Ma began the work that belonged to the day. Each day had its own proper work. Ma used to say:
"Wash on Monday,
Iron on Tuesday,
Mend on Wednesday,
Churn on Thursday,
Clean on Friday,
Bake on Saturday,
Rest on Sunday.”
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder , Chapter two
I found this verse last week whilst hunting for more pancake man information and I have been thinking about it as I go about my housewifely activity. As soon as anyone knows I have my very own little six pack at home, there very quickly follows a comment on how much washing I must do.
Every day as I feed my washing machine I am so thankful I live in a time when I do not have to devote a whole day to the Laundry. The thought of washing it all by hand, after heating up all the water, having made the soap and then having to dry it all make my four or so loads of daily washing much easier to deal with.
Today was the first day I braved hanging the sheets on the line this year, I am waiting for the inevitable rain but it looks cheerful dancing in the breeze.
We have been trying hard not to use the tumble dryer as our little electricity usage OWL box shows a scary amount of electricity used when it is on. We are very fortunate to have a big utility room; it was the old kitchen and is a perfect place for all the clothes to dry. I have done my best to surround myself with lovely things as I spend a huge amount of my day in there.
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| Dries so much quicker this way
Presiding over the laundry room is Pebble the cat who loves sleeping in the warm room.
Do you have any top laundry tips to share? I would love to hear them!
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Don't think I have any particular tips to share, but thanks for yours! I thought we had loads of washing just with the 3 of us and cloth nappies, but 8 of you must be hard work on the washing front. xx
ReplyDeleteGoodness - that's a scary amount of washing! I struggle to keep on top of the ironing generated by the two of us! Jx
ReplyDeleteGreat blog and I love the rhyme .... if only xx
ReplyDeleteI do the washing with a slower spin cycle in the spring and summer so that I can shake and hang the washing on the line and then fold it when I take it off - then there is no need for ironing :-)
ReplyDeleteSunday here was a great day for washing, it looked lovely blowing in the sun and breeze! Julie xxx
ReplyDeleteI remember my mum having a set wash day, and the washing took her the best part of the day in a twin tub. She used to have a boiler too for the whites. Thank goodness I've got my automatic.
ReplyDeleteOh how I loved those books when I was young! I too should pull them out and read them to Miss 11.
ReplyDeleteMy laundry tip is this - I dry on the outside line (perks of living in such a dry country) and when I get it off the line I have 3 separate baskets that I sort into
Sheets, towels etc
Underwear, non ironing
Ironing
Ironing is the one job I tend to avoid, but I find once I fold one basket the other one seems small enough to fold too, then with only one basket of ironing left it seems simple enough to knock that off as well!
That way I don't have baskets of clean washing piling up...
Well, it's what works for my anyway!
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