Snowy Speculations

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If I could paint, I would have tried to replicate the landscape very early this morning. Illuminated by the faintest hints of light and hours before sunrise, the cold, stark landscape lay completely still in its snowy blanket. Naked trees stood proudly and quietly against this backdrop, this palate of pure white an unforgiving place for any creature, big or small, to attempt to cross without drawing attention to its existence at this time. Even our ancient tire swing looked sleepy and droopy, suspended precariously close to the ground, as if the effort of hanging from a tree limb was too much for it. To the east, the only rays of light visible were the ones coming from the across the river, and even those seem hushed and muffled, like a child tired and murmuring not to wake them up just yet.  The young families down the road have gone all out with Christmas lights this year. Bright colours adorn the night skies and my neighbours even have a Christmas Cat and a Christmas Dinosaur th...
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The Septic Sagas

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The Septic Sagas 

Living with a septic system can seem daunting at first. We're so used to living in a world where we don't think about what goes down the drain. When living in an urban setting, it doesn't matter if you use fabric softener or bleach, or even how much of it you use. But all of that changes with living on a rural property.  There's a sort of environmental responsibility that is handed over along with the keys on closing. 

The reality is that you have to maintain your septic. Your day to day activities rely on how well it works.  Since we have an older system, we have run into a few hiccups over the years and it has not been fun. I highly recommend befriending a local plumber who will be available to you because, unless you have an updated system,  you may be giving him a bit of business over the years!

Things came to a head for us last weekend. As fate would have it, it was two days before we were to host my father-in-law's 80th birthday party, outside, of course! It started with me throwing a small load into the washing machine while my husband went to jump in the shower. Within minutes, I heard yelling and a few choice words coming from the direction of the bathroom. We had just renovated the main bath half a year ago. It is very white and my first thought, after hearing his yelling about the septic, was if it was going to stay that way! The toilet started bubbling and the bathtub in which he was showering was filling with gray water. 

We immediately went into crisis mode, having been through this before. We had a similar event happen last year and immediately knew there was a blockage somewhere forcing the water to find a different route throughout the maze of pipes.

After he had gone to work, I let things settle down. It was 6:30 a.m. and I couldn't call our plumber yet. After a few hours, I tried to run a small load in the washing machine again and had the same gray  laundry water come up in the bathroom. The Lululemon tag in the toilet from my daughter's skating top was a clear giveaway!

As it happened, our plumber was in Hamilton getting his second vaccination so we were stuck for a day of being very careful. No laundry was done. The dishwasher was able to enjoy a rest for a full day and I hand-washed dishes and cleaned, throwing the water onto our lawn for some natural irrigation. The other two baths in the house were fine as they were connected to the septic on a different pipe.

Our plumber was there with bells on the next morning and my husband took the day off to be his assistant. Three hours later, the problem was rectified. A broken pipe was replaced and our life went back to normalcy as we went into crazy mode to get ready for the party.

Septic inspections are important when purchasing a house. Although pumping out the tank every few years is unappealing to some people, it is a quick and painless necessity and costs under $400.  Use products that are septic friendly and put signage in your bathrooms as guests don't know that septic toilet paper is the ONLY thing that should go down. No Kleenix, hair or feminine hygiene products! The result can be a very expensive replacement of your entire system. There are so many helpful sites to explore before buying a rural property and getting to know your septic is an important one. Just make sure to choose a windy day to get it pumped. And close your windows!

Lolita Schimann Hale


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