As I was washing dishes today, our water pump kicked on, drawing from the cistern outside to fill a pressure tank under our counter. For the first time this winter, instead of making the usual buzzing noise, it began vibrating with a deeper, stuttering tone. Last winter, this sound was a death knell, indicating that the water line between our house and cistern shed was frozen. As a result, we were relegated to using five gallon water dispenser which we re-filled by hand on a regular basis.

This time, we were prepared. I slid our Tunisian shawl curtain aside and ducked into the water access area to the left of the sink. Once I was crouched under the counter, I unplugged the churning water pump.

Meanwhile, Tyler pressed the button to turn on our Heat Line. I was dubious.

A minute later, impatient and curious, I plugged the pump back in. Miraculously, it worked like a champ and water flowed sweetly from the tap. The system freaking works!

In related news, Tyler installed a remote temperature sensor so we can see how cold it is in our insulated cistern shed any time. Today, I was pleased to see that our efforts this fall paid off—the inside of the shed was a good twenty degrees warmer than outside. Hooray! Bring it on, winter. We're ready for you this year.