My Homesteading Guilty Pleasure! 🛁

When we bought our property it already had electricity in place and a drilled well. We knew, even though it wasn't much land, that we had hit gold. To put these things in would've cost thousands of dollars. We did, however need to add a pump and have the water tested, but all these things were quick and painless. Praise Jesus!

Of course, after this we still needed to build our house and establish life here on the homestead. But there are two things that you can't put off, and that is going potty and needing to shower. They have to be done whether you live in the city or in the middle of the woods. The trick though is to find a consistant way of handling both.

We sorted out the potty early on, and eventually dug an outhouse, but the showers continually morphed and changed.

I should start by saying this has been, and continues to be, a season of dirt for us. We live in an area where there's mostly raw earth and rock while the new grass is still trying to grow. We get more every year, but if we work outside, the dust and grime sticks to our sweat and covers us in a gross, gritty paste.

_{Sidebar: There was a time, after our first week here that we went to Wisconsin to pick up our truck from a friend. They offered is their shower/bathtub, and when I was all done, I had left a ring of dirt!}

So, we started with a bucket from the well heated on the fire. Then turned to just a cold bucket because after a long day we didn't want to wait. Again, we needed something consistant and easy.

As the season turned colder, and we had a woodburning stove inside, we would fill a large canning pot and have water constantly heated. So, we were back to hot bucket showers in our shower stall inside the house. Then, as spring and summer came back into view, we upgraded to a hose shower back outside.

Now, there have been a lot of recommendations to make this easier. Anywhere from camping bags that you sit in the sun to heat, to copper piping you loop around the stove pipe. But our hold up was that we knew what we wanted, and we were okay waiting until we had it.

Then, last fall it came!!

Our electric at-source water heater!

Now, this thing can really suck up some juices. It runs on a 60 amp double pole breaker. I know that everytime I turn it on, our electric bill might feel a little heavier. But it's worth it!

After four years of survival showering, I now step into a bathroom, turn on a knob and hot water is literally at my fingertips. I could spend hours in there!

I also have this new love for washing the dishes! I had forgotten how fast it is to rinse things off in hot water!

So, although it might be a little reckless to run it all the time, there is this certain feeling of accomplishment that comes with it.

I feel like we made it!