Plumbing, Electricity & 2nd Shipping Container for Storage Arrives!

I awoke ready to go Sunday morning!  I had not been on the property for two weeks.  In that time there had been a lot of forward movement on the property and we had Little Debby, the tropical storm blow it’s way through Florida.  I couldn’t wait to see everything that had been done and inspect any heavy rain damage that might have happened.  I also had a delivery showing up on Monday so I planned to spend the night so I didn’t have to drive back & forth 2 extra times.

So with my overnight stuff, including a cooler, chargers and my EcoFlow solar generator, Gracie, the Yorkie and I hopped in Authie, the Jeep and away we went.  It rained on my way there and as I was getting closer to the property, but it had stopped by the time I arrived at my gate.   I opened the gate and rolled through headed to the garden area first, as usual. Do the things I want to do least first is my motto. 

Last time I was here I had set up the Rainwater Collection Tank again in hopes to start collecting water again from all the rain we were getting.  Unfortunately the tubing on the top ring was broken in multiple places and I knew I had to fix it but didn’t have the right materials, so I was off to check it out.  I literally laughed out loud as I pulled up. The flexible tank was twisted like a dishrag at the top so NO water got in it for sure.  During the week I had ordered some metal tubing so I hopped out and grabbed it and went to work threading it through the top.  That job took over an hour as the metal sis not slide through easily so I could only work it through an inch at a time.  Nevertheless, I got it done and the tank looked more solid than it has ever looked.  I re-stabilized the legs and TADAAAAAAA … NOW, it might actually collect water! LOL

Then I headed off to the home area where all the work had been done over the last 2 weeks.  First I pulled up near the home container shell to unload the stuff for the overnight stay. I got in the container and opened all the windows and dropped the battery into the big EGo fan so it would begin to coll off some inside. Bless, that fan … LOL .. cracks me up that the brand name is EGO but it works.  Once I got everything loaded inside and the container getting some cross breeze I could go see the new things there was to see outside.
 
First stop: Plumbing.  The plumber installed all the plumbing including from the container to the well and from the container to the septic system.  When I got outside to look at it there were a series of trenches with pretty new PVC looking pipes running in both directions.  The trenches had all been left open so that the county could inspect the work. 

Next stop: Electricity.  The electrician installed all the electric pipes running from the electric station where the Duke Energy underground cables terminate to the container electric box and from the container electric box to the well pump.  All of these cables are inside other pretty new PVC looking pipes in trenches in both directions.  These trenches were also left open so that the county could inspect everything.

I am not the kind of woman who would have ever thought that I would consider plumbing and electricity pipes pretty … but these all looked beautiful to me!  I think it really was knowing that these two major pieces of work were done!!  And the structures are so clean and organized … something I visually really love seeing no matter what materials are being used.

So there are these fabulous trenches.  And we need to have the work inspected..  In order for the county to do that the trenches need to stay open so the county can see all the piping. Here is where the 1st problem comes in. The tropical storm dropped a lot of rain so the trenches are beginning to fill in with the wet sandy soil.  And each day that does by they fill in a little more.  So the game is to get the county out there ASAP.  I will come back to this a little later so you can understand what is now a barrier to this happening. 

The other thing that happened this week, with the plumbing installation finished, was that the inspection company hired by the septic company came to the property to get the final measurements of distance from plumbing to the septic system and distance from well pump to the septic system.  The measurements were taken and he was able to trun his final inspection report to the Florida Dept of Health which then in turn will approve it and forward it to the Florida Dept of Health agency in my county.  He said that normally the counties do not do additional inspections if the state has approved his report but he cannot guarantee that they will not.  We’ll see!

By this time of the day I was ready to slow down and relax into my late afternoon and evening.  I usually leave the property by this time to . get back to where I am currently living.  I never get to be here at this time of day so I was really excited about being able to just enjoy it.  Gracie and I went inside the container and began to set things up to be able to sleep here.  This would be the first time we would sleep in our new container shell. 

I turned on the generator and plugged in my thin camping mattress to blow it up and then manually blew up my little pillow.  Then I put sheets on the bed and a pillow case on the pillow and set the fan at the foot of the bed.  The temperatures had reduced some but the inside of the container was warm still.  My windows all have screens but my french doors do not yet so I would need to keep them closed so that no flying buggies come into towards the lights.  So, Gracie and I moved the fan a few times to get it in the right place for us.  We were set so now I could just kick back and enjoy the evening that was approaching.

We went over to the fire pit area where the Adirondack chairs are.  There was a little breeze in the air and it was so very peaceful as the chimes tingled some in the background.  Gracie settled in beside me in the chair and closed her eyes.  I felt so blessed.  Gracie is such a mentor for me.  She is so simple, trusting and loving.  As long as she can be near me she is so content.  I sat facing the property, watching the trees sway, the pink flamingos and the birds fly from one tree to another.  The sun was beginning to lower in the sky, which was very clear at the moment.   THIS is why I keep doing everything I do to be able to live here. The land’s energy resonates with me.  It is home! 

I sat and just took in nature and all of her energy for about an hour.  I had released all the stress left in me and was so relaxed.  The sky was beginning to get streaks of pink and orange all around the horizon.  I was facing southwest and the sky south and west of me was all set to be a beautiful Florida mural.  Gracie and I got up and went tot he container so we could both eat a little something before sunset.

Once we ate we sat in the french door threshold and watched as the sky became bolder shades of pink, orange and purple.  As it stated to become a  little darker the solar lights I had placed around the home area popped on.  It was breathtaking. I was in heaven.  The birds were still chirping as they too got ready to settle in for the night.  Once it got fully dark, Gracie and I loved inside and closed the French doors.  We turned on our little battery lamp and stretched out on our bed.  With the fan keeping us cool we both drifted off to sleep.

The alarm went off at 7 AM and Gracie and I looked at each other and stretched.  We had slept through the night.  THAT was amazing!!  It has been so safe feeling in out little home space!! WE got up and went to the French doors and I flung them open.  It was so crisp and clear outside.  The birds were active and singing already!  I looked up in the sky and as the crows called to each other and several hawks were gliding through the sky. So beautiful. Gracie and I went out to go for a walk.  It is so wonderful to be here in the morning.

We got back and it was time to start packing up and getting ready for the storage shipping container delivery.  I called them and they said they were planning to be there around 12:30.  Great!  Gave me plenty of time to be ready for them.  I packed up the truck and loaded my truck bed with my railroad tie wood bundles that I had made, in case I needed them for the delivery.  I locked up the house and headed down the road to wait near the gate.

Right at 12:30 I spotted the truck coming down my street.  The delivery guy parked and hopped out and I took him on a small tour of the road from the gate into the garden area and showed him where the slab was.  He said he couldn’t get it on the slab because it was too sandy.  However, he seemed very confident that he could get close to the slab and put it on the gravel road.  I said “let’s go” then.

Away he went, off to his truck and the adventure began.  If you remember that shipping container tiny house shell was a 4 hour fiasco including the driver, 3 other guys, another huge 4×4 truck and a large tractor involved.  That load was 8 tons.  This load was an empty container so it was only 4 tons and this truck as a massive big Daddy tilt truck.  He got through the gate and a little way up the path and got stuck the first time.  He hopped out and went to a series of levers on the side of his truck and moved the tilt bed tires up towards the truck manually with the levers.  Then he moved another lever and the entire truck began to move manually out of the deep trenches it was tuck in.  WOW!!! OMG this was going to look very different from the last delivery.

He did manage to get the container close to the slab but had no room to turn around so he had to back out.  He did get stuck multiple times and each time he used his levers to manually un-stick himself.  It was amazing!  Finally, he decided he just needed to sit it down.  We agreed on a place to put it on the main path where he could place it enough off the road that it didn’t block the road.  Perfect.  Jason, from Guardian Fencing, who is going to help me get it from there to the slab, had just said that if I could just get it in the gate he could handle it. This was way past the gate!  So he backed it up and lowered it from the tilt truck to the ground.  That sound of the second end sliding onto the ground was soooooooooooo magical!  We shook hands and I expressed my gratitude and away he went.  I was left standing there with my used big green 40′ HC container.  Soooo perfect!  Unfortunately I needed to hop in the Jeep and head back because I had a client call soon.  So, I never even opened the doors.  That thrill will need to wait for me til next week.

I posted videos of everything related to the plumbing and electrical installation, the property views late afternoon, evening and morning, the rainwater collection tank, Gracie and the WHOLE container delivery on the Freedom Acres YouTube Channel, and as always my exciting end of the day report on Sunday & various videos with Gracie. Feel free check it all out by clicking HERE.  Also, feel free to subscribe and you can get notified when new videos go up! 🙂

We are almost mid August now and I have not changed the game to be living on the property THIS Summer!!  LOL.  However, the thing you need to know is that the county has suddenly decided that there is a whole series of inspections they need to do including but not limited to the insulation, interior wall electric and plumbing.  Why is this a problem?  All of this is inside the walls of the container behind drywall.  This is a prefab shell.  We knew that, the county knew that!  It was, back in March being treated as such.  There was no need to inspect it, no more than they would do that for a mobile home.  We gave them all the specs in the plan so it could be seen so they could check for Florida codes.  NOW, suddenly they need inspections.

The only way that can be done is for us to dismantle the sheet rock, etc. down to bare bones again.  So here we are … now in a new battle with the county.  And no other work can be done again until we resolve this.  Including we cannot get the plumbing or electric installations done so they will, no doubt fill in and then I will need to pay them to re-dig the trenches when it is time to inspect them again.  So, I have needed to breath deep, ask for patience again and not lose my mind so we can figure this out without me self imploding.

It IS happening no matter what and somehow it will get handled even though I have no idea right now.  I know it will cost me in time and money but welllllllllllll … that is nothing new for every step of this project so nothing new.  Meanwhile I will work on getting the storage shipping container on the slab so I can clean and paint it.  I will also move forward on getting the deck done since the inspections have no impact on it.  I KEEP TELLING MYSELF:   WE ARE CLOSER & CLOSER NOW! So, STAY TUNED coz no telling what will show up this week!

As always, I send you FREEDOM and LOVE!