~ laundry garden



This is the little area behind my house that I call the laundry garden. The family that used to live here, lived here for 65 years without laundry facilities! That seemed so unusual to me until I started telling other people, older people in particular. They didn't find it unusual at all. What I thought of as a modern convenience didn't seem to concern them in the least. I have come to look at this clothesline as a real luxury. During the hot summer months I can dry a load of clothes in about 15-20 minutes and I don't have to turn on an electric appliance to accomplish this. So overall our electric bill runs less and our clothes and linens smell so good. Yesterday I washed all my slipcovers and it was easy. There is an old soapstone sink in the basement that was used to wash the laundry, I hope one day it will grace a small garden room/shed we build for all our garden tools. This clothesline has seen a lot of use for many years and I hope it will for many more. I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

5 comments

  1. That's such a cute name! And such a pretty place. I'm hoping to find a place to hang a line here!

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  2. That's so pretty. I love laundry lines. Haven't set one up here yet...it's on the list. I remember when I first moved to Maine (from California), I was shocked to see people hanging their clothes out in mid-winter. The clothes would literally be frozen stiff. But the line would be hanging under the porch so I guess somehow they dried. Then they'd soften when brought inside.

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  3. We had a clothesline here when we bought our house but it came down during some work done on that side of our yard. Every once in a while, I daydream about ways to get it back...

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  4. How lovely. I get hayfever so I can only dry outside in the non-pollen season, if I sleep on polleny sheets/wear polleny clothes I am undone. So sad as I love the smell of laundry dried outside. I gave away my tumble dryer 3 years ago, my clothes and the environment thanked me. Towels dry a little stiff, but it saves on exfoliator!

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  5. We have CC&Rs where we live that prohibit laundry lines. However, we have a large loggia on the southeast side of our house where no one but us can see it. Once in a while, especially in the summer when I want to save electricity, I string a temporary line to dry smaller things like T-shirts, towels, and underwear. The UV from the sun really does make things smell wonderfully fresh.

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kindness is never out of style.

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