Today a better day

At midnight last night I shut off the pump. It was too dark to see how low the water was getting and I sure didn't want the pump to run dry. Also I was exhausted and HAD to get some sleep. At daybreak I went out and got into the tank. I determined the suction thingee was in mud. I must have forgotten to clear around it after that early June rain. I pulled it out but didn't put weight back on it. After pumping an hour it floated to the top and lost its prime. (I had hoped that the line was mudded in too so wouldn't need the weight.) When the water gets low in the tank it's difficult to prime and it was almost impossible the first time this morning so after that hour of pumping, I knew it was hopeless. Only about a foot of water left in the tank. So I just gave up. Learn from my mistakes. Mistakes I've made before, I might add. Not learning too well. Age and sleep deprivation, I guess. I have lots of water (probably one-third capacity), and it'll surely rain more this summer. Once the tank dries out I'll fix it so it won't silt the pump in during the next deluge. But it needs checked after each big rain.

My stand of soapberries in the arroyo haven't died like I worried they might, although they lost a lot of leaves. More rain should rejuvenate them even better.

Rushed to town midday and finished up the floors in the rent  house. My husband will wax them in the morning and then it's move in ready. Whew! We really had to do a lot of work to it. New fixtures and we even put in a new range. The old one was just too nasty to clean.

My son from Austin is due late tonight. He's staying at Terlingua Ranch Lodge because of all the stuff not working at CMO. I bought the stuff to fix the water heater. Just need to get my Alpine son down there to do it. Maybe he can fix the pressure pump too while he's at it. 

Dragonflies are already showing up so I hope to get some good photos of some in the next several days. I didn't top off the stucco tank because I want to make sure it doesn't leak first. So I put a bunch of my new water into the big tank. Added gambusias (mosquito fish). The frogs and snakes already found their own way there.

And in a few days things will surely start blooming and butterflies will start showing up.

UPDATE: My son got halfway here and a sign he made for my other son blew out of his pickup. Bringing that sign was the main reason for the trip, so he turned around and headed back to Austin and cancelled the trip altogether. I'm very disappointed, but it could be worse. I had worked fast and furious to get caught up by the time he came. So was in readiness. But the main thing is that everyone is safe and well.