Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Third Corner Done

This started off as a most excellent day. Phil headed out first thing to feed and water the animals. After filling their tank about one-third of the way, the water shut off. This has been a constant refrain for the last week, and finally Phil decided to dig to find the problem.

The third spigot he dug up appeared to be the problem. The spigot in the apple orchard was surrounded by water as Phil dug. Happily, he just had to jiggle a rod, and everything with the spigot settled back into place. Perfect!

He then set the final six corner blocks for the third corner, without any difficulty whatsoever, and then, to finish off that half batch of mortar, he finished a row along the long wall: 20 blocks set today.

With such lovely sunny weather, I headed out to plant pawpaws. I haven't known exactly what to do, or where, but I finally settled on a swale between the newly planted apple trees. I got through seven little trees, surrounded by daffodil bulbs and with rocks for condensation and worm habitat at the base.

Beatrice the heifer had a due date yesterday. Phil mentioned that her udder and backend looked a bit different, so we headed over after an early dinner to see how she was doing, and to give them some more water.

Beatrice doesn't look like delivery is imminent, but the water remains a nightmare. No water. Plenty of wrestling with the pump, and finally Phil managed to get some pressure. I ran over to see how the cows were doing, and they had tipped their waterer on its side—all the water was dashing on the ground.

Our well has been nothing but trouble for months now. Phil will have to call tomorrow. I feel like we have poured money into it, without a proper return on investment.

And the prospect of going even a day without water means frustrating contortions to ensure the cows stay alive. We can only fill the water wagon from the creek if the ground is reasonably dry. Rain predicted tomorrow.

It's discouraging enough to end the day sadly, instead of gladly.

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