Desperate Times - Desperate Measures

The Apple house is located in a part of WA state where the water is very very hard.  The house had also sat empty for about 3 years, although the water remained on during that time.  However, no one thought to refill the salt in the water softener.  The insides of both of the toilet bowls were bright green where the water had eroded and oxidized the copper pipes.  The insides of both toilets had to be replaced, the washer hook-up had to be replaced, and basically, we are finding that every place that water comes out has been destroyed by the massive amounts of minerals (including sulfer - gah!) in our water.

Worst of all, the hard water has destroyed the dish washer and all of the associated plumbing.  I haven't had a dish washer for a month while it was on order / lost/ sitting in the warehouse because it was marked for pick up instead of delivery. . . yeah.  OK, so that's a pain, but manageable.  My chapped hands will tell you otherwise, but I am willing to do dishes by hand.  However, when they come to (at long last) replace the dishwasher they had to turn the water off to the kitchen sink.  Then there were plumbing problems, then there were parts missing, then, then, then. . .

A dishwasher I can live without, a kitchen sink I can not.

It is two days before Thanksgiving.  I have company coming.  It has been two days.  The dishes are piling up!

Solution:

 Do the dishes in the bathtub.  This works surprisingly well.

Drain and rinse.

Lay out a clean drop cloth and allow to dry.

  Take a picture of your adorable baby who thinks you are a genius!

Then curse silently to yourself as the workers show up not 3 minutes later to fix the plumbing and install the dishwasher.  Actually, it's now been over an hour and they are still working on it.  Of course, there are more problems, so I am glad I got most of the dishes done beforehand.

Gotta love an old house.