Alrewas and we have potentially 14 day mooring to hang out on here. Not sure if we’ll stay that long but it is a peaceful and friendly spot
to stay with lots of walking available, chatty villagers, gongoozlers and boaties. We have
had three days of sunshine, enough for me to forecast the beginning of the
long hot summer ahead! Well I may as well spread the news for free, there are
people who get paid and trusted for talking codswallop!
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| Della keeping her Team together |
Every day the engine needs to be running, if we are not on the cruise move, for 2 – 3 hours to
charge the batteries and generate hot water into the Calorifier for the shower and dishes. When, on
a rare occasion, we are plugged into electricity we get hot water by switching
on the immersion heater.
While the engine is running I like to use the available energy
to ‘do the laundry’. I only use COLD water! I don’t want to create an obsession with laundry, I've been told, unofficially, that I am borderline neurotic but a small wash seems to make economical sense. Today
is a cardi(gan) and a jersey (jumper not cow!)wash. Currently I’m up to date with
day to day clothing and Manchester. Factoid: Manchester, a term still used in
Australia for linen and towels. In 'the old days' Manchester was written on packing
crates of cotton goods exported from the cotton factories Manchester, England.
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| Washing joy! |
I am very happy with my narrow (not deep) Indesit washing machine. It fits in the
bathroom perfectly and does not need to be hidden away in a cupboard. I am
proud to have it on display!
An abridged, I say abridged as I am now no longer a spring
chicken, history of me the Washer Woman goes like this:
70’s -The semi not -quite-automatic agitator washing machine....you had
to move the dial to fill, then move dial to agitate, then move dial to empty,
then move dial to rinse...... This high tech operation was followed by putting
the washing through the mangle/wringer. There was no Health and Safety apart from
common sense. Feed the wet washing through the mangle, and dry your hands on a
towel rather than flatten them through the wringer. Take your flat pack laundry
outdoors and shake items to bring them back to life to dry pegged on the Hills
Hoist. An iron was necessary, in those days.
Early 80’s – I bought a quality F&P (Fisher and Paykel)
top loader, on ‘lay by’ If you couldn’t keep up with the repayments then it was 'bye bye'. It was expensive but it was a lifesaver then, it did the work while
I could stay out of the way!
Mid 80’s London and I met the Front Loader. I borrowed but
didn’t beg or steal. I could watch the washing works,the reality tv of its day, while I had a cuppa and a natter sat
at the kitchen table.
90’s Portugal. It was basic, I started washing laundry on
the rocks down in the river.
The early days of the ‘Good Life’. It wasn’t long before I became the
proud owner of a concrete tub with an integral ‘washing’board. I remember we
left it at the roadside while renovation works to our donkey stable aka house-to –be began and once we had a solid ground space outdoors we moved it down. It really
is another story. We didn't have water, on tap so to speak. Our valley
did not get electricity until 1998. Think about that!
The advantage with hand washing was that on a building site I always had clean hands whatever dirty job came my way. The rotary clothes line was a bargain purchase from Argos, it wasn’t up to the weight of the washing and one winter’s day it collapsed under its heavyweight! Bugger and blast. Repeating the washing task was more than a chore!! Wet clay soil should remain on the ground and not infiltrate clean wet laundry.
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| Para enxugar ropas com mano |
The advantage with hand washing was that on a building site I always had clean hands whatever dirty job came my way. The rotary clothes line was a bargain purchase from Argos, it wasn’t up to the weight of the washing and one winter’s day it collapsed under its heavyweight! Bugger and blast. Repeating the washing task was more than a chore!! Wet clay soil should remain on the ground and not infiltrate clean wet laundry.
Milennium... I had an Ariston front loader washing machine.
Electricity had arrived, for us, in 1998. We’d moved up the road, to a new home
rebuild and my pay off for moving was an automatic washing machine to take me
through more building site days. I had plenty to do that didn’t involve
labouring with hands-on washing!
2005 NZ 9kg top loader machine. Big beast, much bigger than
what I needed but the price was tempting and included a clothes drier. I didn’t
need a dryer and I used it rarely. I like hanging my clothes outdoors on the
clothesline. Hill’s Hoists have been overtaken by plastic fantastic rotart
clotheslines.
England and Nb Avalon Mist....intitially I returned to hand
washing or Laundrette, if found. Then I discovered the little twin-tub, light
enough to carry to the Bow and powered when engine on and we were cruising.
Small enough to manage 4 tshirts, knickers and socks etc., better than
handwashing.
.... Mercia Marina. Great equipped laundrys with appliances
that take coins. No tolerance from management to hang washing in view of
humans, therefore dryers in constant use. Occasional altercations with other
boatees who forgot to remove their laundry from the dryer or washed their
laundry onboard and then used 2 of 3 dryers!! Get my drift!
...NbDolcieBlue....it doesn’t get better in England than
this. No mess Charlie and we stay clean and mean.
Comment from the ‘Cut’ in Alrewas.
“You still doing the washing? We passed you at Stenson!”
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| Country walks |
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