Propane…

32 degrees - 2:25 - foggy...

This afternoon one of our two 500 gallon propane tanks was delivered.  Tony had previous cut out and cleared an area for the propane tanks to sit that is 200 feet away from the house and cannot be seen.  If we have to have propane tanks, I don’t want to see them!  The area is big enough to fit four 500-gallon tanks, but hopefully we won’t need that much.  Tony also had all the conduit lines ran and buried between the house and the propane tank area.  So when the propane guys got here they just had to unload the tank from their truck…

…then Tony jumped into the excavator and placed the tank…

…then the kids had to check it out…

…then one of the propane guys and Tony (down in the hole)

had to push the propane line thru the 200 feet of conduit…

…so it popped out in this hole by the house (the last 6 feet where the
hardest, having to push thru the last of three 45 degree bends)…

…after the conduit was pushed thru then it was time to hook up the regulator…

…then fill the tank (looking out the back window) and

after $1067 worth of propane we are done!

Random This And That...

34 degrees - 1:34 pm - blue sky...

Another gorgeous day on the mountain.  We have lucked out and had several really nice days in a row.  Extremely cold, but very nice out.

It's been a few days since my last post but we’ve had a week of battling ear infections and nasty colds and parents fighting them off (the colds, not the kids.)  So here is a little bit of what’s been going on…

For the past few weeks we have been waiting for two 500 gallon propane tanks to be delivered, set up, and filled.  So far the snow and weather in general, have pushed the deliver back and now they are trying to play catch up so hopefully they will be able to do it tomorrow… fingers are crossed!  I will go into more detail about the propane tanks once they are delivered.

Oh and of course we cannot forget Red… he is a mischievous little elf.  Here are a few pictures of what he has been up to…

Red was eating mini powdered donuts

Now he's eatting the Magic Reindeer Food

Weekend Projects…

50 degrees - 10:17 am - raining...

It’s a cold, rainy, fall day outside but thankfully it’s nice, warm and cozy inside because the weather forecast for this week is showing nothing but cold temps and more rain.  Fall is definitely here, and the number of nice days is now limited.

Tony spent the entire weekend out in the mud and rain trying to get some important projects done – smoothing out the backyard and getting the conduit project completed. 

After spreading out the large dirt pile in the backyard, we were left with a yard full of rocks and sticks.  So Tony borrowed our neighbors John Deere tractor to remove the debris and smooth out the dirt.  Now all we need to do is plant grass seed, hopefully it’s not too late in the season for that.

the backyard doesn't look that big --- but then I remember
that those stars are 12'x12' and the backyard is the size of the lot
that our last 2,164 sq ft house sat on --- so yes, it's pretty big in comparison.

He was also able to finally dig the last stretch of the trench for the conduit lines, from the edge of the backyard over to the well and propane tank area.  The conduit lines have been laid out but we were two sticks short.  Once we get those last two sticks in, the trench can be filled in. 

conduit lines at the edge of the backyard

conduit lines - black line turning left heading to the well and the gray lines
heading staight to the propane tank and generator house area

conduit lines for the propane tanks and generator



looking back towards the house and backyard



I just love it when things get to be crossed off the To-Do-List!

Laying Conduit (or trying to)…

57 degrees - 11:52 am - partially cloudy...

Last weekend the kids and I went to the beach again while Tony stayed home to get some projects done.  He borrowed our neighbor’s excavator, which is larger than the one he normally uses, to clear a path for the PVC conduit and water line, which need to be buried.

our neighbors excavator

Three hours into the project a hose breaks.  Needing to let the engine cool off before he tries to work on it, he went over to work on the chicken coop, which is almost completed.  He was cutting out the egg doors when the router gave out and died on him.  Needless to say, he wasn’t having a very good weekend.



the path has started to be cleared from the conduit to the propane tank area

Earlier this week, Tony was able to get a replacement hose for the excavator.  Our neighbor came down and helped him remove the old hose and put in the new hose.  When everything was put back together, he realized that it had a dead battery.  Yesterday while Tony was at work, our neighbor was able to charge the battery.  And now we have come to today – the excavator is fixed and ready to be used… or so we thought. 

While I am sitting in the nice warm, cozy house typing this blog post and making chocolate chip cookies, Tony and Jack are outside driving the smaller excavator over to the larger excavator for a jump.  Yes, that’s right, the battery is dead again!

So I will just skip ahead and tell you what project Tony has been trying to work on… finish burying the PVC conduit and water lines.

He has already buried the PVC conduit and water lines that run from the house and through the backyard.  Now he needs to clear a path and dig a four-foot trench from the edge of the backyard over to where the well and propane tanks will be located.  This is around 250 feet away from the house.  The well and propane tanks will be accessible but not visible from the house, which is exactly what we want.  Now only if the equipment would cooperate.

carved out area to hide the two 500 gallon propane tanks