Water Projects

I have a rule. It is a rule that was born from a sweaty, miserable, temperamental day.

I don't help with outside projects when it gets really hot.

J has been talking about putting in sprinklers for years.

We've lived in this house seven years now.

This year was the year. And he's cutting it close with the late season.

It was not an easy project. His brother Michael lives in Idaho now and told him flex pipe is better. And it probably is, but for some reason everyone and their brother in Phoenix use PVC, so the flex pipe pieces are difficult to find.

But we dug the trenches and the sprinkler project is limping along.

I dug the majority of that trench one weekend when J had to work all day Saturday and Sunday. That was not a good weekend.

This little girl does not see a lap she cannot sit in. Even if you are bent over trying to do sprinkler work. And then she wants to take her tiny little tongue and clean your nose for you.

The sprinklers are somewhat done....ish. J installed the sprinkler heads for the half of the lawn that isn't dead and he can manually turn them on. He still needs to connect the electrical and fix some leaks. Then his plan is to do the other half of the system once he re-seeds the lawn in fall.

Also, he accidentally cut the internet line. He thought it was the old sprinkler system, which we have been pulling up piece by broken PVC piece. It was not. He was able to fix it but a technician is coming out tomorrow for a permanent fix. We'll see how much that's going to cost me since I am always finding little surprise charges on my Cox bill that J gets to call about. And they tell him they'll remove it. Just to find it on next month's bill. It's a fun little game. They think we're just going to give up or not notice. They underestimate how cheap I am and how anal I am about checking my bank statement.

But I digress.

We replaced the tub diverted in our guest bath (here) a few years ago. It was time to replace it in the master. Luckily it just twists off and then the new one twists on, easy.

Except now it doesn't match. J needs to take some showers and get it all hard-water stained. (For the record, I scrub my tub, but I scrub the part my naked body sits in. The hard water doesn't bug me. At least, not enough to do anything about it.)

We also replaced the guest bath shower head. This is where I give the dogs baths and I wanted one with a hose that I could take down and maneuver the spray. I bought one for $10 at TJ Maxx. I'm interested to see how it holds up. It's plastic instead of metal.

Over the weekend, J told me the City of Phoenix was giving away free compost. You just had to show up. Also, the first 15 people got a free rain barrel.

So we got up at 7:00 on a Saturday morning and waited in line for an hour (we were not one of the first 15), then shoveled a truckload of compost into my truck and then shoveled it out. It was 9 and a half wheelbarrows. About the same as when we go to Singh Farms, except Singh dumps it in with a tractor. J said it was the good compost, would have cost $50 (we get the cheaper $30 stuff).

Here is a little 30 pound dog for reference. Also, some dog poo in the photo. That's pleasant. 

I am so proud of these two little dogs. I told them to stay and left the gate open and they stayed. They know there are treats in it for them. I think Osa, my chow, has been good for Tiny, the little Chihuahua. She has taught her how to behave. She's a good big sister. Tiny isn't as annoying as I thought she was going to be.