Waterworks--I should Know better

I've lived up here for 30 years & never has fixing or putting in new water pipe EVER gone to plan. Why would I think that this would be different? When handyguy Mike cut the 2" main pipe, this is what we got--

Not exactly matching up, is it. Over the decades, the ground shifted and put pressure on the pipe, which caused the weakest place to give away and cause the leak.
 We gave up for the day, Mike capped it so I could have house water & horse water and we re-planned. 
The next day, Mike had to dig out all 3 directions of the pipelines to take pressure off the pipes and make them more flexible. The result was a big mound of dirt and a bigger hole.
It worked, however, and Mike got the pipe ends to line up.

But he could not get the repair coupling to fully seat and thus we had water still coming out. We needed more then just my one large pipe wrench.  We ended up calling handyguy Joe to request back up. Mike went to get Joe & he arrived with a large pipe wrench & a large channel lock. That got the job nearly done. There was still a slow drip but we all agreed that it would probably seal up overnight. It did.
Now Mike just has to come back and fill in the hole.
There is always something fun going on here.

Waterworks--again

The past month or so have been hectic & stressful closing down my business. The past few weeks, when walking up the hill to the house, I would notice a large patch of very green, very large, very lush weeds and think "I wonder what is up with that?", then my brain would go off somewhere else. Finally, Saturday, I looked at it & said "Nuts, that is right over the main water line." Sure enough, the ground was wet.

So today, Mike, my friend & handyguy, came over to dig it out. We found the problem, something neither of us had seen before. There is a "T" in the main 2" line to take a 1" line to the house. In the "T", there are about 10 pinprick holes, each with its own little geyser of water. We have seen cracks in pipes and breaks in pipes, but never pinpricks.

Further digging revealed a large tree root from the elm tree 15 feet away. We are thinking that the pipe started leaking some time ago and the tree found it & grew the large root to take advantage of the jackpot. As the root grew, it started to press upwards and sideways on the main line, which then stressed the "T" and finally made more pinprick holes. But why little holes? The only thing we can think of was that the "T" was defective to start with.

So now Mike is sawing up tree root (I hate doing that, but have no choice) and taking inventory in my workshop to see if I have all the right pieces to fix this without a special trip to town. The water is turned off at the pressure tank at the well and I have 4000 gallons in the tank on top of the hill. It is a nuisance but not a catastrophe. Just another fun day in the hill country.

Heathermoor Rob Rita 1983-2012

From my friend, Judy, in AZ.

On Sat, Dec 22, 2012,

I got a call this morning that Robby passed quietly in her sleep last night – the ending we would wish for all our horses. No vet to come out and put the horse down etc. She was slightly off her feed the last two days but not drastically. When Cindy went out to feed last night she was lying down in her stall but got right up and followed her around just like always. When Cindy went out to feed this morning, she was gone. Cindy has had to put horses down before and it was horrible for her, but having it go so naturally this time was much less stressful. This is how I want all my horses to go. No pain, no final crisis, no illness, just slipping away quietly. I can tell you that Cindy gave her the best of homes and the best life in her old age. She looked fat and happy and in great shape when I saw her a few months ago. I am going to try to get the pictures off my phone that I took that day. She was in her run shut off from the paddock because it was lunch and that kept Ace from trying to get her food! Mostly they had the run of the place.

 Robbie was with me from autumn 1983 until about 10 years ago. She had three foals here, SSM W Nicole Nekomia, SSM W Naomi Nekomia & SSM Nicholas Moro. It was hard letting go of my "Special Robbie" but I had to cut back and Judy knew of someone in North Arizona who could give her a wonderful home.

Moro Hill Gay Ethan get & onwards

 SSM Cloud Dancer (Ember Ethan, by MH Gay Ethan, x Ember Bay Lady, out of Rosemont Melisa by MH Gay Ethan)

 Ember Ethan (MH Gay Ethan x Caven-Glo Lisa)

 SSM Dream Fire (Ember Ethan Dandy, by MH Gay Ethan, x Ember Serene, out of Rosemont Gay Bess, by MH Gay Ethan)
Filly foal--SSM Dream Singer, by Clarion of Quietude

 Ember Serene (Ember Medallion, by Moro Hills Medallion, x Rosemont Gay Bess, out of Moro Hill Gay Ethan)

 SSM Zebulon Bulrush (Clarion of Quietude x Ember Serene)

Ember Bay Lady (Moro Hills Medallion x Rosemont Gay Melisa, by MH Gay Ethan)

Sunrise This Morning

All taken around 6:30 am, Dec. 12, 2012. Not only were the colors awesome, but the cloud shapes were interesting.

Training Wild Rabbits

Each morning, I set out hay for the next two feedings. A couple of months ago, I started to train the wild rabbits that try to sneak into the hay stall while I have it open when I am working out in the barn. Each time a rabbit came into the barn aisle, I would walk towards it purposely. If the rabbit did not move off fast enough, I would up my energy and speed until the rabbit moved with the speed I wanted, and moved far enough away. After only a little while, the rabbit population started to thin out. A few stubborn ones kept trying. One was smaller, a youngster--probably a teenager rabbit--and would only move off with an attitude, if it could be said that a rabbit has attitude. I started throwing a hay net at him to get him moving off better. I also kept after him further outside the barn, forcing him to move back further away. This week, there have been no rabbit attempts to come into the barn while I am there. I did stroll outside to see them sitting way up the hill watching, but not coming any closer.
So, yes, wild rabbits can be trained. It is all about pressure, release and intent.

Feeding Stations

 Autumn Wind enjoys his breakfast. We used railroad ties to hold the stall mats in place and mounted the plywood to the outside of an existing shelter. The bag is tied to a ring on the plywood.

 Lil'Red's station is mounted on an existing corral panel on one side (shown here) and to the roof shelter legs on the other side. We used 4 x 4 pieces of lumber to hold the stall mats.

 Here is a close-up of the ring used to tied the bags. We got these at Home Depot.

 Yes, the roof truss is wavy! The entire thing was lifted away about 10 years ago in a very strong Santa Ana wind event. It flew over 100 feet away and was only stopped by a pepper tree. It took a tractor and two of us to get it back in place.

 And here is Spirit Seeker enjoying his breakfast. The fly mask shows normal end of season wear; I usually have to get new fly masks every year--sigh.  The plywood for this station is mounted on a free standing roof shelter. The mats are held in with concrete footing.

These feeding stations were built last June by my contractor/handyman and a helper. I am very happy with them. They keep the hay off the ground, which around here is granite, decomposed granite or sand. The SmartPak nets are holding up well and keep the hay where I put it. Nothing slows down these horses much, but the bags have increased eating time by about an hour (going from 2 hours to 3 hours to finish every scrap).
Except for the rings, everything else was "found" material--ie. it was already on the place in the workshop or sitting somewhere, not needed for that job anymore. Alas, we did use up the last of my stashed creosote on these. I bought 5 gallons of that now banned stuff right before it was banned. It is nasty stuff and needed banning, but it sure did its job well here.
I do sweep the sand off the mats a couple of times a week as they kick it on & track it on. That is a very easy job. The plywood, in part, is held to the corral panels by drilling holes in the wood and tying them on with baling string, which is free and plentiful. That stuff lasts for years and as it gets old, I just cut it off and put on new.
The horses like the stations just fine and they sure answered a lot of problems I had.