Call me sad, but a good windy non rainy day raises a smile and beckons a washing load. There's excitement in our house at the prospect. Especially after five days of rain.
I have a rotary dryer - situated so it is not too far from the back door and I can get to it without stepping on wet grass. A sunny spot for most of the year and at the end of the wind tunnel down the side of the house so stuff blows dry even if it's not particularly windy..
It folds easily and ultra-tidily into it's own casing so the lines stay nice and clean (never have to clean them). From March to November it stays in place either in use, or folded up into a neat little pole shape so it's not an eyesore.
In the depths of winter the area is in permanent shade so stuff just doesn't dry. Dec to Feb the dryer is stored in a parasol cover in the garage.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
I sometimes visit properties where the owners use an old-fashioned "airer" suspended from the ceiling - they are probably too young to know that these were called airers because that's where things were put after they'd been ironed - before steam irons were invented people usually ironed things when they were still a bit damp.
I'm old enough to know there's a difference between 'dry' and 'line dry' - the latter being just damp enough to iron nicely. Not that I ever do it - but still, I know I could
Wayside - I've freeze dried the bed linen a few times this winter. The Beast was actually pretty good for drying laundry - very cold and dry wind - at least when it wasn't actually snowing
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
As I live in the wet and boggy Fermanagh Lakelands, I invested in a dehumidifier with a laundry setting. I love to put washing out on the line but my oppurtunities here are sometimes rare. At the week-end I did a small load of washing, spun the b'jeezus out of it and the dehumidifier took over half a litre out of it overnight! That's a lot of water to condense on your windows and walls!
My washing lines came down in the autumn gales so I've been drying indoors all winter. We've recently enjoyed a week of warmth and sunshine, perfect drying weather. My dearest brought it to an end - he fixed the washing lines.
We're up to 2 rotaries now with all the extra baby clothes and nappies to get dry. We've got an awkward shape garden to one ends up in front of the patio doors blocking part of the view out. I bought a fancy Brabantia one to go in that area and it's nice and easy to collapse when not in use. The other one is a very cheap model that we were given second hand 10 years ago and is now held together with various cable ties, duct tape and bamboo canes with an old chisel wedged in the post to hold the top in place, it's a marvel of bodge engineering. I refuse to let it die though.
I gave our tumble drier to charity as we hadn't used it in 8 years or more. We're up in the Welsh hills so there's always a good breeze blowing ('Awelon' in Welsh), or sometimes closer to a hurricane hence the damage to the old line...
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
I can't use a line. On one side of the garden there is a rookery and on the other, fields where they feed. In between is my garden - they use the washing for target practice. I fought it for a bit and then gave up and got a tumble drier!
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It folds easily and ultra-tidily into it's own casing so the lines stay nice and clean (never have to clean them). From March to November it stays in place either in use, or folded up into a neat little pole shape so it's not an eyesore.
In the depths of winter the area is in permanent shade so stuff just doesn't dry. Dec to Feb the dryer is stored in a parasol cover in the garage.
Wayside - I've freeze dried the bed linen a few times this winter. The Beast was actually pretty good for drying laundry - very cold and dry wind - at least when it wasn't actually snowing
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I gave our tumble drier to charity as we hadn't used it in 8 years or more. We're up in the Welsh hills so there's always a good breeze blowing ('Awelon' in Welsh), or sometimes closer to a hurricane hence the damage to the old line...