Things I Love – My Clothesline
I don’t think there are many things that can beat the smell of laundry fresh off the line. When we were looking at buying this house, one of the things that sold me on it was its incredibly sturdy laundry line (I think it would likely withstand a hurricane). My husband just discovered that our friendly Italian neighbor up the street built it for the elderly lady who used to live here (she lived here on her own until she was 93 years old – she and her sister have moved into a retirement home together).
We don’t have room in our tiny bungalow for a regular washer and a dryer, so we ended up getting ourselves a front loading washer/dryer combo (it washes and dries the clothes all in one machine). It’s very energy and water efficient, but it only dries small loads, so the clothesline is well used all year round. My neighbor across the alley is a die-hard line dryer as well (you can see a glimpse of her line in the photo) and you’ll often see us both out there in the winter quickly sneaking a load onto the line in between rain showers. Even during 3 solid months of rain last winter, the dryer was used only rarely.
Several of us (me especially) are allergic to the chemical scents in conventional detergents, so it’s nice to have the added freshness that line drying gives our clothes. It’s also a great money saver! Even if you don’t have the outdoor space for a large laundry line, a small inside line or drying rack will help ease your monthly energy bills.
Amen sister. I just put a load of laundry on my line this afternoon and was thinking the same thing. Great photo BTW.
Would you mind calling my husband and telling him that we need one? I have been asking for awhile now. I guess I could suck it up and build one myself.
I just discovered your blog through a comment on David Lebovitz’ site regarding honey. This is a lovely blog, with beautiful photos and superb garden. Your recipes also look scrumpt-diddly-umptious! What is your camera? Lovely!
Carla – Thanks, the background’s a little dark but the big grin makes up for it!
Phelan – I think that borders on spousal abuse! Tell him to expect my call.
Lu – Thanks for stopping by (and for your nice comments)!
My camera is a Fuji Finepix 2800. It’s a pretty basic point n’ shoot (only 2 megapixels), but it does manage to take some decent photos!
Cheryl — not only “stopping by”, but I’ve bookmarked your site! So, I’ll be back!
Great!
Hi cheryl – you will be pleased to know that hanging out the washing is common and even very wealthy people do it here in the UK, no one would even think of putting clothes in the dryer if they could dry outside. I have never owned a drier and know I don't need one
Frugal – I wish it was more like that here! Most of my husband's family is in England, and I noticed when we were out there years ago that they avoided using the dryer. I guess we North Americans are too used to convenience and cheap power!