Weekend Adventures

We have had fun at III this weekend. We also had some tense moments and frustration but over all it was a great stay. I decided Saturday to get at that new pit for the outhouse. It was almost imperative that this chore get done! I had marked it out last visit, it was in the shade and although the temperature was going to get up to 90 degrees, there was a nice breeze and not much humidity. So I got at it. The ground was dry and the digging hard but as I chipped away at what felt like impacted granite dust, I kept thinking I would get down to something resembling soil – soil with some moisture in it. In Iowa if I dig down two feet (8” even) I will find moist soil. After working on and off all day and into the next, I was down about two feet and it was still dry as a bone. Each time the spade hit the ground, it hurt my wrists and my elbows protested. I’d work awhile, go rest, work awhile, go do something else. I couldn’t seem to get Himself interested in the project (now what made me think I could?). I tried telling him a few times how hard the ground was but he had other projects, other things to do and didn’t seem interested so I kept chipping away.

Finally, Saturday evening, we were sitting on the porch talking about our day and the subject of the pit came up. Guess I had reached my limit with it and I let Himself know that I wanted him to look the situation over and I wanted him to do it right now! So we walked down and reviewed the situation. Himself took the spade and nudged the bottom of the pit a bit and said, well, he was cleaned up now (he had showered) so he’d put some time in on it “tomorrow”. It would be cooler in the morning.

True to his word, Himself strolled down to the pit about 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning and tapped the spade four times on the hard bottom of the pit, exclaimed “Jesus Christ!” threw down the spade, and walked away. Oh Great! Now what? I thought. We need that pit finished and if Himself can’t dig it, how can I? But then Himself came back and offered some free advice: dynamite (I didn’t have any and believe me I had already considered that idea!) and water. Soak the bottom with water. I had already considered that too but I had thrown the idea out as water and Missouri soil means big, sticky gooey clumps of mud-like cement but, up against the wall, I took the pail to the pond and carried up a bucket of pond water and threw it into the pit.

Then I went away and weeded some in the garden, made some little wire mouse bait cages as we think something bigger than mice has been feasting on the D-Conn, did this and that and then went back to work on the pit. The water worked but, as I knew it would, it played havoc trying to get that mud/cement off the spade. Sometimes, I would just get down and throw the mud out w/my leather gloved hands. Himself came along and helped a few times and about mid day, we decided we were ready to make the move. We nailed together a 4X4 treated wood frame, leveled it and “walked” the outhouse over. Himself sunk some screws through outhouse and 4X4s and I stapled chicken wire around the bottom to keep out the creatures that have been chewing through the outhouse walls. We are good to "go" for a a bit!