Tuesday, January 21

Learning the hard way

Leaning over the washing machine, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks, she wondered if this really was all she was ever destined to be? A hysterically over emotional housewife that let the mundaness of life overwhelm her on many more occasions that it should?

Surely not?
Image with thanks to zeafonsofound here

Surely there had to be more to it than that?

"There just has to be" she sobbed to herself as she shoved the last of the load into the machine.

It was the dark load. Which meant to get the most out of the water it had to be the last load washed. A lesson she had learned the hard way when the water restrictions were first introduced.

Trying her very best to make the allocated water stretch as far as possible Natalie was recycling as much of the washing machine water as she could. It was what everyone did, they had no choice if they wanted clean clothes. There were special attachments that modified most washers to make it easy to do. Not that Natalie had one of those because they were worth a small fortune. One that Natalie didn't have to part with.

Thanks to Google and a bit of thought it didn't take Natalie long to work out how to whip up a cheaper homemade alternative. Natalie's version involved some hose pipe and a rather large bucket which had once been a rubbish bin. The only difference really between the paid version and Natalie's was the pump. Which in Natalie's case came in the form of her arms.

However, as good at Google had been at helping Natalie set up her own water recycling device on her machine what it failed to tell her was that it was best to wash the whites and lights first. The dyes from the dark colours will always run into the water. Always.

Sadly though there were days when the dark load just didn't get done. It was the danger of being left till last. Sometimes the enthusiasm for clean clothes disappeared before the last load got washed. Two days ago had been one of those days. Which meant by today dark washing had to be done or her husband would be going to work naked. As would the children to school. The dark load was the load that had the uniforms.

Her husband Michael was a police officer. Which meant the children attended a police run school. Apparently it was one of the perks of the job. Or so they had been led to believe. They had in fact been led to believe there were many benefits to being employed by the forces. Natalie however was not completely convinced all was as it first seemed though.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Fairy wishes and butterfly kisses to you, thanks for stopping by, it really means a lot, you taking the time so say hi. I try as much as I can to write a reply but if for some chance I don't get to it please know that I always read them.