It's blowing mightily, today, and I am taking full advantage of the gift of both sunshine and wind! March is still a month away, but the gusts on this Groundhog Day, are lively, causing my clothes to dance on the line. They look happy! The legs of the jeans seem to be doing the polka!
I love washing that is dried outside. It smells divine! When you bring the clothes basket inside, its perfume wafts gently throughout the house. No so-called air freshner can compare!
I don't own a dryer. Wouldn't want one. When MM was building our house, we consulted about the need to have one. Why, we wondered, would two people with no children and no outside jobs, need such a greedy home appliance? Besides, not having a dryer encourages better planning. And it certainly saves electricity, not having one. Of course, we own more than one pair of jeans, several workshirts apiece, and multiple pairs of socks and undergarments. So, the dryer was crossed off the list of needed appliances and I've never been sorry.
Admittedly,getting a washing dried on the line during the winter months can be challenging. We do have the luxury of not needing most things quickly. So during really cold weather, I set up the old wooden drying rack near the woodstove and hang the clothes on it. I've seen several houses that have "rungs" between beams for just such adaptations. But there's nothing like the smell of the out-of-doors, brought in, when winter loosens its grip just enough to hang the laundry outside.
Posts
I miss a clothes line and have often begged my husband for one but he is fervently against it. It's a nuisance to him when doing the yard work but to me it speaks of fresh air and sunshine and childhood memories. I remember hating to hang out the laundry when I was a child, but today I'd relish it. blessings, marlene
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you, especially about the dryer being a "greedy" appliance. I'm a new convert to line-drying, and was astonished at how much electricity I saved during the summer when I dried things on the line. (For Marlene: I have a line that reels itself in when I'm done using it. I bought it from Lehmans.com.) Today would be a perfect day to line-dry the laundry. Unfortunately, I don't have any laundry to do!
ReplyDeleteElora -- your photo is wonderful. I was raised without a dryer -- my mother washed with a ringer machine and I was charged with hanging out the clothes. Outside in the warm months and inside in the cold. I have to admit I loved hanging out the clothes and folding them off the line into a bushel basket -- the smell was heavenly. thanks for the memories -- barbara
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of fresh laundry. In winter, sometimes I will dry it inside, but it's just not the same.
ReplyDeleteGreat photo!
ReplyDeleteI have a clothesline but tend not to use it in the winter.
I think the photo tells the story, but I forgot to mention the clothsline being on a pulley, and under the west roof of the 360-degree porch. We always wanted a wraparound porch so that whatever the weather (for sitting or for drying clothes) we had somewhere we could go without getting wet! So, MM built the house and my clothesline is a treasured part of the design.
ReplyDeleteMarlene! Read Debbi's post. You may be able to change his mind!
Right, Debbi! You've got a great setup!
Barbara,
I, too, was raised with an outdoor clothesline. Eventually, mom got a dryer, but she never gave up hanging clothes on the line when the weather was nice. Of course, in the sometimes rainy Pacific Northwest, it was a challenge!
Carolyn,
I agree!!! (not the same!) but it's nice when we can. The funny thing is to hang stuff out in the winter and have it freeze dry! That's what we did in Alaska! Stiff-as-a-board pants! They stand up by themselves (and not with dirt, mind you, but with the COLD! It was 72 degrees BELOW ZERO the winter we taught up on the Iditarod.
Thanks, Vicki! Yeah, back to the dryer for winter. For us? It's choose a new outfit (to be worn for the subsequent two weeks !) and wait for a sunny, blowy day...like today!
Elora