Ah Yes, And So It begins

We did our monthly check on our Lady this past Sunday, and she had some more surprises for us.

When we pulled in the driveway the first thing we noticed was that our holding tank flag was at Full Mass. This is a problem, as the holding tank was emptied at the end of the Fall, and there has been very little water use since that date. This can only mean a couple of things. One, that there is a leak in the tank, Or two, there is a leak in our lines to the holding tank.

Last Summer, I had a scope put into the tank and had an official inspection done on the tank, so it’s probably not the tank its self. But remember the leaking roof and the fact that we had to adjust the side of the house, well that is probably the problem. With best guess from the professionals I spoke with, it looks like we have to dig up the lines and probably replace the old ones.

They tell me, that because we had hardly any snow this year, that they got lots of rain, which means I have rain run off in the holding tank. So problem number one, the lines have either cracked from old age or they got shorted and pulled with the house adjustment.

I made arrangements to get the tank emptied right way. That holding tank has all the water and waste in it from the house, which means, Brown Water and we don’t want that over flowing in to the yard.

That also means, digging up the yard, which mean, BOBCAT.

That brings me to problem number two.

When we put in the new septic system, we knew we would have to have the front yard leveled. The new tank has settled nicely, but we now have Pothole City as the front yard.

This mean, I need a soil delivered and yes, a BOBCAT.

A few phone calls later, I was able to get a hold of Jim, the man who installed the Septic. He is heading to the cottage this week to give me a price and arrange a day for the Bobcat to go in to dig up the one part of the yard and to level the rest of the yard.

Two problems and I haven’t opened the door yet.

That’s where problems number three and four, showed up.

Back to that bathroom and the leaky roof.

Now that the bathroom has had a chance to dry up from the years of the slow leak, the ceiling is completely rotted. The drop-ceiling has to come down and what looks like a science project gone bad, other wise known as the insulation in the ceiling, needs to come out and be replaced.

Then there is the bathroom floor. Well, it’s spongy to walk on, which also means the years of dampness has now rotted out the floor.

OK, lets talk window. The bathroom window is at least thirty years old and we are going to have to replace that now too. That would be problem number five.

On the happy side, the roof didn’t leak.

Then there was problem number six.

We were told to not to turn off the pilot light in the new Cast Iron Stove because the dampness would rust the pipes on the new stove. So we did as we were told.

By some luck or intuition, I decided to see how much fuel it had cost to run the stove over the winter. As that turned out, it was a good thing I checked.

The fuel delivery is going up also this week. Another couple of weeks and we would have been out of fuel and would have had to have the lines blown and get the stove restarted.

Did I mentions the trees? About the trees, my early Spring project will include tree climbing, they are in needed of some serous attention and pruning. That was lucky (problem) number seven.

So as we are getting ready to start again, adjust have been made yet again, on what we plan to do this year.

The bathroom that we had no plans to touch for two years as it is part of the new addition, is getting a face lift and will become our temporary new bathroom. I have to admit, I won’t miss the boat toilet.

Bedroom number two, will get finished and the new built-in beds are a go.

The landscape can get started on the front once the we level the front yard and fix the water system.

And the cottage will get insulated this year, to keep down the years fuel cost.

The plan is to still gable the front, that is, if our Love Shack will behave and not give us any more surprises. I’m now starting to re-think her name, maybe she should be called the MONEY PIT.

It’s only March First and here we go, and so it begins. With that being said, right now I miss my view from the pool.