So.....many people have been posting on social media sites this month about being thankful. The, "thirty-day thankful lists", are quite prevalent and meaningful. But, they mostly state the obvious. You know....we are all thankful for our parents, children, homes, etc.... However, I read a lady's post and she was thankful for water. And, not just water, but how it ran freely into her home. Really?
Yes, really. AND, it made me think of how I take this simple thing for granted.
I am sure I have mentioned more than a few times about how I live in a creaky, old house that was built well before indoor plumbing was considered a necessity.
We all need water. The cows, who won't stay in their fenced pasture, need it.
The flowers in the garden need water as well as dogs, people, crops.....and well, I could go on and on.
In the late 1970's, and I should say pressing into 1980, my grandmother, known as Bird, did not have regular plumbing in her house. Now, I should clarify that she did have a sink in the kitchen and a sink in the bathroom. If you wanted to call it a bathroom..... In her house there was not a bath tub, shower, or toilet. Yes, I said there was not a toilet. You used the outhouse, or in the night, the....., "night jar", and that is all I am going to say about that.
When it came time to do the laundry the clothes were taken out to the smokehouse building where the washing machine was stored. I do remember that it resembled this image with the spot of red, white finish and wheels. It was plugged into a spot of electricity and the tub was filled with water. The clothes were washed/rinsed and then sent through the wringer. Thank heavens I never felt the need to stick my finger into the wringer. Clothes were hung on the line to dry and all was well.
Remembering all of this REALLY makes me thankful for the water options that I have in my modern home. I have the usual facilities....dishwasher, multiple bathrooms, washer/dryer. I cannot imagine doing laundry in the smokehouse when it is 35 degrees outside and then hanging the clothes out to dry.
Yes water, I am thankful for you.
And, for all of those other little things in life that operate like tiny cogs in the wheel that keep daily life turning.
I only discover your page and found some very interesting pictures I will come soon for to see some of them
ReplyDeletehave a great day
I feel water tends to get taken for granted...and I love my "electric" washer, I couldn't live without it :0
ReplyDeleteI know what the lady meant about being thankful for running water. Your post brings back my childhood in a country where we lived with an outhouse, outside (enclosed) "shower", and a hand pump outside for our "running" water. No indoor plumbing of any kind. That washing machine in your post is what my mom used, too. You sure do bring back memories for me with your post :)
ReplyDeleteLove your new header and I am very glad for automatic washing machines and tumble dryers!! Yes and the gift of water without which..there simply would be no life..
ReplyDeleteHaving lived 3 months without running water during a drought a few years back, I am always ALWAYS thankful for running water!!
ReplyDeleteSince I also live in an old house (not as old as yours, but over 100,) I think about what it was like "back then" in the early 1900s. We sometimes don't realize how fortunate we are. Great post, FC. :)
ReplyDeleteWater is never to be taken for granted! Fabulous post.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young, most of the people living up our holler did not have indoor plumbing. My grandmother never had it. I remember when the plumbed water into her kitchen sink, she complained about it. I loved the cool well water we pulled up from the well and put into the water bucket that sat on a stand by the back door of the kitchen. That was the best tasting water ever drank from a dipper. I sure appreciate running water in the house and hate it when it gets turned off for one reason or another. We are truly spoiled today.
ReplyDeleteIt is so easy to take for granted things like this, isn't it? Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteWater would be at the top of my list...since there is no life without it. WOW I remember so many of the things you talk about...the outhouse, the ringer washer, no running water! Enjoyed your post and my little trip down memory lane!
ReplyDeleteThat washing machine takes me back. I always helped mom to wring out the clothes and hang.
ReplyDeleteHello, I wish you the best.
ReplyDeleteMelvin
i've used an outhouse before at a house my sister rented years ago in Wis. and my mother did laundry with the old wringer washer and rinse tubs and hanging on the line to dry.
ReplyDeleteand here in texas this year with such horrendous heat/drought conditions and water restrictions, i am grateful to have municipal water suppy (even though it is precarious) - moreso than a well that might have run dry by now. every time i run the hose to my horse buckets, i am grateful to be able to supply them with fresh water.
it is too easy to take all we have for granted.
Don't laugh, but my washing machine is located in one of the sheds and the dryer runs on gas, which we don't have here, so I hang the wash on the line -- one of my favorite activities in summer. The other day, my hubby said the washing machine was broken -- no water. Well, it was 16 degrees that morning, so as soon as the pipes unfroze we could do laundry again. I have not yet hung laundry in the snow, but I figure it will be better than the laundromat. So, I am grateful for my washing machine in the shed. Sorry, didn't mean for this comment to be so long.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I am thankful for water too. I want a wringer washer but decorating purposes!
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother must have been sisters to yours because her house was the same way. I can still remember her sitting at the table and glance out the window and see the wind blowing and say....Oh this is a good clothes drying day! And off she ran to the wringer washer...hahah.
I recently got a new washer, much more modern and efficient of my old one. It is a pleasure to use it and it is difficult to image a world where water is not so easy to get.
ReplyDeleteReally like the cows near the house.
ReplyDeleteWater is usually plentiful today in the USA, at least when there is no drought, but many scientists predict that clean potable water is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to provide. It could become like oil, the source of international and even internal fractions. So, enjoy it while you have it!
ReplyDeleteYour cow picture brought back memories (not all of them fond, I have to admit) of the days when I'd look out of my window and see one of the cows looking back at me. They're gone now and sometimes I miss them. But most of the time I don't. :)
ReplyDeleteAh, the 'night jar'. They used those in the old farmhouse in which my mother grew up...I'm so glad somebody else in my generation knows what that is!
ReplyDeletegreat entry indeed !
ReplyDeleteplease have you all a good weekend.
good post...I for one am very thankful for Water...indoor plumbing...and all the sweet things that go along with having fresh water at our beckon call...
ReplyDeletethanks for this reminder..
shug
Great post...indoor plumbing sure is something to be thankful for...water in general...I live in a very dry state...so I am thankful everytime it rains!!
ReplyDeleteI love that old washer. I remember my grandmothers and how I like to pass the wet clothes through the rollers.
ReplyDeleteWe are part of a generation that actually used outhouses and wells when we were small.. my grandmother had an outhouse and the other grandmother had a "bathroom".. but all that was in there was a tup. All their water was pumped out of a well on the corner of the back porch. It's good to remember those things and appreciate what we have.
ReplyDelete((hugs)), Teresa :-)
Well put! Always a good reminder to be grateful for the modern convioniences.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think about my own grandmother, doing the major laundry in the yard in the '70s, where the hot water was obtained from a wood fired basin...she did have running water at that point (but not a water heater) by still loved the hard work of the old days once in a while.
Πολύ όμορφο το vlog σου,καλώς σε βρήκα!!!!
ReplyDeleteWater--ever thankful for it. Thanks for reminding me.
ReplyDeleteYou're one the first 6 to respond on my blog about the bad hair wreath. If you'd like the sachet, re-visit the post and send an email to me at the address listed :)
I can remember some antiquated things at my grandmother's house, but she definitely had indoor plumbing. She was high cotton.
ReplyDeleteyes i have seen all those post about being gratefull and i have to say i really liked them. I think for next year i will try to participate and have some posts ready!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty happy with our water too, although i just wish it wouldn't smell so much like rotten eggs... hehe...
big hugs
Leontien
Amen, amen! We have it SO easy, don't we? That's when you took a weekly bath..on Saturday night... in a big metal tub and heated the water with the kettle on the stove.
ReplyDeleteOne of the missionaries that visited our church was asked what he missed the most about the good ol' USA... after being in a third-world country...
ReplyDelete...he said, "fresh, safe, drinkable water, everywhere and anywhere"... he said they go days without even bottle water and the water there is so polluted and diseased with parasites...
Good thoughts...
Dann in Ohio
Hi I landed here while blog surfing. I like your post.I come from a country(India) where majority of people live in villages and there is acute water scarcity in many regions during summer.In some states like Rajasthan women trek for miles to a water hole to get a pot of water for cooking.
ReplyDeleteThose who get uninterrupted water supply definitely should be thankful !
Great post! I do think we take water for granted. When I was small, I remember staying at my Grandfather's house in Sturgis, Ky. and he didn't have indoor plumbing. The things you described at your grandmothers sounded like my grandfathers.
ReplyDeleteWhen my boys were small, we moved to the mountains near here and had no water for about 2 mos. and no electrcity for 2 yrs. I learned to respect those two convinences and didn't take them for granted for a long time. However after time, I learned once again to take them for granted. Your post was a good reminder.
Loved my Mom's old wringer washer and we used it until middle 1960's. I still love sheets and towels that have been hung on a line.
Don't know if I have remembered to tell you how much I love the picture of your house in your header.
Dann - It really is hard to believe just how lucky we are here. Also hard to believe, in our modern times, just how difficult some people still have it.
ReplyDeleteYep, we should not take simple things for granted.
ReplyDeleteNice posting!
ReplyDeleteLove the image with the house and the cows.
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