Unscheduled Plumbing Repair

Today we were going to post about starting to plant the fall garden. We started some of our seeds last week on the porch and it is time to start planting.  The weather is really hot. It is supposed to be about 95 degrees with the heat index around 105. Thinking about a fall garden should make us feel cooler while we work, right? It didn't work. It is really, really hot.

First we tilled in the area where the corn was.....

then, where we grew the potatoes.......



 

 
But on one of the last swaths we "found" the grey water line with the tiller on the tractor. Arrrggghhh! It goes right across the garden where this hoe is laying.

We have some beautiful pine trees that were planted here about 35 years ago. We always thought they were so pretty, until we moved to a place that had old ones. The roots play havoc with water and drain lines.

The plumbing in our house is all connected to this grey water line, except for the toilet. This line has to be cleaned out about once a year because it doesn't drain quite right. When we got here every time the washing machine drained the sinks would gurgle. It took a while to locate all of the lines and figure out how the system was put together. The tree roots have been a nuisance for the water and drain lines off and on since we arrived. Today is no different. 

So, with some spare parts we have around and a piece of rubber gasket from some friends of ours (thank you!), we finangled a fix. It always pays to stock up on spare parts. Think in terms of what you might need if you have no store to go to.

Otherwise, it would mean a 60 mile round trip to town for parts. Not something we were planning this morning. We were already hot, sweaty and stinky and not in the mood for shopping. 

After we had put everything together, we realized it would leak more than we wanted. We thought we might put some black plastic around it with duct tape, but Frank came up with a better idea.

 

 
Duct tape the joints together, then add the rubber gasket and hose clamps. Isn't duct tape wonderful? It is one thing we will really miss if we ever run out of it and can't get any more.


This is not a long-term fix, but it will get us through the gardening season and into cooler weather. It is one of those projects we just keep putting off. We need to dig up the whole line and replace it since we have had to work on it off and on for several years. It's another thing on our long to-do list.

By the time we finished this repair it was 1:00pm, 97 degrees, with an even higher heat index, and time for lunch. The winter squash will have to wait until tomorrow. It is definitely ready to be put in the ground. So we came in, cooled down and had lunch. Now Frank is going to rest and recover from over-heating. On afternoons like this, we hibernate under the air conditioning.

Until next time - Fern