Jo, you've been on my mind all day too. I know this was definitely a milestone day - God Bless. I know there will be more to come, but remember, meltdowns are OK. AND, we'll all be here to help you up if you stumble - I mean that with all sincerity. Keep hanging in there. You're doing alright. It may not be much, and I can't make the road any better, but I'm sending you warm hugs in hopes that I can ease some of the rough edges somewhat. I'm as close as a keystroke if need be. Also, thank you for your kind words on your other post. I was trying to respond last night but my computer crashed. Your words were so special to me. Thanks again... Miles of smiles to you! gng

The next time you have blood work done please ask them to check your Vitamin D levels - this is for both men and women. Both of my sons were found to have low vitamin D levels. It was so low that you couldn't increase it enough by just taking a supplement, they required a prescription to get the higher dose that was needed. And we're taking about healthy young men who spend a good portion of their time outdoors - and neither of them listen to me when I remind them to wear sunblock. Here is a link that might be useful: vitamin D and cancer prevention

....getting back to my boulders project, I finally just got the materials to try making some smaller rocks first just to get the hang of things. Using the various recipes that were posted to this site, I decided to use the recipe that called for using a bag of Sand Topping Mix. I put this into it's own plastic tub and added a full box of Buff cement powder color, and mixed it all around. I plan on also using perlite and peat moss. I haven't made the mix yet, but made some small rock frames by wrapping some chicken wire around some plastic bottles. I saw a guy do it this way on a YouTube video. I'm convinced that making smaller rocks is no cheaper or easier than buying and handling a pallet of rocks the same size....but my ultimate goal is to make a larger boulder. The only reason I want to do it out of hypertufa is because where I need to place the boulder, there isn't enough clearance to get machinery back there to put a real one in place. I watched another YouTube video recently where a guy made a really nice looking boulder just purely using a 3:1 sand to portlant cement mix. The mixture looked thick enough to glop on and sculpt easily. He just plopped it on a bunch of styrofoam packing. Would doing a mixture this way be much stronger and better to use for my boulder compared to a hypertufa recipe? I also see that you can add a liquid fortifier to the mix, and also fibers to make things stronger. I could certainly do this if it would ensure my boulder is strong enough to stand on and be climbed on by myself and kids.

You said "new house" so does that mean you're the first occupant of a new build? If so, there's probably nothing yet needing to be done after 1.5 years but it may be a good idea to contact a servicer or the installation company for a look-see. My (aerobic) system is 14+ years and has not yet needed a pump-out, although I'm a one-person household and take appropriate usage care. It has needed repairs but the system has an alarm buzzer that triggers on a malfunction. Does your county/city jurisdiction require recurring inspection of septic systems? Mine does. I have a yearly contract with the installer for 3-times-per-year inspection which includes adding chlorine tablets when needed. I'm curious how you weren't aware of it. Sewer is normally a charge/line-item on a city services utility bill. Do you have a private water well? If no city utility bill for water service, then it goes along that you'd also have a private septic system.