July 3rd 2003
Water. Water is a problem. Either I have too much, not enough, or the quality is the issue.
All spring I had water in the basement. Not that I have much of a basement. It's really just a place to put my hot water heater and the furnace. But I found out the hard way that these things do not like to be flooded with water.
I have an electrically powered sump pump that can usually pump the water out fast enough to keep up with the water coming in, but during heavy storms the power can go out and then the pump is off and the water is still coming in!
This cost me a visit by the gas folks to restart my hot water heater. I have plans to fix the drainage problem in the basement (lots of re-grading on the out side and some excavation on the inside) but this must wait till it's dry to do the work, any minute now...
Then just as summer arrived the basement dried out and so did my well! Well not exactly it's just that water comes into the well only so fast. The pump in the well can pump it out faster than it can come in, just like in the basement, only with a well this is not so good. I found this out the hard way too. I was watering the garden (for a few hours) and the well ran dry! This cost me a visit from my favourite water guy! So now I have to get a pump that will automatically turn off when the water level goes too low. This will prevent the pump from burning out and eliminate the need for re-priming the pump.
I finally got the water quality issue sorted out, the softener now works properly, the filtration system that I installed now gives me good clean water to drink. Filtered water is now dispensed from a tap at the sink and from the fridge. I get clean ice cubes too, good for those cool summer time drinks!
On the up side, soon all of the water problems will have been sorted out and water will not be a problem any more.
I anticipate this happening just as I discover something else that needs sorting out!
November 1st 2002
Well the big thing in my life right now is that I am moving!I am leaving the farm and moving into town. This is not a move that I would have imagined making just a year ago but it fits best under the current circumstances. I would have liked to find a small acreage, have animals and a large garden not to mention privacy and a nice view, but the cost of such a place close enough to my daughters school is just too high to manage.
The upside is that the place I did find is great all things considered.It has a good-sized yard, a great kitchen with all new top-of-the-line appliances and it is close enough to my daughter's school that she can walk there!The current garden page on this site describes the garden at my farm, so I guess it will have to change. I am moving too late in the season to be able to do any gardening at my new place this year but I will sure be looking forward to the spring!
Now all I need is to get some boxes...
January 13th 2003
I have settled into my new home and I love it. That is not to say that there haven't been problems! First the toilet backed up on my second night in my new home at 1:00am that's AM i.e., in the middle of the night! All this, after a very tiring day of unpacking and arranging furniture. I had to call the plumber in to fix it but could not get him until the morning. Then 2 days later the kitchen sink developed a leak and I had to call the plumber in for that too. Then the when I finally got around to purchasing shower curtains, I tried to take a shower only to find that the taps had been incorrectly installed. You can not turn on the hot water and have a shower too because the lever for the shower hit the hot water knob! No wonder the ceramic knob was loose!
By this time I had created enough dirty clothes that I needed to do some laundry. After my previous experience with the plumbing in this house so far I was hesitant. But I looked around the washer and drier (which are in an unheated back porch by the way) and everything looked OK. I started the washer without incident, put in the soap and the first load of clothes and went to do the dishes. About 20 minutes later I hear a crash and a bang. I looked around for the cats and see them both curled up on the couch, and concluded that it couldn't be one of them, and then the light bulb went on in my head and I ran for the laundry! There was water gushing everywhere! Turns out that the connection between the laundry tub (where the discharge from the washer was supposed to go) and the drain was broken. As well the front feet of the laundry tub were not attached properly so that when the water started coming in there was nothing to hold the tub upright! With all of the weight of the water it just let go and fell over! Another call and visit from the plumber was required to sort that one out.
Oh did I mention that the water from my taps tasted salty? No? Well you guessed it, the water softener does not work either! That one is still not fixed, I have had to bypass the softener for now and have hard water in the house until I can get the water softener man (not the same guy as the plumber) in to fix it.
But like I said I love my new house, it may be small, it may have problems, but it is all mine! (and the Bank's too of course.)
