This one might be a winner

At least it looks like it is right now.  We made two trips on Monday to pick up a new washer and dryer.  We discovered the power was out in the neighborhood after we got back with the second load (the washer).  So of course nothing was happening as far as hookup was concerned.  I grabbed a book light and headed out to the patio to sit and read where it was a bit cooler than the house.  The power was restored a little after 9PM.  I was happy because sleeping would be better with a fan and I could set the alarm so I’d get up for work in time.

Speed Queen washer and dryer

After work on Tuesday we got the dolly and hauled the washer and dryer into the house and hubby got them hooked up.  We ran our first load in them today and they work as expected.  Yippee!  This set is old-fashioned looking, but I really don’t care as long as they work.  We decided on Speed Queen because it’s the most durable one we could find with the best warranty.  This set is made industrial strength, so everything is metal.  There are no plastic parts or fancy electronics.  I think we’ll be very happy with this and it should last us the rest of our lives, I hope.

Snuggles, my neighbor's cat

As far as other news, I’m taking care of the neighbor’s cat again for the next three days.  This is Sherry’s last trip of the year, supposedly.  The cat, Snuggles, was very happy to see me tonight.

My new laptop

I’ve been saving for months and finally got my new laptop today.  I’m thrilled with it so far, but spent most of the day loading programs and getting to know the computer.  The screen sure is small compared to my desktop.  My other laptop quit working little by little quite a few months ago.  This one came with a nice Office 2010 program so it’s quite different than my old Word 2003, which I loved.  Now I have to learn this one when I have time.  At least this gives me mobility so I can take it when I go to Texas to visit family.

Do we really need saving from ourselves?

Apparently, the government thinks so.  They have so many regulations that it’s impossible to buy almost anything that fits your needs these days.  I’m talking about appliances, folks.

 This is the new Samsung washer and dryer set.  We even got covers to protect the tops from scratches

 

All we wanted to do was get a new washer and dryer.  Our old washer bit the dust a little over a month ago.  We sold the dryer, which still worked, so we could get a matching set.  We figured it would go out soon anyway since we bought both units at the same time.

We spent our next day off shopping for a new washer and dryer.  We did look on Craigslist first, but found nothing.  The prices of appliances today will make you faint from shock.  Nothing is even reasonable.

 This is the new Samsung washer

 

We finally bit the bullet and bought one at Lowe’s.  Whatever you do, do not buy a Samsung.  The nicest thing about this set is the little song it plays when your clothes are done.  I’m serious!  The washer has a nice big stainless tub but it doesn’t get hot water in it, even when the hot button is selected.  I can hold my hand under the water because it’s lukewarm.  The water in my laundry sink two feet away has scalding water.  The next issue is the water level, which doesn’t even cover the clothes.  So to do that, I have to fill a bucket with water in the laundry sink and then add it to the washer once it’s started going.  Another issue with this washer is that it does a crazy dance in the beginning, which is supposed to even out and balance the load.  Well you guessed it, all the clothes end up on one side of the washer tub.  I have to put the machine on pause to get it to unlock and then redistribute the clothes by hand.

Now for the dryer, it doesn’t dry.  I swear you can set it on hot and run it three hours and the clothes still aren’t dry.  The people at Lowes and the manufacturer said it’s to protect the consumer and use less energy.  It's designed to be less hot.  Well, running it three times as long is not saving any energy!  Please, please STOP trying to protect us from ourselves!  By this stage in life, we know how to use a washer and dryer.

Naturally, we’re very disgusted with this whole issue.  The best thing about it is that it looks nice and the song it plays, as I mentioned earlier.  We’re getting Lowes to pick up this piece of crap and give us our money back.  But this took a lot of negotiation.  Naturally, at first they wanted us to contact customer service.  We only had this set a month.  There was no way that was happening.

This is the inside of the Samsung washer

So now it’s back to washer and dryer shopping again.  The only good thing that’s come out of this whole mess is that I got to wash the king comforter instead of having it dry-cleaned.  The tub on the washer is huge, but even then I had to add several buckets of water during that process and the thing would never dry so we brought two ladders into the house and hung it over those overnight.

I think we’re looking at industrial this time so it will last the rest of our lives.  The government hasn’t gotten their hands into those yet, at least not that we know of.  More on all this later.

Resourcefulness Comes in Handy

Usually women can always think of a solution if the situation calls for it.  We used to hear over and over again while growing up that “where there’s a will, there’s usually always a way.”  This is so true.  Now maybe that’s because we were raised on a farm and had to invent things to use for projects, or just plain everyday life, because we always had to work with what we had.  Sometimes that was very little.  We learned to use our heads at an early age.  Today my siblings and I are very good at figuring out how to make something work if we have to.

 My makeshift "hidden clothesline"

 

Today I was washing clothes and I didn’t want to use the dryer because things shrink and I’d rather not put some of my tank tops and shirts in there.  I usually hang them over the hanger ends all around my closet and turn the hangers after about four hours so the other side can dry after spinning them out in the washer, even when I wash them by hand.

 

My makeshift "hidden clothesline"

 

Well today I had to fool around with the washer because it was being contrary and not wanting to work half the time.  I finally got that going after unplugging the machine, switching the breaker off and on several times and just plain letting it sit for about forty-five minutes in between all these steps.  So needless to say that will be the next big expense around here probably.

 My makeshift "hidden clothesline"

 

Anyway, I decided it sure would be nice to have a clothesline outside but hubby doesn’t want to see lines out there strung across the backyard.  So I looked around and after I ruled out the tree branches due to the amount of birds in the trees, I spotted the perfect thing—the ceiling fans on the patio.  We have two of them out there and in the afternoons they’re not in the sun so that was perfect.  And on top of that I knew things would dry fast because it was 100 degrees in the shade.

 My makeshift "hidden clothesline"

 

I got out my ladder I use in the kitchen to reach my high cabinets and went to work hanging things from the fan blades.  This was perfect and everything was dry in thirty minutes.  I was pretty proud of myself for thinking of my “hidden clothesline.”  Of course, everything was down and hanging in the closet before hubby got home.  I think I’ll probably do this again.

So how resourceful are you?  Have you tried anything unconventional for an everyday problem or chore?

Doing Laundry the Old-fashioned Way

Laundry Day - Public Domain Photo



Here is another thing from times gone by.


My Mama had no idea that her life would change as much as it did when she married Daddy. She was a city girl and he was a country boy. She grew up modestly, but with the usual amenities that you find in houses today.

After her first year of marriage and after I was born, my parents moved to the farm. There were no modern conveniences there, and soon there were a lot more kids. Mama found herself doing laundry on a washboard alongside my aunt.

Mamaw’s (my daddy’s mother) washhouse was off limits, so Mama and Aunt Aileen would do the wash on a table out back by the outhouse. They would have washtubs and rub boards set up on laundry day. The two of them would have to empty the tubs into the outhouse from time-to-time, and draw clean water from the well about twenty feet away. I am sure the wash conversation went something like this.

Wash Tub and Scrub Board - Free Clipart

“I never imagined I would be doing anything like this when I was growing up.” Mama said. She kept her hair tied back out of her face and was hoping for a breeze that would bring some momentary relief from the humidity, and the chore of laundry day.

Aunt Aileen would say, “I’ve been doing this kind of stuff all of my life, but I hope to have something better someday.” Aileen’s hair was dark and curly. She was a bigger boned woman than Mama, who looked frail with her narrow shoulders and five-foot-one-inch frame.

Being a sharecropper’s daughter, Aunt Aileen was the only girl in a family of boys. She grew up quite differently from Mama. Aileen’s family was working on the family farm when she met my Daddy’s brother, Clayton, and married him at thirteen. By the time she was twenty, she had six kids.

“Oh look at this stain. It won’t come out,” Mama said, as she scrubbed harder, her hands red and chapped from being in water so much. “I just can’t keep those kids out of the mud when it rains,” she added. A slight puff of wind blew a lock of fair hair into her face. It felt so good on a hot day like this when the humidity hung thick in the air.

Mama knew she would never keep us out of the muddy ditches, but she hoped for a washer one day, any kind of washer would do. She wasn’t fussy.

After scrubbing, rinsing and wringing, Mama and my aunt would hang the laundry up on wire lines that stretched across the yard, using wood clothespins that waited in a cloth laundry bag.

Laundry - Free Clipart

A few years later, after there were four of us kids and another on the way, we moved into the sharecropper’s shacks that my uncle and aunt lived in previously. I’m sure Mama didn’t want to leave the little 33 by 8 Colonial trailer, but we needed more room. Not long after the move, Mama got a wringer washer and thought she was in “tall cotton,” as the southern expression goes.

Wringer Washer - Free Clipart