Scotia Woman to the Rescue

It all started washing the sheets and a blanket.  I loaded the washing machine, turned it on and went upstairs for my morning routine....tea, catching up on my email and "socials", a bit of breakfast and gathering my thoughts for the day.  TJ was doing his last minute packing for a long trip to Africa and tying up loose ends before his departure.  The blanket in the washer made the load a little off center and I heard that lovely dancing washing machine noise downstairs.  I decided to go and even out the load when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a basement full of soapy water and a dancing washer.  I stopped the cycle and evened out the load, turned the machine back on and water just came flooding out of the drain.  UH OH!  This is not good!

I reluctantly went out to tell TJ about the problem, like he was going to fix it in the ten minutes he had before driving to the airport.  Unlikely!  He did however confirm that professional help would be needed for the job.  I kissed him goodbye, finished my breakfast, decided to take the Scarlett O'Hara approach... and think about it later.  Later being, after breakfast!  This is where the village was needed! I made a few phone calls, got some advice and some references and deducted it must be a septic tank issue, oh joy!

It was time to embrace my inner Scotia Woman!

I needed my inner Scotia Woman to deal with this issue!  I had a basement full of water and a broken septic tank and it was still early in the morning.  The guys at the septic pumping place said they might be able to get out by the afternoon and asked if I knew where my septic tank was?  I had a general idea but nothing specific.  One must assume it is at the end of that pipe in the basement where all the water from the house exits the house, right?!

Meanwhile, there were very wet sheets and a very wet and heavy blanket in my washer that needed to be taken care of.  I twisted out as much water as I could and put them into a basket and took them to my sister's house and spun them dry-ish in her washing machine.  Brought them back home and put them in the dryer.  Then...while they were drying I decided to get the water out of the basement.  One half was on the side near the sump pump so I used the snow shovel to scoop it all down that drain.  I knew that snow shovel would come in handy some day!  I mopped and squeezed out the rest of the water and put it into a garbage can.  I opened the windows and prayed for a nice stiff breeze to dry things out down there.  It wasn't even lunch time yet!

Some time around 3 the Septic Heroes called and said they were on their way!  They poked around the yard and tried to find the septic tank.  Bingo!  Or so they thought.  After digging a lovely hole in the yard they decided the tank was not there.  Then they looked where I told them we thought it was and BINGO  there it was!  Only a foot and a half below the ground.  Why listen to a woman when it comes to septic tanks?  Little did they know they were dealing with Scotia Woman.

Nope...no septic tank here...

There it is!  

I was surprised at how fascinating this all was to me.  The whole stinky experience was quite interesting.  I mean there was an excavator, a giant hose that sucked up gross stuff, and lots of tree roots that prevented anything from going through the pipe into the tank.  Those giant poplar trees are very pretty and apparently their roots also think the wet, icky septic tank is a great place to grow and prosper.  I was actually relieved to hear it was roots that were blocking the exit of our house water.

Up close and personal with my septic tank!

Doing a little landscaping!

And I am glad you do!!!

All in all it was a very exciting day here at the Mahoney farmhouse.  Now I know exactly where my septic tank is and I know that it is working...for the time being.  I get to plant some grass seed and "re-landscape" the yard, I am very thankful these guys were available on such short notice!  I did think I was in full Scotia Woman mode when I put on my rubber boots to literally shovel water into the drain in the basement.  Such a great place!  Tonight I will REALLY enjoy sleeping in my clean sheets!

How is that for a segue, from a beautiful wedding to my septic tank!  One week I'm wearing heels and a lace dress and another I'm wearing rubber boots and shoveling water out of my basement.  To quote Forrest Gump, "life is like a box of chocolates!"
Keeping it real here at the farmhouse!