Pouring...
When it rains, it pours.
So here's my last 10 days or so.
A week ago last Sunday got a call from Randy. The clutch on the truck was blown. Went out and picked him up and got AAA to tow to the nearest (well rated) repair place. About 1000$ later, the truck is back and works just fine.
The car needs the timing belt replaced. Randy asked them how much it'd be and they gave us a quote 200$ less than the Honda dealership. So we scheduled the car to go in. It's in there now, costs about 1000$ when all is said and done. We are having more than the timing belt done, replacing fluids, checking this and that. The car is 10 years old, after all.
Last Friday Randy went downstairs to get a cup of coffee. He heard a weird dripping, gushing sound, so investigated. It led him to the laundry, where the washer was draining a load. Everything looked fine. He turned around, looked across the hall, and gasped. Sewage was spurting out the guest bathroom toilet. Quickly he slammed down the knob on the washer, and the sewage stopped spurting.
9pm - 12 am Friday night, Randy, a plumber and I were out in the front yard looking for the septic tank. The plumber wanted to clear the clog from that end, not the other. After much discussion, we decided to leave it until tomorrow and call the septic people in.
Sometime in the middle of the night, had to use a biffy bucket IN MY OWN HOUSE. I'm sorry, but that's just beyond the pale for me. Also, could do no dishes, no cooking (if it needed water), no face or hand washing, no nothing, without pretending like it was camping. I don't like that aspect of camping AT ALL. If we ran the kitchen sink faucet, water spewed out the greenhouse sink drain. You get the idea.
Saturday, the day before Easter. Called several septic places that advertized as 24 hour places. No response. FInally called FloHawks after we'd dug up a septic tank lid, and a few other pieces of tank. They came out. Before they did, the lady on the phone told us we needed two lids... two? 2? TWO??? She said the tank would be square or rectangular, lids about 2 feet apart. So we got the tractor and started scraping, then Randy set to digging. By the time the septic guy arrived a few hours later, we'd found the edges of the tank and darned if it didn't seem like a star; to heck with a square shape.
Septic guy, named Frank, nice guy, anyways, grins at me and shows us that it's two ROUND tanks we are dealing with. He tells Randy where to dig, and starts digging himself and soon enough they have the other lid, the filter, and the intake all cleared. While doing this he suggested we put in risers, so we never have to dig again. We agreed. So pumping, clean up, and soon to be installed risers and alarm later, and my wallet is 2000$ lighter. Randy and I were outside digging or jawing with the septic guy for 7 hours that day. I was bushed when we were done.
Been one heck of a tough April this way.
This morning Randy woke me at 8:15 or so and told me he thought Monkey, one of our pregnant goats, needed help. Raced out and she didn't really need help, but she was definitely giving birth. 4 hours and 5... FIVE... babies later (all girls!) and things are calm(ish) again. Two of the little ones are runts, and need supplemental feeding for a while. There was a reason I hadn't turned that last frozen milk into cheese! Monkey is Ivy's baby. Ivy is Milk Chocolate's baby. So Monkey's girls, who are spectacularly patterned and colored, have a chocolate theme: (chocolate) Caramel, (chocolate creme) Brulee, Cocoa (powder), (chocolate) Decadence and (chocolate) Sundae. Brulee and Sundae are the runts. Pics will be posted on the farm page shortly!
So here's my last 10 days or so.
A week ago last Sunday got a call from Randy. The clutch on the truck was blown. Went out and picked him up and got AAA to tow to the nearest (well rated) repair place. About 1000$ later, the truck is back and works just fine.
The car needs the timing belt replaced. Randy asked them how much it'd be and they gave us a quote 200$ less than the Honda dealership. So we scheduled the car to go in. It's in there now, costs about 1000$ when all is said and done. We are having more than the timing belt done, replacing fluids, checking this and that. The car is 10 years old, after all.
Last Friday Randy went downstairs to get a cup of coffee. He heard a weird dripping, gushing sound, so investigated. It led him to the laundry, where the washer was draining a load. Everything looked fine. He turned around, looked across the hall, and gasped. Sewage was spurting out the guest bathroom toilet. Quickly he slammed down the knob on the washer, and the sewage stopped spurting.
9pm - 12 am Friday night, Randy, a plumber and I were out in the front yard looking for the septic tank. The plumber wanted to clear the clog from that end, not the other. After much discussion, we decided to leave it until tomorrow and call the septic people in.
Sometime in the middle of the night, had to use a biffy bucket IN MY OWN HOUSE. I'm sorry, but that's just beyond the pale for me. Also, could do no dishes, no cooking (if it needed water), no face or hand washing, no nothing, without pretending like it was camping. I don't like that aspect of camping AT ALL. If we ran the kitchen sink faucet, water spewed out the greenhouse sink drain. You get the idea.
Saturday, the day before Easter. Called several septic places that advertized as 24 hour places. No response. FInally called FloHawks after we'd dug up a septic tank lid, and a few other pieces of tank. They came out. Before they did, the lady on the phone told us we needed two lids... two? 2? TWO??? She said the tank would be square or rectangular, lids about 2 feet apart. So we got the tractor and started scraping, then Randy set to digging. By the time the septic guy arrived a few hours later, we'd found the edges of the tank and darned if it didn't seem like a star; to heck with a square shape.
Septic guy, named Frank, nice guy, anyways, grins at me and shows us that it's two ROUND tanks we are dealing with. He tells Randy where to dig, and starts digging himself and soon enough they have the other lid, the filter, and the intake all cleared. While doing this he suggested we put in risers, so we never have to dig again. We agreed. So pumping, clean up, and soon to be installed risers and alarm later, and my wallet is 2000$ lighter. Randy and I were outside digging or jawing with the septic guy for 7 hours that day. I was bushed when we were done.
Been one heck of a tough April this way.
This morning Randy woke me at 8:15 or so and told me he thought Monkey, one of our pregnant goats, needed help. Raced out and she didn't really need help, but she was definitely giving birth. 4 hours and 5... FIVE... babies later (all girls!) and things are calm(ish) again. Two of the little ones are runts, and need supplemental feeding for a while. There was a reason I hadn't turned that last frozen milk into cheese! Monkey is Ivy's baby. Ivy is Milk Chocolate's baby. So Monkey's girls, who are spectacularly patterned and colored, have a chocolate theme: (chocolate) Caramel, (chocolate creme) Brulee, Cocoa (powder), (chocolate) Decadence and (chocolate) Sundae. Brulee and Sundae are the runts. Pics will be posted on the farm page shortly!