Monday, April 10, 2017

1950's ClotheslineTakes Root

First another comment about the lack of comments on this blog. Rest assured, I have seen everyone's comments. I have enjoyed them and diligently published them, one at a time in order to decrease the spam I was getting. It was working great and then today I noticed that ALL comments from this blog have been removed on my last five posts. Not by me.

ARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

So, another hour of research later (it seems this has been a recurring blogger issue), more fiddling with my settings, and we'll see how it goes. Please hang in here with me. I am seeing and loving your comments, I just can't get them to stick on my blog! So after reading todays post please comment and we'll see how it goes. Gracie!

Meanwhile, back at The Poor Farm...the 1950's have made a grand appearance in my small back yard, in the form of vintage ceramic power line insulators disguised as clothesline holders.





For the last two years we've had our clothesline several hundred feet away from the grain bin house since originally we had placed it close to the dinky camper we lived in the summer of 2015. When we sold the camper last summer, we just left the clothesline where it was, tied around three trees, as building a real clothesline closer to the Looney Bin, was not high on the priority list. But after we moved my writing studio in the spot where the camper was parked, the clothesline became more of an eyesore for me down there. Plus there was the hike across the yard, carrying wet laundry, that got old.

Last week with a few sunny days in the midst of lots of rain, Keith built and installed a fabulous new clothesline just a few feet from our door, but around back of the bin. Seeing the laundry out my kitchen window helps me to remember to take it in. He used all salvaged materials of course. The posts came from my sister Teresa when they dismantled their horse fencing, while on hand, Keith had all the bolts and screws needed as well as these very old ceramic insulators. Neither of us could recall where we had gotten them.









He's rigged the clothesline in such a way that the posts can be pulled back as the ground settles and the posts need to be realigned. I now have three shorter lines, about 25 feet long each which gives me enough to hang two loads of laundry out at one time. I'll paint them soon, to make the wood last longer. I might even plant some morning glories at the base of the posts, but don't tell Keith. he thinks they are nothing but invasive weeds, while I find them absolutely charming.



 Our next task will be getting a couple dump truck loads of mulch to go around the outside of the Looney Bin as it is mostly bare dirt there, which is no big deal until it rains.  It has rained often lately. So the dirt path has become a muddy mess.

Still, I am super happy with my new clothesline! Yesterday one of my sisters offered me an electric dryer as they were getting new ones and I have to say, it was easy to say no thank you. Two years of no dryer and we're getting along fine. Funny how the longer you go without something, the less you miss it. Sadly, this doesn't apply to people. Seems the longer my deceased family members are gone the MORE I miss them.

This just proves, people outrank appliances, in case you didn't know that already.

29 comments:

  1. Ours runs from a wooden electricity post to a Pine tree. Two of my neighbours have nasty bought fold-able things that they use indoors; can you imagine that!!!

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    1. We have a nasty fold up one inside too, for those pesky snow and rain days. Happy to store it away now for the summer months.

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  2. I rent a mother-in-law suite. I miss clothes lines. It has been about three years since I had one to hang sheets on. I think if my landlord offered to put some up, I wouldn't say no thank you. But you are right, people out-rank appliances. I have been missing my sister terribly.

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    1. Lisa, I have three sisters. We often joke about who goes first, who will be left behind to carry on our crazy conditions, but truth be told; it will be a tough time. I have no idea how they will get along without ME!

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  3. Lovely, set up. Of course, I applaud the recycling of used materials, rather than new. Plus it happens to make it look more rustic. :)

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    1. Thanks. We are certainly rustic here, bordering on barbaric at times.

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  4. Love the use of insulators on the clothesline--adds a neat touch.
    I don't know what it is about clothes flapping in the breeze, but it ALWAYS makes me smile. Enjoy!
    :)

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    1. Keith hung out clothes in the old days when I worked off farm, now it's my turn and there is deep satisfaction to it. A sense of work accomplished.

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  5. Congrats on the new clothesline. I imagine lugging heavy wet laundry farther than you need to gets old really fast! -Jenn

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    1. Well, the exercise was good. Truth be told the clothesline would be best positioned a mile from here so I could get some real walking in.

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  6. I don't know Donna, I like my dryer more than some people in this world lol...but I guess generally speaking, I'd choose my boyfriend over an appliance any day :) I LOVE your clothesline!!! And I love that everything is repurposed, those ceramic insulators are really cool. I'm just waiting for the cold weather and rain to stop and I'm going to retire the dryer until November. I find though, it's the only thing that gets the pet hair out of everything.

    PS: I'm a Morning Glory fan! Weeds? No way! :) They're so pretty. Actually I'm starting a Moon Garden this spring, and I chose a pretty blue Morning Glory and a white Moon Flower to go there. I can't wait to see how it all turns out! :)

    I hope you work out your comment issue. Just a suggestion, when I had comments "embedded" on my blog, a few were lost. I remember this from when I used Blogger back in the late 2000's as well. I just switched it to a full page, and so far so good. But then again, I had a private blog for years and one day all of my photos disappeared. Gah. I always say you pay for what you get with Blogger...I hope you have better luck!

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    1. Thanks for the blogger comments, today it's working fabulously!!

      And Moonflowers are one of my favs too. We had a bunch growing up an old power pole last summer. I do hope they reseed.

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  7. This post is timed just right for me! I was just saying to Mr Shoes the other day that it would be nice if he were to set up a clothesline for me; and my Mother has a WHACK of gorgeous blue glass insulators that I bet I can snag to put to a good purpose. Thanks for passing on a good idea.

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    1. I have several of those blue ones too and love them. I put them over the ends of our metal posts in the garden. They make me happy.

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  8. You can't beat a proper clothes line can you. I have never had a tumble dryer, making do instead with an airer in the house on wet days and draping things over the Aga when I'm not cooking.

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    1. We also drape clothes over our rocket mass heater after it has cooled off. I learned the hard way, by melting some underwear, how cool it needed to be.

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  9. I love a clothesline - everything SMELLS so good!! Now that I live in a basement, I have a fold-up thing that sits on my covered patio most of the year, unless it's raining sideways or covered with snow. There are some things that LOW TECH just does better.

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    1. Agreed. Low tech is the tech of choice more and more here.

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  10. Lovely clothes line. Ours is way more primitive, but the smell of air dried linen is the same. Our line, too hang by the kitchen window - so that we do not forget to take in dry clothes. Those creamic insulators are top notch.

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    1. The height of my clothesline is perfect. While at the sink I can note is the towels are done drying while checking out the road traffic (2-3 cars a day) at the same time. I love to multi-task.

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  11. haha. don't tell Keith, I actually have some morning glories I started from seed growing in my little green house

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    1. I won't. But he has a nose for them, can smell them a mile away-or so he says.

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  12. Just don't hang out the laundry when the mulberries are ripe. Ask me how I know...... Love hanging out laundry and the way it smells.

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    1. Yeah, nothing like a bird full of mulberries to make your clothes colorful.

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  13. Oh my, I LOVE your clothesline! In fact, I think I'm getting clothesline envy! My little "umbrella" clothesline is holding up with duct tape so maybe a new clothesline is in my future too.

    Odd about the blogger comments. Is nothing sacred?

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    1. It is like the ultra homesteaders clothesline. Today I hung out some fairly heavy rugs and they didn't even drag the ground! Good thing since there were a few cow pies close by from this past weekend when Miss Liz decided to walk out of her cow yard...just because someone left the gate open.

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  14. I have a brand new washer and dryer which I love, but during the warm months I always use the clothesline.

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  15. In the spring, I must not dry outdoors because of allergies. So, drying in a dryer is a necessity even though I hang my clothes in the doorways, summer and winter. I would plant vining flowers on the guy wires which are a trip hazard. I wish I had someone to put up a real line for me as I managed to hook one up to the fence and house.

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  16. You are so right about being able to get along without certain appliances, Donna. For us that has been a microwave as the apt galley kitchen does nt have the counter space and we never really used one we still have in the VA house. But we do need a dryer as there is ni outdoor clothes line drying here.

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Comments are good, as long as you're a real person and not some goof telling me how you were cured of hepatitis by snorting a pulverized neon blue crayon. Your comments don't even have to agree with my viewpoint, I love a good discussion, but civility does matter.