Tuesday 10.05.2010

I got up about 8, feeling much better. The sky was blue, and it was predicted to be a very nice day. Hmm, I had gotten the laundry done. I could go to the lake for an overnight. I started collecting my things, subtracting from and adding to my suitcase. That didn't take too long.

I had breakfast, dawdling a little, to make sure it's what I wanted to do. A long car ride, another tank of gas, and, hm, don't need much in the way of food. I was packed, loaded, and in the car by 9:45.

It was a beautiful drive up, and 65 degrees when I pulled into the driveway. All was well here, and I was most surprised about the amount of "pine straw"--the old pine needles--that has fallen in the last couple of days. We left on Friday, and I had swept, but everything near the trees has a layer of pine straw.

Mike, the insulation guy, called just before I got here, saying he was going to stop by and get started on the job. Cool.


I had unloaded and fixed my lunch when he arrived. He installed a couple of vents in the foundation, and right away, we could smell the dampness coming through. Then he "suited up" and went into the crawl space. First off, he found a source of water: the drain pipe from the sink to the septic was broken, misaligned, and all of that graywater has been going under the house. Hm. There was another area that was dripping, too. He is kind enough, and smart enough, that he will get the needed supplies and repair it.

As we were looking at the wiring, we noticed that there were wires on the ground. Trying to follow where they are from, and where they go, he pulled the wire up through the dirt. "Holy crap!" he exclaimed. I was trying to get the leaves and sticks and pine straw raked up and had started burning, and when I heard that, I came back to see what he was exclaiming about. He was backing out of the crawlspace with this wiring in his hand. It had been spliced together, and with only tape around the ends, and was under the dirt. So Not Good.

After looking in our garage to see if we had a junction box (we didn't), I went next door to see if maybe Evelyn had one. When I told her what we needed, she went into the garage, pulled open a drawer, and wa-la, an old junction box! I thanked her, and took it to Mike. He looked at it, went to his truck to get a couple of screws for it, when Evelyn came back with a brand new blue plastic one. I'm telling you, between the two of us, we've got a lot of stuff.

I turned off the power, and Mike did a proper connection on the wires. Geesh. That could have been really bad, with the wet dirt and all.


Then he went into the attic. The three bait packs that we had put up there were gone. Like, missing. So, it's probably mice, who have taken them somewhere. As long as they eat them. I don't know what else to do to get mice out of there. I can't set traps up there. I haven't seen any signs of activity in the house, though.

Mike did what he wanted to do, and was here longer than he anticipated, I think. He said he'd be back tomorrow evening to do some more prep work.

I finished my raking and burning, and the wind was easing as the sun went down. I sat outside, beside the house, and enjoyed the lake and the birds and the black squirrels and .... the chipmunk. The one putting acorns and birdseed down the hole beside the house.

I put the bucket out by the front deck again. It wasn't a half hour before I had "got me a chipmunk". I left the bucket out; I don't know if there are any more. Total = 22. Just from around the house. Amazing.

The temperature was dropping fast as the sun disappeared. The inside of the cabin had cooled off, too, so I clicked on the furnace. Click. Shoot.

I messed with that. Again. It's the same trouble, the pilot doesn't stay lit. Fortunately we have the radiant heater, which does a pretty good job. And the electric blanket on the bed, too. It's already 45 degrees out there.

I had sent Daniel an email, with photos. Of course, he called, and we had The Discussion.

I ate, washed dishes in the bathroom sink, showered, and wrote here.

Not sure if I'm going to do anything tomorrow. Maybe wax the boat? I'll be going home in the afternoon.

My left hand "bubble" isn't so prominent tonight, but the wrist is sore, like the right one is. Interesting.

Thank you for reading. Hugs.