You might see happy pictures of our affectionate and spirited goats; the flock of chickens, ducks, and geese who follow us around every morning until we feed them; horses and our days at the rodeo; kids playing in the yard or helping us with barn chores; the progress we make building pastures, hutches, pens and other homes for our creatures; the view from our back porch and the beautiful sunsets we enjoy night after night.
These are the happy moments. Glimpses into our lives - especially the parts that make us smile and laugh, fill our hearts with joy, or overwhelm us with gratitude. I am amazed at all Annie and I have accomplished and look forward to where our lives are headed. The times she and I have spent dreaming, scheming, and planning have been my favorite moments. These conversations have helped me envision a day in the future where I can leave the corporate world behind.
We live a charmed life. It is impossible to deny this fact. However, not everything goes according to our best laid plans. For example, the first fence we built was a mess, adequate enough to bring our horses home. Since then, we've had to replace corner posts, remove sections the horses destroyed, and added electric wire. We've abandoned field fencing completely and now use hotwire for all our new pasture fences. We came to peace with the trend of our first attempts at anything being a struggle; we'll figure it out the next time around. This labor has given us a mantra, a statement Annie and I often tell each other: it's not perfect but it's ours.
There are two broken objects we wanted to get fixed this last weekend: our yard hydrant and the hot tub. The latter should be easy. A repair man came out Thursday night to install a new manifold and we scheduled an installer to drop it back into our deck on Saturday at noon. If all went according to plan, we should have been able to use it Saturday night. The hydrant was a different issue.
A frost-free yard hydrant is the water access near the barn, a piece of equipment that supplies all the water for the animals. This is essential equipment for farms because the source is deep enough underground to prevent freezing during winter and water is fed to the surface through insulated pipes. When we moved in, the pump apparatus leaked a bit. When in the ON position, water flowed out the nozzle, but it also sprayed from the pump handle into the air. Through the summer, the spray grew higher and covered a larger ground area. We hired a farm hand with some plumbing experience; together we shut off the water supply, disassembled the pump and attempted to use a repair kit purchased to fix the leak. We started at 9am with the assumption we'd be done in an hour or two.
Only one part from the repair kit worked: the plunger for the bottom of the long pipe to the water supply. Nothing else fit the existing pump. We moved to plan B. Our farm hand replaced the old gaskets with new ones from the repair kit, re-installed the old hydrant and we turned on the water supply. When we tested the hydrant, it still sprayed everywhere. The new gaskets didn't form a good fit with the old extension rod. It had pockmarks and scarring from years of use; those gashes probably contributed to the ineffective seal.
Time for plan C. I returned to North 40, bought an extension rod and a new hydrant. The idea was to either install the new hydrant (should be easy) or use the new extension rod with the old hydrant which would be cheaper but more difficult. After returning to the farm, we began working again and quickly discovered the new hydrant wouldn't work. The internal guts were built differently and required a dissimilar style of extension rod, which was too small to fit the pipe connecting to the underground plunger. Our only available option was to use the new extension rod with the old hydrant and hope for the best. We got everything installed, turned on the water, and returned to the barn. We didn't need to test the hydrant to know the new rod failed: water was gushing from the nozzle while the pump handle was in the OFF position. With a couple adjustments to the extension rod, we were able to stop the water flow, but the screw securing the handle to the rod didn't catch; moving the handle would not turn the water on or off. The new extension rod was too short.
Plan D: we needed a longer extension rod. The one I purchased at North 40 was the longest they had in stock. Our hired help couldn't find the right length when he went to a hardware store. We reinstalled the old hydrant with the old rod and new gasket so we could restore water to the house and have water for the animals when it was time to do our night chores. Sure, the hydrant still sprayed water into the air but we'd be able to refill all the buckets and troughs until the correct part could be acquired. We created plan E to get the longer extension rod or a coupling nut to make the old piping compatible with the new hydrant, then we would reconvene next weekend to finally repair the leaky hydrant. It was nearly 4:30pm by the time we finished and we hadn't accomplished anything.
As for the hot tub, the installers were running late. They sent me a text mid-morning to let me know they'd be there closer to 1pm. At 12:59, he texted me again: "We're running behind could we come out tomorrow?" I let him know we had plans for the weekend and needed it done that day. It would be fine if he was out there closer to 2pm or even 3pm. At 2:47, I asked for an ETA and he said they were on their way. By 3:30 they still had not arrived. We were planning on attending a baseball game and needed to leave at 5pm so their absence was getting worrisome. They rolled in at the last minute, dropped the tub into the deck, and left - just in time for us to depart for the game.
We filled the tub on Sunday, excited to finally be able to use what hasn't worked since we moved in. Annie plugged it in and .... nothing happened. No power. I contacted a buddy of mine who sells hot tubs, asked him if he had any ideas what we were doing wrong, and set a plan to call him on Monday. I promised the kids we'd have a movie night so we abandoned the hot tub.
Monday morning, Annie urged me out side. The hot tub's lights were on and jets were running. She figured out what was wrong with the power supply and corrected it. The water temperature was 54° but an hour later, the temp had only gone up by one degree. My friend informed me normal tubs heat up at a rate of seven or eight degrees an hour. We didn't have time to worry about it then though because our oldest daughter had a 9:30am hair dye appointment. After a couple hours at the salon, we got lunch and drove up to Blanchard to pick up some new goats.
Our hopes for a warmer tub were spoiled when we returned home. By 4pm yesterday, the temperature had only risen to 59°. More texts with my friend, sending pictures of the power supply, display, and internal equipment. Over the phone, we concluded the heating element was damaged. The part should be an easy fix, one Annie and I could do on our own. By 4:30, we were resigned to delaying the hot tub repair just a little bit longer.
Farm life can be rewarding and discouraging. Our best laid plans often go awry. Not everything works the first time. Our lives are blessed, but we're not immune to error and folly. When you see picture of us enjoying our home, you should know we worked hard for those moments of joy.
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