As of Wednesday’s post, I had covered life’s events here up through last Monday evening and since you are now reading this no earlier then Friday morning, I better just move along.  So, let’s just see what else has happened here this week … Tuesday morning was post Muny morning so getting going was sort of slow.  In the afternoon, Anne and Joanie went to go see the Gees Bend quilt exhibit at the Missouri History Museum. 

Wednesday morning I went for a bike ride in the Park.  I got fifteen miles.  Returning home I noticed that water was leaking down into the basement, from the kitchen sink.  It was only dripping and I had an eight o’clock meeting that day, so there was no time to do anything about it then.  Wednesday morning Anne and Joanie went to pick blueberries.  They went to the Wind Ridge Farm in New Melle, MO.  Pictured below is Joanie (and some other woman), picking blueberries, note the bird netting.  These are high bush blueberries, which are more commercially viable then low bush blueberries (i.e. Cabin blueberries).  Anne picked almost five pounds of blueberries.

Returning home Wednesday evening, I began the plumbing battle of the kitchen faucet.  I eventually determined that the source of the leak was the old faucet itself.  After a couple of trips to Home Depot, I had succeeded in spending over a hundred dollars.  The sink had shutoff valves, so I turned them off.  Anne and I did some prep work, but it was getting late Wednesday evening, so we decided to quit while we were ahead.  Then I noticed that the hot water shutoff valve was still dripping.

I decided to leave it for the evening and went to bed.  Getting up early on Thursday morning, with a bike ride on my mind, I noticed that the drip had gotten worse.   I tried tightening the shutoff valve and that only made it even worse yet.  I knew I had to install a new shutoff valve, stat!  On my third, this time, six AM, trip to Home Depot, I said good morning to the woman that had checked me out late last night.  I was able to install a new hot water shut off valve and removed the old faucet.  I left for work with now both the hot and cold water shutoff valves dripping, but only slowly.

Returning home Thursday evening, I was ready for the final assault.  With me wedged like a contortionist under the sink and Anne acting as the surgeon’s nurse plumber’s assistant, “pliers”, “pliers”; “towel”, “towel”; “wrench wench”; you get the idea.  I eventually turned on the water and exclaimed surprise, that we were actually leak free.  Anne commented, that I should have acted a bit more nonchalant and could have looked a lot more impressive.  If in the morning, a leak develops, I have a backup plan.  On Saturday, Home Depot is offering a “free” class in faucet repair.

Since Anne did not take a picture of me bent over the sink, the picture above of a silkscreen that we’ve owned forever, called “The Plumber”, will have to substitute.  It is by a T. Weingarden, at one time an Ann Arbor artist.  Today’s Happy Hippo Header is from an earlier this year, trip to the zoo.