Pacific Northwest: No Clothesline Emergency For You!

This picture was just taken from my backyard here in the Pacific Northwest...yes, and that is the sun, glorious sun! We have had an inordinate amount of sunny weather here with, I think, only about one day of rain in the past two months. Highly unusual for this dank, damp climate!

This has lent itself to perfect drying conditions; low humidity and gentle breezes dry the laundry in about 2 hours. So, unlike those in the Northeast who are suffering from a 'Clothesline Emergency', we Northwesterners have NO excuses!

In fact, I feel that a "Clothesline Mandatory" proclamation should be issued. Get those clothes on the line while the weather is good...we know it won't last forever!

Marilyn

Live Free and Dry:

A list of famous New Hampshire natives who accomplished great things while wearing line-dried undergarments.

A debate in raging in the New Hampshire legislature about whether the people of New Hampshire should be prohibited from line drying undergarments. Can we be a great society if people are given the right to dry their underwear next to their sheets, towels, pants and skirts? Let's check our history. The following list of people made their way into the world in underwear dried in the New Hampshire sun.

Alice Brown (1856 -1948) Alice described New Hampshire's people and places through her short stories and plays such as "Meadow - Grass: Tales of New England Life" and "Children of Earth."

Salmon P. Chase (1808 -1873) Chase was secretary of the U.S. Treasury during the making of the first green dollar bill in 1863 and went on to become the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court a year later.

Mary Baker Eddy (1821 -1910) Mary was known for founding the Christian Science religion in 1879 and also starting the daily newspaper The Christian Science Monitor.

William Pitt Fessenden (1806 -1869) William was known for his influential politics in the 1800's and served as a U.S. Senator from 1854 - 1864 and from 1865 - 1869.

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890 -1964) Flynn is known for her help in founding the American Civil Liberties Union, which is dedicated to protecting the rights of all Americans.

Sam Walter Foss (1858 -1911) Foss was a poet, journalist, and editor and was mostly known for his portrayal of the speech of the New Hampshire people.

Robert Frost (1874 -1963) Frost is known for his poems that described the nature and daily life of New England. His home in Franconia is now a museum.

Horace Greeley (1811 -1872) Horace founded and published the New York Tribune, which was a famous newspaper during the 1800's. He used the paper to voice his ideas on politics and other issues during that time.

Sarah Josepha Hale (1788 -1879) Hale wrote and edited two magazines during the early 1800's: Ladies Magazine and Godey's Lady's Book. She also wrote several books and the popular nursery rhyme "Mary Had A Little Lamb."

William Loeb (1905 -1985) Loeb was best known for publishing the Manchester Union Leader, New Hampshire's largest daily newspaper.

Maxfield Parrish (1870 -1966) Parrish illustrated hundreds of magazines and books. His home (Saint-Gaudens) in Cornish, New Hampshire inspired most of his work.

Franklin Pierce (1804 -1869) Pierce was the 14th president of the United States. He was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire.

Eleanor Porter (1868 -1920) A children's author from Littleton, Porter made it big after she sold over 1 million copies of her book Pollyanna.

Red Rolfe (1908 -1969) Rolfe played professional baseball for the New York Yankees and was an American League Leader in 1939 with 213 hits and 139 runs.

Daniel Webster (1782 - 1852) A farmer's son, Webster graduated from Dartmouth College in 1801 and, through his later efforts as a lawyer, orator, and secretary of state, he became his era's foremost advocate of American nationalism. Webster was born in Salisbury, NH.

With thanks to Ben Davis of www.wpiweb.com and http://www.nhliving.com/famouspeople/index.shtml.

Someone likes my peg bag!

About a week ago I had left the peg bag on the line overnight and we had a rather windy day so I was not over surprised to see a few leaves inside. I upended it, cleaned it and put the pegs back.

Yesterday morning I took the washing plus bag out to hang. It was about 7.30 or so. I came back to check it about 4 in the afternoon and as I approached my line, a little wren flew off to the trees. She was squarking at me from a nearby tree. As I went to the bag to put the first few pegs in, I noticed that it was filled with moss and leaves again. The little charmer had decided to make a nest in the bag! Fortunately there were no eggs but still a sizeable amount of stuff was in the bottom. I did empty it again, when I was sure there were no eggs, and the bag stays inside now during the day and night!

Take a look at an industrious nest, made in just 8 hours by a tiny wren.

The Little Peg Bag The Nest Inside.

In all my years of hanging laundry, this is a first for me!

The Simple Pleasures of Air-Drying

With the arrival of warm (and hot!) spring days, I am really enjoying some of the simple pleasures that come along with line drying my laundry in the nicer weather. My clothesline goes from my house, out to a huge lilac tree, and back to my house in a triangle shape. The lilacs were recently in full bloom and the scent is so beautiful. Bees love the lilacs and there are always a plethora of them buzzing about while I hang the laundry. So far, we leave each other alone; each of us absorbed in our own busy task.

This week a spider decided to take up residence on my clothesline. I love spiders as long as they are not in my house, so I'm careful not to destroy its web. I have to carefully hang laundry around it as to not disturb it. So far, the clothesline spider has made it through two laundry hangings and seems perfectly content flapping in the wind along with the clothes!

I've been using an environmentally safe laundry detergent that is scented with lavender oil. The scent is just incredible. That, combined with the natural air drying scent is pretty heady stuff! My rhododendrons are now blooming; they also have a lovely scent and are gorgeous to look at. I only wish their blooms would last a little longer than a few weeks; their beauty is so fleeting.

Butterflies are now fluttering about to add to the scenario. There is so much simple beauty right in your own backyard. Try hanging your laundry out this summer... it's much better than having a hot dryer running on a sweltering day. I guarantee that you'll like it!

~Marilyn

This is How We Do It.

Finally, I have some clotheslines pics to share. Our yard is reallly tiny. We live in a townhouse, so we are talking about a postage stamp.

My boyfriend has run clothes line under the top of the fence, so that when we hang, it is not visible from the street--unless you are LOOKING for it. We use a rack for overlow and to hide "unmentionables."





We live in a planned community with one overseeing agency and a homeowner's association for each neighborhood/complex. Mine is one of two neighborhoods in which hanging out is not allowed. All others are allowed to hang out during certain times of the day. Our neighbors have never said anything about our hanging out, and the HOA does not enforce it. I suspect that's because they realize it is a stupid rule to have, considering it is allowed in the rest of the community.

Naturally, after I took this photo, it clouded up, and I had to bring the clothes in. I'm glad I could share this, though.