More Mess and Mud

There are drop sheets, old towels, sheets of plastic and even an old quilt spread out along the hall from our frontdoor to bathroom no.2. I hastily found them this morning and set them out as some sort of token resistance to the dirty boots of the three tradesmen who traipsed in and out all day. The mud covered sheets are still there, waiting for more of the same tomorrow.

I left them to their banter and demolition noise, going early to Hanna's where I took my solace in more forking of mother earth. Just me and the dogs in the quiet of the clearing morning chill. About a half an hour in I felt something under the fork and before I remembered that there was a 90mm PVC pipe underground taking water from the garage roof to the above ground water tank, it started spouting out from the ground. From a six inch spout it quickly dropped away but sufficient water escaped the pipe to make the immediate area a muddy bog. As the pipe goes down from the roof then underground and up the side of the tank it means there's always water in the pipe up to the height of discharge into the tank, if you get what I mean.

I went home to look for a couple of joiners. Couldn't find any, and the plumber working on the bathroom had none either. He told me about a fitting that was available (I can't remember the name of it - plumtech sleeve?) that made the repair much quicker and easier than using couplings and my plan was to pick one up in Emerald later today and repair the pipe tomorrow. But it nagged at me so when I was up the street I called into the garden supply place and lo and behold they had joiners.

It's a tricky job, you need to cut the pipe just right, dig the earth away from the pipe both sides so you can lift it and put the new bit in then lower pipe so it all sort of slips together just right and is set by the quick setting glue. Those who have done it will know exactly what I mean. Well I buggered it up first time and had to go and get another joiner and a bit more pipe. This time it worked with Gord there to help bend up the pipe. Relieved I was, yet disappointed by the waste of time incurred.

There was another bed I wanted to dig which was also over the pipe so I thought I'd go and find the pipe to avoid a similar event which would be tomorrow now as time had slipped away. I went over and probed carefully here and there with the fork and bingo, I went a little too firmly, hit dead centre the pipe with more water gushing and more mud. This time there was only one hole on top of the pipe so I improvised a repair with a sleeve of pipe left over from the previous repair. I won't know if it has worked till the next rain as if it leaks I'll know then, when the pipe fills with water again. I haven't reburied the pipe so I can see what happens.

I had a museum meeting at 4.30pm so I prepared a hasty report and got home about 7.00pm. Denny had been around looking for the key he had given me to his front gate. He'd come back from some weeks away and his wife was not home and she had the key, he forgot  to tell her to leave it. So I was off out again to return his key.

A trying day. No hot bath to comfort me, that bathroom is now in a state of destruction/reconstruction. No alcohol to console me, Mondays - Wednesday are alcohol free usually (AF days). At least we have a shower and toilet operable in the nearly completed first bathroom. At least too it's stopped raining for now. Halleluyah!