a tale of tails, tenacity, and tedium, as told by me, usually barefoot and bellowing

Monday, April 21, 2014

Down and Dirty On Easter

Many know we have live water from springs.  This is pumped into the house for our convenience (I have carried many a buckets from this spring).  Our water is far better and sweeter tasting that any city water I've had.  The rock circle is where the pump sits suspended in clear spring water.  My grandpa and Dad made this years ago.  

The bad part about all this is we have to clean and flush the spring at least twice a year according to conditions.  Well we missed last year (Hubby's and Marcy's illness).  Our water remained clear and sweet but this day of work was long over due. 

This is not a one man job.  So we invited family with the lure of Marcy's cooking and they went to work.
First you make a plan.  The culvert for over flow was removed to flush out the area removing moss and two years of natural deposits in the bottom of the holding pond.
Then you jump in and start moving the mud.  The more mud moving out the better.  The blanket moss goes out with the current.
Basically it is like making wine.  You squish the mud and work it down stream with your feet.  Andrew kept us hydrated.
Second grandson Jake ran to get whatever we needed, sometimes driving the Ranger or running as fast as he could go.  Andrew and Jake played some foot ball
and then they deserted us.
Shoveling muck is fun.  Now maybe we won't have to clean it again till next spring...hopefully!
We scrubbed everything, dug muck and pushed water.  We've done this since childhood but it was all done by hand then.  We would dig grass from this branch all the way to the creek.  It was an all day job for four generations.
 We rescued critters
and moved them to a safer place.  Our plan was to bleach the main spring to kill the blanket moss but not the live things.  The bleach will do its job and it will dissipate before it reaches the pond or creek.
Boots were no good.  
All was work was done barefooted.
Melissa, my oldest daughter,
captured a mother/daughter portrait.
The work continues and the water level lowered.  Melissa said she never saw any pictures on my blog of her.  I wonder if she will be proud of this one!  Bev, my sister, is working that mud so it can move on out.
Marcy, my oldest sister, came over to tell us she had cooked a feast.  Toni, my nephew, did work although I have few pictures of it.
We chlorinated while Hubby dammed the creek.  We ate a mouth watering belly filling delicious dinner at Marcy's and returned to the spring.
Busting the dam.
Replacing the culvert with Toni looking like a Highway Department employee we are nearing completion.
Now we are back in the pure water business again.
As the world celebrated the Resurrection
we resurrected our water source.

23 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Wow! I never realized so much work was involved in maintaining one. Look at all that mud. Baths for everyone!

MadSnapper said...

I really enjoyed this, had no idea how much work was involved to keep a spring clean and ready to use... love ALL the pics. is the stone house Marcies or yours? love it whomever it belongs to. great post

Farm Girl said...

Wow I had no idea. Still, I bet that water is worth all of the work. I loved the bull frog and the crayfish.
I also enjoyed the photos. What a lovely family day.

TexWisGirl said...

wow! lots of work - made better by family and good food!

OmaLindasOldeBaggsandStuftShirts said...

looks like a lot of hard work, worth the effort. I love the mud

StitchinByTheLake said...

How fascinating! I had no idea all that work had to be done! blessings, marlene

Susan Kane said...

this was a massive work of love. Heavens! Squishing the mud I would enjoy. Glad the little creatures were rescued as their home was renewed.

Next time, call me. I'd love to do this.

T. Powell Coltrin said...

That looks like HARD work,but somehow fun.

Jake has really grown up fast. Geez. Where's time a going.

jp@A Green Ridge said...

In VA, we had mountain springs feed a holding tank on the mountain which gravity fed our house. However, we had a "black light" system in the house to zap bacteria from the creeks. However, since we knew a bank would not give a mortgage to prospective buyers unless there was a well, we had one put in. We had paid cash for the place so it wasn't a deal breaker when we bought....water was wonderful...as good as here from our well!.../)JP

John Going Gently said...

This post, out of all of your others is the most moving
It's all about family

Buttons Thoughts said...

This is the best way to celebrate a family all gathering round for good food, laugh,s hardwork, and lots of love oh yes I can see that. Love the humour in this post made me laugh. Great job. Hug B

Buttons Thoughts said...

Oh I forgot to say I would have helped squish the mud looks like something I would truly enjoy and saving the critters. Hug B

Josie Two Shoes said...

I never cease to be amazed by all that is required to maintain your little piece of Heaven there! Lots of hard work, but that playing in the mud barefoot part does look kinda fun! :-) Loved the pictures and your commentary. Nothing feels better than a full belly and a job well done!

LindaG said...

Mud is supposed to be good for the skin.
I wonder if that moss can get into well tanks that never see the light of day?

Hubby replaced ours today. It's a pretty blue.

Hope you all have a wonderful week, Gail! ♥

Kathryn Dyche said...

Wow, that's a dirty job but someone's got to do it. Love how you enlisted family help with the bribery of food. Great job.

Irene said...

That was a lot of hard work, Gail, but I am glad that you explained so well what goes into keeping your water potable. I would love to have a drink of it. I am not one of those people who buys bottled water, so I have to be happy with water from the faucet, which is good enough. It is supposed to be the best water in the country nowadays. xox

Country Gal said...

On our farm we had a well that was fresh spring water that went to the house but never had to do all that , Lots of hard work but a fun day with family . Lovely post and photos . Thanks for sharing , Have a good day !

Far Side of Fifty said...

Good thing you had some help! That is quite a process:)

Dreaming said...

My feet are aching. I can't begin to imagine how cold that all was. Brrr....
But, I totally understand how sweet your water must be, so it is all worth it in the end!

Sandy Livesay said...

Great job!!!! Getting the family all together to help, and have a delicious meal.

You know people in the big cities pay big bucks to have walk, sit, and bath in mud??

LilliStJohn said...

How totally awesome is this - to be done like this. I would have loved to be in there squishing muck right along with all of you. I could have totally gone for the meal of Marcy's and had a couple of football throws. The dogs were even having fun. I had to laugh at the comment of the Highway Dept Employee with Toni - works that way here too. Just toooo funy. Love the ending and the end photo with the reflections n clear water. Great informative post and so liked. Tell Marcy I do leftovers, so I might drop by. hehe lol to all

DeniseinVA said...

Hi Gail, it's so nice to meet you and thank you for stopping by my blog. What a great post this is, very, very interesting. All that hard work must be very rewarding considering you have the gift of clean spring water. I have thoroughly enjoyed my visit here, thank you so much!

Susan Anderson said...

Wow, I had no idea what this entailed. Your family rocks, and I bet your water does, too!

=)

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