Water

     Water is currently the bane of my existence. It has been raining far more than usual in DC. Along with fact that this makes biking less pleasant, camping damper, and the grass grow faster, it has flooded my basement. Usually, after a few days, everything dries up just fine, but this time the damp patches turned into small, shallow rivers, and my walls started molding. Mold is Bad News, of course, but the good news is that it's not black mold and probably isn't going to make us really ill. However, it still needed to be removed.
     On Sunday afternoon I returned from my camping trip (Summary:  beautiful canoeing on Saturday and lovely friends who sat with me under tarps in the rain the next day) and went down to the basement to deal with the mold. While I was down there formulating my plan, I realized the basement sink was flooding rather than draining. So I reprioritized and spent the next two days trying to clear the drains. And I was 95% successful. Taking apart the drain didn't work, so I had to cut into the vertical drain PVC pipe, install a Y connector for access, and snake the pipes. See that lovely degree Y and access cap? I installed it, and the drain, well, drains now. I must admit that there is a teeny tiny drip where I installed it, which is why I only give myself a 95%.

     While I was working on the pipes, I realized that my furnace was gurgling. Furnaces shouldn't really have anything, ever, to do with water, so this was more bad news. I have again reprioritized my home disaster list, and will try to solve the excess water from the A/C problem tonight. Hopefully I can start on the mold tomorrow. And if I'm lucky, it will finally stop raining by the weekend so I can put my damp tent out to air. Please send very dry thoughts my way.

Catching up

Last week I turned 43* and celebrated by having my most foodie friend, D, over to share a meal of as many wonderful foods as I could think of. We had artichokes and lasagna and pots de creme. I will definitely make the lasagna again, although it took a LOT of time, and that's quite a statement coming from someone who cooks as much as I did. I made the homemade noodles and sauce a few days before, and then assembled everything to bake it right before the meal. It was heavenly, and I'm sad that I'll be eating the very last piece tomorrow.

It has been raining for days. My basement is flooded; this happens regularly and I just need patience, a good box fan, and all my belongings elevated off the floor. I also suspect that my newly sown grass seed will have washed away. But at least until the rain stops I will have an excuse to avoid mowing the rest of the lawn.And while I am so grateful that summer is nearly over, I wasn't quite so appreciative when I had to change a tire in the cold rain and then go pick up a door (more bathroom construction supplies) on a trailer on Saturday. I just need to hang on and soon it will be sweaters and campfire weather, which is pretty much my favorite way to spend time in the fall.


*I mentioned this at my widow(er) group tonight and all the seventy- and eighty-year-olds called me a baby. Which is yet another reason why I like hanging out with them.