Houston, we have liftoff! (So to speak...)

Today was a wonderfully warm, sunny day, high about 75F, warm breezes, a great day to be outside.

Last Saturday I was able to get the PEX installed. I'd estimated that it would take close to 300' and I was right. I had to lay it out in three zones because I could only get it in 100' rolls. The stiffness of the material had been a concern, that it wouldn't turn corners well, etc. However, it went down fairly easily and I had oodles of zip ties left over.

Today I went over after work and found the concrete guys just finishing up. They were quite helpful in letting me know how the pour had gone. They said it will be a few days before the new slab will take the weight of the tractor but that I could start putting the shop together Wednesday.

That's a long day for me but I think I'll start moving the kitchen cabinets out there this Friday, assuming it's not raining or nasty cold. The floor has a slope to it, so I'll have to compensate for that somehow or my work bench will have a slope to it too... :)

The backhoe will be delivered the Monday after Easter. Then I can start scratching around where the West Wing will go and see exactly how deep the soil and rock are there. The masons put the rock they dug out of the barn onto my garden spot, so I want to get that off there and put it behind the "pond" site to build a better road to the back field. Currently one risks getting bogged down when it's wet back there. There are also a multitude of holes around the place that need to be filled up so Eloise can mow effectively. Should make for a full day with the machine.

Speaking of Eloise, she's sprung a leak in her carburator and I lost about a gallon of gas dripped onto the ground... :( Not sure why that happened, but I'm just hoping it's a stuck needle valve or something. I'd hate to have to stop everything and rebuild her carburator right now. I turned off the gas at the little bowl beneath the gas tank, we'll see if that helps. I ran the battery down pretty far trying to get it to fire up, fortunately I have a good set of jumper cables and the tractor has been modified to 12V.

I walked around the areas we planted bulbs last fall (thanks, sis!) and counted something like 40 of them have sprouted. About 3/4 have flowers showing right now, some more have buds and a very few are just leaves. The ones with flowers are a mix, everything from miniature daffodils to full size narcissus. It really adds a nice touch to the place, I have to say. Didn't get any pix taken before the light died, unfortunately. The coming cool weather will hopefully prolong their bloom.

The weeds and briars make much of the place unusable so today I cleared a path through the weeds for the new roadway so I can dump the stone there next week. The "trash piles" on the south side of the house were treated to a hair cut as the brambles went away from around the power pole, etc. Amazing how much stuff is buried under those weeds. The neighbor says that his grandfather used to have large chicken sheds there, which would make sense of the piles of stone and cinder block and rotten boards I'm seeing. Hope I can remove the debris and get it cleaned up a bit. The briars make good cover for the birds, but the trash beneath is unsightly, so perhaps I can cut them back, pull the trash and then let it regrow.

Still need to get that permit application in this week so I can get moving.

Once I get the shop space somewhat in hand I can start rebuilding that north face of the barn and we'll really be cooking with gas! :)

Wasn't able to get a pic of the new barn/shop floor today, but I'll try to snag one Thursday and post it.

We're making progress!

Doug