Day 17 - Monday, April 4

Overcast but sunshine is starting to come out - it should be a nice day.

We thought Amy was going to work this morning and were surprised to see her car in the driveway - she was surprised when we came in without warning that we were coming over.

I took our Forester to Pep Boys at the end of the block to have the oil changed. When they inspected the car, they said the front brakes were dangerously low and needed to be fixed immediately of which I was skeptical. I called our Subaru dealer in Kingston and they gave me the information about the last brake thickness and it may be necessary.

We spent much of the day digging out the crawlspace to access the plumbing. It is incredibly strenuous, using a trowel in the crawlspace to loosen and dig up the wet, heavy, sticky clay. Then use a hoe to pull it to the opening and then use the hoe to pull it onto a shovel to throw onto the pile. The clay is exceptionally sticky and immediately sticks to any tool that touches it. Each scoop with the trowel needs to be pried off with another trowel.

I am able to see where the cast iron drain pipes go. They are in terrible condition and there is water on the outside of the bathroom sink drain which isn't good. We are hoping that a new main sewer line runs along the property line only a few feet away and new plastic waste lines could be run there.

Carmen was busy cooking when she wasn't helping shoveling. Amy still had huge butternut squash that she had grown last year and Carmen made a red curry squash dish that was tasty and very spicy.

In the evening we watched the movie "Dune" which was better than I had expected.

Coming out from Amy's crawlspace