Plumbing Isn't Pretty...

...so here are some slightly more inviting images that have nothing to do with plumbing for you to look at while I tell you my tale of "plumbing for genius".

These pretty pink periwinkles kept me company, making me happy even when the view under the kitchen sink wasn't quite so lovely.

There is something to be said for saving money on do-it-yourself repair and replace. It doesn't seem to matter that nearly every time I attempt such feats in the realm of plumbing that it feels a little like banging my head against the wall. Still, I persist.

Call me stubborn. I like to overcome. But is it really a "win" when the hours invested close in on the double digit mark and I have to make repeat trips to the store for parts or to return what I bought the first time around and repurchase the correct part when all I want to do is be done? Well, I come from a competitive family. In this case it's me against me. When there is no one else to compete with, I go against the clock or the plumbing or the me who would rather hum a happy tune while I paint furniture and try to ignore the sound of water dripping in the background. Eventually the desire to rinse water down the drain without having it slosh all over the inside of the cabinet below causes me to buck up and take the challenge.

So I did both; the plumbing and the other stuff. A person can only "plumb" for so long when they haven't a clue what they are doing. Such things take time. A person will also have to get some other things done, like this:

FRONT

INSIDE

I made a card for my son's birthday. He's across the country and won't be with us for his birthday. Yes, as you can see, I had some stamping goobers happen, but it's the love, the time and the checks we enclosed inside that count, right?

So after clearing out the cabinet under the sink and cleaning as if I had to stick my head and half my body in there (which of course, I did) - enough of a project in and of itself to consider myself a project saint, I went beyond, because I'm a glutton for punishment. I ended up painting in there too. Thing is I was riding high on getting the washer in place and getting it working (without leaking or overflowing, woo!) earlier in the day, so I decided to go for gold and attempt plumbing too.

Here is the path I cleared (huge job) so we could roll the washer right in.

Casey and I wrestled the new washer off the wheel thingy, and I set out to hook it up. Sure, you might say, "no biggie". Well, not necessarily. We have a history of washer overflows, etc., and it has had me in a bit of a panic. It took me a good while to get the washer operational, but I did. Hallelujah! We can wash again and without walking in on a flood making it's way to the loft room. Priceless.

Found this cute little old sign at a garage sale for a dollar Saturday morning and hung it over the new washer because Casey made some comment about it when she found it in the bathroom. 

Apparently she thinks it's rather unappealing. Hmph! Well, I try to take my youngun's opinions about such things to heart, so I moved it to the laundry area. Heaven knows she never sets foot THERE. 

I doubt she'll ever see it again.

Anyway, after my washing machine success, I moved on to the kitchen. For well over a year, a leak has plagued us. Why didn't I call a plumber, you ask? Ha! First of all, plumbers charge by the nanosecond. Any other questions? Besides, it would require a phone call (I will do just about anything not have to make a phone call). It might also cause time off work and besides if someone had to come over, they would see all the crapola in the back room. Can't have that. Anyway, the last time a plumber came to do all my fixes, the sink started leaking again inside of 6 months and the toilet, the insides of which he replaced, began having trouble too. No, plumbers are for emergency situations... and (despite the troubles last time) for toilets. My remedy is to make do or rig things for as long as possible if I can't fix them.

Been making these little chalk plates since the Summer. Started collecting plates from Goodwill, but they are way too expensive there. Garage sales are the way to go. I have done quite a number of these in various sizes so I can spell out words and phrases for different occasions and holidays. Since I cleaned off the counter and had to find a place to put the plates I'd been working on, I decided to use a couple in the kitchen for the time being.

Back to our plumbing tale:
When it comes to plumbing drips and leaks, I take the "put a bucket under it" and "work around it" approach for as long as possible. Yet, eventually the time comes for me to cowgirl up and either try and fix it or call someone. So for all this time, we've simply used just the right hand sink. I really never considered that I could just get under there and try tightening the connections. Duh! Probably because I just didn't want to. I've always been rather creeped out by the area under the kitchen sink. Too bad I didn't have the nerve to take a picture of it. It was frightening under there, and I've been afraid, very afraid. You've seen under a sink before, no need to show you mine.

But like Kevin in Home Alone, I'm not afraid anymore!

I have faced my fear and emerged a conquerer. I was going for "Genius" again, but after the first 4 1/2 hours of working on it, thinking I had done it and then having it start leaking again, and then an hour or so of watching you tube instruction videos, I tried again the next day for a couple more hours to no avail. I decided "Genius", was not going to be my new nickname and moved on to cleaning out the kitchen cabinets for a while and doing some much needed organizing there. In a last ditch effort, after church today, when I'd had sufficient time to recoup from the previous days' failures, I came home, pulled everything out from under the sink again, unhooked the pipes and tried using plumber's tape on the problem fitting. Ta da! It worked. Tenacity paid off.

Here's another ta, da! The countertop cleaned off. I should have taken a before shot, but I'm guessing you've seen junk piled on counters before...

Taking on a plumbing job is the kind of thing one has to gear up for mentally. You have to really want it. I did. The time had come. Riding high on the washing machine install, I was psyched to keep the momentum going. Now let's just hope today's plumbing fix holds for a while.

Here's a shot looking toward the kitchen from the vicinity of the Great Pickle.

Unfortunately there's more plumbing trouble where the other came from, and the other projects are more complicated than the one I just did. It may take some more gearing up to get me attempting a fix on those, especially knowing how long it took to do this project. One of the others is a toilet issue, so eventually there may yet be a dreaded phone call and a plumber summoned. I figure the less there is for him to do, the more money I can keep in my own pocket. Plus, I like trying for that elusive "genius" status.

Pink Periwinkles really make a nice accent to the Little Stinker, don't ya think?

 It is rewarding to learn how to do things and to find a measure of success when you don't give up. 

Then again, if you've got the money, aren't plagued by phonaphobia and you don't have a room full of "fabulous finds" lending an air of "hoarder" to your home, call the plumber. 

Life is short,  and the quest for "genius" may be, quite possibly, overrated.

You can find me at:

Wildly Original Link Party @ I Gotta Create
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Share Your Cup @ Have A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Time Travel Thursday @ The Brambleberry Cottage
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Cowgirl Up @ Cedar Hill Ranch
Knick of Time Tuesday @ Knick of Time
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Mop it Up Monday @ I Should Be Mopping the Floor