Okay, so I firmly believe that any day that ends with you learning something is not a total loss, no matter how badly the day may have gone. Having said that let me just say that today was definately "college degree" status.
Things began calmly and with no real sense of urgency. It was a languid, lazy start that left me in a fuzzy warm spot curled against my hubby for just a moment longer several times. I like those mornings, no, I LIVE for those mornings. Kids woke up in fair moods-exhausted from a week of non-stop 8 hr skate park madness everyday, but in good spirits.
Everyone ate their breakfasts and I packed watrmelon for the boys to take to their last day at the skatepark. it was kinda melancholy, because today was Dawsons last day with us, and we have gotten very attached to him. He's a great kid and an awesome influence on Kieren. He doesn't like TV and he isn't into video games, he prefers the outdoors and physical activity. Kieren is tan, toned and proud of himself. I can see it in the way he walks and in the way he enters a conversation. Much more certain and comfortable with himself. I like it-alot. So, this final morning with my surrogate son I felt a lil pang of sadness. he asked for help with a paper he's writing for school, and my heart sang a little deeper. Tomorrow I hafta take him to the library and get him a card so he can check books out to write his paper-don't let me forget,K?
Dropped Edd @ work, boys at park and headed home. Got a response to a post I made asking for wire/wood in trade and picked up a couple nice rolls of wire for chickens (thanks NIkki P.) and drove home feeling good about the work I was about to settle into. You see we do not have a tiller. We do not have alot of the neccessary tools we need out here. So we improvise. For instance todday, I had wire, but no posts. So I sawed some of the small saplings my husband cut down into 6 foot lengths and made posts for the fence. Layla helped me dig the holes,carefully checking for electrical wiring or PVC pipe from water pump/well. We hit nothing and all 13 posts were successfully sunk. We broke for a water break and cleaned up a bit before beginning to clear the lot. Now again we are very short on tools, so we often go very primal in our thinking. I used a post hole digger to loosen the top 3 inches of soil while the girls (owyn & layla) pulled up the sod with their hands and seperated it from the dirt clumps before tossing grass aside. We worked like this,me & my GIRLS, toiling in the hot sun, on our hands and knees, diggin in the rich dark soil for over an hour and half. finally we were done! So very proud of my daughters right then. Yes there was whining and grumblings and Owyn even stopped and looked at me very matter of factly and asked me, " Mommy what is TORTURE?" HAHAHAHAHA! I explained it and she worked awhile longer, then stopped and said," well -what is this ? " but alas we were done and the much needed ice water we had put in the freezer and the popsicles they were promised beckoned.
We rushed to the backyard to rinse of in the hose (okay, and play a little too) but no water? Hmmmm, breaker maybe? I dust off and rush to the switch box only to realize when I get there that the electric is on everywhere else. Hmm again. I check and all seems well. Now understand I fear electricity like some people fear the REAPER himself. So I know nothing on this subject I am totally ignorant about it. I call Gia, who refers me to Billy (her hubby) who walks me thru the process of checking breakers(again-but hey, I couldda missed something) and then the pump itself. I exhaust his pretty expansive knowledge of water pumps and at this point I am feeling grimy as hell and I am sunburnt and cranky. My animals need watering and we ALL NEED BATHS. I call WILL. Will is an acquaintance of my hubby's and works in the WATER and WATER ACCESSORIES field. He lives "in town" and it is Sunday, but he agrees to drive out here to take a look. Thank you WILL!! meanwhile Gia's parents Mr. Curtis and Ms. Kathryn are in the country visiting and she sends them by to assist. Mr. Curtis is a jack of all trades and a fine southern gentleman to boot. I enjoy both their company and look forward to visits Mr. Curtis determines that it is electrical and the pumps isn't recieving any current. Hmmm, yet again. "Did you cut a line perhaps" he asks me. No, we checked very carefully and didn't dig deeply. We even used the water after we were done to get ice water before we turned the lot. Hmmm, strange he says and proceeds to try everything humanly possible to restore my water. I am terrifed but leaning in closely and asking obnoxious questions anyway. I am determined to be as self sufficient as possible and conquering this fear is one of many baby steps to my goal.Mr. Curtis is patient and Ms. Kathryn is enjoying watching the chickens hustle, but he is stumped now and Will just pulled into drive. i know have my own task force on this issue and though I am feeling more than a bit embarassed that i cannot figure this out on my own, I am at the same time very grateful for all these people who are so willing to help me figure it out. no luck with Will either. he does confirm it is electrical, probably in the switch or the "BOX". Yes, the electrical box. OMG! i almost died. I hate the power boxes. I shudder when I walk by them. I swallom my fear and shelve the natural instict to running screaming in the oposite direction and follow Will to the BOX. he shows me what to do and tellsme what I need and very graciously does not charge me the $175 for his brief visit. THANK YOU WILL! So now armed with new knowledge and feeling a tiny bit less terrified (lie) I head to pick up all the menfolk from town and hit HOME DEPOT. We get the parts for less than $3, deposit Dawson at his own residence (Mom married shitty BF BTW-poor kid looked devastated when she told him) told him to call anytime if he needed us and headed to home to fix the water pump. OOps! quik stop at grocery to refill 8 gallons of water at PUR machine for $.30 a gal. Home and Edd & I shut down outside power box and round up flock, feed and water for the night and get to work. Edd who is far braver than I, takes the thing apart like a pro and begins the reassembly only to find out that the electrical dept. guy at HOME DEPOT gave us the WRONG PART! Okay, I am now over it and we are putting it to bed for the night. I inform kids we are showering on the front porch, get ur swimsuits and they stare like I have lost my mind. Owyn, Kieren & Layla all washed with less than 3 gal of cold water. Impressive. used a 1/2 gal on edd and his hair. But not me-heck no, I got major issues with cold water. I would rather stink. However, my hair did need to be washed. I used 3/4 gal to wash my hair-nothing fancy, no rinse and repeat just a wash. It felt so nice, balancing over the side railing, my long hair flipped over my head, the cold water running down my neck and teasing my collar. Listening to the chickens peep and chirp and the kids inside laughing about it being "soooo cooold". it was nice actually. Kinda glad the water was off. Definately a memory they wont soon forget. I warmed my remaining gallon in microwave and sponge bathed. I might not mind stinking tonite but Edd certainly minded! LOL...
Boiled water for dishes and cleaned kitchen. watered peeps and flushed toilets. Tomorrow it's back to HOME DEPOT for a different part, hopefully it works, if not it's a call to the realtors and a new power box-who knows how long that may take..
I gotta do it all by myself tomorrow. Yes, I am very scared. But I will do it. And hopefully I will be blogging about my success tomorrow night.. Tonite was alot easier than we expected and didn't really change how we did things all that much. Maybe we couldbe Amish, whatcha think?
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