What's all this, then?

 The average water consumption for people in the UK needs to come down as hotter summers increase the chance of drought.

"The EA said customers in England need to cut their water use by 2.5 billion litres a day by 2055 – down from an average of around 140 litres per person per day to 110 litres per day. "

I looked at our previous water bills.  In summer, we use around 150L and in winter, significantly than that, but that's the total usage for three adults and  a child who is with us for two days a week.

Which makes our individual water usage just under a third of the national average, and already within the target by a good margin.  And that includes some water for topping up the pond and watering some of the plants.

We're on a water meter and pay about £170 per year for the household.

We've become very good over the years, at not using a lot of water.

LAUNDRY

A lot of people wear an item once, and automatically chuck it in the laundry (I was completely unaware of this until a woman told me that she washed her teenage son's jeans every day)

Me?  If it isn't visibly dirty, and it doesn't smell when I sniff under the armpits, then it's back in the wardrobe, or wear for another day.

If you're selective in the fabrics you buy, you can dramatically reduce the need for laundry.

Linen is amazing.  It really doesn't pick up body smells at all - that's because it naturally wicks moisture away from the body, in a way that synthetic fabrics can't. 

I found this out while doing my English Civil War Reenactment.  The bottom layer of clothing for women is always a linen smock.  So, I made a linen smock.  I washed it once, to soften the fabric a little, then -having been told that it softened very nicely with wear, started to wear it as a nightie.  The most comfortable night garment I've ever worn.  I kept on wearing it, every night, waiting for it to get smelly.  It didn't. And the fabric now has a wonderful feel when you touch it (probably something to do with the natural oil in flax, but I don't know for sure)

Whereas if I wear something polyester based, it's often just one day's wear.

Cotton is very good as well - not quite so good as linen, but I can wear a cotton t-shirt as an under-layer and get quite a few days out of that before fails the sniff test.

What do you do to reduce your water consumption?

 I'm drained.

Yesterday was Folk on the Quay, a local event in Poole, which I always like to support.

But they had fewer dance teams this year (not certain why, I think they probably wanted more).  

I was calling maypole in the morning for  an hour, but fortunately it was a bit bleak and threatening rain.

I managed to keep it active for the whole hour, but I started with two people and ended with eight - which is way below what I was hoping for.

But, on the plus side, at least (thanks to Covid and social isolation) I know maypole dances for groups as small as two!

Did a nice plait for four - who got it perfect. 

Variations on other dances, managed to get away without repeating anything, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

But after that, I was dancing with my longsword team as well as Anonymous Morris - never got a break for lunch and was starting to make mistakes in the morris dances.

And I had a bit of trouble with my leg muscles before the day started....

However, I think I'm gradually recovering - Sunday evening now :)

And it's time to book a physio appointment to sort those damn leg muscles out.

But we did manage to perform our new dance. 

The music glitched, which threw out our timing on the final hey, but surprisingly, I'm still quite pleased with the result. It needs some polish, but for first time out, and with several changes to the figured in the last few weeks, not too bad. (I realised dancers were having trouble with transitions between some of the moves, so making changes made the transitions easier)

 Pleased to say that MP (Vikki Slade, Liberal) voted in favour of the bill, as she'd promised when I wrote to her about it.

(Our previous MP, Conservative, - but not necessarily representative of the rest of the party - did not always vote to match what his letters implied.)

My heath is fine at present (expect when I get sciatica or break something), but I'm terrified of dementia (the bill doesn't cover that, but hopefully it may one day extend to it, such that if wishes are expressed in a proper power of Attorney while a person is still of sound mind).

I wrote my POA several years ago, and made my wishes clear.  If I ever can't recognise my family, then that person is no longer a person I wish to be.  And I certainly don't want my family to live with that kind of pain or to spend their time caring (or paying for care for) someone who can't appreciate it.