Digging fence post holes on the farm, and hitting the water and electrical lines

Late Monday afternoon, Dave and I got started on digging holes for a fence.  We’ve decided to tear down the current fence that surrounds the private patio off the Master bedroom.  We’ll then build a larger area that will encompass the current small private patio, as well as our well house, a jacuzzi spa (jacuzzi spa to come later…probably for Dave’s birthday next year), and a dog run.  The area will also serve as a safe area for the dogs.  We have so many predators here and are afraid to let the animals out at night unsupervised.  The total fenced area will be about 60 feet by 60 feet, and will have a gate that will give us access to the back yard.

On Sunday, we marked the holes for new fence supports.  On Monday, Dave manned the tractor, while I made sure that the hole digger was going in straight.

Thanks to lower than usual rainfall, our ground was a little hard, and it took awhile to dig each hole.

We were 7 holes in to the task, when BAM, we hit a water line and an electrical line.  Right about now, I’m supposed to remind you to always check with the local governments to make sure that you know where the water and electrical lines are BEFORE digging…however, remember that we are living in a mid-century farmhouse, and the City has no record of where our lines are, and obviously neither do we.  If Dave’s parents were still alive, I’m sure they would have let us know that we were digging into the water and electrical lines.  How “lucky” is that, that we hit both a water AND and electrical line at the same time?

Everything happened at once….the tractor auger made a crunching sound, the hole filled with water, and David and I both kicked into overdrive.

I ran to the circuit box, and made sure that the power was off.  Dave ran to shut off the water.

Thankfully, Dave had a stash of PVC pipe in the garage, and was able to quickly repair the line.

I asked if he’d done this before (break a water line), and he said “many times.”

Apparently, this is routine.

We had water restored in time for needed showers and then dinner preparations (albeit quite a bit later than usual).

Meanwhile, the dogs continued with their usual afternoon routine…laziness, drinking water, and smelling the air.  The dogs don’t really seem to care one way or the other if we have water or not.

They’re happy to drink out of the duck pond, eat cat poop, and be lazy farm dogs.