I think we're having another '49er. It is snowing again. Snow on top of snowdrifts. I might need a snowcat to get out of here soon. The last time I blogged, a blizzard was setting in and my water pump had quit. I called the man who installed the pump about thirteen years ago when I bought the place. He agreed it was probably the pump that had gone out, 
because when I opened the well house and stuck my ear down there, it sounded like the pump was trying to cycle. He's my neighbor about 20 miles away and a friend, but he has since gone out of the water well repair business. He did recommend the young man who bought his truck and equipment.I called that guy, but we both knew he would be unable to come until after the weather cleared. I had a small amount of drinking water stored for just such an emergency, but to flush the toilet, I had to carry five-gallon buckets of water from the barn where I had a stock tank filled with a heater in it. I built up the muscles in my arms carrying water around the snowdrifts for the remainder of the week. On Sunday, I had to return to the city for my job for the week. I was actually glad to be going, for once. Running hot and cold water is truly a blessing to be cherished.
My work week was cut short, however, so I could be home on Friday to meet the well-service technician. I returned to the ranch to find snow drifts still pretty much as I had left them. They had receeded some, but not much. The weather report said there was another front coming Friday about noon. I called the well guy to confirm he was coming on Friday. He said he would and asked what time he should be here. I told him to plan it for morning because of the weather. He said he'd be here about 9 a.m.
When I got up on Friday, the sky was cloudy and ominous. I watched the clock and prayed for the storm to hold off. About 8 a.m., it began raining and as rain turned to big wet flakes of snow, the well guy got here. He was looking for a way to back his well-pulling rig up to my well, which is right beside the house, but there were snowdrifts blocking every avenue.
He climbed down into the well house and began doing some electrical checks. Within minutes, he asked his wife to get him some pliers and emerged from the well with a paper cartridge fuse in pieces and so corroded, he couldn't read the amperage. He changed the fuse, the control box, which was also very corroded, and put on a new pressure gauge so he could see what his results were, then asked me to turn on a hydrant. Sweet SUCCESS! Praise God. I wanted to kiss the man and his wife, too.
I didn't think to check the fuse because of the humming sound coming from the vicinity of the pump. I thought the pump was trying to cycle. After the fix was in, I remembered my friend telling me to lay in a stock of those fuses, which I remember doing, but now I don't have a clue where they went, following two moves and a few years of renters in the house.
However, I think there will be some preventive maintenance done on the well pump this summer sometime. You don't miss something until you don't have it.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the snow has come down steadily for two days now. I was floundering through drifts up to my thighs this morning (April 5) getting out to feed horses. I was rewarded by their appreciation for being fed, though. They were very grateful.
