Friday, 18 September 2009

What a worry

I'm well and truly scrubbed up clean tonight, I have hot water. So what did I do? Have a bath of course, the first one since July.....2008 ha ha. Lit the candles, opened the wine, and laid back in a swirl of Peony Bath Relaxant Foam by Bronnley. My friend gave it to me last year when I came out of hospital and she very kindly invited me to have a bath at her house. At last I am able to use it again.

As I laid there I felt a bit guilty, it was an awful lot of water, seemed such a waste on one person. And to send it all down the plug hole when I had finished, oh dear, should I save it for flushing the toilet or watering the garden? Maybe not this time as it's getting late, but perhaps I could bath in the daytime and scoop it out with a bucket.

It seems strange turning a tap on and getting hot water. When I washed my dishes earlier, the first thing I did was to boil the kettle, then it dawned on me, old habits die hard. I'm not sure I like the idea of heating a whole tank full of water when you only need a bit in a bucket or bowl. Seems daft to store hot water, for it only to cool down and heat up again, and again, and again.

Now I've got this white box on my kitchen wall, saying 'Look at me, I'm going to cost you a lot of money.' I think I might switch it off, and carry on boiling the kettle to wash the dishes. And why soak your whole body when you only want to soak your feet? I wonder if I should switch the water on once a month to have a bath, and go back to the old way of washing bits of me in the kitchen sink.

All these decisions I have to make now, it was much simpler when nothing worked, no heating no hot water. Now I have to decide how cold I need to be before I put the central heating on. How much money do I want to spend, is this goodbye to my very cheap bills, will I be crying every three months when that dreaded British Gas envelope drops onto the door mat. I don't think I can cope with all this, I think I'll move into a cave.

2 comments:

  1. The kettle uses a huge amount of electricity to boil the water... you might find that the heater is more efficient in the long run. You can buy a gadget which tells you exactly how much energy (and money) you are using while you are using it... so you can switch off and adjust as required but of course it costs to buy the gadget. Might be worth it though... and would solve your dilemma about the water heater in a moment.

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  2. I just found your blog and have been reading the posts from the beginning ... a bath! with bubbles! now that is a wonderful thing ... you could have a war-time bath with just 2 inches of water ... how cosy warm it makes the bathroom ... the moggies will love it ... perhaps once a week?

    Anne in Cambridge (the old U.K. one)

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