Do You Know How?

The past six months have provided me with a few learning opportunities in our home.  I don't know if the things I've learned are common knowledge and I'm just late to the party, or if there really is a need for more education on homeowner basics. 

Much of what I have learned involves water.  Truly, I can't think of anything scarier than a flooding basement.  Or a gas leak.  But really, water where it shouldn't be is one of my fears.

See that?  Water where it shouldn't be!

Our home has a sprinkler system.  We have the township to thank for that.  (And probably the sprinkler-company-owning brother-in-law of one of our town officials, I'm guessing.)  Anywho, it came to pass last summer that we had a leaking sprinkler pipe.  Not as much water as I had feared, but since my husband was out of town, I was fully prepared to freak out. 

That black handle will cut off the water to the house.

Fortunately, I have very nice and well-informed neighbors who were able to show me where the shut-off valve for the sprinklers is.  Also, the main shut-off valve for all the water in the house.  These are good things to know.

See that yellow handle?  You pull it down to stop the water supply to the sprinklers.

Last month, I learned how to shut off the gas and the water to the water heater.  Also good to know.  I learned this on YouTube. 




This is a leaking water heater.

I wish I understood the sump pump better.  I wish I knew what French drains are, how they work, and whether we have them.

Is there any other basic thing I should know how to do?  What about you?  Is there something you wished you knew how to do but don't?

Rainy Days and Mondays

But what if the rainy day IS a Monday?


Well, in that case, I check the sump a few times to make sure it's not about to overflow; I get a big enough bowl to put under the mystery only-happens-every-14-months-or-so- leak in the family room ceiling; I let the kids stay in their pajamas all day (because they're off from school); and then I get to work:


Sewing an Everything Tote from Weekend Sewing. Just because I found this red and white gingham sheet at the thrift store and it looks so cute with this leftover denim.

Then I finish sewing covers for our new floor cushions.

These floor cushions are actually re-purposed pillows from our bedroom. When we first moved here, I bought these euro shams (and these giant pillows) to go on our new bed (because we finally had a bedroom big enough for a king-sized bed). After a time, we tired of putting the pillows on the bed in the morning and then taking them off the bed in the evening, so the pillows have been sitting in a corner in our room. For a few years.

Since the kids love to take every throw pillow off the couch to sit on while they watch TV, I figured I'd give them the bigger pillows to sit on. I'm secretly hoping this will cause them to stop throwing the throw pillows on the floor. The fabric is mostly all leftovers. I did find some of the smaller gingham check on a clearance at Jo-ann last week ($2/yard remnant!). It's a home dec weight, so it should stand up to some abuse.

And even though the rain eventually stopped (and the sun did actually come out for a few minutes), dinner was straight comfort food, courtesy of Julia.

A delicious end to a productive day.

Got a bucket?

As soon as I'm done with this post, I'm checking in at weather.com in hopes that the radar will show me that this rain is close to being over! Whether our sump pump is dead remains to be seen, because the outlet that it is plugged into is dead. And when I run extension cords across the basement to the other outlets, the GFI trips as soon as I plug it in. So this morning I have been taking buckets of water up from the basement (it's all still contained with the sump pump...for now) and dumping them outside. I feel a little like Mickey Mouse in that cartoon.

If only our long extension cords weren't in use outside (for Christmas lights that still aren't finished), I'd try running those up into the kitchen to see if the damn thing works. Alas...I figure this way I'm getting some exercise!

Once things dry out around here, I can tell you the story of the dress I made for myself yesterday. It looks like a potato sack on me. I'll be hacking it up and salvaging the fabric. Just not today.