As is the way of things at Frogpond, this place is constantly falling apart. Yesterday was the well. It is always such a treat turning on the tap and getting a trickle, then a whoosh of air, and then nothing. I did get my afternoon exercise trekking up and down through the horse/llama pasture numerous times in my attempt to figure out what was wrong (by the way, it's 0.21 miles there and back, with a slight detour to pet the horse along the way).
The good news is that we had a storage tank filled to the brim with water and the pump seemed to be working fine. The slightly less good news is that at that point I was stuck and had to wait until Bruce got home to figure out what was wrong. Ants. A large colony of them had built a nest nearby and they had gotten into a panel and clogged up the connectors with their corpses.
Minutes later, Bruce had cleaned them out and we had water again. Hallelujah! It’s always a good day when we don’t have to call the well guys (next time this happens - and there will be a next time - I’ll be able to do this myself). We also put ant bait down there to do away with our little friends.
This morning as I'm sitting here thinking about our water situation, I'm so grateful that the tank was full and the problem wasn't that our water level had gone down farther. We can't drill any deeper as we would then reach salt water. My hope is that our almost-normal winter rainfall replenished our aquifer and we won't have to haul in water this year. This probably isn't realistic, as it's only June -- but we'll see.
Good that you were able to fix the problem quickly. Living out in the country, one seems to have critter issues of all types. A newer neighbor here has been very concerned after finding a rattlesnake. Now everyone is sharing their snake stories...and it has me mincing around when outside.
ReplyDeleteAs for recharging the aquifer, I think we both need another year with more good consistent moisture. Yes, any is good but more is better!
Hah! I didn't mention that down at the well I was doing my own mincing around -- right at the base of the panels "someone" had left the mover's quilt we cover the pipes with in winter. Perfect place for a rattlesnake to call home. Didn't want to move it, didn't want to step on it and certainly was in no mood to deal with a pissed off rattler. That was left for poor Bruce to deal with too. In the end, no snake.
DeleteIn the rain department, I'm right there with you that any is good but more is definitely better!
Okay, we both were probably wrong here - more rain isn't always better... Hope that you are surviving the deluge that has been hammering your state!
DeleteSo good to hear from you -- I've got to get back to this blog. We are successfully weathering this constant parade of storms. The pond is overflowing, water gushes from every gopher hole and I am very glad that our house is on a small hill. And how are you doing up there? Not floating away, I hope!
DeleteI hope it is okay - I sent you an email to the address in your profile. Hopefully you got it.
DeleteYes! An email back is in the works! :)
DeleteAh yes, well woes. Those of us in the country feel your pain. When we bought our new tiny farm a couple years ago we knew the well needed revision, doing so cost time, money and the home of a family of bull snakes. Last year the well house flooded and the pressure tank floated away! This year we've run dry once so we watch out use closely. Oh well!!
ReplyDeleteHello, Donna -- it's so good to hear from you. I've spent the past hour reading the end of your old blog and catching up on your new one. Holy mackerel! What you've done with Poor Farm is amazing and inspiring. You also are a splendid writer.
ReplyDeleteBut enough of all that. Um...so will you ever be making soap for sale again? :)