Rule #1: "You couldn't be a homesteader if you didn't know something about plumbing"

That is a direct quote from my homesteader hubby on the morning of Christmas Eve while we were repairing the pipe that had frozen and busted. We awoke to discover that we didn't have running water (oh no! not again!). We immediately went to the well house - the pump was running but the pressure tanks weren't filling up. We let it keep pumping thinking that it just needed more time. A couple of hours latter my DH remembered that we had just caped off the water line to the mobile home after the flood. It was sticking out of the ground about two feet without any kind of insulation to protect it from freezing and, sure enough, it had frozen and busted. The cap had blown off and was no where to be seen. The PVC pipe was shattered about 12inches down and into the first connection. DUH! We quickly shut off the water, scrounged up PVC pipe and connectors, and caped it off again. Only this time we put a 5 gallon bucket with bat insulation over it!

I'm SO GLAD my hubby is such a pack rat! After 20 years of him collecting free or cheap pipe fittings, insulation, electrical ends and odds, etc., we have been able to go to the barn and find things we need these past few weeks without driving to the hardware store. Which brings up rule #2: "You can't be a homesteader if you aren't a pack rat" - you have to hang on to those things that "might be useful for something in the future.

Peace and happy belated solstice