We’ve had a steady rain, all day today.  A perfect day to be indoors, with a hot cup of tea.

But nooo…  That would be too easy!

Late in the morning, as the girls were heading upstairs, they discovered water.

The bathroom floor had water all around the toilet, and with our uneven flooring, it also flowed into the hallway and around the doorway into my office. 

My daughter quickly found the source of the water; the chain got caught inside the tank, the last time someone flushed.  She fixed that, fast enough.  Meanwhile, our king size mattress was still leaning on the wall in the hallway.  I dragged that out into the dining room and just dropped it on the floor while the girls started mopping and sopping in the bathroom and office.  Meanwhile, I went into the basement, where water was pouring through the hole in the floor where the hose to fill the tank runs through.  Thankfully, the sump pump reservoir is almost directly underneath, so that wasn’t too much of a problem.

If this had happened less than an hour later, the mattress would have been moved to its current location, behind my crochet corner.

By the time I came up, one of my daughters had lifted the mattress against the dining room wall, damp side up.  After we cleaned up the bathroom and office as much as we could and set a fan up on the floor, I took off the mattress cover to put in the laundry.  The mattress cover is moisture proof, but only on the top, not the sides, so it did get some water in there.  Not much, thankfully.  The flow of water was more on the other side of the hallway.

The mattress is now leaning against the divider shelves between the living and dining rooms, damp side out, with my chair, side table and bookshelf against it, so there’s no chance of it falling over.

Which is good, because our mama cat immediately climbed to the top and began rolling around in pure ecstasy!  :-D

Without the mattress cover on it, I’m going to have to drape something over to to protect it from all the cat hair!

So that’s done.  We’re all good now, right?

Nooo…

The toilet was clogged.

Okay.  Use the plunger.

Still clogged.

Use it some more.

Still clogged.

Break out the plumber’s snake.

Still clogged.

Off a daughter and I go to town, hoping the hardware store is still open.  We went to the one with a good range of septic friendly products, but when it came to drain cleaners, there wasn’t much choice.  We got two different kinds.  There was a third “professional” brand, but it had so many danger warnings on it, I decided against it!

We also got some new parts for inside the toilet tank.  That will be dealt with later.

At least we got to see some interesting things along the way.  Heading into town, we passed a farmer’s field that had a massive swarm of seagulls in it, flying around like giant white gnats!  Then we passed fields filled with Canada Geese.  With the rain, I’m not surprised they’re taking a daytime break from heading south.

On the way home, I pulled over at one field to get a photo.  This is actually less than what we saw going the other way.

Once home, I tried the first drain cleaner, which was supposed to work in only 7 minutes.

It almost did.

After flushing with hot water, as directed, it would flush water, but drain slowly.

I went into the basement while a daughter continued to flush and add hot water.  The well pump turned on, no problems, so I went over to the septic pump and waited.  I could hear water running through the pipes.  Then the septic pump turned on, as normal.  Did that mean it was clear now?

I went back again and the toilet was still acting clogged.

The second drain cleaner we bought went in.  This one is supposed to sit for an hour.  Guaranteed to clear, or the product is free.

We shall see about that!

The Re-Farmer

Update: Well, I’m happy to say that doing a second bottle of drain cleaner did, indeed, accomplish what it was meant to.  Now, we just need to replace the flapper, which my older daughter has already volunteered to do.  Which I greatly appreciate! :-D