Rescued by a Long-Lost Cousin

One cold winter day, shortly after we returned from London, Brother Marble, our next door neighbor, told us he could hear water running in the back yard at our house. Thank goodness for his good hearing. It happens that the back yard faucet had burst and water was gushing everywhere including into the window well.

Because the original back yard faucet was covered by the construction of our deck, the landscaper suggested that it would be easy to connect a faucet to the sprinkler system, and we thought the back corner of the house would be the best spot. When the sprinklers were turned off, the faucet would be nonfunctional. Well, due to a series of miscommunications, the sprinklers were never turned off in the fall while we were in England, and after several hard freezes, the faucet finally blew.

We called our regular landscape guy, Arturo, who came by and said he would return the very next week to move the faucet. Well it has been nearly a month and we can no longer reach him on the phone - his voicemail box is full. So Kris called Khunis' and they won't return the call either.

A couple of days ago I went to Home Depot to get a fresh tank of propane for the grill, and as I was leaving the owner of the truck parked next to me approached. I noticed a sign on his truck for sprinkler repair, so I greeted him and asked if he could help me. He responded positively and gave me his card: Stefan Bandley. He asked for my name and when I told him, he said that he had Taylor relatives. It suddenly clicked and I knew immediately that he was my cousin (recently deceased) Julia's grandson. A long-lost cousin!

The end of the story is that he DID come and made the necessary changes to the system today, moving the tap far from the house. So we are back in business with the sprinklers all ship-shape and Bristol-fashion, ready for summer watering. To celebrate, I went to IFA and bought some fertilizer and applied it to the grass. If it storms as forecast tomorrow, the lawn should green up nicely. If the storm fizzles, I can turn on the sprinklers. Wahoo!

Stefan moves the line

The former corner-of-the-house location
is visible in the rear of the photo

Here's the new guy all ready to go

Stefan went to Provo High and graduated in '99. Isn't that when you graduated Maren?

I wish I had something more exciting to share, but this may be as good as it gets this weekend.

OXO

D.