A cunning plan

 As usual when in a hurry and you need to make progress the critters have other ideas and yesterday morning the pigs in the big pen had chewed the tap off the blue plastic pipe. This was probably because the water tank they drink out of was empty thanks to Rosie using it as a private tub and tipping it over. Again. Tap removed 1000 gallons of stored water filled the lower parts of the pen giving everyone a fantastic wallow. As the pipe was chewed it wasn't a quick fix so in my SOHF I carried plastic tap (above) back to the cottage to show my beautiful and oh so patient wife what naughty piggies we have.

However the now mobile plastic tap reminded me of a cunning plan I had to insert two more taps along the 100 metre or so of blue pipe that takes water from the stream to various points on the smallholding. Again its sods law that the locations of the taps are nowhere near where you actually need them, for example the one at the bottom of Oak Bank is equidistant from the small pig pen and the goats, but to get to it you wade through mud and climb a fence. Not easy carrying full buckets of water and as Pam the Mangalitza is drinking about 20 gallons (well she uses 20 gallons, most of it she sloshes around) it would be more use to have a tap by her, and one by the small pig pen. Off to farm supermarket to buy two new plastic taps. Which is what I would have done except for one small bother encountered at the checkout. Plastic tap costs £24.99. Plus VAT. 
I did manage not to feint when nice man trying to flog insanely priced article told me of the price, which was just the start, the t junction and coupling added another £10.80 plus VAT. Eventually the cheapest option was seized upon, a full metal tap for £4.99 and a plastic coupling (without screw fix attachment to fix to post/wall as that was an extra ten quid, I used baler twine instead) total cost £10.49 plus VAT. I decided on just the one extra tap. I told the nice man I had 7 of these taps, which turn out not to be taps but shut off valves, to which he replied that that seemed a bit luxurious. I now have half a plan to replace all plastic taps/shut off valves with full metal ones and flogging the plastics on ebay. I could make a few quid I reckon!