Luke woke up fairly early and we had breakfast before playing a little more. He had speech therapy this morning, which Liz was going to do remotely, so I said my goodbyes and headed for the Mountain. It was pretty difficult to leave, probably the most difficult it has ever been. The drive went fine and I arrived at the cottage a little after eleven. My dad was there and I did a little cleaning/organizing before heading to the house. There I started cleaning a little before my painter came and I got him started. I had to go out for a few supplies and returned to clean a little more before a guy came with a load of gravel. That was a pain to spread but it worked out okay. This evening was pretty relaxed, mostly just chatting with my parents.
Reunion!
I was pretty lazy this morning and actually really struggled with motivation all day. I did some taping off for sealing the bathroom cedar, then started brushing on the polyurethane. That wasn’t very fun so I lined up a guy who does some painting on the side to come finish it up tomorrow. I tried to nap this afternoon but couldn’t really sleep. I went to see Charles and Debbie next door before showering and heading home. The evening sky was glorious as I drove to Fayetteville. I arrived home at round 7:30 and had about half an hour to kind of prepare the house for Liz and Luke and her mother. They arrived and it was great to be reunited. Luke saw Lily, then took a tour of the house to make sure that everything was as it should be. He showed me all of his toys and even played with a number of them to make sure that they still functioned properly. We had dinner and then played with Legos for a bit before bath. After bath I read him a number of books before we said goodnight and he went to bed.
Getting a little work done.
I cut some tree stumps and cleared more of the yard. Charles came by to see the house and was very encouraging. Had dinner at the Goat Market and talked a bit with Eric and Spenser. I read more of Lost Horizon this evening.
Driving all over creation, with marginal success.
Today’s goal was to buy a couple of poly septic tanks and some other septic system accessories. I first drove down to Manchester to rent trailer, since mine doesn’t have working lights and was full of stuff. Unfortunately the rental place was all out. So I returned to the Mountain, emptied mine, and headed towards Lebanon with the idea of stopping in McMinnville at Harbor Freight to pick up some lights. On the way I decided to see if the same brand septic tanks were available in McMinnville, and I saw that they were. I went there only to learn that they actually had a different brand. So then I called a place in Jasper, and they told me that they had them in stock. I drove up and over the Mountain only to be disappointed upon arrival. Another person there told me that they didn’t have any. I was a bit frustrated and started calling places in Chattanooga, despite really not wanting to drive there. One guy swore that he had them in stock, so I drove on down, through downtown, and to his store. He had them and everything else that I needed, and helped me load. The drive back was miserable, but I made it without incident.
Beautiful weather makes for mega productivity.
I knocked a ton of little things off the list today, both inside and out. I churched up the apron around the HVAC unit, built a step off the deck, cleared more of the yard, among many other things. I went to the Goat Market for an early dinner and have been re-reading Lost Horizon this evening.
