Now some of you may be asking, How is that a simple pleasure? Well I would like to show you!
As many of you know we live in Australia and some of you may not realise that we are not a country of immense water supply. We have many parts of our country that are always short of water and we have just come out of a sever drought that has lasted many years.
Even so, many people are town and city dwellers who have not had any real severe water restrictions. Now having been a town dweller all my life and even our property is on the edge of a town I think I can appreciate that most people do not give water a second thought, except when the council imposes water restrictions and therefore gardens tend to suffer and cars can not be washed with a hose.
The difference is for me that I now fully understand and know how water restrictions affect your life.I think I can say I have an appreciation for the simple pleasure of water due to the fact that when we built our home we had to put in a bore for water as the town water supply stopped just short of our property.
We have had many opportunities to value this precious commodity. Because our water is dependent on rain water seeping into the earth and for most of our time in Tasmania it has also been in drought we have had to learn to manage our water usage.
Perhaps this is not a problem for not so large families but for us it has been an effective look at how we use water.
We have in our family adapted strategies to try to deal with the whole use of water situation.
These may not seem like big issues for some, but we have quite a habit with conserving water now, which I believe is a good thing, that even when we have had an excess and our tank over flows we still are quite frugal with our water usage.
1. We really look at our clothes before putting in for a wash: is it smelly is it REALLY dirty and deserve a wash yet. Of course our little children are notorious for finding any patch of dirt/mud etc and getting dirty, so obviously we do not let them go around in filthy clothes. But it is an exercise in discernment.
2. We only shower/bath every second day, for most of us who don't need to have showers daily. Of course we are masters at the so called in our home "bucket bath/sailor bath" that we use on non shower days.
Before you go ....ouch, that is a deprivation, I would like to say that every day showers is not the NORM for everyone in the world and really is a very modern convienience that I think many take for granted and an expexted RIGHT in our society.
3. When we wash up in the sink we use a VERY minimal amount of water and woe be it to anyone I see using too much water.
4. Our dishwasher was, when we bought it the most conservative on water at the time only using 9 liters of water per wash.
5. When washing hands etc I still monitor the use of water as I think that most of us just run water without thinking.
6. Our hot water has been an interesting issue as well, a whole other story but let me say I am very thankful for this other seemingly simple pleasure.
So I hope you have enjoyed and appreciate how blessed most of us are to have the opportunity to have running and mostly abundant water as a SIMPLE PLEASURE in our lives.
Could I just ask also for a quick prayer that even as I type this we have been without water, except what has been in our tank - 2,500 liters, since Saturday.
Today is Thursday and we have 1000 liters left: we have reduced our consumption by not washing....ouch that is beginning to hurt with piles of clothes needing to be washed and been EXTRA frugal with water.
Please could you pray that our bore man can have our bore man has our bore operational by this afternoon and we have water by tomorrow morning.
Once again I am linking to Dayles Simple Pleasures for this post, and I look forward to visiting you all and viewing your own Simple Pleasure
Blessings to you and your homes,
10 comments:
Oh Gae...I can truly learn from you dear friend :)
Water is a commodity in any part of the world. Here in the mountains, water is just as precious to us.
We have rain barrels in the garden to be used for irrigation. I fill a bucket of water a day for washing dishes...and I wash clothes with very little water.
Our showers are timed for each member of the family.
Our water bill is quite small, on purpose!
Thank you for this dear friend,
~ Maria ~
Gae,
I am so with you on water being a Simple Pleasure. Living in Southern California we also have been in a drought. The way they stop us from using water here is to keep upping and upping what we pay for water. They have passed laws about washing cars and lawns, etc. but most people don't obey. My hubby and I are always looking for ways to save water or reuse water. If I cook something like pasta in water I use that water to water the garden or houseplants. The price of water here in Los Angeles is ridiculous. And we've had a lot of rain and snow this year that we are probably not in a drought but the price will not go down. Oh well, we conserve and that is the best we can do. Thanks for sharing the ideas you use as well.
Water is taken for granted until you don't have any.
Gae - water is a precious commodity that many of us take for granted. (I know that I often do.) Here is Texas we are having a dry spring so far - nothing like the droughts your country experienced. We would all do well to remember to conserve whenever possible.
Praying that you will have water soon.
Blessings,
joan
Hello Gae...I do hope you will have more water soon. You certainly must need it with that large family. Wow! That's a lot of children. God bless each of you. Susan
Beautiful post...thank you for sharing!
I know that all too often, I take water for granted. I have yet to truly experience a "drought" and am always "shocked" when I go to a restaurant in western American where water is not automatically served!
That being said, my husband and I do try to conserve water and instill its proper usage in our household. Our children are still little and don't shower alone yet, but I make multiple kids share bath water...just adding a bit of fresh for the next kiddo! We also don't bathe our children every night...and wear our clothes multiple times before washing. Easier for adults to do than the kids as you well know!
BTW..thanks so much for dropping by and leaving your kind thoughts. I responded in kind to you back there!
Blessings,
Valerie
Praying for water for you. I feel rather spoiled, we have not had droughts here recently. We're also situated at the top of the watershed, so the water we get is quite pure (bearing in mind we're not getting it directly from a spring!).
Thanks for the food for thought. :>
I certainly tend to take water for granted. It is definitely a simple pleasure.
I agree with you water is a precious commodity and not to be taken for granted. Even here in England we can sometimes have a water shortage if we get a good summer and we pay a high price for it too. Hope yours is back on soon.
Bam! God just used you in a mighty way for me. We have had rain, rain, and more rain for a week, and I was forgetting to be thankful for it.
We're not many years out of a drought so I do remember yet never had to conserve quite as much as you do.
I lift you and your home right now for a floodgate to open. And I thank you and God for reminding me to be thankful for rain.
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