As a kid growing up in Hong Kong we always took baths. This is probably down to my English background. We never showered. We also had a bath at the end of the day so we were all clean for bedtime. With typical child self centredness I have no recollection of what time of day my parents bathed. Maybe they took a shower. In the mid-60s Hong Kong suffered an horrendous drought which saw our water being turned on every 4 days for a couple of hours during which every available receptacle was filled. We bathed out of a saucepan. On more than one unfortunate occasion the taps had been turned on and left on so when the water came back on it flooded the place.
When we came to Melbourne in the early '70s it didn't take me long to realise that everyone showered in the morning. Do not do so was somehow disgusting and as the new kid on the block with the "posh" accent I desperately wanted to fit in. Why my ablutions were anyone else's business didn't enter my mind. I remember those early days in Melbourne so well as I was struggling to fit in and my mother was struggling to retain her Englishness. It led to some inevitable clashes and I don't think our relationship ever recovered. I left home as soon as I could.
I do love a bath. Showers are for getting clean (and waking up) but baths are for relaxing and unwinding. I have a collection of yummies to put in the water depending on my mood and mindset.
This house has an 80s bathroom with lots of cream walls and tiles. Until we painted the walls grey it was like bathing in a room full of porridge. It does have a red and cream cast iron bath on feet which is something I have always wanted (not necessarily the cream bit). To my dismay the cast iron causes the water to cool down very quickly. So once we have the dollars to spend on the bathroom I intend to buy a deep acrylic bath with sleek lines. And room for my wine, my book and a candle.
Interesting. R's English brother in law at the time when he stayed with us would only have a bath. R's sister was quite happy to shower.
ReplyDeleteIt is probably a year since I have taken a bath. As you say, they are for luxurious soaking with salts or whatever.
I wish I could pinpoint the year when I stopped having evening showers to be clean and prepared for some night time fun to showering in the morning.
You could keep you iron bath and just keep the hot tap dribbling in hot water and stir the water around.
When we renovated our bathroom the bathtub was the first thing to go. I don't think either of us had had a bath for at least 15 years.
ReplyDeleteA friend put in a cast iron bathtub back in the 90s when they were really trendy and recently had to replace it with a standup shower because she could no longer climb in and out. Just something to consider!
Growing up we only have a bath and it was always in the evening and only about once a week! Times sure have changed. I have an acrylic bath but don't bath very often. To my dismay I found I actually couldn't get in and out of the bath when my knee was bad and after the surgery. I manage it now though, thank goodness!
ReplyDeleteI miss bath tubs and long hot soaking. The flats I'm living in only have showers. I haven't had a bath in just over ten years.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was very young, we only had a bath once a week, in a large zinc washtub in front of the kitchen fireplace. Then dad built us a bathroom :)