It’s been awhile since I updated you on the irrigation project. Let’s just say it’s been a slow project. First there’s been a lot of digging:
This is the pile of dirt I’ve dug out. For scale, the pile is sitting on top of a 4×8 foot sheet of old plywood. The back panel is two feet tall. That’s about 1.5 cubic yards of dirt dug by hand with these:
I spent about an hour a day digging (that’s about all an old guy can do) which a couple of weeks. Once I got to the old valve I was able to figure out what kind of replacement valve to get and I had to order that. That took a few days, but by last Saturday I’d replaced the valve and start to stub out the new line.
Here’s what it looks like at the bottom of the hole:
It might be hard to see as it’s three feet down in the hole, but the brass thing is the new curb stop valve with a new PVC line attached. The line on the right is the upstream line that leads to the irrigation system. I’ve got more plumbing work and had hoped to finish that this week, but this happened this morning:
No more plumbing is happening until that all dries up.
And that’s how it goes here in the high desert. It was 80 on Saturday and this morning it was 32 and I was worried I might need to go put blankets on my new valve. So now I’m just going to catch up on some writing until the ground dries out a little. If you need me, I’m waiting for the snow to melt.
Andrew's View of the Week 
Spring is unpredictable. Apparently everywhere. I hope it warms up for you.
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It does seem like it’s happening all over.
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Crazy weather! And my back hurts just looking at that pile of dirt. I can imagine how glad you’ll be when that project is done. 🙂
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I’ll be very glad when it’s done.
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A big project Andrew 🙂
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Bigger than I thought it would be.
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The weather here in South Carolina affects projects too, only in the opposite season. We’re scrambling to get things done now, because two or three months of high humidity and heat (and annoying bugs) will begin by the end of May. Outside work is simply no fun when you’re sweating buckets and swatting gnats.
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I have until about mid-July before the heat makes it too hot to work outside. We don’t get humidity here, just hot.
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Even though you’re in the high desert and I am not, we are having the same kind of weather.
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Here folks say it’s called the month of May because it may snow, it may rain, it may be hot … 😉
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You’re never too old to make a snowman!
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Sadly, there wasn’t enough snow for a decent sized snowman.
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Same kind of weather here. But I’m not digging any holes. I don’t know how you’ve done that without ruining your back.{}”olo
(My cat added that last. I’ve no idea what he was trying to say.)
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I think your cat was saying, “That’s a big hole, I want to play in it.”
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Thanks for sharing your project..and you are taking care of all of this
Anita
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It just takes me awhile to get it all done.
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A lot of hard work but it must be satisfying. Does it usually snow at this time ? Here the weather has become very hot and we are waiting for the rains . The monsoon season usually begins by the first week of June.
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It’s not common to have snow this time of year, but it does happen. Our really hot weather doesn’t start until mid-July so I’ve got a while to get this fixed up.
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I bet you’d rather be quilting. Or poem-ing.
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Either would be preferred.
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You are having the same weather that we are in Chicago. Right now, back to sunny, but cold. Thanks for sharing your plumbing project, makes us appreciate what goes into changing a pipe!
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There’s a lot that goes into this repair.
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LOL – I can tell and all your tools!
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🙂
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That’s an ambitious project and I like your method of “eating the elephant one bite at a time.” I live by that credo! More snow. Unbelievable. We have more rain coming tonight. It sure does affect our projects! But nice work, Andrew.
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The weather sure does effect the this projects. If I tried to dig that hole in a day, I’d be visiting the doctor’s office with a very bad back.
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bummer
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Yup, not what I wanted.
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