When I was in Junior High and Senior High School I was fortunate to be able to take elective classes simply called Home Economics I and II. I loved these classes pertaining to all things involving home! Perhaps even then the course of my "career" was on a pathway of preparing me for the years ahead. With the increasing high prices of things today economy is even more vital for the family household and we certainly should take lessons in the dire importance of home economy. Depending on the season there can be added extras of home economy and yes, the plain truth is it might take a bit more time and forth going effort. But I have discovered that after the extras become a part of the routine of your daily homekeeping they flow organically providing a purpose and calm knowing a difference is being made in the economics of your home.
We are now into the spring season and I am reveling in the specific tasks and joys that spring economics provides. At last...a backyard clothesline! This new acquisition is a Brabantia Retractable Clothesline. I especially like how I can stand in one place and give it a gentle swirl and continue on pegging the laundry with the added benefit at the end of the day to easily removing the dry laundry.
And the fresh smell of laundry dried outside on the line can not be bottled.
She was the only doctor's wife in Branford, Maine, who hung her wash on an outdoor clothesline instead of putting it through a dryer, because she liked to look out the window and see the clothes blowing in the wind. She had been especially delighted, one day, when one sleeve of the top of her husband's pajamas, prodded by the stiff breeze off the bay, reached over and grabbed her nightgown around the waist.
~Lois Lowry
7 comments:
I took Home Ec too and greatly enjoyed it. Such good things for everyone to learn.
I really like your clothesline, and the story you shared made me smile.
That is a cute quote from Lois Lowry <3 It reminds me of something my mother told me, about how she hung up the laundry early in her marriage. I was her first-born baby, and when she was pinning my infant t-shirts on the line in the sun, she would alternate one of mine, then one of my father's t-shirts, repeating the pattern. Isn't that sweet?
When I was old enough to help with laundry, we had a clothesline on our lawn similar to the one you picture. I well remember filling that with clothes and linens that would dry in a flash in the hot summers. Nowadays I have a very short length of clothesline outdoors, but there is just me now, so it's okay. Hanging clothes in the sun is one of my favorite things to do, but bringing the dry and fresh clothes down from the line is even better! I almost always fold them on a bed.
Hi ! I was just telling my husband my memories of 7th and 8th grade Home Economics! And how it was a good memory. Nothing can compare to the scent of clothes on the clothesline. I am not allowed to have one in my yard, due to HOA rules, but I do hang my bedspreads (to dry) on a outdoor second floor deck that I have. I dump my laundry onto my bed and turn on youtube while folding. andrea
We are kindred spirits! I loved home economics and from a young age gravitated to traditional crafts and homekeeping. What a blessing to be able to keep home and create now that I am 'all grown up'. I agree, there is nothing like air dried washing. Such a lovely and peaceful post, thank you Cathy :)
I think that story is sweet and good for a young mother's creative mind😊.
I have waited patiently for this clothesline for four years!
I love, love, love your way of thinking when it comes to the rhythm of life that working these "extras" into our homemaking routines makes. It's the way I look at stewardship that God has given me too. So good to see a blog post up from you, my friend. We had family here from Maine this past week (19th-26th) so I am a bit late getting back here to chat with you, but it always makes me smile when I see a post from you. xx
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