I had a pleasant surprise today as the contractor that came out Friday called and told me he could bring his guys out this afternoon to start the work in the back yard. I really had thought it would be several months before they could get here to do the work.
The guys dug three different holes before they found the drain pipe they were looking for on the north side of the retaining wall. They then dug a hole on the south side to uncover the pipe on that side.
When the house was built the pipe was only put out to the end of the retaining wall and not extended out further like it should have been. The guys are going to come back tomorrow with the material they need to extend both pipes out to the end of the yard. The pipe is about six to eight feet deep and they will need to dig a trench that deep all the way through the back yard on both sides.
I’m so grateful Jim is here and has been watching what they are doing as I don’t understand any of it. Jim says they know what they are doing and their plan should work. He is going to have them extend the trench he hand dug through the middle of the back yard so we have better drainage there too.
I have no idea how much all this is going to cost. It had to be done to prevent more severe damage to the retaining wall and to the house. They found a lot of wet spots where the water has been accumulating instead of draining like it should, especially on the south side.
When I delivered eggs today I drove by the rental house. The handyman got the front porch painted and the steps repaired. The house is really looking nice. We still need to repair a small part of the foundation and burn the big burn pike and then I think we can stop working on it for a bit. We still have lots of rocks in the yard that need removed but I think those are going to wait. They won’t go anywhere and they aren’t causing problems. At some point we need to do some drainage control at that house too but I am out of patience and money and it is going to have to wait.
I am feeling better today. I’ve only gone four times which is a nice improvement from the weekend. Food is starting to sound good again but I am trying to be cautious and not push things just yet. I want to get several good days behind me before I start trying to add real food in again.
My doctor’s office sent me a note today letting me know they had faxed the referral information to the infectious disease doctor in Topeka. They gave me the name and phone number of the doctor’s office in Topeka and told me that office should call me soon to schedule an appointment. I didn’t hear from them today but I have been down this road before and understand it may take several days or more before they reach out to me.
When I went down to gather eggs this morning I found the chicken that has been getting picked on sitting in a nesting box. I picked her up and put her in a different box. There was another chicken in the same box with her so I picked her up too and put her on the ground. I gathered the eggs they had been sitting on and turned around and found an egg on the ground. The chicken I had picked up and put on the ground had just laid her egg. Talk about a fresh, warm egg!
We got all the smoke detector batteries changed last night. The taller ladder really helped make that job easy for me. We changed two light bulbs in the furnace room while I had the ladder out. Good to have fresh batteries in all the detectors. I got good at figuring out how to put in the batteries by the time I was done. This house has 12 smoke detectors. I’m so grateful the two tall ones don’t have to be changed for 10 years.
Ellexia may come out tomorrow for the day. She was going to come out today and then remembered she had somewhere to go. I need to pick up a few groceries when I go to town to pick her up. It will be fun to have her out for a bit. Maybe she can help me bake cookies while she is here.
I confirmed with my house sitter that she is still able to come take care of the house while we are in Colorado in August. I never worry about things when she is here. I’m so lucky to have found her.
It is nice to have a stretch of empty space days. My body has needed this quiet time to recover. I am almost feeling good enough to get some things done around here. It feels so good to feel good!
Grateful the contractor worked me in so soon, grateful the referral to the specialist is in process, and grateful to feel alive again.