Slower Going

Scott and Frank spent one weekend working on tying the cistern into the pump. They discovered the pump had a failing gasket and wasn't strong enough to work from the second floor. So they'll be moving it to the ground level next and making a new gasket.

The next weekend, Scott spent a day and a half moving dirt again. Everything that he'd dug out for the cistern hole was piled up around it, and the resultant grading would have sent rainwater streaming toward the cistern cap. 

This is a before picture, but it's hard to tell from it how much dirt there was. Think: a day and a half's worth of shoveling.

So here is a picture after he moved all the dirt to other areas of the yard and improved the grading. Also, he added gravel around the water intake cylinder so that it's easier to fill (no mud pit).

If you noted the difference between the top of the back cylinder in the upper picture and the one below (where it's got a doohickey on top), it's a "riser"; I think a piece that elevates the tube that goes into the cistern and draws up the water to the house.

Two places where some of the dirt went are one, around the firepit, and, two, over the former patio of tiles on the side of the house. Scott moved all the limestone that was under the tiles as well.

The plywood contraption by the window is our shower stall. Scott needs help moving it into the house so it's there until he has someone there.

Somewhere in the last couple of weeks, Scott installed the upstairs potty. 

Here are all the pictures so any can be enlarged.