All's Well That Ends Well.

1-28-12 VERMONT: We have been here two days, both action filled. We arrived Thursday afternoon, turned on the water, but there was none. We usually turn off the water in winter when we’re not here to prevent the drains from freezing. I checked the circuit breaker—OK, I checked the valve again—OK, so I concluded that the problem must be the water pump.

A modern drilled well, our is about 180 feet deep, has an electric pump at the bottom to pump water to the house on demand. We called Valley Artesian who arrived quickly and confirmed that it was a problem down the hole. We used bottled water for basic drinking, cooking, washing overnight and in the morning.

The well guys were back early and had the pump out and found a frayed electric wire to explain the failure. Because our pump, at 25 years old, was over the usual llfe expectancy, we replaced it with a new version, and a few minutes later, had water. The first water was filled with sand or grit because the activity had disturbed the aquifer. A new water filter I had put in a month ago turned from white to black in a few minutes. We are still using bottled water for drinking and tooth brushing, but the well water works for showers, washing, dishwasher, etc.

Today the electric went out.


We had a bit of a snow to add to the five inches on the ground, then freezing rain to get everything icy. I feared we would get a lot of damage, but didn't.

Glazed Apple.

Today is partly sunny, the ice is gone and the view is back.