It finally starts to get real.

It has been . . . a day. And then some.

The server that hosts our site has been a mess, and on the day that constitutes my heaviest writing workload, it wiped out, restored, rewiped, altered, and otherwise effed with my data all day long. I lost most of it, irrecoverably, and had to rewrite it virtually from scratch. it's up, but I'm told that the site is now down to outside users, so who knows? The only thing I know is that I will have no time to deal with it for several days, at least.

Last night, our plumber called and backed out of the job, citing "too many projects on his plate." That's a euphemism, by the way. At any rate, first thing this morning Wings called the plumbers I originally wanted to use, ones we have used before, and they and our builder met with us this afternoon. We have a preliminary quote for tomorrow's excavation work in hand, and they will be here tomorrow morning to break ground in the most literal sense of the term.

Meanwhile, our builder spent the morning on the phone making all the arrangements he couldn't make yesterday thanks to the holiday. We have multiple deliveries scheduled over the next three days, including loads of fill, cement for the pad, a roller and operator, and, of course, the pipe that the plumbers are going to lay (among numerous other things that I'm forgetting). I'm watching a few grand walk itself right on out the door first thing, but the truth of the matter is, we seem to be getting very reasonable rates across the board, considering what the more usual costs seem to be in this area. We're also getting expertise, and the value of that is incalculable. Adobe walls will commence before long, and our builder says he'll have us in the house before winter.

And so I am overjoyed, and profoundly grateful, and scared out of my skull. Most obviously, at the cost, and being able to keep everyone and everything paid.

At the moment, I am behind on EVERYTHING. EVERY. THING. This includes thank-yous and sundry other obligations. It doesn't help that the kitchen faucet broke, a casualty of too-many 50-degree temperature swings daily; that the crack in the tub that was there when we acquired this thing, and that Wings has repaired TWICE, broke into a full-blown hole (he patched it with Bondo this time, so, yes, I'm probably high as I write this); that four days ago, some of the chickens decided to gang up on one and oust her from the flock, and so I am now forced to crate her individually when she's not out doing her free-ranging thing (and the little beast forces me to chase her for hours to catch her). But I will be up by dawn again tomorrow, saying my prayers, cedaring the work site, doing my chores, and bringing everyone a new work by Wings, all before the builder arrives by 8 AM.

And praying for everything to go smoothly, and for us to be able to raise everything needed.

So. Yes, here's the beg for shares of our YouCaring page. Please use the widgets on the page itself, and spread it around everywhere you can think of where there might be someone willing to kick in a few bucks to help us have a real home after going on six years in this dysfunctional tin can. There are other ways to help, too; our Amazon wish list is here, and everything on it is health-related for us, or to keep the animals healthy. For those who prefer it, PayPal is here, and those who prefer old-fashioned checks to online donations can find the address here.

Tomorrow, I will have photos of the work as it commences. With a tiny little luck, I will also have overdue thank-yous sent. 

Thanks, everybody. I've hit the near-tears point several times today; I expect they'll be a flood tomorrow when this finally starts to get real.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2016; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.