The weather dried out a bit, and Larry started digging. Deeper and deeper and deeper he went before he got to the pipe in question. Pretty soon we had what looked like a grave in front of our house. What a mess!
We put up caution tape and tarps to keep children and dogs and Girl Scout cookie sellers from falling in...
Before he could repair it (or even see what it was that needed to be repaired) we had to turn the water off and let it dry out. Larry filled up bathtubs with water and equipped each with a bucket for adding to the toilet for flushing purposes. He filled carafes and pots with water in the kitchen for drinking and cooking. As a back-up we stocked up on bottled water, too.
The first day we fared OK, but didn't think (duh!) about using paper plates. We washed by hand, then realized, too late, that our water was going fast. After that, we saved up the dishes until our kitchen sink was filled with saved dirty dishes. Why did I even continue to cook? It would have been a lot smarter and easier to bring in fast/take-out food and toss the mess!
In the meantime, we also had the pesky issue of bathing. Sponge baths became the way to go, and we utilized our Girl Scout dishwashing bins to help keep our toilette organized.
Three days later, we were relieved that the job was done. Larry accomplished a neat repair...
... and our water was turned back on. Hurray!!!
Now it was time to fill in the hole again. In the meantime, of course, it started to rain. (At least it held off while he was digging and working on the repairs!) As he attempted to refill the trench amid the drizzle, he had to deal with the fact that it was again full of water, this time courtesy of Mother Nature.
Boy, are we lucky Larry is so handy around the house. Imagine what it would have cost for that job if we'd had to hire somebody... And the flower bed would probably have been destroyed. As it was, Larry did a pretty good job of salvaging what was there, and leaving it ready for Spring planting. What a guy!
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