Why is it that the drains always block in the middle of the night? Or to
be accurate, why is it that I always make the discovery that they are
blocked in the middle of the night? This time it was odd because it was
a bog that has never, in 45 years, blocked before.
I'm temperamentally unable to put jobs off until the next day, so I
filled three mop buckets with hot water and tipped it down the three
bogs. Each bog has a separate pipe to the first inspection cover in the
yard. Two swallowed it quite well but the bog that appeared to be
blocked would only take it slowly. So I repeated the treatment with that
bog and it definitely helped. But I put my boots, dressing gown, and a
cap lamp on and went out to the yard. The outlet to the next inspection
cover was clear. The pipe from the blocked bog was dribbling quite well
but there was obviously a reservoir of liquids somewhere along its
length. The drain rods are in the shed but the hose is nearby, so I
rammed as much hose up the pipe as I could, felt the bend, fiddled it
round the bend and guessed it was up the stack as far as the blocked
bog. Turned the water on and for a long time nothing happened except a
gurgling. Nipped in to check the bog wasn't overflowing. Withdrew the
pipe a bit at a time, pushing it in a bit and pulling it out a bit.
Suddenly an object appeared. It was quite large. I lifted it out and
continued. A lot of muck came down; an awful lot. I went in and tipped a
mop bucket full of water down the relevant bog. It swallowed it quickly
and gracefully. Back in the yard I sprayed water on the mystery object.
Surprisingly I recognised it. It was a My Little Pony. One of my
daughters was, as a small child, very keen on My Little Pony. She is now
43.

Bill