One of the 'joys' of laundering is drying items in the fresh air. The trouble with living on a relatively small island (or collection of islands) is that the weather can and freqently does change rapidly bringing several varieties in the course of one day. Thus hanging out the laundry is chancy particularly if I intend to go out for the day - or even for an hour or two. Telling myself that soft rain will rinse the washing again isn't really very helpful especially if said rain drops relentlessly for hour upon hour.
I think I now have the answer. It is a rotary dryer, sometimes referred to by me as a whirligig, otherwise as a carousel, bringing to mind prancing fairground horses - now wouldn't that make a necessary chore more fun? Would I sit on each bright steed in turn, pegging clothes to ears and reins, stretching sheets and towels across the saddle pommels of the nags next to me and going UP and DOWN and UP and DOWN and ROUND and ROUND and ROUND and ROUND to the unmistakeably cheery sound of a fairground organ. Now that I think about it the flying chairs - Chair-O-Planes - could be brought into play. Think how quickly the washing would dry on those! Swing Boats would be all right for hand-held things - tea towels and dish cloths perhaps - hold on with one hand and flap the washing with the other? I don't think the Big Wheel would be much use, except at the immediate approach and departure of the zenith and at the zenith itself and the Helter-Skelter would barely have begun its work before the bottom was reached. Shooting Galleries and Lucky Dips wouldn't afford any help though perhaps the Bumper Cars might be called into action. The drawback with those would be the soiling that might occur as cars battered into each other! I remember my brother received a nasty cut to the eyebrow on a Bumper Car - blood everywhere and a lifelong scar! The Tea Cups might be useful for small light items - not enough height or space for larger things.
I digress - the rotary dryer we erected yesterday requires an extension pole as it appears to be designed for the (much) shorter woman but we purchased a rainproof cover with mesh skirts so that the washing can remain out in even the most inclement weather - apart from a howling gale, of course. (There's a boat at our marina called 'Owl in Gale'!)
This YouTube clip made me giggle - I'd like to see the house that has a garden like this!
Near the top of the instruction leaflet accompanying the DRYLINE is the advice - 'AVOID FITTING IN HIGH WIND'. Visions spring to mind of a Mary Poppins-style sailing up into the ether. Its efficacy is being tested today as drizzle is falling determinedly and the sky is grey. Wet weather gear will be required for walking the dogs. Barry chose the one dry spell to cycle with them earlier (and met a lady 'dog-scootering' of which more anon.)
Postscript: it is now definitely raining - no more of the wishy-washy precipitation that fools you into thinking you're not getting wet - this is the real, heavy-dropping stuff.
covering it up is a good idea! i try to dry my clothes outside, which is pretty easy here in CO becuase it doesn't rain much
ReplyDeleteNow that looks like a good idea Janice. How I used to love the smell of the laundry, fresh from the clothes line. I have no choice now other than to use a tumble drier, and it just doesn't smell the same. Best wishes to you all, and hope all goes well with little Gus x
ReplyDeleteThanks Cathy - lucky you (I think) How nice it must be to be able to rely on the weather - I fear it wouldn't suit a lot of Brits - complaining about the weather is all many of us have in common . . . ;-)
ReplyDeleteNow then Sylvia - where's your blog?? Time to come clean (a la laundry theme)Come on girl - you can do it!!
A good idea but I can't see it working in my garden. There are not many days when we don't have a strong wind and it would probably take off only to be shot down over the nearby RAF base in mistake for a UFO.
ReplyDeleteChris - LOL!!
ReplyDeleteOoh! Washing with its own umbrella! Did it work? I suppose it must depend on how much dampness is in the air and not just on how much of the falling stuff is kept off.
ReplyDeleteThe papmobile has been out and about quite a lot lately (the new extension will be revealed soon) but 'dog-scootering' sounds like a whole new ball game. Can't wait to see.
Gennasus - it seems to work. I fear the washing will remain outside much longer than strictly necessary as it's under cover . . . goodness, I'm idle!
ReplyDeleteI'll post about dog-scootering soon . . . looking forward to seeing the new extension for the paps . . .
I was just taking a slow meander through jabblog and saw the photo for this post--and then I watched the instruction video. Most people would think me positively mad for getting such a kick out of this; even the Beloved Spouse looked askance as he walked through the room and caught a moment of the film. But I loved it. I'm not sure the cover would work here because when it rains it usually blows, but it's a great idea for chancy weather.
ReplyDeleteI need a new line in my garden and I've been thinking of a carousel instead of a "t-bar" arrangement; I think you've convinced me to go hunting.