Tree vs. Drought

Well, the drought won this one.  One of our redwood trees has been water-stressed for the past several years.  Part of it was probably due to our switching from above ground sprinklers to a drip system 5 years ago.  Obviously the trees aren't getting as much water as they used to, and then combine that with the cut back in watering due to a lack of water and, well, the drought won.  Tree zero.

 The above is the "before" picture.  The tree on the furthest left belongs to our neighbor.  I suspect it looks so healthy and luscious because a couple of years ago it tapped into the sewer line, eventually popping it and causing a huge leak in the middle of the street.  Our tree (second on the left) was not so aggressive.  Here's a better view.  It was definitely struggling.  I'm not sure if you can tell from the angle, but it had a 20' split up the front, and it was leaning towards the garage.

 They cut a wedge at the bottom, tied the top to a truck, cut through the trunk, then backed the truck up.  Timber!

 It was simultaneously depressing and impressive.

 When they started cutting the top, the owner called me over to see the trunk.  This was 20' from the top.  He said the tree was much more distressed and dangerous than he'd thought, and we are fortunate that it hadn't fallen on its own.  (If you notice in the first photo, the top of the tree is double.  That means that at one point, it did break off.  I think I remember that, but not so clearly.  It's happened more than once in the middle of windstorms.)

Below is the "after" photo.  One tree is gone, and the tree on the right has been thinned, as has one in the backyard.  You can see the redwoods surrounding us.  Five are ours, the two shortest ones belong to our behind the fence neighbor, and the lush green one belongs to the neighbor on the left.  The giant trees were a huge selling point, when we moved into this neighborhood in 1994.

 This is what we have left.  One friend received about 15' of trunk to make bowls.  Another friend and my son are discussing the remaining 18'.  I've told my son that I'd really like a table made out of the largest section.  Then again, do I really want to add to his list of UFO's?  (He's already got tons - probably literally - of walnut, waiting to be planked.)

And that, folks, is what's been happening around here lately.  I've also finished my project from Asilomar and Susan Brubaker Knapp's class.  I just haven't gotten around to taking good pictures yet.  I can give you a bad one, just to tide you over...

And with that, I've got to say that I am most definitely happy to be back and quilting!!  :)

Multi-Tasking

I'm not sure the above needs any commentary.

As I sit inside with my hand projects, watching the World go by, the sun beats down on our yard.

You may think, after seeing the well project and the water flowing freely under the walnut trees, that water is plentiful or that I think that it is.  Au contraire, it is in limited supply and we conserve as much as possible.  My backyard/home goal is to keep the trees alive.  The lawn is a lost cause, and I've already pulled out a number of bushes. 

Hot, hot, hot!

I've got another hour to prepare, before Mexico meets Croatia.  Congratulations to Netherlands - your team is looking quite impressive!!

Miraculous

Yesterday the well was put back into service.  It was nothing short of miraculous. 

This was the waterflow we had one week ago:

Notice the difference in output!  We are now pumping from 183', instead of 120'.  Our reach has extended as far as it will go for this particular well.  We pray the future holds rain, lots of rain.  The aquifer needs to be replenished.  If the level of the water table continues to drop, we may find ourselves needing to dig a new well.  Today's rate for digging a 12" well (what we currently have) is in the neighborhood of $120-$130/foot.  People are digging 400' and more, looking for water.  Pray for rain!  Yes, I know it's June.  God can do the impossible.

I was fascinated to see what the new pump looked like.  This was the old turbine pump:

We used the same head, but now it looks like this:

 This is what the new submersible pump looks like:

 It was inserted into the hole first:

The first new section of pipe was added:

The electrical wiring was  attached and put into place:

 And it was lowered into the hole piece by piece, until all 11 sections of pipe were sunk, with the head holding them secure on the pad.  It took about 4 hours to get the pipes into place.  Then the electrical needed to be hooked up, both at the meter and at the box.  This took another hour or so.

It was close to 4pm before he pushed the button.  We waited.  And waited.  And waited.

The old pump was VERY noisy.  It chugged and glugged and let us know how hard it was working.  The new one?  He pushed the button, and there was nary a sound.

And then...15 or 20 seconds later...there was a gurgle, and water burst forth into the standpipe!

From there, it travels to our underground irrigation system, and comes bubbling up under the trees.

Within 20 minutes, it had already traveled the length of three trees!

Everyone was happy!

The most thrilling thing was to be out there before the dogs joined us and to listen.  Birds went NUTS.  We saw them fly as quickly as possible from the house to the orchard.  I watched and listened as they drank and bathed and flew and celebrated.  They were SO excited!  I had my camera with me, but it was tough to capture any images.

All in all, it was a wonderful life-giving day.  The trees are happy,

The dogs are happy,

Everyone is happy.  May it last and carry us through until the rains come!

Thar She Blows!

When last I left you, our ag well was simply a hole in the ground.  On Monday, the Web Spy dropped a camera down, to see what there was to be seen.  Everything looked good, with one exception:

Sometime, someone dropped a 100' measuring tape down the well.  There it is, at 198.8'.  All 100 feet of the tape were loose, making a wicked web, to catch anything that might not want to be caught...say a submersible pump?  Can you imagine if we hadn't known this was down there?  The pump would have jammed and we would have been at a loss to explain it.

The well itself, is dug to around 204'.  The casing (metal sleeve, into which the parts are inserted) reaches down 200'.  It is an "open bottom" well, meaning that below the casing it's, well, it's open.  Unfortunately there was a lot of sand and silt build up, which we were highly encouraged to remove.

First, they went fishing.  This hook was lowered 200'.  The cable was twisted, then let go, twisted, then let go, allowing it to spin and snag (hopefully) the tape measure.  They spun the cable a half dozen times, then brought it up.

Victory!

The next step was to lower 200' of 4" pipe with an air compressor hose attached to the bottom.

Section after section was added.  (See the pipes behind him?)  They used all of the 4" pipe.  Once it was all lowered into the well, one section at a time, they added an elbow.

Once it was set into position, they turned on the air compressor.  Fire!

Water would gush out, then stop, then gush, then stop.  All the while, they were lowering the pipe up 12' then back down to the bottom, then up 12' (by 4' increments), then down again, trying to flush the mud and silt and sediment from the cavity.  This went on for over an hour.

When at last he was satisfied with the output, he had to once again remove the 200' of pipe and haul it away.

Our sons have also been trenching, to lay larger wire to handle the larger, more efficient pump.  Today's goal:  to have water flowing for irrigation by sundown.  Goals are good!

On a quilting note, I may have promised quilt pictures.  This little quilt is ready for delivery.  I finished it last night.

One more item checked off the quilt guilt to do list.  woohoo!