I have to apologize in advance.  It’s been a few days since my last post, so this one is a bit long.

The Weather  We’re still trying to figure this one out.  Unfortunately, the ‘local’ news isn’t very helpful.  Even though Colorado Springs is a mere 15 miles away (as a crow flies), the temperatures there are typically 15 – 20 degrees warmer than here, and it seems to be  far more windy up here in the mountains.  As for snow, I think they got more than we did the other day, even though we’re about 4000 feet higher.  And, despite the fact that the local ABC affiliate claims that “Channel 13 is where Cripple Creek gets it’s weather”, they don’t even have us on the weather map.  I think they’r just trying to get us to watch.

I mentioned that it snowed.  It was only a couple of inches, but very pretty.  The next morning, it started melting, and was practically gone by noon, but the temperatures never got above 25 degrees and the sun never actually broke through the clouds.  How, exactly, does snow melt while it’s still freezing?

Animals  I think I mentioned before that this is a free-range area for cattle.  This means that someone has a herd of cows that just wander around, eating our grass and leaving their ‘pies’ wherever they want.  As we understand it, we would need to fence our property to keep them out, as opposed to the more logical idea of requiring their owner to fence his property to keep them in.  Anyhow, they’re gone for the time being.  I suspect they’ve been moved to a lower elevation for the winter.

We’ve had a number of deer wandering around, along with at least one fox, a den of coyotes, and a lot of rabbits.  Our least favorite are the mice.  Don’t get me wrong, they’re welcome to run around and play outside, but they just aren’t welcome inside the trailer with us.  It’s been an on-going battle, but I think we finally figured out how they were getting in.  Last week, we removed the stove and used an entire can of spray foam to fill the gaps and holes under that cabinet.  I’m not sure why the manufacturer thought they needed a six inch hole to run a 1 1/2 inch drain pipe, I’m not an engineer, so it’s not really my place to judge their methods.  I did take it upon myself to fill those voids, and for the last several days, the snap trap has remained set, with the peanut butter, just like I left it.  The poison bait trap appears undisturbed, and the sticky trap is empty.  I don’t want to jinx it, but maybe we’re on to something.  It seems to be just the two of us living in here again.

We’re still waiting and hoping to see elk and turkeys (after all, it’s nearly Thanksgiving), but yesterday, we were treated to an awesome surprise.  Down at the bottom of the property, Sandi saw a large dark animal just slowly wandering around by itself.  We needed the binoculars to be positive, but it was a bison.  Pretty exciting and very cool.

The Kitchen  This project is sort of on hold.  The counter-top measuring guy came out last week, but we’re still waiting to hear when we’ll be moving forward.  They called today and told us that the actual price will be about $1000 more than what we were quoted.  This overage, they claimed, was due in part because they ‘have to’ cut the opening for the range onsite since it was not installed at the time of the measurement.  Mind you, it was sitting in the very same room so that dimensions could be taken, but okay.  They also said there was an increased charge because we supposedly changed from a drop-in sink to an under-mount sink.  Likewise, the actual sink was in the room, along with the paper template included by the manufacturer.  I told the guy that called that I just wasn’t certain we’d be staying with them.  Looks like we may have to find a new counter top place.  He said he’s doing some checking and he’ll call me back.  I can’t wait.

A New Wrinkle  I’ve said before that it often feels like we take a full step backwards for every couple of steps forward.  We’re making progress, but it’s slow and costly at times.  When I was working on moving the cabinets and the kitchen plumbing, I noticed that one of the elbows in the copper sink pipes was split.  I figured that water had been left in the system when the house was abandoned, it got cold, and they ruptured.  I don’t solder well, but I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to make a couple of minor repairs.  But then…..  I was in the crawlspace looking a little more closely, and I discovered the true extent of the problem; nearly every piece of copper pipe was split.  This photo shows just a few of them.  Again, I’m not an engineer, but I feel like this will be a problem supplying the various sinks, toilets, and showers in the house with the water they all need to function properly.

We considered hiring a plumber to come in and completely replace everything, but after examining the problem and exploring our options, we decided to go a different direction.  We’re fortunate that the kitchen, laundry room, and bathrooms are all on the same end of the house.  All of the plumbing is visible and accessible in the ‘crawl space’ under the east side of the house.

It’s a warm, relatively clean work-space that I can sit up in, so it’s not terrible.  I’ve spent the last couple of days pulling the damaged copper out and replacing it with pex.

It’s a fairly low-cost alternative that is far easier for a do-it-yourselfer.  It requires just two special tools and involves no soldering.  Fingers crossed, we’ll have it all completed by early next week.  I’ll pressure test the system and hopefully get the well re-directed to turn on the water in the house.  Flush toilets, unlimited water, and a real shower…..  Coming Soon!!!

And Finally…..  Hold On to Your Hats, Folks  After discovering that Digger Guy had bounced a check to the county for the septic permit, we exchanged a few text messages, he made good on the charges, a couple of phone calls went back and forth between us and the County, and a new re-inspection was scheduled.

We were gone that day running errands, but I checked online and…  wait for it…..  we have final approval on our septic!!!  Yep, it’s done.  Complete.  Finished.  Final.  All Wrapped Up.

We miss seeing Digger Guy and his little dog everyday, but this project has finally come to a close and we’re another step closer.