn are great. We have been waiting for 6 years for the completion of this project. The water lines are in the ground, and hopefully we will get them pressurized soon. The lights are great.

      Frank

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  5. wahoo...congrats!!! on the oth e r hand...how is your hand today?

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    1. Thank you, M.E. My hand is slowly getting better, still weeping a little, but better. At least I hope it continues.

      Fern

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