A Drain on Resources

I have been having a few problems with slow drainage from the house, bath slow to drain, shower, kitchen sink blocking up every five mins. I went outside and found a load of flies on a trace of water by a manhole cover - uh-oh! It's been something like 18-20 years since we last had any drain trouble and back then the council ran a service at a modest charge compared to the likes of Dyno-Rod. I searched the council website only to find that, like so many services, they no longer do drains. The main sewers and drains in the roads are all the responsibility of Wessex Water. Personal drains and sewerage are the householders responsibility and you have to employ a drain clearing company to do the job. So I searched on Checkatrade for someone with high ratings and good feedback from customers. Found a local company and called them out. The man came when he said he would and raised the inspection covers. EWWWWW! Full to the brim with s.... sludge.
He checked the direction of flow of the pipes and had a good poke around with rods. There was some movement but no great whoosh of a blockage being shifted. He 'retrieved' a few bits that were snagged up down the pipe but it was still slow moving. He got out the power jet hose and got to work. It wasn't long before a lot of gurgling ensued and it all started moving. Yayy!. It looked like it had been blocked for quite some time and there was a lot of... erm.. solid waste build up so he spent a while hosing out the pipes and washing away the nasty stuff. He then flushed back up the pipes under the house to make sure all were clear and free of gunk. The kitchen outlet was a bit manky with fatty/greasy deposits but he got it all clean. 
It did cost a bit but I watched him the whole time and he worked like mad the whole time, in that heat too! He finally put a camera down the drain and found a tree root had penetrated a joint in the sewer. He cleaned away the finer bits off it as best he could with his rods but the main root was too big and needs dealing with properly, then the pipe lined to seal the joint again and stop the pipe collapsing. The tree root is just about bang on where the garden fence is and I have a big buddleia bush/tree there - the probable culprit. Just digging out the tree would not solve the long term problem because the sewer joint has been opened and is no longer sealed. Other roots might get in too.
He gave me a quote for doing the job which is well over £1000 excluding VAT! ! Blimming heck!
I will be getting other quotes!
In the mean time I now have clear pipes and all is flowing well. I will be getting my sons to have a look every few months to make sure it's not backing up again.

Hot Stuff

It is hot. It has been hot. It will be hot a bit longer.
Instant room cooling trick with a fan - soak a towel/cloth/tea towel and wring out so wet but not dripping and hang over the back of the fan.
My tea towel was bone dry in half an hour but it did cool the room down a bit.
Personal cool down trick, go and stand by open chiller units in a supermarket :)
Anther tip? Don't move! Just sit/lie there in front of fan.

In the summertime....finally!

We finally got some summer weather - drought orders should be issued soon!

I am amazed but we actually seem to have a settled spell of warm sunny weather - for how long? who cares! Slap on the SPF 30 and get out there. I might even have a trace of tan!

The big plus for me is the grass dries out and virtually stops growing for a while. I am now putting out shallow dishes of water in my garden for the birds and wild animals to enjoy, and my dog when she gets too hot sunbathing!

Because of past levels of obesity I have never been happy in hot weather, but the tide is turning as the weight comes down. I now feel the cold in winter and can tolerate heat better in summer. 

Bourne River Morris Men dancing on Poole Quay

The start of this particular warm spell was a weekend of Folk on the Quay, when Poole Quay hummed, buzzed and jingled in the second warm sunny weekend of the year.

A few stage areas along the quay for music plus gaps for dancing by assorted traditional dance sides, kept interest going most of the day and into the evening.

Saturday was jam packed and the whole quay was heaving. Sunday was a bit quieter and we were able to move around a bit more easily.

As you can see from this pic, it wasn't just Morris dancers and Clog dancers performing! There were belly dancers and Irish dancing too.

I enjoyed the relative coolness of a pub where the folk club was being run - a sort of open mic session with local performers doing 4 songs at a time. We are very lucky to have so many talented performers in the region. I renewed acquaintances with a few friends I had not seen for a few years too. 

Did I take Honey with me? Oh no! She would have hated the crowds and noise. She is much happier being left at home to sleep in peace and comfort.

One of the big firms based in Poole is Sunseekers, luxury boat builders. I could not afford even one of their tiny boats they use as tenders on their big multi-million pound jobs.

Finding a good parking place is always a problem in Poole, and mooring up your gin palace is no different. This is Sunseeker's maintenance depot where the billionaires drop their boats in for servicing. The ones in the pic are not even the big ones! 

The far side of this channel is the working part of Poole port, with docks and the ferry terminal to the left of this pic.

These ladies are called Southern Lights and danced beautifully, just one of the many dance sides performing over the weekend. Everything looks better in bright sunshine, and it makes people feel better too. Lots of smiley faces around that weekend.

I bought myself a brand new garden hose on a little wheeled cart so I can trundle it around and store it safely inside. I had to assemble the bit that connects it to the mains, so I sat down on the step of the patio doors while I did it. It was no problem sitting down low and my knees felt fine. However... getting back up was another matter! I still have no spring in my knees and I did struggle. I managed to twist sideways and grab the handles on the patio doors which gave me enough strength to actually stand up again. I will have to be careful of situations like that because I can't kneel on my new knee. Before I would go on to hands and knees, then feet to get up off the floor unaided, but I can't kneel now. I am getting stronger with exercise but not strong enough yet.

The scar from the op is slowly fading and should be quite faint by next summer. I may be working on new knee number 2 by then!

The new hose is extra long so it reaches from the tap in the back garden round the house to the front garden. I gave the flower bed and plant pots a good soaking to help them survive the heat. My hanging baskets look good, filled with Surfinia trailing Petunias. A lovely mass of deep pink blooms slowly growing downwards.

The back garden is full of... birds, bees, butterflies, and weeds! I cut what's left of the grass when I can - it's patchy thanks to years of dog ownership. The more I prune the shrubs around the garden the more they grow up and out! HELP!

I hope you can make good use of the summer weather while it's here. Just don't get sunburned!

xx