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Our lovely farmhouse sink has a nice chrome Delta faucet. The hot water handle has leaked for several months, and when the cold just started I knew it was time to take action. Our division of labor is fairly consistent, and I am responsible for all fine-tuning indoor things. Homestead Mama handles hole digging, garbage, laundry, cooking, and the kitchen is her lab & domain. I am responsible for all things wiring & plumbing, taxes, finances, baking and all sewing/hemming/knitting tasks. Not to mention rodent/pest control. (I didn't know I was falling in love with a chicken when it was happening. Who asks their girlfriend if they are afraid of mice? Total oversight on my part.)

So I am happily dismantling the kitchen faucets. I did this exact repair 3 years ago - all that is needed is a tiny little $8 gasket and spring. Smart cookie that I am , I bought a couple extra packs of the part the last time I did the repair. I pull out the pliers, remove the handle, then the basket, I'm actively waiting for my memory of doing this the first time to kick in. I'm still waiting when the water starts shooting straight up out of the cold faucet, making the pendant light sway with the force of it all. I cup my hands over the geyser and call, quietly but urgently, to Homestead Mama to Come Now, and Quickly! She is under a sleeping Monito and next to a sleeping Pequita who is on the couch and not safe to be left. H-Mama does an admirable job disengaging rapidly; by the time she rushes in to turn off the water supply under the sink I have figured out how to angle the spray back into the sink, for the most part. I am busy feeling grateful we primed the drywall with Aqualock paint when the water stops. I don't remember the geyser from the first repair. Oy. They don't leak anymore, at least.