Monday 26 May 2008

Little drops of water

The threatened downpour that was supposed to last the entire weekend finally arrived today. It rained, and rained, and rained. My nearly-mother-in-law's kitchen ceiling started leaking (much to the disgust of the cat), but the inhabitants of the garden pond seemed to be enjoying the weather. According to Metcheck's daily weather forecast that landed in my inbox yesterday afternoon this is the European monsoon season, so we really shouldn't be surprised.

The seasonal downpour coincided, ironically, with my experiment into water-saving showering. Last year I received a free 'toolkit' courtesy of the Mayor of London's DIY Planet Repairs initiative. In addition to a booklet full of handy tips, a car sticker and a mug reminding you to only boil the water you need there was a timer for taking a shower. An egg-timer with green sand. It was duly stuck in the shower... and not used. It's arrival was just as my MS relapse happened and my balance left me and taking a shower became a bad idea. Finally feeling confident enough to stand in the shower, or wedge myself in the corner if need be; I turned over the timer. Four minutes isn't very long when you need to wash out shampoo and conditioner from long hair. By the time I was done in the shower (and happily the egg timer hadn't run out) I felt like I'd won a race!