In the Trenches!

Literally, in the trenches!  This is what I did yesterday morning.

Me and my two boys spent the morning digging up the water lines in our yard.  When the water company read our meter the other day, they left a note on the door that said we had excessive water usage and should check for a leak.  The house has an irrigation system that we had been using since we moved in.  Our first bill said we used 17,000 gallons.  We thought the bill was kind of high, so we turned off the sprinkler system and I just watered my flowers by hand and we didn't worry about the grass.  So when they came back and said we used 36,000 gallons, we knew there was a problem.

 Since we knew there was no leak in the house, we figured it had to be outside, but couldn't figure out why there are no wet, soggy spots in the yard?  But there must be a leak somewhere, so we began to dig.....and dig.... and dig.  It was so hot, sweat was literally dripping off the end of my nose and my clothes were soaking wet. Not very ladylike, I know.

 So after all that digging, we found nothing.  Not a drop of water leaking from the pipes.  So this morning what did I do?  I went outside and put all that dirt back in the trenches.  Turns out there was a small leak in one of the junction boxes for the irrigation system in the flower bed, but there must be another problem.  So we'll have to keep looking for it.  I kept hoping to find water gushing out while we were digging.  Then we could fix it and be done.  Oh well, I burned some extra calories, right?

 Now we have to wait for the grass to grow back in this area and it will be good as new.

 Since I showed you all that dirt, it's only fair that I show off the flowers I planted this spring.  This is around my mailbox post.  When we moved in I dug out the grass, put in the border and planted these flowers.  They were just little bitty things then, but they have tripled or more in size and I love them!

 I have the same flowers in an old beat up wheelbarrel in the front yard.  I don't know what the neighbors think about it, but I love my wheelbarrel.

 And finally, my potted plant I got on clearance at Piggly Wiggly for just $2.99!  They were also giving away mini flags because it was the 4th of July weekend, so I stuck it in my new plant.  The stand looks like a bike.  Can you tell?  My mom-in-law got that for my birthday several years ago and I love it!

So, those of you who have city water, what is your average usage?  I called my sister who also has 3 kids and does lots of laundry.  She said hers is between 6,000 - 8,000 gallons a month.  I wonder if we have a bad meter?