Flashing Lights and a Babbling Brook

Oh, wait. No. That's not a brook. It's not a spring. It's the stinkin' outdoor hydrant we just paid the plumber a small fortune to install last Friday. The same plumber that destroyed our backyard. Since he already had everything torn up back there we decided to go ahead and add an outdoor hydrant while we were at it to supply the old barn and a planned orchard. It's been leaking since Friday. I don't think he enjoyed coming back today and digging up all that mud to fix it.


While we had everything torn up, and had an electrician out here for the pressure tank project anyway, we had him install a dawn to dusk security light out on the peak of the garage. You wouldn't believe how dark it gets out here in the boonies. Coming home after dark is an adventure to get from the car to the porch. But instead of dawn 'til dusk, this one just comes on whenever it darn well pleases. On for a while. Off for a while. No real rhyme or reason. The electrician showed up today to fix it. It's still not working. He'll be back again next week to replace it.

This my friends is why we are Do-It-Yourselfers. And this is why we will be working on this old place for the rest of our lives. Thinking we could hire someone to come in and just whip these little projects out really doesn't pay. I had much more important things to do today. Like picking berries to make my first ever batch of black raspberry jam.


It's a lot of work, but this fabulous homemade jam slathered on a toasted piece of homemade bread on a beautiful day like today can actually make you not care about all that other stuff.