In years gone by we seldom checked our water usage. We just did what normal people did…we showered at least once, maybe twice and occasionally in summer three times a day. We did dishes in large bubbly sinks of hot water. We ran baths. We did copious amounts of washing, two to three times every week. We watered the garden. We hosed down the windows and paving and liberally washed cars on the street. That was all normal.
Now that we are in the thick of the Cape Town drought of 2017, that has all changed.We flush the loos using buckets of water from our tanks. We shower once a day, at the most. If I haven’t been to gym, I may just mop myself down with a face-cloth and tank water. We do laundry about twice a month. We do dishes in a splash of water. We never bath. I wash my hair in tank water. We are stingy with water.
As I sit typing, I’m listening joyfully to the sound of rain falling. Here we are in early summer and it is raining in Cape Town. We have had intermittent downpours – not just the odd shower. It’s been pouring down – even hail – at times. Such a delightful sound. The tanks are overflowing. It’s brilliant!
Today when our rates arrived, I looked with enthusiasm at the water section. I was shocked! It has never been more than R12 or R16. Now it is R175.78! What?! And we were away for most of that time. David surely could not have been using 450 litres a day and when we got back from holiday, we absolutely were not. Mike went outside to check the water metre…
One of the little dials was moving, even though we were not using any water at the time. We must have a leak. Mike turned the water off at the mains. The activity wheel stopped moving when he turned the water off going into the property. It seems to mean the leak is inside our property! 
This is tomorrow’s job. It could be the solar hot water cylinder on the roof. It’s time that was serviced. It’s 5 years old. Tomorrow we will phone.
Today was a red-letter day for the country to the north of us. Zimbabwe! Jubilation in the streets. Mugabe’s reign is over. He leaves a legacy of leading the country into grinding poverty. While he did focus on education, and as a result there is a 90% literacy rate in Zimbabwe, he will be best known for stealing millions and millions of dollars (US) from the people, squandering it on a lavish lifestyle and creating (according to Forbes) 95% unemployment. While celebrations are called for tonight, the country’s recovery will take time. I read a Proverb the other day that made me think of a number of tyrannical rulers:
Proverbs 28:3
A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.
#484 of my 1000 thanks is an activity from today…. I have been working on getting rid of this…
It’s a pile of wood-chips from when we cleared the plot. I put the photo on FB Fish Hoek Valley Buy-Swap-Sell and a dozen or more people expressed an interest. It is going free! Tomorrow I will head on down and see how many people pitch up to carry it away in the allotted time. I’m keen to get the house’s side patio back before Christmas! While it’s going free, they have to be motivated as it’s up 24 steps!
What a blessing!
These are the days!
Keep the smile going!
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂