Well, not really. I’ve been thinking about water conservation lately. It’s natural, I suppose, now that we’re paying for utilities (as opposed to having them included in our strata fees in B.C.), and water is expensive in Saskatchewan. This is a farming province and rain is precious; it seems wrong to waste. Especially, given the long-term forecast of another hot and dry summer.
This morning, I saved the water I had used to “boil” eggs in the Instant Pot, and rather than letting the water I run over the cooked eggs to cool them go down the drain, I ran it over a pot saving that water too. I’ll use this to water plants in the yard. I boiled potatoes this morning and think I could have saved this potato water for plants, but need to investigate more to see if this is okay.
I think of my grandma who didn’t have running water in her little house. She used a plastic bowl to wash dishes and dumped the grey water outside in the yard. Hmmm. I wonder if I could save dishwater and use it on outdoor plants too.
Gerry has installed a rain barrel and we’re considering xeriscaping. Now that the snow is gone, we see a lot of yards with rocks rather than grass in the front yard. Makes good sense to me. I’d prefer to use precious water for vegetables and a few pots of flowers instead of grass.
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That was yesterday. This morning we woke to heavy smoke from wildfires. We won’t spend much time outdoors today, other than to take Maya out. I captured this image of the Swedish trembling aspen trees in our yard yesterday afternoon. I love them. The way their leaves dance ignites my imagination.
This morning, here’s how they look in the smoke.
Sigh.
In our early-morning pre-work chat with my daughter back in Kamloops this morning, she talked about the heavy smoke they’re experiencing too. It’s so early in the season. I am concerned about how this summer will unfold over western Canada and expect we’ll be praying for rain.