Thursday, September 08, 2022

Raccoon Fashion Show?

We used to have a clothesline that ran on a pulley system from the porch to the barn. It was lovely. If the weather was good, I could stand on the porch, pin the clothes to the line, and then send them off to wave gently in the breeze. Nothing quite like line-dried sheets. One very cold morning I began hanging the sheets on the line and they instantly froze.  We joked about “freeze-dried sheets.”

 I found one photograph of the clothesline from 2011. 

And yes, I was very active in the YMCA, and I still go three times a week. Back then the Y had a program where they gave away t-shirts for walking, and I accumulated some. I am still walking, but unfortunately, I have gained too much weight now to wear these t-shirts. I still have them because, after all, I may actually loose enough weight that I will be able to wear them again. Well, probably not, but hope springs eternal.


The clothes line met its demise when our barn collapsed (and I have no idea when that was).

This photograph of the front of the barn, which was still standing, with the pulley and line attached, but portions of the roof had collapsed and it was about ready to fall.

I used the drier, right up until a few months ago when it stopped blowing hot air and Richard was not physically able to repair it.

So I began draping the clothes on drying racks that Richard bought some years ago for drying clothes in front of our heaters. He took over doing the laundry (and all of the domestic chores) because I was laid up for almost 3 months with a fractured pelvis. He thought we could save some money on our electricity bill.

The appliance repair person has come and assessed the problem. We assumed it was the heating element, but it isn’t. The safety switch and thermostat are broken. The parts have been ordered. Richard guesses it is going to cost about $200, and wonders: Is the drier worth repairing if it breaks again??

Until the parts come in, I continue to use the drying racks and on hot summer days the clothes dry fairly quickly. A few days ago, I forgot about the clothes on the racks sitting outside, until Richard reminded me:

Are you going to bring the clothes in anytime soon or are you going to leave them out there for the raccoons to try on?

1 comment:

Henny Penny said...

Oh I love the clothsline attached to the old barn. It looks so pretty with all the colored shirts hanging. That comment about the raccoon is funny. I'm bad about leaving things hanging on the line too long.