The Mundane Work of Fall

Its fall in the high country and the Aspens have started their turn along with the Ponderosa's getting yellow needles. It also is time to get the tasks done that were suppose to have been done during the summer, but alas they didn't.

Beyond the completion of the pergola, there were three major items scheduled for last summer; cleaning and resetting the fill float in the cistern, getting the wood stove installed and the chimney but in and prepping the wood for the dresser construction this winter. I can now same I almost have them done.

About a month ago we picked up a 500 truck tank off of Craigslist. This was the prelude to the cistern work as we needed away to re-fill it quickly once it was drained and the inside work was done.

We also planned on using it to re-fill the hot tub which hadn't had the water changed in almost a year. The last time we re-filled it from the well and due to the alkalinity it seemed that we needed to add allot of chemicals to get everything balanced. Also the ozone generator need to be "re-newed".

Now with a truck tank we could pickup municipal water in Canon to re-fill the hot tub. About getting water in town, that required an inspection that the plumbing used to fill the tank would not allow any backwash and the setting up of a bulk water account with the water department. Water currently costs $6.04 per 1000 gallons and is purchased at a self service station in town.

Once we had everything squared away with the bulk water we re-filled the hot tub and then picked up 500 gallons for the cistern work. I turned off the well pump to draw down the cistern, but after three days, it had gotten down to about 8 inches and we moved ahead with the inside work. The challenge was getting into the cistern through the manhole cover. A ladder was cleaned and inserted then I attempted to squeeze in... and it was a tight one. Once inside I did the appointed tasks got out and dropped the 500 gallons in.

While it was filling I also installed a tank vent, which we never had and tried to calibrate the very scientifically designed tank gauge sticking through the cover.

I filled it to capacity with ~1200 gallons of bulk water, so that meant that the cistern still had about 500 gallons in it when the work was done (1700-1200=500).

I restarted the well pump and began taking meter readings on the gallons pumped out of the cistern on a daily basis.

The other project awaiting completion was the shop wood stove. As you may recall we bought a wood stove at the end of last winter when the they were on sale. I waited until now to buy the chimney because...well I needed Simpson Duraplus sections and Home Depot didn't have any in stock until the last month. The chimney will end up costing more then the wood stove.

There is a stage 1 burning ban going on right now so the stove will not be fired up for a while.

It is mostly installed but I will need to put another one foot section on top to get the clearance spec'd by code and the manufacturer.

I at least have it straight and plumb.

A CO and fire detector are also on the list for the shop before we really start using it, but it should be better then the propane construction heater used for the last few years.

Speaking of the shop, a few things needed to be cleaned up concerning the entertainment feeds...the TV dish and FM antenna have been just sitting on the ground next to the shop all summer and a more permanent location was needed.

The wood needed for the dresser has been saw and is stickered outside drying. That is old plywood sheltering the wood from rain and direct sun.

It hasn't been surfaced or squared up yet which will be a task for after the official start of fall next week.

Also there was a great post on the Hermitage blog concerning building and living in BFE, as Pat P. would say. Here is the link to Leland's Great post .