Everything AND the Kitchen Sink...

Being a homeowner means living life constantly on the edge of wonder. I wonder which appliance will be the next to break down? I wonder how long our furnace or water heater will hold out? I wonder if it’s time to replace the shingles, the windows, the concrete? I wonder how old these plumbing fixtures are? I wonder when the next big expense will happen and how much it will cost?

You could call it a wonder-filled life.

One of my wonderings found its answer recently. While washing lettuce in the kitchen sink, I first noticed my feet sticking to the flooring. Well-worn Manitobah mukluks on my feet meant I couldn’t tell they were wet. Then I saw water on the floor. At first, I thought I’d simply slopped a bit. Then I realized the rug in front of the sink was soaked. Then I noticed water pouring out of the cupboard below the sink.

Uh oh. Major trouble. Supper could wait.

The next forty minutes were spent pulling stuff out from under the sink and sopping up water with old towels. With the cupboard empty and a bucket beneath the pipes, I carefully opened the tap while Hubby inspected, using his high-powered flashlight. The faucet and its workings were leaking, all right.

After hanging up all the soaked towels and rug and moving the contents of the cupboard out of the way, I finished supper preparations. I couldn’t believe how difficult it was to not flip on the tap for a quick rinse of spoons or fingers. My brain does not enjoy forming new habits. After supper, I tied bright orange tape around the faucet as a deterrent.

Now to figure out how to do dishes. I scrubbed my big red mop bucket in the bathtub and filled it with hot water twice. I poured the first pailful into one side of the kitchen sink with dish soap and the second into the other side for rinsing. Seemed like a big hardship, until it occurred to me what an absolute luxury that would have been to my mother back on the farm, or her mother before her. Imagine, hot water straight out of the tap and carrying it only 14 steps (I counted), all of them indoors. Suddenly, my annoyance at this minor inconvenience gave me cause for gratitude. The dishes got done.

I began to Google kitchen faucets, figuring if we needed to replace ours anyway, this provided a chance for an upgrade. The next morning at Canadian Tire, I found one on sale that was a step up from our old one. I shelled out $156.75, then called the plumber who brought our grand total to $251.95 which Hubby can almost earn in two eight-hour shifts at the gas bar. Easy-peazy.

No, home ownership is not for the faint of heart but less than 24 hours after discovering the leak, we were up and running with a new and improved faucet. Truth is, I’d been meaning to clean under the kitchen sink for weeks. You know how grubby that space becomes, especially if it’s where you keep your trash can, like we do. This forced emptying of the cupboard provided the perfect, no-excuse opportunity.

The next week, we discovered our garden hose nozzle and attachment needed replacing, another $75 at the hardware store which I can earn by selling only 15 books or 75 e-books, about a month’s work. Piece of cake.

I wonder what will quit next week?

“A house is built by wisdom, and it is established by understanding…” Proverbs 24:3.