Friday, November 27, 2015

Thanksgiving water woes

 

Hello Folks ~ I hope all of you in the states had a lovely day yesterday filled with lots of love, laughter, and good food.  I had a very nice time with my dear husband’s brother, Todd, his wife Sue, and their son Josh yesterday.  My little cottage was filled with so much, and I am thankful for our time together.

Sue took a picture Josh and I. The last time I saw him, he was around 9 years old. He’s now 24. Sue took the picture on my tablet, and I haven’t figured out how to send the picture to myself via email, so I took a picture of this as it’s my wallpaper on my new tablet, (that’s why the funky lines in my photo). Josh does remind me of my husband in some ways and of course that made for an emotional day yesterday. Josh was showing me different things on my tablet as I am just learning how to use it and my smart phone. My dear husband was the computer geek in our family and always was ready to help me with things. I was thankful for Josh’s help.

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Before they got here, I was happily keeping up with dishes as I was preparing things, when all of a sudden the cold water faucet would not shut off. I got under the sink and turned off the faucet there but still had a steady trickle.  I called Todd to tell him my dilemma and found out that their hot water heater had sprung a leak or two. (He’s going to get a new one over the weekend). He tightened up my faucet under the sink when he got here, and now I just have hot water. I need a new sink faucet. This one is about 10 years old, maybe a little older.

I’ve been looking at faucets, and am getting discouraged. I want a good body construction, no plastic and I want ceramic valves for no dripping. Reading reviews is mind boggling.

Then earlier today when I was looking at faucets, I went into the ‘scullery’ where I wash the dishes, to measure the height of faucet, I want a high arc, well I heard this strange noise and thought now what?  I walked around the small room and leaned here and there until I could pin point it. It sounded like the refrigerator area. Uh oh!  I went outside and turned off the water to the house, came back in and no noise. Went out turned it on again, came back in, and there was the noise.  Back outside, turned it off again, because obviously there is a leak.

I called Todd with that bit of news, then asked him about the hot water heater and not having water going into it because I couldn’t remember from the last time we had this problem. And there you have the story of our Thanksgiving ‘water woes’.

This morning I got up late, for me, right around 7 instead of 4-5, and was drinking my first cup of coffee when the phone rang, they didn’t leave a msg. and I didn’t recognize the number. A few minutes later, the phone rang again and this time a voice came on saying my name and then telling who it was so I picked up.  It was my husband’s boyhood friend, who we’d not seen in years, and he was at our driveway gate.  He was in town, lives in GA now, and wanted to stop by and offer his condolences. Of course, more tears were shed as we visited for 3 hours.  It was a good visit.

Now I’ve got to figure out a hose remedy for washing dishes, and showering outdoors so that I don’t have to turn on the water to the house at all.  I can fill buckets for flushing the toilet, from the one water connection that is still working outside the house.

Ok, here’s some goodness and beauty.  I went around taking pictures of flowers yesterday morning and here they are.

Here are bougainvillea blooms on my shed.

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Cape Coral honeysuckle is in bloom in several areas right now.

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Cuban Buttercup

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Hibiscus

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A small Hydrangea tree and a beautifully marked prayer plant.

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Ferns with my gazing ball, a birthday gift from my DH one year.

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Meyer lemons

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More ‘Kathleen’ roses.

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Last but not least is Miss Rosie, who was following me in around, leaping on leaves, rolling on the paths, having a good time. She had her picture taken by three different people besides me in the past two days.  She is quite the celebrity.

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Well, that’s the little saga from Plum Cottage.

Keep me in your prayers ~ to keep my cool, not get depressed and to be joyful in all things.

Have a wonderful weekend ~ FlowerLady

26 comments:

Ruth Hiebert said...

I do hope you get the water issues resolved soon. It is very frustrating when problems like this come up and we have no one around to give immediate help.

Mrs. Mac said...

Water woes seem so magnified on a holiday! Your visitors and time spent with them must have been sentimental, cozy & wonderful.

Mrs. Mac

Terra said...

I hope your water woes are fixed soon. I think it is hard to find an all metal faucet; we looked and found a metal faucet but the base where it rests on our sink is not metal (it looks like metal). How nice you had company and even an unexpected visitor.

Connie in Hartwood said...

You have had more types of water issues! It's good that you keep a level head, and have a back up plan, till it gets fixed ... which I hope is very, very soon.

Darcie said...

What a wonderful picture of you and your nephew! You know somehow even when the holidays are perfect, they are somehow emotional. I am so glad you had the day with family, but so sorry for your water woes! Hope it all gets fixed quickly for you!

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

Sounds like you had a good Thanksgiving gathering. Those water woes are sure giving you every way they can to keep it interesting. Yikes. Nice of your husband's friend to visit. You have a lot of people keeping you surrounded with love. Wonderful.

Jane said...

Sorry about your troubles Rainey. But I'm glad you had nice company for Thanksgiving.

Hugs
Jane

Recycled Cottage & Garden said...

Thank you for posting all the lovely flower photos. We started yesterday with cold rain, it's expected to last with freezing temps for the next several days. No more flowers here til spring.

Joy Junktion said...

I'm sorry, Rainey, about all the water issues. Do you know when you can get some help getting those issues fixed? Widowhood is not for the faint of heart - is it?!?! Sending prayers! Glad you got to spend time with family and receive hugs and love from them and that sweet nephew of yours. Blessings, Cindy

Nancy J said...

Well, last week I put on a load of washing, went back much later to find the floor awash( pardon the pun) with water, the outlet hose had sprung out of where it fits in behind the tub!!! What a clean up, but gumboot stand all rearranged, other cupboard today and cleaned out, and floor spotless. I hope you get something sorted very soon, all I can say is if you are having outside showers, thank goodness for warm weather.

Marti said...

You are not alone with water woes this weekend. Ours are septic related but we don't have to shower outside. Good thing because it is near freezing outside right now. I hope we both get our problems fixed quickly and CHEAPLY!

Rebecca said...

Read this to my hubby. He said, "Water problems are no fun." I know I'm blessed to have him still to deal with OUR water problems. I WILL pray for your, Lorraine, and hope to hear you have solved them soon...

At least you have the beauty of those flowers to help balance out the inconveniences. The photo of the bogos (can't spell it w/o going back to your post) on your shed is just BEAUTIFUL!

♥ Wish we lived closer. We'd be there in a jiffy.

Jessica Jarrell said...

Ugh, I'm so sorry about your water issues. That's horrible! I hope they get it fixed fast. It sounds like you had a very nice Thanksgiving. Love all the flower pictures, I really do miss flowers around here. Sigh. And, of course, I love the pics of Miss Rosie. What a cutie! :-)

Have a great weekend FlowerLady!

Janice said...


First, really sorry to hear about the water troubles. It's always something, isn't it?
All your blooms are lovely, but that prayer plant is just gorgeous!
Hope things work out, and don't get too expensive.

Debbie - Mountain Mama said...

Oh that's not fun to have water problems - I wouldn't have a clue what to do!! I'm sorry to hear of your loss - my heart goes out to you. xoxo

lil red hen said...

We forget how dependent we are on our utilities until something goes wrong. I'm glad you can still get water from outside the house! Your flowers are lovely; do you have blooming plants all year? Miss Rosie looks like she's growing up, and what great company she is for you!

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

oh my I hope that you can get this fixed quickly!

BeachGypsy said...

So sorry to hear bout the water issues! Bad timing for sure! I love the picture of you and your nephew! And i ALWAYS love your flower pictures! That pretty little Rosie is one of the prettiest black kitties ive ever seen! Having your husbands friend drop in sure mustve been a bittersweet visit especially if you didnt know he was in town. Sounds like A lovely holiday!

Celestina Marie said...

Hi Lorraine, Saying prayers you get the water issue fixed soon. So glad you had nice visits from dear ones and your photos are special as always.
Little Rosie is so cute. Blessings for a good week ahead and prayers for you on going. xo

BernieH said...

Oh dear, I'm so sorry to hear about your water saga. How very inconvenient for you. Here's hoping it can be sorted very quickly. It was wonderful hearing about your latest visitors though. That is a lovely photo of you and your nephew. Beautiful blooms as well.

Rose ~ from Oz said...

Hi Lorraine, just tiptoeing by from Scotland. As I read your post I just couldn't believe it (your water woes) because some time after Keith died, I had nothing BUT water related troubles ongoing for a while. I still feel so helpless when things go wrong that he would have regarded as easy-peasy to fix - because usually it costs money now! I completely empathise with you and hope the water woes are fixed soon and, with little cost. Loved all your photos of course. I love your final words..... you are of course in my prayers, keep your cool girl, don't let depression sneak a foot in and stay joyful in all things. xx
Rose

A Joyful Cottage said...

Oh, Rainey, no! I'm so sorry to read of your plumbing problems. Is there someone at your church who can help you? As Cindy said, widowhood is not for the faint of heart. I know. I'm glad you had family around you on Thanksgiving. The photo of you and Josh is so sweet. If I didn't know better I'd think he was blood relation. Praying for you, dear friend. Hugs, Nancy

Thistle Cove Farm said...

Rainey, lovely photo of you and Josh; I'm a low tech geek as well and in line at Walmart, asked everyone around me for help with my "smart phone". I think I might have worn out my welcome, the people in front of me finally walk off. sigh.
I'm having electrical woes...the power source at the water trough isn't working...needs to be so I can have the de-icer keeping the water from freezing too badly.
It's easy to get discouraged when it's all on you so know you're on my prayer list, always. I'm glad you had company who knew your husband and could talk over good times. What a tremendous blessing!

Unknown said...

Oh goodness you really did have some water woes! I really hope you are able to get everything fixed soon. Try not to get discouraged, although I know it's hard....there is always a solution to every problem so just kept going and know that you will be able to get things fixed. You had some wonderful visitors and your beautiful flowers and little Rosie are there to cheer you.

Deb J. in Utah said...

Hope you get your plumbing issues resolved soon. They are sure not fun. Despite the water woes, God blessed you to be surrounded by friends and family this Thanksgiving. So wonderful! Enjoy this coming week.

Susan said...

Sorry to hear of your water woes but glad that you had a nice Thanksgivimg. I do hate it, too, when something breaks down, especially since I'm not good at fixing things.