Living in the Past

I feel at the moment that I`m living in the past.

Why?

I`m having a boil a kettle to get any hot water! .... I`m not just talking about making a hot drink, I`m talking about having to boil the kettle to, have a wash, do the washing up, and all the other tasks that one needs hot water for. Having a bath is out of the question!

My hot water immersion heater, which heats the water for my house (I`ve not got central heating so haven`t a boiler) packed up working on Saturday. It couldn`t go wrong on a `work` day, so that I could get a man out, could it? Oh no, it had to do it at the weekend.

It`s taken my memory back though to my childhood, when I can remember how Mum used to carry jugs of hot water upstairs for her bed & breakfast visitors so that they could wash on the washstand in the big china basins. No, bathrooms in those days.
I can well remember bath night - the washing machine put on to heat the water, and then being transported in metal buckets into the old tin bath in front of the coal fire in the living room. Later, a bath was installed in the kitchen. Yes, in the kitchen, covered when not in use by a big wooden top, which doubled as a kitchen work top........ What would health and safety people say about that today!!!!! But, we survived.

My first job today...... ring the chap to come and mend (hoping it can be repaired), my immersion heater. Still, it`s made me appreciate and be thankful for one of the things I normally take for granted.