Monday, January 28, 2013

Lambs and Waste

Prayer is powerful.

A couple of years ago we had a minister speak for us about prayer. Since then we have all improved our prayer lives and I have been much more faithful with a designated prayer list I pray through every morning (when I don't sleep in too late:-P) This prayer time has been especially focused on the salvation of many, including the entire corridor that runs by our church, and the children of our church members.

Yesterday a man who used to attend our church but hasn't been there for a couple of years came in. He was, of course, welcomed with open arms and has promised to return next week. I hope he does. My Hubby especially enjoyed visiting with him before and has missed his friendship.

This got me to thinking: in the last six months we have had three of these "Little Lost Lambs" come back.
  • The son of one member had a horrible accident and nearly lost his life. This caused him to rededicate to God and he has been in service every Sunday that his health has permitted. 
  • The son of another member moved back into the area and has dedicated to God, attending Sunday AND Wednesday!

I am renewed in my determination to pray regularly, to be sure:-)




In my last post I mentioned ruminating on waste systems. I actually have a running "Dream Farm/Home" in my head. Once in a while I pull a certain system out to figure out the best way to build it (better than counting sheep for sleeping:-D!) 

Let's see, there are two types of waste: what goes out the door and what goes down the drain. What goes down the drain can be divided in two groups: Black and gray.

Black waste is pretty simple. Anything that goes down the toilet is black and should go to the septic system. Period (I am simply not into "humanure.")

Gray is not so simple. Let's see, what goes down the bathroom sinks could be used to water the garden. It's just water, soap (Ivory even) and toothpaste. What goes down the shower and tub is usually just as safe for the garden except for
  • shampoo (I am not giving up my modern shampoo. I have tried old-fashiond methods of cleaning the hair and, well, YUCK. My hair gets dull and matted and limp. And I won't torture my four little girls by trying to brush their long hair attached to tender scalps if it hasn't been washed and conditioned with modern shampoos and conditioners.)
  • Toddlers that pee and poop in the tub.
So do you send that water to the septic or the garden? Sigh, probably the septic, though I hate to see all that good water going to waste.

The kitchen sink only has the problem of the grease that makes it that way. There are enzymes/bacteria that can eat that that won't harm the garden, so that's OK. The soaps should be diluted enough to be OK.

The washing machine needs a valve to divert the water whichever way a certain load needs. You can get biodegradable soaps that will help the garden so most the time the water can be fine for that. I use vinegar instead of fabric softener, which is good for the garden too. (Why vinegar?
  • Hubby is allergic to fabric softener.
  • Fabric Softener works by coating the fibers with wax. This doesn't help towels do their job very well, to say the least!
  •  It is cheap.
  • Soaps are alkaline. vinegar is acidic. The vinegar neutralizes the soap and allows it to rinse out which prevents grayness and static.)
Sometimes, however, people get tummy bugs. The wash from these occasions shouldn't go to the garden. So a valve to divert the wash water to the septic when necessary would be a simple solution.

To be continued.... (It's breakfast time:-)

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