A Precious Commodity

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post.  It seems the GP service in some areas is great but in others pretty dire.  I still feel rough this morning, quite light headed and wobbly but I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon at least.  To cap it all my right thumb has swollen up for no apparent reason.  The pain extends up my hand into my arm right up to the elbow and it's difficult to carry anything.  I'm a walking disaster at the mo!

Speaking of disasters...we have a broken water main in the village.  It has been spewing precious water for several days....

We had no water at all yesterday from sometime after 9.30am  The family came to visit in the afternoon and with 6 of us using the loo it became a bit of a logistical nightmare :/  When we realised there was a potential to have the water cut off we filled the kettle and a large bucket (for flushing the loo).  Boy did we need them!  Luckily, I already had some bottled water to drink and DD brought some large potatoes (already washed at home) and a tin of baked beans, I had beans and some grated cheese so we had a scrumptious tea of crispy baked potatoes with cheese and beans...yummy....The washing up was a bit trickier.  We waited to see if the water came back on but, no, I had to heat bottled water in the kettle.  This is noooo good for our food budget!!  OH managed to buy some water on his way home from work but I don't think I will include the cost in the challenge as OH paid for it and it was a necessary spend.
 
When there is a problem with mains water it often comes back on quite discoloured and gritty and I'm loathe to let it flow through the combi boiler until it has cleared.  Repairing/replacing the boiler would be horrendously expensive. To avoid this we don't use the hot taps for several hours after restoration of supply.  I know I'm likely to absentmindedly turn them on so I turn the tap handle to the cold setting instead of tidily in the middle where I like it to be :)

We don't flush the loo for a while either....

And I have refilled the bucket just in case....

DD brought me some HM leek and potato soup yesterday so I'll have some of that for lunch today with a wholemeal roll....

At the moment we have water, albeit a bit discoloured and smelling strongly of chlorine, but we have a slow flow.

We are so lucky in this country to have clean water at the turn of a tap and don't realise it until it's taken away.  Any tips on coping without water in an emergency?  What do you do?

Thanks everso for popping in.  Stay safe and warm x