MARCH

DID YOU KNOW. . . that the FREE tasting room and winery will re-open for the season on Saturday, April 1st at 1PM? That's right, and I can't wait! Actually, what I mean to say is that I'm ready, REALLY ready to turn the page on 2022 and move on!

YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP:

Granddaughter #3 called the other day to check on me, (that in itself was a surprise) and asked what I was doing. I said, "actually, you interrupted me. I was writing my book. Yup, and the title is "death by water". She said, "you've got to be kidding, Nanny. I didn't know you were writing a book." "Well, right now I'm just in the fact stage. You see, Isabel, it all started in September." "So, I woke up one morning to. . . NO WATER! No water for my coffee. No water for my shower. No water for flushing, and no water in the winery!" OK, Jerry, what would you do? Call the plumber. OK, great idea, but I don't know a plumber. In desperation, I called my "new best friend", a young Latino carpenter guy that's been doing some work for me. He came right over, checked everything out and said he thought there might be a burst pipe somewhere because both the house and barn were well over 100 years old. OMG, where to start? Guess what he did? He went over to my well house, knelt down, put his ear to the ground and said, "I think it's here". A short time later after digging a ditch about two feet deep, water was gushing. A short time after that, he had replaced that very old pipe that had a very big hole. Amazing.

About 2 weeks later I was moving along and thinking everything was just fine. I got up that morning, and. . . NO WATER! NO WATER AGAIN? OK, Jerry, I know, I know, call the young Latino guy. Over he came but we both were stumped. Where could the leak be this time? We were standing by the well house and I happen to look up at the house. There it was -- water was gushing from below the front windows! Apparently, after fixing the first leak, the pressure was so great, it burst another pipe, but this time IN THE HOUSE! A short time later, quite a large hole was cut in my beautiful 10" wide white pine floor and another pipe was replaced. I'm still waiting for the floors to be sanded and refinished. "It's not funny, Isabel."

Fast forward as they say, and it's cold, very cold. I get up and. . . you guessed it. This time NO WATER AND NO HEAT! I ran into the cellar and noticed there was quite a bit of water seeping from the boiler. Thank God, and by word of mouth, I now had the name of a plumber. I'll call him Plumber#1. He actually arrived pretty soon thereafter. "Uh oh", he said. It must be the hot water tank. Three days later I had a shiny new one.

Two days after that, there was still a bit of water running out of the boiler. Obviously I called Plumber#1 again. He said, "Really? Hmm, I guess it must be the boiler this time. And, that's a bummer because there's no way I  can get over in the next few days". (Remember the 12 degrees below zero days?) You guessed it. So, I called another plumber that he recommended. I'll call him Plumber#2. He sent someone over pretty quickly to measure. The following day Plumber #2 returned my call and said, "lady, that's a special order boiler and there's no way I'd be able to install a new one for at least 3 weeks!"

And here's where Jerry, little Owen, my guardian angel, or some much higher being felt sorry for me and sent a TRUE angel and, he wasn't even a PLUMBER. He was

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