Back on the prairie?

I was talking to my bestfriend in Colorado this morning on my way into work. I fully intend to blog about what an amazing friend and person that she is in full but this is just a blip of this magnificent woman. We have been friends since I was born so she is truly like my family. Manda is a hippy chic. She and her hippy husband, David, live on a mountain top in Colorado. It is their dream home and absolutely perfect for them. Their driveway is a straight up incline as it is a mountain side. We last spoke on Thursday of last week when I determined where I would be moving to and called her full of excitement. Her day was not going so well as the pipes had frozen in her mountain cabin and she had no water. They were attempting to thaw the inside pipes with a space heater last I heard.

Side note: The house does not have central heat. They heat with a wood chip burning fireplace.

So I called all weekend with no response and twice yesterday, I was starting to worry. Today I called on my way into work and when she answered I jokingly said, "I wasn't sure if you froze to death, were dehydrated or just stranded with no contact". (all of these are real possiblities for her) She says "no, just still no water". WTF? No water for almost a week? She has a 22 month old son AND she babysits a few days a week. This is how my handy little hippy is making it work.

1. Her brother-in-law (hubby's brother) and his wife live close so they have been going there to shower, do laundry and dishes. Thank goodness for them!

2. They fill up the back of the toilet in order to be able to flush. That's clever.

3. She melts snow (yes, snow!) from 5 gallon buckets on the stove and waters the dogs, the Christmas tree and fills up the toilet.

4. Obviously they had to purchase water for cooking and such but they are making do.

So the best and craziest part is that the issue is underground (think 10 inches of snow) and the pipes in Hippy Household have been found to have carcinogens not healthy for drinking water even though they are the WELL pipes. So Hubby Hippy is going to have to dig up the cold hard earth (where the pipes are indeed frozen and replace the pipes this weekend. She is hoping to have water by SUNDAY. I know without the blog of our life together you cannot possibly imagine how Mother Theresa-like this woman is but she amazes me almost daily. As we were wrapping up our conversation I told her I would pray for water for her and she said "it could always be worse". I am so grateful for her and her influence on my life. Pray for water and I will keep you posted! Damn hippy kids:-)