Pumps & Plumbing Stuff

It may be remembered that earlier this year, there was a plumbing situation at the Old Place.  Well that Procrastinating Fuzz finally got around to addressing this situation.

The first step was to remove the old tank from beneath the pump.

(which The Fuzz was assuming still worked)

As can  be seen, it was in pretty bad shape.

This kinda left the pump hanging.

It was time to see just what he had here.

It will be noticed that the new tank is somewhat smaller than the old one.  The Fuzz is hoping that this won't cause any problems in the operation of things.

Of course it did mean that he would have to make some adjustments in the tank supports to compensate for this.

This was done by simply adding a few blocks and bricks to bring things up to the proper level.

That Lazy Fuzz was trying to use as much of the old plumbing as possible.

And so the drain valve and pressure relief valve was retained.

But He did have to add a bushing to compensate for the different thread size.

Then the old PCV pipe was cut back, and a new piece made to fit.

And everything glued up.

There was no problem priming the pump.  But when he cut it on, he found that the pump would cycle on and off much too rapidly!

So some adjustments were made to the pressure switch.

This seemed to help.

Hopefully this will work out OK.

Here's a look at the finished job.

Oh Well...

It has been mentioned that The Fuzz and His Sweetie have a system worked out to help preserve their sanity, (if you can call it that) in which they take turns spending one night a week at the Old Place.  This is good for them, and helps to keep up with the house and grounds.
Well, while The Fuzz's Sweetie was there a couple of weeks ago, it was discovered that the water pump was no longer functioning.  On investigation, they discovered that the pressure tank had given out, apparently rusting through.

Well one of the advantages of the Old Place is an Old School Well.  It is possible to swing open the cover and draw water up with a bucket.  In fact this has been done many times, for example, during power outages.  So a bucket and rope are kept handy at the well, just for this purpose.
Well, with the cold weather and all, they decided to just hold off on replacing the tank, and use the bucket for the time being.  After all, pipes without water can't freeze.  One person spending the night does not require all that much water anyway.
Well, the next week was Our Fuzz's turn.  So after lighting the fire to warm up the house, he decided to pull up some water for his stay.  The first bucket went fine.  But as he raised the next, the rope broke, and the bucket sank to the bottom.
This was not good.  But The Resourceful Fuzz remembered that he had a grappling hook stashed somewhere.  
Now, he had tied a plastic bucket onto the rope and managed to use it to fill the water tubs in the house.  So now he tied the grapple onto the rope.  He snagged the bucket at the bottom on his second try.  Flushed with success, he pulled it to the surface- only to have the treacherous rope break* again!  So now the bucket was gone, and so was his grapple.
Today he went over to give it another try.

He made a new hook, and brought a brand new rope and bucket**.  It took a while, but he did finally manage to snag the bucket.  And was pleasantly surprised to find his first grapple still hooked to it when he pulled it up!
The down side was that the new bucket*** was a bit larger than the old one, and once it was full of water it was a bit much for The Fuzz's Sweetie to handle.  But on his way home, The Fuzz stopped at the Old School Hardware Store, and found a perfect replacement.

*His Sweetie wondered why he even attempted to use this obviously defective rope for this attempt.  (She had a point)

**The old bucket was leaking anyway,so they decided to replace it.

***The only one they had at the Big Home Improvement Store

Water Woes

This weekend we were just going about our business. The Fuzz and His Sweetie had been to town for some quick gardening at the old place.
When they got back to their home in the woods, she began working on several loads of clothes for the washer. After about 3 loads, the trouble started.
His Sweetie had just started the 4th load, and was ready for a shower, when suddenly, there was no water! The Fuzz was a bit surprised. He had thought there was plenty of water in spite of the dry weather. So, he went out to the well to check things out. After a short wait, he cut the power back on, and was relieved to see water come from the spigot at the well. At this point, he assumed it was simply a matter of waiting for the well to fill back up. His Sweetie would have to get dressed and postpone her shower. So, they waited. And waited. Then that evening as it was growing dark, it was discovered that the toilet tank was not refilling. Now it seemed like there must be a different sort of problem. Leaping into action, The Fuzz donned his Trusty "head light" (A gift from His Sweetie) and headed out for some further investigation. It seems there was, in fact, a malfunction.
If you study the Pix above, you will notice at A, the contact points being screwed up. They should look like those at B.
By now it was too late to do anything about it, so the Fuzz's Sweetie (and that Fuzz himself) was forced to go to bed without that nice hot shower*.
This morning, The Fuzz called his boss man and explained that he wouldn't be coming in until He and His Sweetie had water again. No doubt he made it to the "Bad Boy List" for this, but it was necessary.
Well, he rode into town, and picked up a replacement pressure switch. He got it installed before the gully washer hit. And as can be seen here, there is running water once again.

And one last thing-
Here is a close up of our little friend who lives on our wonderful well.


*It should be pointed out that The Fuzz's Sweetie did resort to the old "Spit Bath" routine before retiring for the night.

More Mystery Pix

Hey! What's wrong with all you Mystery Pix Fans? I mean, only 1 attempt on our last one! Gee! Well, The Fuzz says he's willing to overlook this disappointing lack of enthusiasm for now. However, he is willing to give you slackers one more chance. So here it is, our latest exciting,

Mystery Pix!

Surely, this should be an easy one.

And for the latest news on our new well- The Fuzz reports that the well has been inspected by the proper authorities and successfully passed this intense scrutiny. And not only that, the water line to the actual trailer was also approved. Of course, there is still much to do and a number more of those inspections, but this is another step toward our goal of a new home in the woods.

Well... And Not So Well

Well, things are moving along OK, sort of. You can see here Water down there in this new well. At this time there was about 38' of cool clear water in this High Dollar Hole. This is good.
What is not so good is that The Fuzz was a bit confused and thought there was a "well permit" that there wasn't. It should be noted that The Fuzz is not very adept at dealing with bureaucracies and all that red tape stuff. It was not the Well Guy's bad. He asked if there was such a permit and the somewhat confused Fuzz thought he had one. The result of this debacle (thanks to The Fuzz's Sweetie, who handled it) was that a real "well permit" was obtained, but at a price. There was, of course, a stiff penalty involved, but at least the well didn't need to be moved.
And here's a look at this troublesome well. As you can see the work was continued till dark. The job's not finished yet. But these cement "tiles" are in there and some gravel was added today.
This all has to be sealed with more cement. Then it gets a pump, and a line to the trailer.
We'll try to get some more pix up of this fascinating process.

And now, here is a look at That Stupid, Disobedient Dog and her new buddy, The Buddha Buddy.

As can be seen, they seem to be getting on fine.
Here they are in the process of destroying one of The Fuzz's old socks.

Things Are Moving Well

The Well Guys (and Well Gal) finally made it out.
Here's a look at their rig.

This is not a modern "State of the Art" sort of rig, but still very effective.
The Fuzz had elected to go for a larger "Bored" well as opposed to one of those "Driven" ones where a relatively small diameter pipe is driven deeper into (hopefully) an aquifer down there somewhere. His reasoning being that he would prefer a well he could drop a bucket into if it became necessary.
The Well Guy (with extensive experience in these matters) told him that the deeper wells in this area often end up with a lot of iron and stuff in the water. This does not mean that you can dispense with your iron supplements, but that the water will taste bad and your wash will turn red. This is not what we want.
Here is a look at the rig set up.

It was a tight fit getting it in there, but they made it by only cutting one small cherry tree.
In this shot*, you can see the shaft (A) that descends into the future well whilst turning the "bit" (C) down there at the bottom. Off to the right, is the boom (B) that pulls the bucket of dirt out to be dumped. And below, is a look at the first bucket full, the start of the drill. We'll have more exciting pictures of this fascinating process in future posts, maybe even exciting Video! So check back with us here at Kinda Fuzzy!

*The Fuzz wants me to apologize for those pitiful tiny A,B and C's, so Sorry about That.

Double Dog Trouble

Meet Buddha Buddy

Here we have that Stupid, Disobedient Dog meeting her new buddy, now know as the Buddha Buddy. This is largely The Fuzz's Sweetie's doing. For some reason she didn't think that 1 doggy was enough trouble by itself. So now there are 2, double trouble, as it were. But he is a cute little thing, and hasn't pooped on the floor yet.

In other news, the Well Guys finally showed up and bored us a well. It looks like there will be plenty of water. There's still a bit more to do to finish the job up, but we'll try to get some pix up soon.

Gluttonous Goldfish is a Goner

Yup, That Gluttonous Goldfish is no longer with us. It is sad, but true. Nature did finally take it's course. We had thought perhaps he would eventually choke down his oversize meal, but alas, it was not to be. But all was not lost, our flowerbed did receive a bit of fertilization as a result of this sad affair.

Still no well. The Fuzz talked to the Well Digger (or maybe "Well Borer") today, and he expects to be on the job tomorrow. If so, we may have pix of this exciting event soon.

And now, about Tuesday's Mystery Pix.- Not a moldy orange peal. Also not beer foam, although this is close. It is in fact freshly mixed up Orange Juice from our Star Wars Blowout. But here's a new one.

No foam here.
Now for those with insider information,
No Cheating!
For everyone else,
Good Luck.

Mystery Pix Again

Apparently that last one was too easy.
Levi and that Canuck both got it quickly, too quickly.
So how about this one!

And to bring you the Up To The Minute News on the trailer situation, Still no Well. The Well Guy apparently didn't make it out there today. Maybe tomorrow. And keep watching for New Cat Poetry!

A New Mystery Pix!

That's right
We here present our latest

Mystery Pix

In other news, The Fuzz met with the Well Digger Guy today, and we hope to have a well within the week. Of course we won't be able to actually use it until we get power also. I guess the old Rope and Bucket days are history. Now they make you seal everything up. Oh Well.

Bugged

Found these guys all over the well the other day.

I don't really know what they are though. I mean I know they're Bugs but I don't know their name. They are kinda pretty, for bugs, I mean.
They don't seem to Bite, which is good of course. Getting bit is no fun.
But there are a lot of them, at least on the well.
Here's some on the Bucket.

See what I mean about a Bunch of 'em.

Water & Weeds

Happy, Happy Days.

As can be seen from The Fuzz's Official Water Records here, there is now somewhere in the vicinity of 5 ft. of cool clear water in that, formerly dry well . Well it is no longer dry, and now The Fuzz can take a bath, or any other such thing requiring water. This is a good thing, and we are very happy about it.

And with the warmer weather, The Fuzz has been able to get out in the Garden some. You may remember the "Greentent" , that wonderful inovation for jump starting garden stuff.
Well, here you can see just how well it works, especially for the weeds. Note the profusion of said weeds from under this Greentent. This, of course, demonstrates just how effective it is. This also illustrates the situation The Fuzz had to deal with.

One of the unpleasant facts about Gardening is dealing with weeds.
And at this tiny stage, this can be a tedious business. And so, The Fuzz was forced to deal with it, carefully, one tiny weed at a time.

He spent a pleasant afternoon, and even pulled off his shirt for some welcome Vitamin D. So for now, we have a nice neat garden, and maybe before too long, some Fresh Greens.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on a minor mechanical situation. But that is not the subject today.

The People Cat

I hope my many loyal readers (both of them) will remember Puddin', the cat that thinks he's a people. Well of course he's all grown up now. He's even discovered Girl Cats, which could make things interesting around here.
He still kinda thinks he's a people though. Here he is enjoying a bicycle ride with Young Daughter. This was not some sort of cute pose thing. He loves it and will ride 'till she's tired of pedaling. Hey, she's doing all the work.

In another important development, recent rains have brought the well up even more. As this official record shows, it now stands at 16in. of cool, clear, water in The Fuzz's well.

The Fuzz's Official Water Situation Table

Since it was previously reported that we had been blessed with rain, I thought it would be a good thing to review the situation. And so we are introducing- "The Fuzz's Official Water Situation Table". This is a handy way to keep up with this important matter.

On Poalima, 1st of Pepeluali, also known as, Friday, February 01, we received significant rainfall. At least it was enough to finally bring the water level in the well up to the point were it could actually be used. Unfortunately, there was little more follow up to that. In a few days, The Fuzz was shocked to find that the water level had dropped significantly.

This Chart shows that there is only about 1 ft. of that Precious Element remaining. And so, we are still in a serious water Conservation Situation. Today, The Fuzz took a new measurement, and, despite some rain, the situation has not improved.

And so, we must conclude this Water Report on a note of cautious optimism.

Poalima, The Day of Water

As you will notice, today is Poalima, 1st of Pepeluali. You may not realize it yet, but this is a special day for us. This is The Day of Water.


It seems, that after many false promises, and outright lies, the Weather Service finally got it right. There was Rain. And not only Rain, but enough to effect that change we'd been hoping and praying for.



You may recognize this view, but there is a crucial difference here. In the bottom of this hole, there is water. This may not seem like a big deal, but it is. It has been months since there was water here in any appreciable amount. But now, thank God, it's here.


Today after a short day at work, The Fuzz went home to discover this Wonderful Blessing. And so, he decided to give it a shot, and prime the pump.


If you've ever had to deal with this sort of thing, you may realize that it can be a royal pain. You may have to pour water over and over into a tiny hole, only to watch your hopes be crushed into the mud. The pressure will rise hopefully, only to suddenly drop to nothing, nada, zip. All that is left is to repeat the process. And repeat the process, until the plumbing spirits smile on you.


But I am happy to report, that this process was successful for The Fuzz, on the first try. This is unheard of, at least around here. Usually these things turn into an ordeal. But, today, Poalima, the 1st of Pepeluali, after only adding Three Cups of water for prime, we have Water. again. A very good way to start the new month.

It was Impressive

"Tonight: A slight chance of snow showers after 1am."
So says The National Weather Service. We'll just have to wait and see.
But I am happy to report that it did finally Rain, and we will begin 2008 with actual Water in our well.

It is true. Look down deep in there. That is real water, H2O. Almost a foot of it. (1 foot = 0.305 meter, for all you metricist communists)
Granted, it's a bit murky, but it is wet. The Fuzz actually took a sip and reports that it tastes fine, but he'll drink creek water when he's in the mountains, and he may not be a competent judge of these things.

We were out of town again this weekend. There is an exhibit at The N.C. Museum of Art, "Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism". Being fans of this type of painting, this was a good excuse to visit one of the Big City Daughters in a Big City near there. We also visited her Cat, and met School Teacher Daughter and Someday to be Famous Writer Son in Law there.
We thoroughly enjoyed the pictures. It was a treat to see the real thing instead of pictures of pictures. The Fuzz found the Impressionists impressive, and lingered longly looking at 'em. We checked out more of the museum until we OD'd on it all and went to get some dinner. Later we had a nice visit with Big City Daughter and drove home in the rain the next day.
As for this Snow, we'll just wait and see.

Rain, But...........

Well, a deep subject, as they say, also a little dry in this case.Yes there was some rain. The Fuzz took a hopeful look down the well, but this is what he saw, the bottom of the well.This was a bit discouraging. Really there was not a lot of rain, it was dreary drizzle for the most part. There was one day of rain though, and it was enough to bring back a little green to the grass. Soon it will turn cold and most every thing will be brown and grey anyway.

You can see The Fuzz's Foot-valve here, at the end of this pipe. In order to pump water, this thing must be down in the water. It will be noticed that there is no water to be in. The pump will not pump dirt, and even if it would, there would be no point in that.

The Fuzz briefly thought about climbing down there with his little pick to dig for more water. He did that once, and like to smothered him self. But that is a lot of dangerous work, and this time he will just wait for more rain.

No Rain

I saw this Happy Couple at the Renaissance Faire when we were there.

There's not much going on around here, we're still waiting for some rain. The Weather Service keeps making these promises, but they seem to be the same sort you hear around elections. So the well is still empty. It rained about 5 minutes the other night. Just enough to wet up my truck seat though the open windows. After that it quit. The old wash the car trick is out too since we're not supposed to do that sort of thing any more. Maybe planning a camping trip would work.

Water

We finally got some much needed rain. When I say "much needed", I mean, much needed.
We are on a well here, and it is not a very deep one. Here in North Carolina we have had a hot, dry summer. Dry is not good if one's water source is an old shallow well. But this is not the first time, and if the Climate Change People are right, probably not the last time.

Over the years we have worked out ways to deal with this. This is our Emergency Drought Water Management System. We are fortunate in that we are able to reduce our water consumption considerably when necessary. I think this may have been born of some camping experience, where one must either carry, or find, enough to get by. The two barrels store about 100 gl. It is drawn out though the handy spigots and carried were needed. This is primitive, I know, but quite effective. It also is an opportunity for some good, heathy exercise.
The Oriental Vehicle is equipped with a barrel of it's own. This is filled in town at the home of an Accommodating Friend, and then driven home.

The last step involves getting this water into the Emergency Drought Management System. The Fuzz has found, that rolling the 400 lb. barrel off of the Oriental Vehicle and carrying it to the rest of the Emergency Drought Management System, is somewhat difficult. But since the driveway is at a higher altitude than the side yard, a simple hose connecting the barrels easily does the job. All The Fuzz has to do, is sit and watch !
We have learned to conserve water. It is really surprising how little one needs. The Fuzz can take a complete shower with a gallon jug of warm water. Only a cup is needed for tooths brushing, and our Special Facilities require none at all.
Soon it will be time for the County Fair, and it always rains for that.

The Hole

This is a hole in the ground. It is very deep, but alas, not deep enough. If one looks closely one may notice a small shiny spot at the bottom. This is a small amount of water. A very small amount. We have not had a great deal of rain this summer. Those hurricanes seldom make it this far inland. Not that this is a bad thing in itself, but it can become a problem. Today it is actually raining, but not a whole lot. Not nearly enough. But anything is good, and we are thankful.
This is an old well. One might call it an antique in these days of great and wonderful technology. Just a simple hole in the ground. This is not the first time that things have come to this of course. A few years ago even the river dried up.
Many years ago we were in a similar situation. I decided the best way to handle things would be to make the hole deeper. It seemed like a good idea at the time. And so I built an impressive rig with a frame of 2x4s and pulleys and ropes and all kinds of good stuff to facilitate the process. And so fighting waves of claustrophobia, I was lowered into the deep, but dry, hole. I could say that one has never lived until one has spent time in a well, but that is not really true. I will say, however, that it is a unique experience. I will also say that even the most macho of men should listen to their wives at times like this. The earth at the bottom of such a hole is quite hard and must be chipped out slowly and with a great deal of effort. It must then be pulled out in a bucket by an assistant. All this chipping and scraping and huffing and puffing uses a lot of oxygen and produces an amount of carbon-dioxide which has a tendency to settle in low places. There are not many places lower than the bottom of a well. I suppose hell is lower, but that's another affair. My Sweetie had begged me to lower a candle into the deep each time before my descent, a trick she had picked up from a children's book one time. I, of course thought it unnecessary. I'm kinda dumb like that sometimes. I was having a terrible headache while working down there, but being a guy and all, I was just toughing it out as they say. But then came the dizziness an I almost passed out. About all I could do was mumble something like "You better pull me up". And with the help of the young'uns, she did. I did not feel real good, and looked bad enough to scare them. Just for the record, the candle never made it half way to the bottom before being snuffed. In a few days, there came a gullywasher that fixed the problem.
Did all this help ? Yeah it did. The well is a little deeper now, although it still goes dry at times. And I have one more reason to listen to my Sweetie.