To the Dump!

How long can we go in between dump runs? Over a month apparently. 

We were in desperate need, though.

I'd mentioned our need for a dump run to Carrie a few times hoping she'd do a run while I was at work one day. Alas, there have been 1,000 other things going on. She's had work, used the trailer for hay, and hurt herself.

Today was the day. All hands were on deck. Shane helped Carrie and I pull out all the garbage and all the recycling and we filled the horse trailer. We had a mountain of cardboard from moving and ordering barn bits and pieces online.

We cleaned trash out of all the cars except the blue truck, too. I'm happy to report we did work.

Unfortunately, it all took way longer than expected. First, Shane missed TKD. I refused to admit we wouldn't make it to soccer until we were long past the point of no return. Our one hour "throw the junk in the trailer and swing by the dump" was nearly a three hour escapade.

After spending nearly an hour gathering all the trash, all the recycling, and cleaning out the cars we spent half an hour driving to the junkyard. We might have got there faster with an alternative route, but we stuck to larger roads for an easier haul.

We unloaded 200 lbs of trash for $7. We had to wait for the bulldozers to finish tidying up before we could throw all of our junk out (Thankfully, we had the foresight to put all the trash near the end).

We learned many lessons when we dropped by the recycling center.

Lesson #1 - They expect all your recycling to be pre-sorted.

We had no idea. The recycling pickup was single-stream in the city. 

Carrie was stressed and worried about timing and broken glass. Shane was thrilled to play toss the can!

Lesson #2 - The guy said no plastic.

That's right. No plastic bottles. 

We said, "Really!? We brought so many...." and he said, "Well, throw them in that one I guess."

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Lesson #3 - No one's in a hurry at the dump.

We pulled up to the cardboard dumpster and it was full.

So were we.

We asked one of the workers and he came over and said, "Yup. That's full." That wasn't very helpful, but he followed it up with, "I'll switch them out."

He walked away and 15 minutes later we were wondering what ever happened to him. We'd sorted through a lot of trash and Carrie was getting nervous about timing. Her parents had wanted to meet us at Shane's soccer game. They were already arriving in Charlottesville and detouring to pick up lunch and we were still stuck at the dump. We'd spent most of the morning on trash detail and normal chores so the house was not picked up.

Carrie was ready to drive off, but I refused. I wanted to get rid of all the cardboard.

A big truck hauling a dumpster showed up a minute later. He had to drop the new container off, shoo off some cars to get to the full dumpster, and haul it off.

Then he drove back, moved the new dumpster, and opened it up for business.

We unloaded everything as fast as we could.

We discovered we missed a can full of recycling, but I compromised and we saved it for next time. There was no time to spare, so we took the small roads back and it was a good thing we did. A contractor called about giving an estimate. They were at our house and we were still 15 minutes out!

We made it in the end. Carrie hopped out to talk to the contractors and Shane and I went inside to do a blitz pickup. Loki was happy to see us.

Grandpa and Grandma arrived with lunch and we all watched Penn State clobber Purdue. Carrie took a nap, Grandpa phased in and out, and Shane mused aloud that he would much prefer the iPad (spoiler: he didn't get it).

Grandma and Shane went out to measure lengths for potential gardens. If you didn't know this about Grandma, she's a master garden. She already has her house master gardened, so she's eager for a new canvas!

I did not expect to spend my Saturday afternoon with a foxtail picking party in the front lawn. I was the gopher.

I would have liked to have taken Shane, Loki, and (in my dreams) Carrie to Silas' wife's bday party at a winery, but our timings were out of whack all day. I hadn't known we were having visitors when I said we'd try to go and family takes precedence. 

Shane finally earned the iPad after Grandma was done working him. Grandpa, Grandma, and Carrie discussed all sorts of things including a good location for a picnic table.

At one point, Grandma asked me a question and Carrie supplied, "He's probably not the one to ask!"

Which is true. I'm happy with the way things are and in no rush to do anything. Grandpa wants to start working to get grass as soon as possible and I'd just as soon leave it be for now. I feel like we've been going and working fairly non-stop on anything and everything.

When Grandpa and Grandma left....well, I went to work on other things. I'd done some grading before cleaning in the morning, but there was more to do. I'm trying to avoid doing any school work on Sunday, so if I don't do it Saturday I won't be prepared Monday!

Loki was tired by the end of the day. He wasn't the only one!

We enjoyed the visit. I may want more down time, but I also want more visitors to help fill the down time.