Skiing, Spring and Septic Systems...oh MY!

Saturday, we hit the slopes for the first time in New Hampshire this year.

Kind of sad, since we love to ski. We were able to enjoy the day with our friends, and get a few runs in before all the snow melts. 

Photo by Bernadette. 

And most of the snow has melted, but there are still a few patches, and of course the gigantic pile that has been snow plowed to the corner of our driveway is still there too. 

Almost gone!

But on Easter Sunday, we discovered we are having some septic issues. Water is backing up in the basement shower when we drain the tub upstairs. Not good. That means we need to refrain from letting too much water go down the pipes, or we are going to have one big ole mess in our basement. 

Since I was not able to do dishes or laundry of any sort, I was inspired to do some organizing of my cabinets and closet. I was able to move things around and get the place is much better order, which was very satisfying...until at the end of the day I was told the clog was still unresolved and water should not be going down the drains if at all possible until further notice. So, I scheduled a septic pumping and let them know we are having issues with clogs.

This was quite stressful, of course, when you start thinking about how you can't do much water-wise, and you don't know when the issue is going to be resolved.

When I am stressed, all I ever want to do is take a nice hot bath. Baths are an addiction for me, and I often take more of them than showers. I know, some people think that is disgusting, but it is actually the only way I ever bathed until I went to college, and showers were the only option.  What makes this more stressful is I have been completely cut off from this addiction, without any notice, and I have no idea when I will be able to take one again...rrrrr... 

Last night, I decided I better get those nasty dishes out of the way before I even attempt to make dinner, or I was just going to be more anxious than ever and "ain't nobody got time for that!" (hee hee)

Doing dishes like this until we can let water go down the drains. FUN FUN!

I grabbed a bucket from the basement for disposal of dish water. Steve was kind enough to take my 10 gallon bucket out to dump once I was finished doing dishes.

Yay! So, the evening ended up being pretty relaxing since the counters weren't filled with nastiness. 

We haven't had our septic tank pumped in over two years, which is not really something to worry about since there are only two of us. However, when you have water clogs, that means something is up. We are hoping that maybe the leach field is just overwhelmed from the melting snow.

It's possible we might need to have our leach field replaced. So, it's good we have been saving for a vacation.  But I would rather spend it on a vacation, wouldn't you?

My overall attitude about the situation has been pretty good other than the fretting over "when will I ever get to take another bath!" 

The septic will be pumped this afternoon, and Steve will be there to help the septic service try to figure out what might be our issue. I am doubtful everything will be resolved this evening, but if it is, that will be WONDERFUL!

Hopefully, I won't be doing dishes the old fashioned way and requesting others to let me use their washer and dryer for too long a period of time. Luckily, I had quite a bit of our clothes already clean, so I haven't had to request washer & dryer usage yet...WISH US LUCK!

Aren't you thankful you don't have to deal with this mess?! ha ha!

UPDATE: 
THE CLOG HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY REMOVED! It was in the main septic line, and everything is now back to normal. HOORAY!