I really wanted an ice bucket for holding drinks when we entertain, but put off buying one for years because of the price. I looked unsuccessfully for a used one. Even though we entertain quite a bit, buying something that we would only use for several hours a week seemed like an indulgent purchase. I finally found one last year for under $30.00 and decided to buy it, vowing to find a way to employ it in between parties.
At first I used it to hold several flower containers, and while it was pretty, it did leave me with the dilemma of searching for a temporary home for the flowers every time we entertained. I moved the flowers to a new home and it sat empty for a while. Then I realized I could use it to keep our stainless steel water bottles cold while we worked in the yard. This eliminates the back and forth in dirty shoes across the kitchen floor to get ice water.
Then one day I had to do an emergency harvest of my spinach plants and realized the bucket would be the perfect place to temporarily hold the plants. I put a couple inches of water in the bucket and then harvested the spinach at my leisure.
A couple of weeks ago, Rew wanted to go outside and play in the water. It was 95 degrees and I didn’t want to take him out, so I brought the water in:
First, he is wearing a diaper, I just took the picture from an odd angle. Second, I realize that this is not nearly as good as playing outside, but it was a fun substitute for the heat of the day. I try to keep him out of the sun between 11:00 am and 5:00 pm, so we do all of our out door play in the morning and evening. Now Rew regularly asks to play in the “water bucket” after lunch.
Shana says
I don't have an ice bucket but I also don't take Blaze out in the worst heat of the day and we are in Georgia so that is a lot of days! What I do is fill the bathtub with lukewarm water like his kiddie pool and throw water toys in there and let him play away! If you ever lose your power in the summer this is a good way to keep kids cool too or even yourself.