Summer - Grape Expectations - page 60

A few days later, taking their instructions to the letter to ensure that we would have
Saussignac in the range, Sean removed leaves on the rows we had chosen while Ellie and
I meticulously ate the grapes that fell to the ground to make sure we didn't encourage any
bad rot in the vineyard.
With most of the house dating back to 1737 we were guaranteed a few surprises of the kind
that inevitably accompany the renovation of an antique.
The drains in our new kitchen stank and with the rising heat the stench had increased. A
neighbour explained a drain 'fix' to me: force a hosepipe running water back and forth in
the blocked drain until the hose appears on the other side and the water runs clear. It soun-
ded easy so I found a hosepipe, rolled up my sleeves and donned hermetic gloves.
Lifting the drain covers offered instant olfactory confirmation of the problem.
After some exploration I found the best arrangement was lying on the ground with my
arm buried in the drain. This was closer to the drain than I liked but effective and unexpec-
tedly satisfying. I dislodged a bald tennis ball almost the size of the drain itself.
The next section of the drain was not as obvious. I could find no sign of a cover so I as-
sumed it went directly to the septic tank. A neighbour, Pascal, who lived in the house in
front of Sonia and Fred, arrived to say hello. He was a wiry, handy man who loved drop-
ping by to see how our renovations were progressing. He pointed out grains of rice in a
pool of water on the track at the corner of the house.
'Perhaps it comes out here,' he said.
The pool of water was constantly full, even with no rain. Sean and I assumed that it was a
bad drainage point. The water meter showed no sign of a leak.
'It's what les anciens used to do,' said Pascal. 'The kitchen waste water emptied down the
side of the house.'
It smacked a little of the bathroom broyeur . I dug into the point where the trickle of water
originated. A very foul whiff rose up and Pascal quickly said goodbye.
I found the end of the drain buried about a foot below the trickle. After digging, pushing,
pulling and cursing, a foot-long plug of ancient muck dislodged from the end of the drain
pipe I had uncovered. It seemed unbelievable but this had been the main water exit for the
kitchen and it looked like it had not been cleared since its construction.
A few minutes later the water ran clear and I felt like I had conquered the world. I had
solved the immediate stench problem but the longer-term solution of routing it to the used
water tank would need the expertise of Jean-Marc, the plumber.