It's Slightly Bothersome to Keep Digging Things if They Just Keep Getting Filled In Again...

But that's the way it goes, I guess! Yes, it has been awhile since I last wrote about the Shack. Have I been dead? Well, no. But death aside, the house project continues to take steps towards completion. Several of those steps taken lately have involved Raya and/or me digging... a lot! Just today I completed a 2-foot deep by several feet long by less than a foot wide trench from Phase One to the shop that now serves as a place for the electrical conduit. That trench has been in the works for quite some time now, and I hardly got to bask in the glory of its completion at all before we laid the conduit and I started filling it up again. Cruel world.

On the plus side, this trench-digging provided inspiration for creativity late last month. Not being sure where to put the mud we were digging out, and the mud forming into round shapes quite nicely, Raya and I eventually decided that we would create a mudman! This was a lot like the average snowman, except you get dirty instead of cold while making it. And it's fairly small. Below is a picture of us proudly showing off our creation.

Besides the promise of electricity, water has begun flowing in the new world as well! A couple of days ago, Dad called me out to help test/flush out the pipes for the bathtub in the future rental suite. There are not yet normal fixtures on these pipes, so the water was gushing out fairly freely, and I was attempting to contain it using a large bucket. Essentially, I think that experience counts as the first shower taken in the new house.

Otherwise, life just rolls on... when the weather gets as hot as it has been over the last couple days I sometimes reminisce fondly of the days when we lived in a house with lots of insulation and a nice basement. But of course, I must remember we are on an adventure. Good times.