There are few domestic chores nicer than putting out washing on a lovely day, sunshine and a bit of wind and no threat of rain! It in itself is quite nice, the rhythmic movement of bending to the washing basket and stretching to the line, listening to the birds, the neighbour’s cat trying to be helpful round your ankles as you try to avoid stepping on him/accidentally kicking him/tripping over him. Another neighbour cooks from early and the gorgeous mouth-watering smell of her different spiced dishes waft over the wall.
As i put things on the line I always think of other people… my mum running down the garden with an armload of laundry, standing with pegs in her mouth s she put them out, or running back out to gather them in when it looked like rain; myself as a younger mum, hanging out white nappies, proud of myself that they are so brilliantly white; my cousin Carolyn who hangs clothes in a completely different way from me, shorts she hangs from the waistline, I hang them from the legs. panties with two pegs, I hang them with one; and my friend Celia, whose example I follow with socks – she pegged each sock beside its pair so when they are taken in it is easy to put them together and put them away.
So, a simple domestic chore brings happy thoughts of other people I’m very fond of!
Lois Elsden 
I just love when little things can bring happiness.
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This is my favorite chore too Lois! It’s so peaceful, moving btw the lines, hearing the birds, and I always think of the women before me as well. My mom said in summers it was so hot that when she hung our diapers on one end, by the time she got to the other end they were dry.
I think it’s one of our most primal female behaviors but sadly lots of younger women don’t know it anymore. And it’s so much better for the fabrics, not to mention the money we save on energy! Did you know some of the overly pretentious neighborhoods in the USA have banned clotheslines? So stupid it’s criminal, if you ask me. I feel lucky to enjoy mine ☺ Loved this thank you!
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Aww, thank you! Yes it is such a mum thing! I can’t imagine why it should be banned? So environmentally friendly, and so therapeutic!
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I peg out washing in exactly the same way as you. If you peg shorts out by the waistband they don’t dry as that’s the thickest part, far better by the legs as there’s less material there. As for not knowing the expression, what does your friend call this activity? It reminds me of when I said to friends from London that I was going to “set the table”, They’d never heard the expression and always said that they were going to lay the table. Neither had they heard of a maiden, they called it a clothes horse.
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I only heard of ‘maiden’ when I came to Manchester… heck that’s 45 years ago!
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