This morning I went to get the mower from the Kubota dealer before we all went to the farmers market. Several vendors were missing, which was disappointing, but we still got a few things. Next we went to the playground in Spring Hill, followed by Kroger. Luke fell asleep on the way home, so we quickly dropped off groceries then continued on a scenic drive to Lewisburg and Cornersville. We had lunch upon returning home and then Luke and I did a little quiet time. Afterwards I went outside and started mowing the back field until I nearly ran out of gas.

I was preparing to go get more when I got an email from the water company telling me the amount of our current bill. I knew we had a leak that I was planning on repairing this weekend, but the amount of the bill indicated that it was even bigger than I realized. So I dropped everything and focused on finding it. I went to the front yard with a shovel and was able to quickly dig out to the offending spot. A rock had been pressured down on to the pipe and pressed holes into it. Whoever had installed the pipe used thin wall instead of schedule 40. The whole family went to Home Depot for pipe, connectors, and PVC cement.

Back home I cut the pipe and tried to install the new section, but the glue set too fast and I was unable to work the piece into place. So I went to Lowe’s for more pipe and connectors. I also looked for a better solution, but was unable to find one. I failed a second time at connecting pipe, then tried a third. That seemed to go well, so I began the two hour waiting period for the glue to set. It was 7:15 at this point. So I went to the gas station then came back and finished mowing the back field. I started going over it a second time until it turned dark outside.

Matt and Krystal were here at that point and had brought some Italian food for dinner, so I joined everybody for that. After eating I organized the garage a bit while waiting for the pipe to be ready. At 9:15 I turned the water back on and saw that there was no leaking, but unfortunately there was limited water pressure. I called my buddy Tim and he talked me through cleaning out the pressure reducing valve (pictured below). That didn’t really help. Liz came under the house with me and confirmed that we had full flow to the valve and that it was the issue. After more messing with it I finally found a manual online and saw that when I reinstalled it after cleaning I had one piece on backwards and another had fallen out. Once I fixed that we were back to the good. at this point it was 11:56. Now it is after midnight and I am exhausted, but no longer covered in mud.

This morning I drove Liz and Luke to High Hopes. We met his preschool teacher and saw her classroom. He liked it but started crying when his therapist came for him. Liz and I chatted with his teacher a little more then went to Publix for a few things. Luke was in a good mood when he was done with speech, especially once we gave him some animal crackers. Back at the house I said goodbye to everybody and hit the road. I drove to Manchester and stopped at the bank to update my address and get a new debit card. Their printer was broken so they will mail the card to me. Next I went to Walmart but they didn’t have the printer I was looking for. My final stop before the Mountain was the market in Pelham where I got some lunch. In Monteagle I went to the lumberyard to pay my bill before going to the cottage. I did some paperwork and computer work and then went to the Goat Market for a while. I chatted with Eric and a few other people and then decided to go on a hike. I drove out Jumpoff Road to the state forest, and a couple of miles down a gravel road later I was at the trailhead. It was a nice 2.8 mile loop with a couple of pretty overlooks. Upon returning to the cottage I have just been messing around on my phone.