Running water, Victoria’s birthday, hauling water

When I was listing some of the little blessings we too often take for granted in my Friday update, I forgot to mention running water. It is certainly one of those things we overlook to the point of expecting that it is a given in our daily lives. However, Friday afternoon, sometime between 1 pm and 3 pm the pump in our well stopped working and we were left without water in the house. It was not hard for me to determine that the pump, or some other problem down in the well was the issue so I had Mama call the company that had installed that pump for us just a couple years ago. They had all gone home for the weekend. So much for getting it fixed then. Those repairs would have to wait until today, Monday, at the earliest. So, I had Mama call very early this morning to contact the company and see if they would be available to help us out. They will be coming out late this morning and we will get to see what needs to be done to start the water flowing to the house again. Hopefully, it will not cost us $2,000 as it did two years ago but we will pay the price regardless of the cost. We are left with few options at the moment.

Meanwhile, we have been filling five-gallon buckets from the hydrant at the chicken coop which is supplied by the second well on our property. Those buckets of water have been used for flushing the toilets and washing dishes as needed to make it through the weekend. If things get really bad and the well is not repaired quickly, I can rig a hose from that hydrant to back feed through a hose bib at the house to supply water to the house. It has not come to that yet, but there are always options if you are willing to think out of the box a little. So far, Victoria and Mama have been great sports about using the buckets for our toilet needs and since we could not take showers, Mama and Victoria went to a salon Saturday afternoon and got their hair washed there to be ready for church yesterday. Victoria was long overdue for a haircut, so that was part of the trip as well.

Saturday morning, since we could not prepare food at the house, we went to the Longhorn Café in Bowie for their breakfast buffet. It was good, but not outstanding. After we ate, we walked around Trade Days for an hour or so. It was a cold windy morning, so we did not stay long. Fortunately, we had all dressed appropriately for the outdoor activity, but there were very few vendors braving the cold to hawk their wares and there were far fewer than normal shoppers to buy those wares. Once we were back in the vehicle, we headed to Walmart to buy Victoria’s birthday present.

While Victoria was recently I Honduras with Cori, Nate and the kids, Cori noticed how much Victoria liked riding bikes with the kids, so we thought that would make a great birthday present this year. Cori wanted me and Mama to buy a bike and surprise Victoria but that did not work out, so we went to let her pick out a bike. Initially, Mama was disappointed because the one we spotted a week ago was gone, but after careful consideration, we found one that was perfect for Victoria. She took it out for a spin that afternoon and loved it. I will be making some minor adjustments to fit the bike to her, but she was well pleased with the gift. Grandma and Grandpa, who wanted in on the purchase were thrilled, as were Cori and Nate, who contributed as well.

While we were in the store, Mama was wrestling with the shopping cart as we aimed ourselves to the bikes. Somehow, as she yanked around on the cart trying to get past something it had struck on the floor, she pulled the shopping cart back towards her and her hand slipped off the handle whereupon she hit me in the gut with her elbow. I almost went to my knees. It was not a hard blow, but it left me in severe pain for the rest of the day and well into the night. I suppose that is how tender that area is right now. Because of that pain and the continued cold temperatures, I got very little done at the farm Saturday other than constantly hauling water from the chicken coop to the house. We required eight or more five-gallon buckets of water per day mostly for the toilets, but we at least have that option.

All in all, it was a challenging weekend for all of us.