Life, rural, Joys of.. a continuing series
This follows on from
http://franmart.blogspot.com/2008/07/life-rural-joys-of.html,
and like that post concerns water. However on this occasion it is about having too little, rather than too much.
We had thought that in the second half of August Spring must be getting close. Perhaps not here yet, but we should be able to see it! However when I got up on the 19th the outdoor thermometer was reading -3.9C and everywhere was white and crunchy underfoot. The sprinklers were going on the front lawn giving some very nice icicles on the vegetation.
This was a genuine joy. The antijoy came when I turned on the tap in the kitchen to get the coffee happening: zip! Obviously the frost had got to the system somewhere. After some scurrying around by Frances we had enough, from various bottles, to make a serve of java but that was it.
My next strategy was to pour hot water (if I could find any) on the area around the pump. Frances was a tad concerned about this and suggested ringing our plumber of choice - Dunnydore Plumbing - to get advice. The plumbers wife answered the phone and when I explained the problem, said that they had the same situation! Hubbie then came on and said to go and pour hot water around the pump!
The first lot of water was obtained by recycling Frances' hot water bottle. This wasn't enough so I went and scooped some out of a rain water butt over by our stable. After shattering the thick layer of ice. This was then boiled in saucepans and poured over the pump (and for good measure, shlepped up the hill and poured over the outlet from the big tank). This was followed almost immediately by a yell from the house that the pump was running.
http://franmart.blogspot.com/2008/07/life-rural-joys-of.html,
and like that post concerns water. However on this occasion it is about having too little, rather than too much.
We had thought that in the second half of August Spring must be getting close. Perhaps not here yet, but we should be able to see it! However when I got up on the 19th the outdoor thermometer was reading -3.9C and everywhere was white and crunchy underfoot. The sprinklers were going on the front lawn giving some very nice icicles on the vegetation.
This was a genuine joy. The antijoy came when I turned on the tap in the kitchen to get the coffee happening: zip! Obviously the frost had got to the system somewhere. After some scurrying around by Frances we had enough, from various bottles, to make a serve of java but that was it.
My next strategy was to pour hot water (if I could find any) on the area around the pump. Frances was a tad concerned about this and suggested ringing our plumber of choice - Dunnydore Plumbing - to get advice. The plumbers wife answered the phone and when I explained the problem, said that they had the same situation! Hubbie then came on and said to go and pour hot water around the pump!
The first lot of water was obtained by recycling Frances' hot water bottle. This wasn't enough so I went and scooped some out of a rain water butt over by our stable. After shattering the thick layer of ice. This was then boiled in saucepans and poured over the pump (and for good measure, shlepped up the hill and poured over the outlet from the big tank). This was followed almost immediately by a yell from the house that the pump was running.
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