The last round of toilet paper that I bought was from Costco. Not because it was cheaper or because one package lasts 6 months, but because it was septic friendly. Septic Friendly. Exactly what I needed. It did last six months, and it was affordable, and while I can't tell how friendly it has been to our septic system (which I feel I should name for how much attention I pay to it), I haven't seen signs of complaining. Septic Friendly, perhaps, but also scratchy. Scratchy, prone to separation and each roll impossible to start for all the glue holding down that first piece. But I am still new enough to the whole country living thing that I feel obliged to sacrifice comfort for the greater good of septic health and the brand apparently is very environmentally friendly so there you have it. Scratchy toilet paper.But after a rush on visitors, the stockpile dwindled and so suddenly it was time to buy toilet paper today. Off I went to my local Fortinos, local enough that it is a pretty rural Fortinos. If anyone is going to carry Septic Friendly toilet paper, you would think that this store would be it. Wrong. Oh there's the "green" version (referring only to recycled materials) but nothing with Septic Friendly. But then I see a line of Royale, bolding proclaiming that it is dye and fragrance free, biodegradeable and PLUMBING FRIENDLY. Dye and fragrance free - great. Biodegradeable - great (although isn't all toilet paper biodegradeable??), but plumbing friendly? What does that mean?? And to top it off, it is 3-ply. The luxurious softness. Can a 3-ply toilet paper possibly be Septic Friendly as well as PLUMBING FRIENDLY?? Of course I had to buy it. I had to buy it not because it was 3-ply (I'm still pretty suspicious that anything 3-ply is going to cheer up the little people in the septic tank) but because compared to just plain old 'green' (100% post-consumer recycled materials) the whole dye free fragrance free biodegradeable plumbing friendly thing begged me to give it a test.So, here's to comparative shopping. It is remarkably soft, it really is. And because it is soft but more importantly sturdy, it seems like it goes a lot further. It flushes perfectly well down our low-flow toilet (with the super low-flow adaptor on the gasket), which is another good sign. I hope that the 'biodegradeable' part is true and quick - I hope their definition of biodegradeable isn't "within 10 years" or something. Did I mention how soft it is?This first roll has sort of been like having a shower in the city... the luxury of not considering the impact of every action. But then I realize that even still I'm pretty in the habit of contemplating everything, and so no matter how soft or plumbing friendly the 3-ply is, I can't forget the impact it might have on the whole ecosystem that is our septic system (Steve? Bruce? Al?).So I think I'm going to compromise. Tomorrow I'll hit Costco and pick up the oversized box of Septic Friendly toilet paper. Then I'll alternate it it with the decadent Royale rolls.... kind of like splurging on ice cream or tequila. But if I were ever to find out that 3-ply is just as 'septic friendly' as anything else, then there will be no turning back.I would really like to figure out what "plumbing friendly" means, though.
I don't mind winter. I'm not much of a winter sports type of gal, but I've got lots of long underwear and fleecey layers, so I'm pretty good in the snow. But I have to say that I'm facing this winter with a mixed bag of anticipation and enthusiasm. I'm a bit behind in my list of winter preparation tasks... work was busy and then my mother-in-law came to visit for the week. So there are a lot of boxes to check off in the "get ready for winter list". The gravelling of the driveways and inner yard needs to be done, and we wanted to widen the entrance to the driveway off the road - trucks have a hard time turning in. I did manage to get a bit of weatherstripping and caulking done, but now the front door doesn't close to well. I haven't figured out when to turn on the electrical heating wire around the drainpipe from the sump pumps / laundry (and since I don't use hot water for laundry, I expect that freezing will be a problem). But today it snowed, and it was pretty exciting. Winter is much prettier in the country than in the city. And thankfully the house feels toasty at 67 degrees! I got a good look at what it will take to plow the drive, and contemplated how much calcium chloride I will need to combat ice. I think I'm going to order in a big pile of sand, just in case. When I drove into town tonight, I went extra slow (cursing myself that the snow tires were scheduled for the weekend, a bit late!) and discovered that the back way into town is quite a bit more slippery than the main road.So far, though, I don't feel too much like a city slicker (although the neighbours might laugh when the gravel goes down over a few inches of snow... but at least the ground will be frozen and the bobcat won't sink the way the truck has been sinking with all the rain).I think that with one more week of hard work, we'll be ready for the snow, and then it will be a real pleasure to look over the snowcovered fields out back, sitting in front of the fire, glad to have bought the plow attachment after all.
It's been a while since I've posted - winter is coming and there has been so much to do before the snow flies. We're trying to bed down the homestead, and the to-do list is pretty long.But over the past few weeks The Culligan Man installed a new water softener and a reverse osmosis system. They are FANTASTIC. The water softener is great because it's finally doing its job without leaving mounds of salt everywhere (on dishes, the shower curtain, the counters). Less salt means hopefully the septic tank is catching a break, too.The reverse osmosis system is what I'm most excited about. The model we got fits under our sink, tucked into a corner. It is comprised of 2 cylindars with filters in them (which each last about a year) and one that has the RO membrane in it (which they expect to last 5-10 years). The tank which stores the processed water sits beside it. The whole thing is tapped into the existing plumbing, and operates on air pressure. NO ELECTRICITY REQUIRED which is one of my favourite points. And while people had said that RO water wastes a lot of water as there is a portion of the incoming water which is rejected (and thus flushed down the drain), apparently this system has a 1:1.3 ratio, so very little is being rejected. The water tastes great, and I find I'm drinking a lot more - plus, we aren't buying it from the supermarket, so I don't feel that I have to ration it. I water the plants with it, too - they hated the softened water, and give it to the animals, who seem to like it (the dog drinks a couple of bowlfuls a day). I feel like one big weight has been lifted - we have safe, drinkable water and are also hopefully on the way to improved septic health. It's also exciting to drink water that is far more yummy than city water ever was. Yeah Culligan Man!
So many things for the Urban Girl to learn.When you live with municipal water, you don't think about it much. You turn the tap on / start the washing machine / flush the toilet and there it is... clean, odourless (usually), ready to use. Living in the city, we had always tried to be conservative in our water use, but I had never realized how tricky it is to TREAT water before it gets to the tap.Now we live in an area with notoriously bad water. Not dangerous water (ie disease or bacteria carrying) but bad. Hard. Sulphur and iron rich. Smelly. Dark and yucky. Our well, while reliable and deep, coughs up this stuff which, untreated, would frighten anyone off. So we have a complicated treatment system in the basement. I'm still learning the fine details. The pump pulls the water in to a holding tank which leads to a tank which takes out the iron and sulphur. From there it goes to the softener, which adds salt to the water (the amount is in direct relationship to the hardness of the water, which I think is based on the minerals in the water?). From there is goes to the ultra-violet light which kills any bacteria still in the water (a popular addition to most treatment systems as we can't rely on the safety of the water table anymore...). From there is it pumped to the taps.The system that came with our house is old. There is so much salt in our water, after treatment, that the dish rack has deposits of salt leftover in the catch pan after the dishes have dried. Our dishes and counters all have white spots on them and you can taste the salt on glasses. The shower curtain looks the way your car looks by the end of a winter driving on salted roads - all undulating waves of salt marks. The good thing about it is that it makes our hair soft without conditioner, but that's about it.I can't drink the water - it's too salty. I was raised on softened water, so it's not new for me, but this is crazy. The Culligan Man says that it the salt in the water is in direct relation to the hardness of the water coming in and did I mention that our water is HARD?It's not just the taste that worries me. All that salty water is draining into our septic tank, which is in precarious health as it is (more on that another time). It seems to me that the bacteria in the septic system can't function well with that much salt in their environment. Not only is the water from the waste pipes draining in, but the softening system 'regenerates' itself which flushes water into the septic tank. Apparently code won't let us divert that flushing somewhere else (ie the grass or the cedar stand near the house) in an effort to spare the bacteria in the tank, but even if it would, could the grass or cedars survive the onslaught of salt?So we had the Culligan Man come yesterday for a consultation. We're going to try to install a new softener, one that will apparently function better and so will not only require less salt to do its work, but will leave less salt in the water in general. Then we're having a reverse osmosis system installed in the kitchen for drinking water. We've been bringing in big bottles of water for drinking, and that is not only expensive but it seems wasteful considering we have safe (if salty) water. So it seemed that over a few years, the initial cost of the RO system should balance out the cost of the water purchases (not to mention the driving to and from the store and the bottles of water we buy when we're out of the house). If you've lived with this method of bringing water to your glass or pot or shower, you're likely wondering what I'm making a fuss about. But for someone who has had 20 years of thought-free water, it's a new thing to learn about. And it's hard to find any information about well water treatment in general, especially in books promoting 'green' living. I may sound to be over-thinking this, but what effect does the salt have on the septic system ( a living thing)? What does that much salt do to our bodies, when we cook with the water and use it for coffee and such?So the new tank and the RO system come in next week. I'm hoping to see a difference. I'm also hoping to find some kind of "Well Water for Dummies" references - before the treatment system comes the well, which is the lifeblood of the house. It would be good to master the art of water stewardship!And finally, an update on Autumn - yesterday she flopped down onto the gravel in the driveway, stretched onto her side and rubbed her face in the gravel, like a relaxed and happy cat. It's very exciting!
The vet could see our little stray at 9:30. I was anxious to go and have her checked out, cleaned up and pronounced healthy enough to come inside and let out princess cat get to know her.She didn't like the carrier too much, although she was good about not scratching me. We arrived early because I had caught her early (I was afraid she'd go off hunting or hiding somewhere) and so had to wait - she was remarkably composed in the office. They weighed her in at 3.4 pounds! It seems her prognosis isn't that good. The vet figures she is really old - either in chronological years or in hard-living years, but old nonetheless. She has only 2 teeth, and neither in great shape. He heard a heart murmer and a respiratory infection, which could mean a thyroid condition (and lots of money for medication). Overall he doubts her health enough that he warned me about bringing her inside at all - for the good of our healthy princess. Without extensive blood tests he can't be sure she isn't carrying any number of kitty diseases. His suggestion was to make her a warm hiding spot somewhere like the garage and let her live there, hoping for the best. He figures she doesn't have long to live.It was pretty sad to hear. In the condition she is in right now, I doubt she'll make it through the winter. But he prescribed some antibiotics for her and some kidney-friendly food (which I'm sure the strays that raid her food dish will benefit from, too) and said that it would be a start for her. He said that a lot of people would just put her down. But she has come so far in the past week, is so sweet and affectionate and apparently happy, that I couldn't bring myself to do it. I will only do that when she seems in pain, when she seems to need it.So, I bought the food and the medicine (which I doubt she'll take too kindly to) and thanked him for his kindness. It's back to the drawing board for some kind of winter-proof shelter for her, and a safe way for her to eat and be free of predators. I'm thinking of the breezeway, or maybe the garage - letting her out in the day and bringing her in during the night. I guess she'll decide for us what will work, though.I have this little hope that I'll be able to nurse her back into healthy cathood. Or at least give her a happy life whatever is left to her.
We moved from the city to the country 6 months ago, and now live on nearly 2 acres tucked into the middle of almost-nowhere, surrounded by working farms. I grew up in a small town in a farming community (in a house with a septic tank and well water) and so have been relearning the tricks of rural living. Max was born and raised in the city but spent years in the bush, living in his hunt camps, hunting and fishing, so it hasn't yet been the culture shock for him that I worried it was going to be. We moved here in part for our business, but also in an effort to leave behind the traffic, noise and human density of city living. We share a dream of living off the grid, growing lots of food, minimizing our impact on the environment around us. We have great plans for blending in to our rural surroundings, but it seems we haven't shaken our urban sensibilities.I say this because of the cat. The cat, whom we've named Autumn because she is a calico-mix: all oranges and browns and rust, arrived last Sunday. We had guests out for dinner, and were outside chatting when she stumbled up to us, so skinny and decrepit that we all figured she was a very old cat who had wandered away from her home to die. I brought her out some soft catfood (castoffs by our own cat who has finicky and ever-changing tastes) and milk. She ate as if she hadn't eaten in days. Only slightly wary of us (and our eager attempts at comforting her) she gingerly moved into the fading sunshine and tried to sit down - her back haunches stiff and seeminly painful. We let her be, and went in for dinner. After our guests left, I went out and made a bed for her in a box - I couldn't stand the idea of the old girl having nowhere soft for her sore body for the night.The next morning she was in the box, sleeping. I gave her breakfast and a little pet - I have never seen a cat so skinny and frail. She spent the day in the sun, and was still around at dinner and so I fed her again. This began the pattern of the week - dropping off some food, milk and water, a little petting (and vigourous handwashing after), checking to make sure she was OK. I expanded her sleeping nest into a veritable cat condo - adding boxes and blankets and windbreaks and a roof, all safe in the driveshed. By Thursday I thought she had put on an ounce or two of weight, and she seemed to be moving a bit better. She started purring this day, and I also saw her try to clean herself for a minute (did I mention that she was disgustingly ratty??). It seems she is a lot younger than we had originally thought, maybe a kitten still. She is very little, but starvation may have stunted her growth, so it's hard to tell. She is missing some teeth, and has clearly been unable (or unlucky?) in feeding herself - it seems that at one point she knew what a home was. By this point in the week, I was worried about what to do with the poor thing. We already have a cat, who is nervous enough (I hadn't fully realized how hard it would be for a city cat to move to the country) and who doesn't see too well. I didn't know how she would take another cat in the house (and there was no way to let Autumn in the house in the state that she was in - filthy filty filthy and a possible carrier of infection or disease that would sicken our own cat). I asked people at work and thought about family members, but noone seemed to want a stray who was in such poor condition. I went to the SPCA Animal Control to ask about dropping her off (at least she would get medical attention) but they encouraged me strongly to make them a last resort (they are not a no-kill shelter). I started planning a winterized cat condo for the poor thing... something to keep her alive through the oncoming winter. But over the Thanksgiving weekend, she seemed to improve 100%. She had more energy, her coat looked better, her movement improved. She took to sitting on our porch, or seeking us out for attention. We let her 'meet' our cat (who goes outside also) through the screen door. The meeting went well enough that I started to feel that maybe we could adopt Autumn ourselves. I think she wants a home.Which leads me back to our 'urban' ways. Out here, people have little regard for strays. Out here, people drop off unwanted animals on the side of the road, left to fend for themselves. Our property is like a highway for strays - we've seen at least half a dozen regularly (and Autumn's food is often completely gone by morning which means she's experienced dinner guests of her own). Out here, it seems that there is a pragmatic approach to animal life - Mother Nature is pretty hard and you can't worry about every creature that wanders about homeless or you'll be overrun by strays. I guess the feeling is that they will either survive on their own, or they won't, and that is the way it goes.So, here I am with my bleeding heart softness for the hungry, skinny, stiff little cat (kitten?). This morning I am going to call the local vet and see if I can bring her in, to see if she can get shots or pills and a bath to clean her up (inside and out) enough so that I can bring her inside for the winter if she wants. It will probably cost me a king's ransom. The vet might very well think I'm crazy, spending money on a stray (or maybe he won't, he is a vet after all). Then I'm going to have to muster my courage and let the two cats meet (and maybe hiss and scratch a bit?), let the two cats work it out on their own. It will be a learning experience, but I feel compelled to try. It is just not in me to let her "make it or not". I've got to watch out, though. I need to learn to be more realistic and less emotional, otherwise we'll have a house filled with strays. We've only lived here 6 months and winter isn't even on us, yet.
