Not quite a soft landing
Mar. 4th, 2021 15:31![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillIt's my first full day at Three Creeks. Once again, while landing is getting easier, it's not yet easy.
The place has electricity, which is a blessing. I expected it would, as things have been calm for a bit now and PGE is quite diligent. I did surprise Jenny when I came in, though, since the phone is still out (has been since the start of February or so) and she was expecting me on the weekend, not Wednesday. A little effort to clear some space, though, was all that was needed. I hauled my stuff upstairs and made dinner.
It's a good thing I had pre-made soup, as the water was out. It's been out since the massive storm in late November, apparently. Jenny has been coping with her usual ingenuity, but I dislike doing without running water (something about hauling buckets upstairs for the toilet regularly) so I put the water box at the top of my list for today.
It took me a while to clear the trail... most of the branches that had come down during last month's ice storm were small enough to toss around, but there were three or four treetops, including two 6" doug fir tops completely tangled together that I wasn't able to get fully out of the way. I was relieved to see the box still in place, and the pathway I had painstakingly built between the box and the screen was solid. The dam was still intact, though missing a boulder from the stream side (I'll see about filling that back in later on, it seems stable). As for the screen...
I assumed the screen was fine, but I couldn't verify that directly, since there was now a large gravel-bar sitting on it. Cue Adam Savage: "*There's* your problem!"
It'll take a trowel, hand-warmers, and patience to dig it out. I opted for the quicker fix: use the small lake screen to bypass the main screen and get the water box running again, then I can take some time to dig out the main screen properly. Back down the hill to get the necessary parts, and eat lunch. Fortified, I headed back up and successfully installed the small screen in the upper pool without getting too wet, where it promptly lodged against the dam. That won't be going anywhere. Good flow of water, hook it up to the water box feed, muck about uncovering the port on the main screen (it now has a respectable stream, but that could clog any minute)...
Go back to the water box, no flow. No intake at the valve. The screen was definitely putting out, so that left... the pipe itself. I snaked it with some branches, shook it, took it apart at the middle junction, nothing. The lower section was clear, but when I jiggled the upper section loose and hauled it up, it was shockingly heavy. I think there's about six feet of silt in there, maybe more.
It was old anyway, and due for replacement, so I dragged it down and picked out a fresh pipe of the right size. I also pulled a length of garden hose, so I can siphon the water box. I decided to take a moment to look at the phone line at the street, to satisfy my curiosity -- sure enough, it's nipped off neatly at head height. Sigh. I hauled back a section of fallen pussy willow Jenny wanted, collected the mail, and decided I was out of spoons for the day. Better to save my last strength for hauling some water, and I'll finish off the box tomorrow.
The violets are blooming, and the snowdrops are just passing their prime. I can see the celandine sprouting and the daffodils sending up buds -- they'll take over soon.
The place has electricity, which is a blessing. I expected it would, as things have been calm for a bit now and PGE is quite diligent. I did surprise Jenny when I came in, though, since the phone is still out (has been since the start of February or so) and she was expecting me on the weekend, not Wednesday. A little effort to clear some space, though, was all that was needed. I hauled my stuff upstairs and made dinner.
It's a good thing I had pre-made soup, as the water was out. It's been out since the massive storm in late November, apparently. Jenny has been coping with her usual ingenuity, but I dislike doing without running water (something about hauling buckets upstairs for the toilet regularly) so I put the water box at the top of my list for today.
It took me a while to clear the trail... most of the branches that had come down during last month's ice storm were small enough to toss around, but there were three or four treetops, including two 6" doug fir tops completely tangled together that I wasn't able to get fully out of the way. I was relieved to see the box still in place, and the pathway I had painstakingly built between the box and the screen was solid. The dam was still intact, though missing a boulder from the stream side (I'll see about filling that back in later on, it seems stable). As for the screen...
I assumed the screen was fine, but I couldn't verify that directly, since there was now a large gravel-bar sitting on it. Cue Adam Savage: "*There's* your problem!"
It'll take a trowel, hand-warmers, and patience to dig it out. I opted for the quicker fix: use the small lake screen to bypass the main screen and get the water box running again, then I can take some time to dig out the main screen properly. Back down the hill to get the necessary parts, and eat lunch. Fortified, I headed back up and successfully installed the small screen in the upper pool without getting too wet, where it promptly lodged against the dam. That won't be going anywhere. Good flow of water, hook it up to the water box feed, muck about uncovering the port on the main screen (it now has a respectable stream, but that could clog any minute)...
Go back to the water box, no flow. No intake at the valve. The screen was definitely putting out, so that left... the pipe itself. I snaked it with some branches, shook it, took it apart at the middle junction, nothing. The lower section was clear, but when I jiggled the upper section loose and hauled it up, it was shockingly heavy. I think there's about six feet of silt in there, maybe more.
It was old anyway, and due for replacement, so I dragged it down and picked out a fresh pipe of the right size. I also pulled a length of garden hose, so I can siphon the water box. I decided to take a moment to look at the phone line at the street, to satisfy my curiosity -- sure enough, it's nipped off neatly at head height. Sigh. I hauled back a section of fallen pussy willow Jenny wanted, collected the mail, and decided I was out of spoons for the day. Better to save my last strength for hauling some water, and I'll finish off the box tomorrow.
The violets are blooming, and the snowdrops are just passing their prime. I can see the celandine sprouting and the daffodils sending up buds -- they'll take over soon.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-06 16:43 (UTC)