Bonus dig!

Apparently, the backhoe guy likes to play in the dirt, lol. Good for us, bc while he was out here for the well, he offered to cover up the ugly hole that the prev owners had used as a burn pit.

It was about 2-3 feet deep, and about 15 feet across, so pretty big. Filled with plastics!, shingles!, old stumps, a side table, and more crap. Also, 2 pine trees had begun growing at the edge of it. We don't want them that close to the house due to hurricanes and storms.

So we eagerly said yes to covering it over.  First, he dug a deeper hole, then pulled all the mess into it, then covered it over with left over dirt from....somewhere. The well? Back of the property? Not sure, I wasn't out there during that time. At any rate, its nice and smooth now. Just raw, sandy, dirt. Given a few rains, the grass will begin covering it and you soon won't know it was even there.

We used it as a burn pit once, but it was so wide it easily got out of hand, and once we realized that there was plastics in it, we doused it quickly. Burying might not be the best answer either, but given Dh's health, it was the best we could manage.

It was an eyesore when you pulled into the yard, between the house and shop, and made the place look junky. So much better now! Best of all, no cost!! Double win!!

Today, Dh will work on the pipe layout to the house, though he'll have to get a ditch witch to dig the trench. It's around 80+ feet to the house.

Next up? Getting a new power pole and box to run electricity to the shop, and move the old pole out of the way (also ugly and in the way).  Stay tuned, it's the year some things actually happen around here!

Down, down, down

Finally, we are getting a well.

A deep well, that is. Our shallow well, which has been here over 12 years, we reckon, is spitting sand, and has been a while. A shallow bath shows nothing, fill the tub for our 11 year old a bubble bath and the bottom has a ring of sand.

Dishes in the dishwasher come out gritty. We've switched to paper plates and cups to limit what needs rinsing after a wash. In the same sandy water, but a good wipe down with a cloth gets it off.

We now have Crystal Springs water delivery, and love the quality. However, we are hoping the new deep well will eliminate that need. Even before the sand issue, the shallow well smelled of sulfur, and we never drank it nor cooked with it.
Now it only smells after a good hard rain, but still. Ugh.

The well guys showed up today, while we were in Savannah. Not sure how deep they went today, they were gone when we got back at 5. There's grey watery mud around, and a long L shaped trench with it at the bottom they dug. I dont know why.

They'll be back in the morning to hopefully finish. I'm so happy. We've been officially on the list for 4 months now!

After this, we want to see about a hand pump to go on the shallow well, for when the power goes out. Neat, huh? It would be sandy water, but better than pond water, I figure. We'll see how it all turns out. :D

Appraisal

Just had our home/land reassessed for a refinance, and it appraised for $119,000!
This is a place that sold for $55,000 4 years ago. We are most pleased, as you can imagine.

Don't overlook bank foreclosures, mobile homes, and other 'forgotten/unacceptable' places
to find your next home. You might be surprised what you truly get, with a bit of work and time.