It’s raining. That shouldn’t come as a surprise seeing as this is the Pacific Northwest. However, they have had an unusually dry summer and this is the first rain in weeks. Given the chaotic nature of the past week, it’s been a good opportunity to catch up on writing.
It’s been a week since we arrived on Samish Island. When we first got here the weather was spectacular – dry and clear, but a bit warmer than we like. Through the week the smoke from the western first caught up with us, tainting the skies and coating everything with a nasty brown pall. Mountains that were visible earlier in the week disappeared, and at times we couldn’t even see the other islands just a few miles across the bay. Our mood tended to deteriorate with the view.
We started by making multiple trips into town for provisions, including purchasing a new stove and dishwasher for the house. These will be delivered late next week, so for the time being we have to make do with our old stove and hand-washing dishes. We also made trips into town to get cable TV and Internet set up for the house. Each trip is a time-consuming affair. I started to see if ordering things from Amazon might be a more efficient way of getting what we need.
The biggest disruption, though, was with the house. First there was the septic system. Basically, the whole thing needed to be replaced. On Tuesday excavators arrived to dig up the front yard and install a new tank.
And, the one in these photos that they installed was the wrong one. They had to get this one out and go get the correct one.
In addition, there had to be electrical work to connect pumps, etc. The problem when you go poking into an old place like this is that if you start to pull at one thread, the whole thing could unravel. You don’t want to go poking too hard. There were lots of things not up to code simply due to age. We’re a bit worried about upcoming inspections.
Of course, the guy came to install our Internet connections just as the electrician had shut down power to the house. I improvised. I connected a power inverter to the Subaru and was able to pull enough power over a drop cord to power the modem. It worked.
With this morning’s rain we found even more problems. Water came pouring in through the vent over the stove. The propane tank that heats the clothes dryer started leaking. Today’s expedition into town included a search for roof sealant and a new tank. We got the new tank installed, and before martinis I crawled up on the roof and tried to patch the leaks. I guess we’ll see how successful I was the next time it rains.
Even as we made new purchases and tried to get the house set up for our use for this year, it still seems like we’re here only for a week or so. There are closets, workshops, nooks and crannies with all of the estate belongings. It will take a LONG time to sort it all out, and for now it’s a bit overwhelming.
Finally, there were other concerns. With Hurricane Irma barreling in we were worried about family in Florida. There were multiple phone calls, making sure that everyone had found a place to ride out the storm. We hope for continued safety for all of them through this weekend as the storm makes landfall.
So that’s where we are right now. Things are slowly coming together, and we hope that we can fall into a normal routine.
Exhausted just reading that.