We're about to hit Stage III very fast. Like in a tornado.

This was how my day began. 

Actually, no; I'd been up for two hours already at that point. Anticipating what would happen today kept me awake pretty much all night (and with a migraine, natch), and just after four this morning I gave up and got up in the dark. But this was what greeted me with morning prayers.

You've seen the early stages already. This is what happened next.

As I said, we found out that the septic system installed seventeen years ago had actually been installed improperly across the board. Nowhere near the frost line, much less below it, which explains why the plumbers had to come out this winter and literally hack several inches of ice out of the system. It also was not installed on a grade (i.e., between water line, septic tank, and leachfield), and so the water just, well, sat there and froze.

Which means we're going to need a whole new septic system (to the tune of $7Gs, when the time comes, but even for today, it still added half a grand onto the estimate because of the drastic change in placement of the pipe and turnouts and cleanouts. 

But we have them! Behold:

Earlier, I also mentioned another obstacle: Digging for the water line, they accidentally cut the power line to the well. No power, no pump; no pump, no water. They fixed it on site, natch, but here's what it looked like for a while:

After fixing the power line, here's the water line going in between teh well and the house site:

Here are the brother-in-law's horses watching everything, the nosy butts:

They're staying in the adjacent field for a while, and we're taking care of them. They didn't actually have names, at least not much beyond, say, "Horse," and "Girl," and so forth. They do now. From left: Akii, Anang, Asemaa, and Aseke [all from my language; Earth, Star, Tobacco, and Hide (i.e., tanned leather)]; the duns are mares, and the starred bay boys are geldings, thank all that's holy. 

The plumbers finished up about 1:30, but have to return tomorrow to run a conduit for the fiber-optic cable. Buffy finished up about 3:30, with this:

Get a load of that tamp job. Tomorrow, he brings the roller.

Rebar:

Our brand-new water line:

About 4 PM, a fourth load of fill. The last, I hope, except for the crusher fine to come.

A post marking the septic line turnout to where the new leachfield will be, complete with Spice the Exiled Hen flapping her wings at shadows:

Spice has, by the way, adjusted so thoroughly to her solo apartment in the old dog crate that tonight, when I went out once again to try to catch her and put her in for the night, I discovered that she had taken my unsubtle hint of removing the crate roof, let herself in to her new digs, and settled down for the night. Smart girl.

Tomorrow, we're supposed to begin ordering bathroom fixtures and kitchen appliances. Late today, I learned that they expect to start on the adobe on Monday — yes, THIS MONDAY, as in five days from now — which means that we HAVE to order windows. So, of course, I'm thoroughly terrified, because, um, money. LOTS OF IT.

So, you know what comes next.

Please keep sharing the link to our YouCaring page. I'd really like to close this one out by the first of the week, because I need to launch Stage III, which will be windows and fixtures. The best way is to use the widgets on the page, but we'll take whatever works. If you feel inclined to kick in five bucks, that's greatly appreciated, too.

Thanks from both of us to all of you for your help thus far. I'll have some more pretty pictures tomorrow,and the next day, and Monday's should be . . . interesting. Hopefully not Chinese-curse "interesting."

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