Want to know what I'm itchin' for?

We spent this entire weekend being eaten alive by chiggers. Those little pests that rarely chomped past my ankles as a kid took me and my entire family hostage this weekend. Well, except for little Evie, that would be unethical. As soon as we got home last night we headed for the showers and used our scouring, scrunchy thingies to itch and scratch to our hearts content. Then we tried out a few of the remedies we found on the Internet which only work temporarily at best. We have now surrendered to just suffer through it to the end. I'd show you pictures but that would leave a lot of scarring on your minds for all eternity and I just can't have that on my conscience. I would however, like to show you some pictures of what Jeff did out there.



This was the majority of his weekend...digging dirt and shoveling gravel. That was back braking, labor intensive work that left every shovelful filled with his blood, sweat and tears. Okay, maybe that's a little overly dramatic, but there was a lot of sweat involved! That little bit of white PVC he's shoveling around is a part of the septic system he rerouted to where our first floor bathroom will be located.




Here's the other end of the plumbing (the receiving end.) No, we won't be needing a ladder to climb onto the toilet. Remember, the house will be up on piers. I'll be glad when we no longer have to use our makeshift loo in the woods but that's still a ways off. Jeff says he'll be glad when he's moved past this phase and the framing starts. The work that involves wood and nails is his favorite part. Mine too. That's when we'll really begin to see what's in our heads and on paper start coming to life.


That was Saturday's work. Now, that may not look like much, but if you consider that his very slow, small army of a family always wants to be where he is, plus all the necessary errand running before the work, it suddenly feels more like a major accomplishment.






Sunday started with suckers from the gas station and of coarse, a trip to Lowe's for all things electrical. Apparently the previous house (a mobile home) was wired with too small of a wire. Could that explain why there appears to have been a major fire around the perimeter of their home site?? Maybe, maybe not. The mobile had been removed before we ever saw the land so we'll never know.

So, that was unexpected expense numero uno...upgrading the wiring to 200 amp service. How much you ask? Just under $500.


(Please, no comments from the peanut gallery about my caddywhompus photo layout...I'm still learning.)





Yep, that's the new electrical box with the big, fat wiring. Don't worry the wires aren't live...yet.






He climbed up that pole as high as his ladder could get him, to do that! Very scary! (At least it was for me.)



The good news in all this is we won't ever need to upgrade our electrical in the future. This should handle anything we throw at it just fine. Now the electric company has to come out and hook it up for us at the tippety top of the pole, then we'll be in business. That's the end of this very long post. (Finally!) Hope you all have a great day!