We have finally sprung into spring around here and the days are opening up to sun and lots of work. Although our little cottage is quaint it is beyond old and has a million issues - one thing always leads to another. I guess it is that way with everyone's home really. Fun on the farm this week included:
Leach Field: We had problems this winter with our septic tank and had a guy out to pump it. After that my husband rebuilt part of the cement tank and it has been sitting there with the forms in it for months. Well, today he pulled the plastic off and realized that the tank is holding, but the leach lines are either clogged or broken. You can't pump those out or blow them out - instead you have to put new ones in. We are, instead going to put a small one (I say we, but it will be him digging that trench by hand, not me) to catch the overflow. After he gets that all in and 30 feet of pipe out to the field he will build a composting toilet that we will find a space for somewhere. We had composting toilets at the intentional community we lived in and they were clean, efficient, and well maintained by a team of people. Now that team will be us (and I mean him). We will see how well that experiment goes.
New Gate: Our property is bordered on three sides by our city park and we have had people tromping (by accident) through our property so he built a new locked gate at the path in/out. It is a rusty barb wire, fenced, menacing structure that blends into the background until you come upon it. It, for the first time, has a lock on it and cemented poles that should keep people out. I didn't know until moving here that the line about fences and neighbors was so true!
Our Troll: We have three cats. One is ancient and has taken to doing her business on the laundry room floor so we have moved her outside during the day. One is young and sprightly and most often my office companion sitting on the edge of the desk. The other is one you only see if she is eating or running from one room to the other. Yesterday I let the skittish thing outside. She seemed happy enough... except she was to afraid to come back near the door to come in. We thought we had lost her, but instead she has moved in under the shed. So, now we have our own troll... or cat... who knows how long this will last. It really is always something.