it’s another. My friend, Julie, from Harper & Row days, is coming to visit and arrives tomorrow night. Yesterday, I had Caroline, my aces cleaning person, come and she and I went through the house concentrating on the floors and the fleas. Julie is coming without her husband so she will stay with us because she is not allergic to cats. Last time they came, they had to stay in a nearby motel
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Last night, as I was washing up before bed, the cold water handle in my dressing room basin starting leaking from the base, big time, and water was pouring onto the floor. I tried to tighten it, but the problem was bigger. I shut it off and finished my ablutions in Ed’s bathroom. This morning I told Ed about it and he tried to fix it.

A bit later, as I was playing the piano, I heard a distant howl of rage. Hey, methought, could that be my darling?? I ran toward the rage (I am so brave) and Ed, who had been trying to fix the faucet, was holding on to it trying to stem a huge flow of water with a dirty sock. The valve beneath was so rigid, that if he had forced it, it would have snapped.

I got an earful because I hadn't heard him and he had been screaming his head off. I took over the hand-in-the-dike routine and grabbed a couple of towels because the sock, you know, was a joke. He went to shut the water off for the whole house.

For several hours, till we could get plumbing assistance, the house was without water and the dishes piled up, and I did ablutions using a glass of water I hadn’t finished, and some wet wipes. I filled a pail with pool water for you know what and got Ed to carry it to the bathroom which he did, showing off by just using one arm whilst I had used two and was moving an inch at a time. I called him my hero and got a smile out of him (which is never easy and I am inclined to introduce him to friends as “the resident curmudgeon”).

Around 2 p.m., the plumber got here and said he didn’t have any parts that fit my particular unit because they don’t stock parts for that brand. He suggested getting a new one because by the time parts were ordered, delivered, etc., it would cost just as much. He said they support a Moen or a Delta and recommended we get one of those. The unit I have has a high arc tap because I find most bathroom fixtures inadequate to my lifestyle. I like to just stick my head under, none of this forever slapping water on my face. Also easy to wash my hair if I am in a hurry and don’t have time for a shower. The plumber used the visit to replace the valve so that we could turn the water back on for the rest of the house. And Ed and I can choose a replacement faucet at Loews or Home Dee-pot, and we will be all put together by the time we pick up Julie tomorrow night.

I just love the excitement of an old house.

xx, Teal