Monday, November 02, 2009

Weekend Report - Perfect Weather and Plumbing Problems

It has been awhile since we have had such a beautiful weekend here in OK. Weather-wise this weekend was darn near perfect, and it looks like it will stay that way all of this week. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon for the GGs to come romp around the Lazy B. They went down to the pond and petted the horses. They threw sticks in the pond. They wrested the Bad Cat. They ran with the big dogs. And they found a caterpillar. What fun! This is not one of my better photos, but it shows the beautiful day, the full pond, the horses in the background, and Handsome Jack, the red heeler.


The downside of our weekend was plumbing problems. Due to the hard water here in OK, our hot water has been slowing down to a trickle for a while now. We have a tankless water heater, which is great, but it works on water pressure. When the hard water-deposits build up in the faucets, water does not run well and no hot water. We have been turning on the shower and the kitchen sink to get hot water to the sink – kind of a pain in the backside. So this weekend it was Toby to the rescue. We bought new faucets and cleaned out the heater with CLR stuff. It worked out well, but the process was messy – dragging everything out from under the sinks, pulling the water heater off the wall, everything torn up, etc. Then there was the in and out of the house – with last weeks wet weather, we still have some mud around here. Did I mention that Toby pulled the steps off the house? Well, he did, which is a good thing. It puts us one-step (no pun intended) closer to building on to our house. He also worked to bust a hole through the foundation – getting ready for putting central heat into our house. Jesse took photos of the house, which she said looks "so sad." To me, it looks like a work area :)

I know people wonder why our house is not built yet – why we don’t just getter’ done. But there are lots of little steps in getting ready to build – lots of ducks to get in a row. Then there are little setbacks like working on the plumbing in the old part of the house. Also, people need to understand that we won’t hire the work done; we will build it ourselves. Yeah, it takes longer, but it will be cheaper, and it will be ours in a special way. I can live with the wait. In fact, I am so looking forward to the framing part – I do love to swing a hammer. If there are any folks who share my passion for building, feel free to show up with your tool belt. Handsome, young, single men are preferred, but not necessary.

6 comments:

Buck said...

Also, people need to understand that we won’t hire the work done; we will build it ourselves.

Good on ya for that. I really admire that sort of thing in people and you just don't see a lot of it anymore. That said: you and Toby are better folks in this space than I. I was an artiste with "checkbook remodeling"... it was the only way I knew how (and I had little interest in learning any other way, to be entirely truthful).

A caterpillar in late, late October? Wow... that's gonna be one short-lived butterfly.

joyce said...

I hear ya on doing it all ourselves. Bob was done with his six weeks of Sunday School lessons prep, so he was able to fix the potty. Now it will fill without taking off the lid and jiggling the arm...oh, the luxury!

Then we drow to Lawton on Sunday and home through Duncan. Lots of water in the fields. We are eight inches over normal for October and the year, y'all, too??

Bag Blog said...

Buck, With two little girls fighting over the caterpillar, you can bet his life was short.

Joyce, One of these days when you are up this way, we need to get together. Sunday was beautiful here and you could have met my GGs. But I know how it is when you travel somewhere and you are headed home.

The Friendly Neighborhood Piper said...

well...i got the handsome part covered.

To Joyce...i second the motion for y'all to stop.

joyce said...

we'd love to. wish we could have given you notice, though, before dropping in. James and Amber were suppose to go camping with another family, but someone in the other family got sick. And since Bob did not have to do Sunday School, it worked out nicely.

Amber says she hopes to get together for lunch with you when she gets back from her ladies retreat to the Ozarks. And she said she is keeping an eye out for Christian guys in their Bible Study group.

Jo Castillo said...

Ah, the joys of being a homeowner and builder. Lots and lots of work. I will be thinking of you.