Learn By Doing...

Cal Poly's motto, mantra, and all around way of thinking is "Learn By Doing." Which means almost every class has a lab while you are in college to give you hands-on experience.

We have been applying our alma mater's motto to many of the projects we have been tackling with the house. If we haven't done it before, oh well. Time to figure it out, and learn by doing!

This weekend's project: Lake Angus

We have had a small "lake" in our yard, which we had thought was just due to poor drainage and the clay-like soil. Every morning along the edge of the lawn there's standing water. (The other morning I enjoyed watching about 10 little birdies playing in it...kinda cute, but not good that there's enough water for them to play in!) It slowly evaporates all day, and then reappears overnight when the sun isn't out to help evaporate the water. Water cycle, anyone? After further sleuthing, we determined the lake was being caused by the sprinklers, and we were betting on a faulty valve. I know next to nothing about sprinkler repairs, besides knowing that my dad hates it. And that it inevitably leads to cursing and getting wet.

So Jeff bravely tackled replacing a valve while I worked inside on unpacking more boxes. Then we patiently waited for the glue to dry and crossed our fingers that water wouldn't come shooting out when we turned the water main back on. We have since tested the sprinklers, and the valve now works and doesn't leak! Way to go, babe! And it only took us 3 trips to Home Depot & Lowe's! The true test will come tomorrow morning...will there be a lake? I hope not...

We also mapped out which sprinkler lines water where, and have decided that the previous owner must have known less about sprinklers than I do. Way too much overlapping with way too inefficient sprinkler heads. And then there's the over-abundance of sprinklers in the front. 22 sprinklers to be exact. No problems with inefficiency there! The drip lines out front need some help, but since most the plants they water are already dead, we're not in the biggest rush to fix it.

Tomorrow we plan on tackling some of the inefficient sprinkler heads. And putting some door & drawer pulls on the cabinets in the master bathroom. And maybe finishing some of the painting in the large guest room. And there will most likely be a few more trips to Lowe's and Home Depot in the process.