Monday, December 9, 2019

Small Garden w/ Greenhouse + Washing Maching Update

This small but mighty garden is so special. There is something to oooh and ahhh over everywhere you rest your eyes. I cannot believe there is even a sizable greenhouse behind the dahlias. A tall wooden privacy fence, assorted picket fences, pea gravel paths, raised beds herbs, flowers, lawn brick patio, etc. Too many amenities to list! Swoon. Found here.

Washing Machine Update: I washed two woolen sweaters by hand in the kitchen sink this morning. It was quick work and I folded them somewhat and took them downstairs to my laundry room and put them soaking wet in my new Maytag washer. I set the dial to "drain and spin" and walked away. I was very pleased at how nearly dry they were. I always take my window screens out for the winter because they block so much light. I put a screen atop each of two wooden drying racks in my furnace room and put a terry towel atop each one. I took a while to arrange them and reblock them somewhat and to pat and shake out the wrinkles.  I went back downstairs after a couple of hours and they had already begun to dry. I shook each one and turned them over. I was afraid to use the handwash cycle but am quite pleased with hand washing them myself. If you try this make sure you have two or more items for balance in the spin cycle rather than just one.

9 comments:

Lisa D. said...

IT'S PERFECT!!!

JudyMac said...

Rosemary, my Maytag dryer came with a Drying Rack that is described as "useful for drying items that require no tumble drying, such as sweaters, etc." It fits into the interior of the barrel, doesn't move while the barrel turns, and you set it on whatever temp/time you want to dry. It has come in handy quite a few times when I've had something I didn't want to be wrinkled up.

Penelope Bianchi said...

Oh thank you so much, Rosemary, for those great tips! It makes such a difference to wash clothes by hand; and I have a Bosch washer and dryer, I have also used the spin cycle to get out water after hand washing! Great washing machines are worth every penny! And great dryers! I recommend Bosch!

Content in a Cottage said...

Penelope Bianchi -- Penny, It is very satisfying to hand wash items rather than sending them to the cleaners, isn't it? We are so lucky to have great washers and dryers in our own homes! They make our lives so much easier and the newer ones are also energy efficient. I am happy to hear you are still a hand washer of sweaters too.
xo, Rosemary

Content in a Cottage said...

JudyMac -- I am in no hurry for my gas dryer to break down, but when it does I'll look for one with the sweater drying rack. That sounds awesome!
xo, Rosemary

Content in a Cottage said...

lisa -- I agree that that small but mighty garden is perfect!!!
xo, Rosemary

The Queen Vee said...

That garden is just dreamy. I would love to have one as beautiful and perfect as this but alas I'm just running out of time plus my gardening skills are those of a kindergartener.

We are so blessed to have washers and dryers, clean water and electricity. When I was young we had a clothesline and a wringer washer. That washer required a lot of work on my mother's part. You would wash on one side of the washer, wring the clothes out on the wringer and then run everything through a rinse and wring again. After that clothes went on the line winter, spring, summer and fall. Everything had to be ironed because they didn't have the nice wash and wear cottons that we have today. We wore our clothes several days before they were washed . We live lives of luxury compared to those who lived in the past.

Linda said...

No matter how long we have been attending to a chore, it's ALWAYS good to learn new tips. thank you

Ruth said...

Remember, too, there were no steam irons. Clothes had to be dampened for ironing. When woolen things needed to be pressed, it was done with a damp cloth laid over the item and ironed over, making steam, although no one at the time ever dreamed there would be such things as steam irons. (And just think, we never had to deal with sad irons heated on a kitchen range that burned wood or coal as our grandmothers did.) My mother hand washed many things to preserve them from the heavy agitation in the wringer washer. I followed the same way, even when I was fortunate enough in the early 60's to have a used automatic washer for a time. I started out married life washing everything with a wash board, on my knees beside the bathtub to do the sheets. When that automatic machine stopped working, I used the wash board again. It never hurt me one bit!!!