Our own little miracle

mostly.  I am well aware that half the world has no running water and 25% of the global population does not have access to clean water for drinking, bathing, and cooking… so it is with the proper awe due the miracle of hot and cold running water that I announce we have a new hot water heater.  And it’s hooked up.  And it’s working.  Thanks to my brother being willing to help us out even when he was clearly tired from a weekend trip.

Or, as Ian summed it up, “Uncle Tyler is Very Good, knows things, AND… he loves me.”

It wasn’t all bad… I have absolutely no ambition to be quite as self-sufficient as Granny Miller, although we do have some things in common- an aversion to debt and the slavery it puts you in, for instance- but I like to think I did rise to the challenge of several days with no dryer and no hot running water pretty well for a cranky pregnant woman who can’t drown her sorrows in cake.

For instance, I now know that about 2 inches of cold water in the bathtub plus a water-bath canner full of boiling water makes a bath so hot you have to add some more cold water before you get in.  Your mileage may vary.

Also, I figured out that if you have a top load washer, pouring same said canner full of boiling water into an already filled, waiting machine DOES allow you to do a warm water wash.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, when the power was out due to the water heater malfunction, I was able to figure out that a couple cold lights hanging from the shower curtain hooks make a dim but functional bathroom for morning tasks.

I haven’t yet found a good, permanent home for the five-line clothes drying system, but I’m working on it. Instead, the ad-hoc substitute for the dryer is two pop-up laundry racks parked under the ceiling fan. Except for an entire load of napkins and kitchen towels, which exceeded their capacity temporarily, they’re doing the job.

The biggest frustration for me right now is that I can’t just, say, muscle the dryer out from the wall, take it apart, fix it, and shove it back into place.  Which, if it’s fixable, I’d normally be quite delighted to do.  If someone watches my kid for me, that is.  In fact, if someone would hold this fetus for me, I’d be happy to do it RIGHT NOW. Or whenever the part arrives.  Whichever is sooner.