Getting the lead out.

Okay, so the title of this one is a little tricky.  Think lead, pronounced  /led/, the metal.  Then go to its Latin name plumbum from which we get the elemental symbol Pb for it.  Finally morph that into the modern word for the pipes that carry water and waste around our homes and you have it: Plumbing!

So I've been working on the plumbing of the Manor, trying to get it roughly to where it needs to be before finishing.  As I got to the point of putting in the drainpipe for upstairs, I found something surprising and problematic.  In the space between ceiling and floor, running next to the joists, I found the original ceramic drainpipe still in place.  This is, however, when we bought the place, that was not being used as an upstairs drain.  It was sealed off and "alternative plumbing solutions" were employed.  (For that read rubber hoses run behind the walls.)  The problem this creates is that I must now remove this ceramic pipe to make room for the new drains.  That means cutting away a large section of the ceiling to get to it.  My back can't handle that these days.  And that means I have to hire someone, which in turn means less moolah for other things.

Bummer!

On the good side, Kathy and I got the big pile of rubble cleaned up and hauled off.  It was all the broken brick pieces, concrete shards, chunks of plaster, and just plain rocks that had been piled up in the back yard of the Manor for nearly a year.  Of course it kept growing during that year.  The area looks sooo much better.  Step by step-- inch by inch-- task by task--- we approach our goal.