This afternoon, sun striking the west side of the house (brick veneer) apparently heated up a not-sufficiently-insulated and thus busted pipe enough to let the water flow--out. Very out. Sometime between 3:30 and 5:15 (interval during which I wasn't in the utility room) the pipe let go, and when I went out at 5:15 to feed horses, I heard rushing water as I went through there and quickly found the the pipe in question (a no-brainer, really, as the utility room is on the west end and the pipes connect.) Horses whinnied "Oh good, you're here to feed us." Not yet, I said (and a few other choice words) and dashed around front, where the cat twined around my ankles. "Feed me NOW!" Not yet, I said, and tried to find the cutoff for the house water. Found the big heavy concrete paver someone (not me) had put over it. Couldn't initially shift it. Went into house and called emergency plumber. Can't come until Monday, they said (yeah, right, 24/7 emergency service my left little toe!) I called a rancher 13 miles thataway for help; he was about to put out some feed, but said he'd come with tools and help me get the water turned off (wasn't sure I could do it by hand. And sure enough.) Went back out , fed the cat who was determined to trip me until I did, then dug through the other stuff Someone Other Than Me put on top of the cutoff--old roof shingles, now half-rotted--and got the lid off the cutoff, stuck my arm down in there (it's been cold, surely nothing will run up my hand and sting me) and tried to turn the valve. No luck either way. Gave up and fed horses. Punched holes in the ice in their water trough and turned on the rainwater tank to give them some more water. Mucked out the open part of the barn and the barn pen, and moved the cart back out of the barn pen--hands too cold for more. About then R&M returned (still daylight) and R was able to get the cutoff valve turned off, shutting off the fountain. I called rancher and told him R was home and water was off. R thinks he can fix the busted pipe tomorrow.
Adventures in Plumbing
This afternoon, sun striking the west side of the house (brick veneer) apparently heated up a not-sufficiently-insulated and thus busted pipe enough to let the water flow--out. Very out. Sometime between 3:30 and 5:15 (interval during which I wasn't in the utility room) the pipe let go, and when I went out at 5:15 to feed horses, I heard rushing water as I went through there and quickly found the the pipe in question (a no-brainer, really, as the utility room is on the west end and the pipes connect.) Horses whinnied "Oh good, you're here to feed us." Not yet, I said (and a few other choice words) and dashed around front, where the cat twined around my ankles. "Feed me NOW!" Not yet, I said, and tried to find the cutoff for the house water. Found the big heavy concrete paver someone (not me) had put over it. Couldn't initially shift it. Went into house and called emergency plumber. Can't come until Monday, they said (yeah, right, 24/7 emergency service my left little toe!) I called a rancher 13 miles thataway for help; he was about to put out some feed, but said he'd come with tools and help me get the water turned off (wasn't sure I could do it by hand. And sure enough.) Went back out , fed the cat who was determined to trip me until I did, then dug through the other stuff Someone Other Than Me put on top of the cutoff--old roof shingles, now half-rotted--and got the lid off the cutoff, stuck my arm down in there (it's been cold, surely nothing will run up my hand and sting me) and tried to turn the valve. No luck either way. Gave up and fed horses. Punched holes in the ice in their water trough and turned on the rainwater tank to give them some more water. Mucked out the open part of the barn and the barn pen, and moved the cart back out of the barn pen--hands too cold for more. About then R&M returned (still daylight) and R was able to get the cutoff valve turned off, shutting off the fountain. I called rancher and told him R was home and water was off. R thinks he can fix the busted pipe tomorrow.
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How to Build a Fence to Contain Goats
As near as I can make it, this is how I heard it from one of the old men who used to sit on a bench outside the grocery (no bench there now) and chat…
-
Country Living: Bones and CSI for amateur naturalists
Country living, for those at all interested in Nature Red in Tooth and Claw, provides evidence of same. We first found the obvious big bones: cow…
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Nose to the Grindstone
Turned in the editorial revisions to Crisis of Vision today, and minutes before hitting SEND, a FedEx truck arrived with hot-off-the-press copies…