Having moved the caravan to the farm on Tuesday, it was down to serious digging on Wednesday. We purchased the 60m of pipe needed for the pipe run and returned to the chapel to begin. Nick is using the mini digger just like an extension of him, he is so skilled at using it and knowing the exact moved on the levers to make in order to power lift large rocks, granite blocks or just the right jiggle factor to separate soil from stone. It is both fascinating and amazing to see how the arm does its thing and a level trench begins to appear. Nick was able to reveal but not break or crack the 3 clay surface water drains that crossed the pipe run although that did make the progress slower over that section and the next morning free from those restrictions he finished the rest of the pipe run in record time. We were using another amazing piece of kit in the form of a laser level. This, once set up to the right level, allowed us to check the fall on the trench by just lowering a measuring rod into the trench every few metres and wait for the buzzer to sound. If it was a steady beep it was bang on the right level and if it was intermittent, looking at the display panel showed an arrow to tell you if it was too low or too high and allow you to adjust accordingly. The soil was just right not too wet and not too dry so the trench did not fall back in on itself or slump into a watery mush. It is mostly grey blue clay with slate chips in and the occasional granite boulder. The area in front of the chapel has a layer of brown coloured top soil in contrast to the grey and must be the original field level. We spent the afternoon joining pipework and adding shingle to create a pipe bed layer which protects the pipe from sharp objects and will help to equalise the pressures around the pipe when the trench is filled in. So by the end of the day we had pipes in the ground all connected up to inspection chambers ready for Building Control to check the following morning. It is amazing how the ground seems to be capable of looking like it runs both up and down at the same time in some places! So if all is good tomorrow we will have drains ready to be connected up to the main sewer in a fortnight. Then we just need to add some bathrooms on the other end and we will be a fully connected home with water, drains, electricity, telephone and internet!
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The great thing about caravans is they are on wheels! Nick, our man with a digger who is going to help put the drains in, well maybe more accurate to say who I am going to help put the drains in, came to get stuck in. When we looked at everything and after some creative thinking it was impossible for him to get the mini digger in the right place to start the drain run. Even after removing the awning, the caravan was just going to be in the way. His solution was to move it to his farm up the road! So I packed up and he organised his brother with a very large quad bike to tow the caravan the half mile to his yard.
My face must have been a picture when they turned up with a quad bike but it worked and in less than 5 mins it was all attached and on its way. Sadly it was all so quick I didn't take a photo! I will try to get a few when they take it back next week. It has been different being on the farm, for a start the caravan is level and that makes everything seem so much better! I hope when we return it back home we can get it nicely set up on a level. Nick was able to connect up the electric hookup and I filled the water store, so all good to go! I have a barn with cows in on one side and a stable on the other. There is Davy the rescued race horse in the field who likes to chew the wooden fence and run around neighing and one of the cows is waiting to have her calf any day. They have two dogs both who seem very friendly and luckily have seen me chatting with Nick as he tells me they can be great guard dogs when uninvited guests turn up! Spring is in the air with many country smells and pretty flowers. the hedge has really started to green up and leaves are forming on all the stick like hedglings we planted. The ground has become firmer and less squidgy and the grass is growing too. We will need to get a lawn mower! I have spent ages looking at the last pieces of the worship end and trying hard to work out how it was put together. It has had several modern screws added and parts replaced in the past but essentially it was put together by skilled craftsmen and even after the new screws had been removed it was not separating into easily managed chunks. However, last week I figured it out and the two sections that always looked like the were meant to be separated did, just not in the place I had imagined! Still not sure if the bats have come back, not seen many flying around out side or heard any in the loft, which has been closed up since we did the ceiling. The Bat man is to return in a couple of weeks to do a survey. It will be interesting to discover what's going on. I was planning to continue to remove the rubble and tidy up the chapel now being called lounge, so I could take up the floor. This plan has changed as Nick the drains and man with the digger phoned to say he could start next week. So flexible as ever next week will be drain laying with rubble removing if I can fit it in! Lastly I had a text to tell me my phone line was now usable, still don't have a phone though. Then received another to say my internet was all working, yippee I thought and attached the router as per the instructions. Then reset it, then switched it off for a while, then back on, then read the help page in the booklet but ... still no internet! Using some of the old floor boards I created a storage rack for the tools. this gives more space in the Sunday school which from now is to be called the Kitchen.
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AuthorJan and Pete, retiring Headteachers with a dream. Archives
November 2018
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