Nov 21st - Busy Time in MO

Saturday I got the Hardy wood boiler fired up. We are now heating with wood. Our hot water is also heated by the Hardy. The heat from it feels "warmer" than from the heat pump, because the temperature of the air coming out the registers is significantly warmer. We went to Jefferson City to get another gallon of RV antifreeze and a few other odds and ends. In the afternoon I winterized the travel trailer.

I had previously paged through a 3 ring binder that came with the trailer. I noted that the binder contained much information on the appliances and accessories in the trailer. I opened it up expecting to find a "how to" sheet on winterizing the trailer. To my surprise it contained no such sheet. After some searching I found drain for the potable water tank. I then found that you had to take 4 screws out of panel on the interior to get to the back side of the water heater; so that the water lines could be set to by-pass the water heater. The next item was finding the little on board pump. Since I'm deaf in one ear, no stereo hearing, I have no sense of direction to find sound. Kathy had to come out, listen to the pump run, and point out its location. After removing 4 more screws and a 2nd access panel I found the pump and the "pick-up" hose for the RV antifreeze. We pumped antifreeze through all the water lines and put antifreeze in all the drains/traps. The grey and black water tanks were empty so I just opened the valves to make sure there was nothing in them to freeze. I never did locate "low point drains" on the water lines. Since the lines are full of antifreeze it shouldn't make a difference. When I think about it I will email the trailer manufacturer and ask about them.

Sunday morning was church and Sunday School. Then it was back home for some lunch and I took a short nap. Later we went to Columbia, MO (about an hours drive) with Kelsey, Lydia & Nolan. Lydia participates in a gym class at her preschool. A traveling gym bus stops at all the participating preschools in the area, I think weekly. All the kids from the participating preschools showed what they were learning.

There were a LOT of kids. The ones you see in the photo are just one group and there were several groups. Kelsey took photos and some video. She will probably post something on Facebook.

This morning I spent 3 hours working on my downspout drains. The white in the photo is crushed stone, not snow. It did get down to 25 degrees Saturday night but no snow in any forecast. This downspout, and the catch basin with round green top, now drain down to the lower level. I build a short rock retaining wall on the back side of the catch basin. I still need to raise the top with another layer of rocks, to make sure water coming down the slope from the driveway goes into the catch basin and not over the top of the retaining wall.

 

This shows the drain coming down the slope. A section of the electrical line that runs to an outbuilding (100 amps at 220 volts) was actually exposed in this area. I dug about 20' of it up, buried it deeper, some of it under the drain line, and poured a little Sakrete on top of it to protect it. I had to remove a section of a rock retaining wall in this area. After I get the drain buried I will rebuild the wall.

The PVC pipe is for a foundation drain that was plugged. I'm lowering it. It will "daylight" through the retaining wall. The black pipe will "wye" into the PVC back at the corner of the house.

I've got a lot of digging to do to get the black pipe over to the PVC. I also still need to dig another 10' of trench to get the PVC buried, and break the top off some rock in the bottom of the trench.

After a long, late lunch this afternoon I changed the oil in my truck. It was dark when I got back in the house. Enough for the day. <grin>.

Kathy had Nolan today. He was good most of the day. She put him down for a nap, in the bedroom, and closed the door. He normally cries for a few minutes and then falls to sleep. I went into the bedroom before he got to sleep and he though I had come in to get him. He really pitched a fit when I left and shut the door.

Thank you Lord for a good day. May God bless you and yours.