Monday, February 10, 2014

Plumbing, blooms, a surprise

 

Good evening Folks ~ It is Monday evening and I’m feeling ready to get horizontal to read before sleep.

Today was beautiful here in s.e. FL.  I took some pics of blooms this morning. The air is filled with bird song, scents of callisia fragrans, it was cool and I was thankful for another new day.

The giant fish is swimming in among some snake plants, moses-in-the-bullrushes, and callisia fragrans, which are the lacy little white blooms on skinny stalks.

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Clerodendrum shooting star

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Mom-of-millions with reed orchids and blue sage in the background.

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‘Cocktail’ roses.

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This is a huge aloe by the back shed, probably a couple of feet tall by three feet across.

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Early morning fog on Saturday.  My brother-in-law was driving down from an hour away in this. Out on the road it was really thick, I couldn’t even see the intersection a few blocks away.

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Well, we are hoping and praying that we are done with plumbing work under the house.  This time we cut two holes in the flooring to fix the leak, change pipe and we worked from 8:45-6:45, pooped at the end.  We had to go to HD for supplies, not much, and we had a lunch break. 

Cutting holes in the floor got to me and I had a good little cry, then pulled myself together so that we could get on with the work. Crying released tension.  Todd told me he is amazed at the work dear Mark did under the house as an older man by himself.  It was a LOT of work, new center beam and shoring all the cross beams up on blocks, but well worth it and hearing Todd say that really blessed my heart. I was Mark’s helper above ground, but Mark was the one crawling around on his stomach doing all the hard work.

This hole is under the kitchen sink, stove to the right of my nice pvc pipe cutter.

Todd on his stomach replacing old copper, with pvc. This second leak was bigger than the first one. It was probably there but we just didn’t notice it because of where it was, under the refrigerator flooring.  I sure could hear the water though, so kept the water turned off to the house except for short periods of time to wash dishes and take a shower.  Doing without water at the turn of a faucet or flush of a toilet, sure makes you appreciate that convenience.

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Todd had to knock out some old concrete chunks that were blocking the way to do the pipe work. This hole is under where the fridge sits, in it’s own little cubbyhole.  Cutting this hole is what made me cry for some reason.  I just missed Mark so much and we were cutting up the flooring he had done for the scullery. SIGH. The silver covered pipe you see is the hot water pipe. We just have a couple of sections of older, but looking good, copper pipe now, everything else is pvc.

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I forgot to take pictures of the finished work.  We were tired and moving right along to get the flooring back in place, etc. after waiting a couple of hours for the pvc cement to set up good. All looked fine, flooring back down, fridge moved back into place and I would handle the rest later, vacuuming, mopping, etc.

I had put the two chunks of concrete he had given me from under the house, in the mop bucket. This morning I took them out because I was going to mop and lo and behold there was a ‘prize’ just for me that I didn’t even see when we brought them up.

This heart is lopsided, has a fault line and a gash, which is how my heart feels these days missing my love.  Mark and I always looked for hearts and this is a special one for me this Valentine’s week.  I hosed it down and brought it indoors and now it has a special place of honor. Smile

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Well, that’s it from Plum Cottage for now. 

Happy Valentine’s Day to all.

FlowerLady

20 comments:

Rebecca said...

Now that's a heart with quite a story!
I'm glad you had good weather to enjoy in spite of the difficult process of repairing the leak. I hope this is the end of big maintenance projects for awhile!

Your flowers are lovely. Make the cold and snow we're experiencing more bearable, somehow...

Julie said...

What a lot of great work you guys got accomplished!!! Fantastic! The heart is so cool. I would have it in a place of honor too! Happy Valentines week!!! That was from your sweetie!

Nancy J said...

That heart is surely the gold at the end of the rainbow, and Mark would be so proud of all you achieve. Let's hope the plumbing is done for all times. Lovely garden flowers, they are a real delight. Cheers, Jean.

suziqu's thread works said...

Goes to show you Lorraine Love can be found anywhere even under the house in the shape of that concrete. That was such a big day and struggle for you without your Mark beside you to fix the leak but see how you are blessed for your hard work and efforts.
A beautiful memory!
Sweet Valentine's Day to you!
x Suzy

Ruth Hiebert said...

That heart is very special.I do hope the plumbing is all done now.

tina said...

I hope you get your plumbing woes fixed once and for all. It seems many older houses need pipes replaced at some point. A friend of mine had all of their pipes replaced. It was a big job. Sounds like you got yours done now. Beautiful heart and I think it is displayed ever so nicely.

Rose ~ from Oz said...

Oh Lorraine, I do pray that this is the end of the plumbing dramas. You've had enough.
I am totally stunned at the symbolic nature of your prize. Just stunned.
Hugs
Rose

lil red hen said...

I hope your plumbing issues are solved. That can be so frustrating! I know ~ we have drain problems and the farmer is old enough now he doesn't really feel like crawling under the house. He has always fixed our problems and is too picky to hire someone to do it now. :)

Your lovely flowers give us a much needed break from the dreary days we've had this winter.

Deb J. in Utah said...

That heart is so cool and such a heartfelt prize for you. So glad to hear your are getting your plumbing issues resolved. I love the beautiful blossoms! Have a very happy day!

L. D. said...

Your new heart is really wonderful. I hate water problems and I am glad you can have it fixed. We are so cold that I have to keep a portable heater pointed towards a closet open to keep the cold water from freezing that goes to the down stairs bathroom. I usually get to it before it has frozen too hard and then it won't break the pipes.

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

I'm exhausted but happy that you got the plumbing out of the way and found that lovely heart, FL! Love all of your flowers and even that big fish! Hope you are having a great week! Thinking of you always, xo from LVL and The Herbal Husband

M.K. said...

Ah, Lorraine, what a hard day! Not just the repairs and the final resolution to the leaks, but I know it feels like you were digging into your heart as well :( I know your Mark still loves you, and he is also looking forward to seeing you again, being with you again, in heaven. It's the waiting and the separation that is so painful. May God give you strength to bear it. Your concrete heart is beautiful.

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

I forgot, I love that shooting star!!! you all living in those warm southern states are blessed to be able to grow some amazing flowers!!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi there, Love your special heart....

And I always love your beautiful flowers... We're supposed to get snow here tomorrow... I'm ready for spring --and some flowers in our yard.

So glad you got your plumbing fixed. Hope that is the END of it...

God Bless.
Hugs,
Betsy

Sunray Gardens said...

Hope that takes care of everything for you now.
Cher Sunray Gardens

Annie said...

Joy in the garden everywhere and how blessed you are to have Todd helping to care for you and your lovely cottage. Hearts to you from Australia.

Unknown said...

What a beautiful day you had! It’s just disappointing that you can’t be fully happy because of your plumbing work under your house. In my opinion, crying is understandable at this point. No one would want their beautiful flooring messed up. But on the brighter side, you were able to fix it and with a bonus of a heart-shape concrete. Job well done to both of you!

Paddy @ HarrisPlumbing.ca

Darcie said...

What an amazing heart shape you found, and you have displayed it just as beautifully! What a lovely ending to that day.

Love your shooting star flower too...so pretty. A very Happy Valentines Day to you too!

gld said...

I am so glad for you to have that plumbing problem resolved. Yep, we do miss those modern conveniences when we don't have them.

I probably wouldn't even have noticed that heart but it is a lovely thing. Because of you I now notice hearts when I am outside!

The flowers were beautiful.