washday

Come Hang out with me!

When I was a Kid, which seems like a zillion years ago one minute
and yesterday the next, I helped my mother with Laundry.
Now if your young your probably think, "so what?"
Helping with laundry began by heating buckets of water and carrying them to a
wringer washer. If you were lucky enough to have it above freezing weather you
got to use a hose to fill the rinse tub instead of carrying water to it too. As the years
went by we acquired piped hot water

Soap was mostly powdered , oxydol, for delicates
and for heavy soiled . I can still smell the Naptha if I just think
about it. One of my jobs was to scrub socks or stains on a

I remember the first time mom bought She was so excited that we
HAD to do laundry the very next day!

Now hanging out laundry I learned was an art. you needed to hang clothes to avoid
as much ironing time as possible. You also needed to be sure you didn't run out
of line before you ran out of clothes.
Our lines began as a simple rope
that stretched and sagged from the constant use, weather exposure and heavy overalls
(jeans). A pole was placed in the center of each line to keep the clothes from dragging and
become dirty again or smudged with grass stains. We advanced from rope tied from tree
to tree to metal cross end poles and stainless steel wire before mom got her first
automatic washer, which was after I was already on my own. I was so happy my last
two years of high school that mom found the Laundromat! *S*

Clothespins evolved also from plain round wood ones to inlaid printed ones to
spring clips and plastic.
I think the worse part of doing laundry was winter. We washed, and then hung them
out , our fingers numb from the damp freezing wind. Then later they were brought into the
house frozen and placed on a clothes rack in front of the wood
or fuel oil heater to finish drying.

I could go days without sharing with mom but stuck together for hours
I found myself sharing to spite myself!
I admit I hated laundry day but, I loved snuggling down into fresh crisp sheets
with their airy scent .

The Clothesline Said So Much

A clothesline was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.

For then you'd see the fancy sheets
and towels on the line;
You'd see the comp'ny table clothes
With intricate design.

The line announced a baby's birth
To folks who lived inside
As brand new infant clothes were hung
So carefully with pride.

The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed
You'd know how much they'd grown.

It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.

It said, "Gone on vacation now"
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare.

New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy gray,
As neighbors raised their brows,
and looked disgustedly away.

But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers make work less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess.

I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung on the line!

author unknown

This Quilt is about Friendship, sharing and "hangin out". You can find
some really great people in cyberspace to "hang out " with.