Finally, a Shower!

Or

The Days of Washing My

Hair with a KitchenAid Mixing Bowl are Over

There are a lot of unconventional things about living here at Thicket Cottage. We don't have an indoor toilet. Our bedroom is our kitchen is our dining room is our schoolroom. We don't have a television. Most of these things are pretty easy to get used to, but one of the greatest challenges of living at the Thicket has been the lack of an indoor tub and shower.

Having an outside bathtub is truly magical. During the summer, baths are wonderful, day or night. During the daytime, the titmice and chickadees visit the feeder that hangs above the tub.
At night, the star luminaires and candle sconces throw a romantic glow on everything. When the kids take a bath at night, they say the feel like kings and queens. It's true!

Even in the winter, a bath in a tub of hot water feels deliciously rebellious when there is snow on the ground beside you and icicles hanging above you. Steam rises from the water and from every above-water body part.

One thing I have not liked about the tub has been the lack of a shower. I have a lot of hair. Thick, curly hair. It's a pain to comb, a pain to style, and definitely a pain to wash. For these past couple of years, I've been washing my hair by either dunking my head under the water (which results in a mass of tangles) or taking my KitchenAid mixing bowl out to the tubroom with me. That has served well, and has been reminiscent of a hillbilly japanese bath, but I never realized how nice a shower would be.

Until I got one!

Last night, Bohemian installed a removable shower head above the tub. It was a gift for my birthday, along with candles and bubble bath. I couldn't wait to try it. So, after I'd finished all of my days' activities and prepared for the next day, I ventured out to my tub. It was about 1:00 AM, and the moon was full. I lit every candle, took a book (The Dan Riley School for a Girl by Dan Riley), and indulged for an hour.

Life has never been so decadent.

::: from the green book :::

What a gorgeous day! Went to Ken and Andrea's to give him a check. He was taking down pool to give to Rs. Monet played with goats. Ken took us to the barn to see baby horses. Put Monet on one and rode him around a little. Showed us chickens, too.

Made peanut butter cookies (Bard made dough!). We had a picnic under the apple tree. Wedding spread sandwiches, pineapple, mandarin oranges, almonds, bananas, kiwis, chips and lemonade.

::: from the green book :::

Last night, Bard and I went to see Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains, Left Behind) speak at B****n High School. The worship, with Jeff Deyo of Sonic Flood, was very good. It made me miss being in church. I've felt for so long that, because we had a good worship foundation when the kids were little, they'd absorb that. But last night, Bard said she barely remembers attending SFChurch. It makes me sad because I felt like we put a lot of work into SFC for the sake of our kids and now they don't even remember it. While Bard and I were there, I looked into church services at BCF and think we may visit there.

Yesterday:
*worked around cabin
*planted strawberry bed
*Bo mowed lawn
*went to an auction
*got three kitties (pussywillow, chloe and tasha)
(rest of page destroyed by water)

Today:
*Cleaned cupboards
*Cleaned windows
*Hung birdfeeders
*Bo moved tent to the barn
*Bo fixed the grill
*Ate hamburgers for dinner
*Watched the sunset

Ideas:
Guestbook
Bucket for dirty silverware
Bring down wardrobe (for clothes and fridge)
Make a little sign for the outhouse (instructions for use)
Make a checklist for cabin
Corkboard for inside cupboards
Chalkboard
Get Ken to move dirt, grind stumps
Pole barn for cars/workshop/freezer/washer
Cupboard around water heater and next to cupboards with bin for trash
Clean/stain cabin
Support beam
Shower w/3/4 wall on corner of cabin
S'mores basket
Eucalyptus wreath in outhouse

::: from the green book :::

It's about 6:30 AM. I checked the outdoor thermometer at about 6:15 and it was 40F. Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day. Wanita spent the night last night and has to be back by 8:00 AM this morning. The neighbors down the street are having an auction at 10:00 AM, so we'll go down for that. The ladies from Laura's church are having a lunch stand.

Ken, or his helper, put an outlet box on our pole for us. Bo ran extension cords to the cabin and we're now using the small refrigerator my dad bought years ago but has never used. It was bittersweet bringing it here, because we are now officially "on the grid." I kind of feel like I've been defeated, or at least assimilated. I guess, somewhere in my idealistic mind, I was hoping to find a way around electricity. Maybe that as a tactile way of showing my independence.

(next paragraph destroyed: water damage to the green book)

I had a dream last night that J asked us when we were moving in. In my dream, I felt like it was a trap. I felt like he wanted me to stay in Akron but was issuing a challenge, like basically saying, "You said you'd move in when your lane was done and when you had a fridge. So, when are ya movin' in? Huh? Huh?" I was looking right at his face and his head was huge. I didn't know what to say. My answer, now that I think about it, should ahve been, "Every day. Little by little."

It's funny how I compartmentalize (is that a word? We need a dictionary here!) things. I have a fridge now. But it's not "big enough." It should be big enough to hold all the things that "should" go in fridges: milk, yogurt, butter, jelly, mustard, eggs, meat, fruits and veggies, on and on. But here, for 7 months, I've struggled with... (rest of paragraph destroyed by water damage).