It started with a water heater. I knew something was up the first time I took a shower. I didn't have enough hot water to both shave my legs and wash my hair. My husband even said it runs out of hot water when he's in it, and he showers in the morning before anyone has really run any water. Plus, it's not like he takes very long showers. Me on the other hand, I have very think long hair that takes forever just to get wet. And Oh, I'm not complaining! I love my hair! I realize that many women and almost all men would love to have hair like me. Now I sound like I'm bragging, but trust me I'm not, or at least I don't mean to! I just come from a family of bald men who, as they lost it (in their early 20's), I grew it! It was as if I was sucking the hair right out of their heads. Poor guys! (Tee Hee!) But I digress!
The water heater, right. When we first moved in, right after helping us move all our boxes into the house, the old GM, whom we replaced, informed us that the well is slow and it takes a long time to refill the water heater if you've been running the washer or dishwasher all day. This was never a problem for him as he was a bachelor who was never home all day, but just so we were warned he let us know. We, on the other hand have 4 kids, two of which are in cloth diapers and all of whom have way too many clothes and use too many dishes!
My husband asked the maintenance manager to check it out. Evidently the heating element in the water heater was broken. So he fixed it. But as soon as we used the hot water again, it broke again. It was fixed again, the wiring was worked on and of course, it broke again. So they ordered a new heating element and replaced it. Finally we had hot water. But as soon as we turned on the water, the pressure started to wain. It wained until it stopped. That is how it all started.
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| Hole #1 |
It was at that point when they started looking at the well. First it was the pump. They even took the well pump apart. Then they investigated the well. Hole #1. Apparently it goes dry in the heat of the summer. Well, after hearing me ask the gardener if I could wash the diapers in the irrigation water they hooked us up to one of the other cabin's wells through a hose. We had been without water for 3 days at that point and can I say, storing water in old juice and soda bottles is a very good thing! I didn't have to wash out the dipes by hand. That was also a good thing!
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| Hole #2 |
It was decided that they would put in a cistern. So the well would empty into the cistern and hopefully we would have stored enough in it to last us during the dry summers. Sounds good to me! So they dug a nice big hole. Hole #2. And ordered the cistern. And we waited... about a month. And during this time we were using the water from the other well that came through the hose, which was running across the grass in the hot sun. Have you ever drunk out of a hose in the summer and gotten hot water? Well that is what we got. If we let the cold water run long enough, we would get nice warm water! But the hot tap would still start to run cold after I did my dishes. Talk about confusing!
At last the big day came! A flat bed truck came with a cool crane/pulley system thing on the top. I was so excited I ran to get my 3 year old boy to come see but he was watching a Dora video and had a complete meltdown when I turned it off and took him out. He even saw the truck but he couldn't care less! I was so sad! Am I the only one around here who loves large construction vehicles? Evidently! I should have called this blog City Girl Turned Red Neck! Dang, why didn't I think of that? Anyway!
You really just have to see the pictures to see how very cool this was! Check it out!
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| The truck |
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| Positioning the cistern over the hole! |
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| lowering it down |
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| It's landed! |
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| Moving the cap |
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| coming down |
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| It's in place! |
These last two pictures I took from my kitchen window as it had started to rain. They worked in the mud and rain only taking a lunch break when the real down poor hit. Later that afternoon they worked on turning the water back on which meant the workers came in and out of the laundry room to get to the crawl space. I had gone to town to pick up kids to take them to our biweekly allergy shots. If I had been home I would have removed the throw rug in the laundry room so it wouldn't have been quite so muddy. But I really don't mind as it means water!!! Right?
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| Now the wiring |
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| filling in the hole while the wiring is still being done |
Shortly after arriving home my husband came home and announced that we have water! I said, "No we don't." I, of course had checked right away! The workers had gone to clean up for dinner and were done for the day. Scott checked and sure enough there was absolutely no reaction from the plumbing. This was supposed to fix the problem but obviously the well was not the problem. Wait! You mean to say that the ranch just forked over the money for a cistern and that wasn't the problem. Oh. My. Goodness!
The conclusion to this scenario was simple. There must be a leak in the pipe that goes from the well to the house. So wait! If it's not in the pipe from under the yard, than it would be in the pipe under the house! Oh that would stink worst than last week's diaper pail!
The digging began the next morning. Hole #3. Well first they had to fill in the hole around the cistern, they had to check for wires and mark the wires. Then the holly hocks and grass said good bye. Well, not too many of the holly hocks but most of the grass.
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| Hole #3 |
The good news is they found the leak right away! It was under the yard, not the house. Once fixed the water worked without any more problems! The cold is as cold as any good well water should be and the hot... well, the hot still runs cold too fast. The new heating element quite right away and we now think it's the breaker, or
there's a short somewhere. I really have no idea what's going on. I do know that I don't wash my hair any more. This isn't really true, I just don't wash my hair on the days I shave. As long as I don't try and shower while someones washing the dishes I'm fine! But really how often does that happen!?
The real point is that everyone did an amazing job of closing Pandora's Box!
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| cleaning up |
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| The End (I hope!) |
But here at the ranch they get to meet new friends every week. Kids who are here with their families, who want another playmate besides their brother or sister. We see them swinging out our windows and the kids run out to play too. A friend waiting to happen!
They get to play and swim and ride horses together all week long. They roast marshmallows together and throw rocks in the river. Then on Sunday they leave, and a new playmate arrives that evening. There isn't time to fight, or argue. They don't come in the house, so the toys aren't an issue. It's a perfect relationship.
But this is one of the things that cracks me up most. There always seems to be one or two cows over to the side with a bunch of new little calfs with them. In this case, two cows were in charge of 8 calves. It's the daycare center!
Ok, really! So they're not the smallest pair in the lot (yet). And the... um... Assets might still be a bit more curvy than they were a few years back. But I'm not complaining one bit! Plus, I can tuck my jeans into my boots again! And frankly I even think that's cute with work boots. But let me tell you, City Girl was not expecting this little rancher's lesson. 
When you carry hay from the barn to the troff, lots of little bits of sharp, pointy, prickly, itchy, well, you get the idea, hay fall from your arms. Downward. To the ground. Around your boots. And some of that sweet smelling nourishment for the 
Now this was a lesson that took me some time to figure out. In fact, I was in the barn yard when I realized that there was so much hay in my boots from previous feedings that I feared I wouldn't be able to walk! Ok, not really, but, hey. (Laughing at myself.... probably the only one.)
It started snowing Monday and was so beautiful. But the dirt road to the bus stop was really messy and my Adventure Man said he had a hard time in my big car. He was going out of town for a few days and was kind of freaking out. He stocked me up on wood for the fire, but then told me not to use it unless the power went out. As if! He shoveled all the walks only to have snow slide off the roof and cover them all up again. Poor guy! Plus it was still snowing. I was going to drive him to the airport in Big Town, but he decided to just take his pickup. As it turns out, gas would have cost more than the long term parking does. 
The next day was a school day. I told the kids not to give me any of that because they WERE going to school. I loaded them all up and we headed out. That was when I realized that the snow had drifted. But that was not when I realized I couldn't drive through it! I got stuck just outside of our gate. That was lucky because I only had to walk back to the house a few yards and Bunny was in the car seat, and Bear in PJ's without shoes on. Here is my parking job at 7:15 yesterday morning!
Last week was a busy one for all of us. The wranglers were busy getting the horses out to pasture. The cooks were busy getting rid of all the leftovers. Guest Services were busy cleaning up after the last of the guests and getting the cabins ready to be closed up for the winter. I was busy taking kids here and there for Homecoming week. Yes, my kids are only in elementary school, but when you go to a school that is K-12, homecoming encompasses much more than high school. Here the cheerleaders offer a camp for the kids ages 3 years to 6th grade. The end result: getting to perform in the halftime cheer. My girls had so much fun!
Now our freezer is stocked with leftovers from the kitchen, my crisper is busting with the last of the greens from the garden. The horses are retired for the season. The staff has headed home and this little valley, fresh from the October rain, is once again very quiet. Until next year!
The water heater, right. When we first moved in, right after helping us move all our boxes into the house, the old GM, whom we replaced, informed us that the well is slow and it takes a long time to refill the water heater if you've been running the washer or dishwasher all day. This was never a problem for him as he was a bachelor who was never home all day, but just so we were warned he let us know. We, on the other hand have 4 kids, two of which are in cloth diapers and all of whom have way too many clothes and use too many dishes!
The digging began the next morning. Hole #3. Well first they had to fill in the hole around the cistern, they had to check for wires and mark the wires. Then the holly hocks and grass said good bye. Well, not too many of the holly hocks but most of the grass.
