| Author |
Across the Fence:  all about clothes lines  |
|
Ronna
True Blue Farmgirl
1891 Posts
Ronna
Fernley
NV
USA
1891 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 11:00:29 AM
|
I know we don't usually share email forwards, but this one was so nostalgic, it seems to fit. Came from the sourdough bread list. I remember most hanging my daughters diapers and then bringing them in stiff as boards to thaw and dry over the oil stove.
THE CLOTHES LINE.....THE BASIC RULES
>
> Do you remember?
>
> 1. You had to wash the clothesline before hanging
> any clothes..... Walk the
> length of each line with a
> damp cloth around the line.
>
> 2. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order
> and always hang whites
> with whites and hang them first.
>
> 3. You never hung a shirt by the shoulders, always
> by the tail...... What
> would the neighbors think?
>
> 4. Wash day on a Monday...........never hang clothes
> on the weekend or
> Sunday for heaven's sake!
>
> 5. Hang the sheets and towels on the outside lines
> so you could hide your
> unmentionables' in the middle.
>
> 6. It didn't matter if it was sub zero
> weather.....clothes would 'freeze dry
> '
>
> 7. Always gather the clothes pins when taking down
> dry clothes.... Pins left
> on the line was 'tacky'.
>
> 8. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes
> up so that each item
> did not need two clothes pins, but
> shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed
> item.
>
> 9. Clothes off of the line before dinnertime, neatly
> folded in the clothes
> basket and ready to be ironed.
>
> 10. IRONED?????????? ....Well, that's a whole other
> subject.
>
> A POEM
>
> A clothes line 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 upon the line;
> You'd see the 'company table cloths
> 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 carefully raised their brows,
> And looked the other way..
>
> 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
>
|
|
|
joyfulmama
True Blue Farmgirl
1175 Posts
Debra
Silver Springs
NV
USA
1175 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 11:04:56 AM
|
I love clothes lines. I miss having one.. I just hardly go outside here- it seems lately we have been having a sand storm daily.. no fun..
Blessings, Debra
Psalms 23:1 "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want."
"Your life is an occasion, Rise to it." Mr Magorium..
http://myvintagehome.blogspot.com
http://woolieacres.net |
 |
|
|
Betty J.
True Blue Farmgirl
1407 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
1407 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 11:14:54 AM
|
| I have a clothesline and I love it. That was the first thing I installed when I purchased my home. There aren't many that have them. They would rather have hot tubs and swimming pools! I usually hang out things that need to be "ironed" or pressed in one way or another. Love that fresh smell on the bed when the linens are returned. |
|
|
|
Miss Bee Haven
True Blue Farmgirl
4331 Posts
Janice
Louisville/Irvington
Kentucky
USA
4331 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 11:20:18 AM
|
Thanks for posting that, Ronna. I'm going to print it off and keep it. I bought a nice clothes line, posts and all, at a Big Lot's store last year and I'm hoping my dh will put it up this summer.
Farmgirl Sister #50
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?"
'Br.Dave Gardner' |
|
|
|
Ronna
True Blue Farmgirl
1891 Posts
Ronna
Fernley
NV
USA
1891 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 11:22:02 AM
|
I've requested a clothes line, think he forgets about it. Has to be someplace where the dogs, especially the silly Lab won't have access. Can't be near the hot tub, which is on the deck off our bedroom...cause the Lab thinks the top is her private place to lay down and watch everything. I want one mostly for stuff that takes forever to dry in the dryer; rugs, quilts and comforters. And airing out linens to get that wonderful "dried in the sun" smell.
Glad that some of you can appreciate and enjoy the "rules" and poem. |
|
|
|
ruralfarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
4309 Posts
Rene'
Prosser
WA
USA
4309 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 11:26:12 AM
|
Betty, Me too... I love clothe lines - there is this store in Dayton WA.. (MY hubby's home town) called Dingles...girlfriend, they have things in there attic that mystifies.... it is the quint-essential farmgirl store...complete with overalls :)
Rene~Prosser Farmgirl
" Plant goodness, harvest the fruit of loyalty, plow the new ground of knowledge. Hosea 10:12 |
|
|
|
KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 11:29:04 AM
|
Thanks, Ronna...reminds me so much of my grandmother. My mom would really enjoy this--most of her memories are in the basement, with my gran and the old ringer washing machine, ironing board and clotheslines all throughout the basement and back yard of their little house. Grandma took in laundry for folks, mostly businessman and my mom and her sister had to help!
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
|
|
|
LibraryGirl
Farmgirl in Training
18 Posts
Beth
Mt. Blanchard
Ohio
USA
18 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 11:30:14 AM
|
| The first thing that went up this spring when the ground thawed was a set of "new-to-us" clotheslines, inherited from a neighbor farmer. You just can't beat the electricity savings! (And yes, the smell of dried-outside clothes is an added bonus!) |
|
|
|
Betty J.
True Blue Farmgirl
1407 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
1407 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 11:34:38 AM
|
| I e-mailed the message to my dearest GF in WI. She said it was always true, except when dinner was at noon. She said she never had to wipe the clothesline down, but I remember having to do it. I'm a little more lax about my clothesline now, but it needs to be done. I also need to take the clothespins off the line and toss them and use a clothespin bag that I can bring inside. |
|
|
|
Nancy Gartenman
True Blue Farmgirl
9094 Posts
Nancy
West Seneca
New York
USA
9094 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 11:49:14 AM
|
Ronna,
That was cute and I must say when I lived at home that list of rules was pretty close to the way I was taught to hang out clothes.
NANCY JO
www.Nancy-Jo.blogspot.com |
|
|
|
Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 12:25:55 PM
|
I would hate to live without a clothesline..I have almost always had one. I follow most of those rules except the freeze drying...not for me...and I do leave my pins on the line for the season for sure..so I guess I am tacky..haha
I love to see my big old long clothes line full of jeans...from smallest to biggest in a row.
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
Edited by - Aunt Jenny on Apr 23 2008 12:26:20 PM |
|
|
|
Maryjane Lee
True Blue Farmgirl
2195 Posts
Maryjane
CA
USA
2195 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 1:05:49 PM
|
Ronna, wow, the poem brought tears to my eyes and a soft giggle and then a sigh...I miss the days of clotheslines. Memories! I remember a day when I was going to go on a date and I couldn't go until I hung the clothes first! Boy did I work fast with that batch of wash! Thanks for sharing this. It made my day! xo
Hugs, Maryjane Lee
Farmgirl Sister #44
http://thebeehivecottage.blogspot.com
|
|
|
|
Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22942 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22942 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 1:10:28 PM
|
I love it! I want a clothes line so bad! I keep seeing wooden clothes pins at the dollar store. I think I am going to snatch them up and stick them in my cedar chest until the day I get my own house (not rent) and can have my clothes line. :D
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
|
|
|
Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
|
|
mikesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
3659 Posts
Sherri
Elma
WA
USA
3659 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 1:27:34 PM
|
I may have posted this picture before, but there are some new gals. This is our clothes line at the cabin with an afghan and sheet touching the ground. Dh was working in Las Vegas while I was living there by myself and I kept telling him the lines needed to be tightened, but he didn't think it was a big deal. So I took this picture and sent it to him. Those cotton lines will keep s---t----r---e----t---c---h---i---n----g until your clotheslines are at waist height!! We replaced them with plastic coated wire thank goodness!
Farmgirl Sister #98
Check out my new online store
http://www.shopthefrontier.com/VFstore/index.php?manufacturers_id=79&osCsid=6be4b25bf9555031c6e2e86bbde23dba |
|
|
|
Maryjane Lee
True Blue Farmgirl
2195 Posts
Maryjane
CA
USA
2195 Posts |
|
|
Sagewood
True Blue Farmgirl
106 Posts
South Carolina
106 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 1:36:32 PM
|
I wouldn't live without my clothesline. I don't always get to hang everything on it, but I sure do make a point of putting all the linens and towels on it! LOVE THE SMELL! Love seeing the things swinging in the breeze.
AND boy oh boy did we have rules to hanging our clothes when I was young. Most of the ones you posted are exactly what we did..:) was good to read it! I love the poem, I think I'll print it out nicely, and hang it in the laundry room! THANKS!!
Sage,
The Hedgewife
Are you a Hedgewife?
http://hedgewife.blogspot.com/
Hiding in the broom closet.
http://sagewoodfarm.blogspot.com/
|
|
|
|
4forMe
True Blue Farmgirl
166 Posts
Dawn
Easton
MD
166 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 1:52:56 PM
|
I love my clothesline. DH installed it the first summer when we bought and moved into this house. He thinks clotheslines are silly but he installed it anyway. We kept having a problem with stretching lines and the posts leaning, so finally a few weeks ago he ordered that heavy duty wire from Lehman's and rewired it and attached extra wire and stakes to the posts so that they won't lean. I love my DH.
I was looking at my line the other day when I had the whole families jeans hanging and I am like the previous poster who said that she enjoyed it, me too.
Sewing, knitting, gardening mom of 4. |
|
|
|
gafarmwoman
True Blue Farmgirl
244 Posts
Pam
Georgia
USA
244 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 2:13:55 PM
|
I like the basic rules and the poem, Ronna.
I also love a clothes line. I don't think I loved it as much when I was bringing in those frozen diapers 30+ years ago though.
Here is my solar powered clothes dryer at work just the other day.
You can never have enough friends.
Please come and sit a spell with me at Life on a Southern Farm
http://georgiafarmwoman.blogspot.com |
|
|
|
mikesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
3659 Posts
Sherri
Elma
WA
USA
3659 Posts |
|
|
gafarmwoman
True Blue Farmgirl
244 Posts
Pam
Georgia
USA
244 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 3:57:10 PM
|
Thanks Sherri. Don't you all just love the smell of clothes fresh off the clothes line? Not to mention sheets. After a hard day of work and slide into a bed smelling just like the outdoors. Makes for a good nights rest.
You can never have enough friends.
Please come and sit a spell with me at Life on a Southern Farm
http://georgiafarmwoman.blogspot.com |
|
|
|
4forMe
True Blue Farmgirl
166 Posts
Dawn
Easton
MD
166 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 4:02:18 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by gafarmwoman
Don't you all just love the smell of clothes fresh off the clothes line? Not to mention sheets. After a hard day of work and slide into a bed smelling just like the outdoors. Makes for a good nights rest.
I totally agree!!!
Sewing, knitting, gardening mom of 4. |
|
|
|
ruralfarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
4309 Posts
Rene'
Prosser
WA
USA
4309 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2008 : 5:23:35 PM
|
pam,
Short of a hamack and a book - that is a perfect scene....
Rene~Prosser Farmgirl
" Plant goodness, harvest the fruit of loyalty, plow the new ground of knowledge. Hosea 10:12 |
|
|
|
gafarmwoman
True Blue Farmgirl
244 Posts
Pam
Georgia
USA
244 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2008 : 06:36:30 AM
|
Rene', the hammock is on the other side. Now I just have to find time to read that book.
You can never have enough friends.
Please come and sit a spell with me at Life on a Southern Farm
http://georgiafarmwoman.blogspot.com |
|
|
|
kydeere40744
True Blue Farmgirl
1132 Posts
Jessica
Kentucky
USA
1132 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2008 : 07:03:13 AM
|
This brought back a lot of memories growing up. We had a three line clothesline in our backyard. Yours truly was the youngin who had to go out and gather the clothes. I hate doing laundry to this day, but the feeling of sun warmed towels make for wonderful memories.
One time though, I was getting ready to head out the back door to go gather the laundry and there was a huge rattlesnake on the porch. If I hadn't looked down, I would have stepped on the sucker. Mom had to holler at my brother and dad to go out there and kill the thing. Needless to say, I always looked before I leaped going outside!
~Jessica in Kentucky & Farmgirl Sisterhood #137~
Be sure to visit my blog & Crafty Clipart for some of my photographs:
http://bluegrassprincess.blogspot.com/
http://www.craftyclipart.com |
|
|
|
Crafty Chic
True Blue Farmgirl
64 Posts
Melissa
West Plains
MO
USA
64 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2008 : 07:52:15 AM
|
I've had a clothesline at a couple of houses we lived in. The summer I was pregnant, I used it all the time b/c it was too hot to use the dryer. I loved how our clothes smelled after drying on the line. I miss having a clothesline. Here at our house now, only one post is still up. I'm not sure what happened to the other post-it was gone when we moved in. We're hoping to buy a house this summer (God willing, a little hobby farm, a couple of miles out of town) and if that house doesn't come with one, I'm putting one in!
Visit our Farmgirl Chapter Blog:
http://country-chicks.blogspot.com
Visit me at my other blogs:
family-fixins.blogspot.com
wwwmyblessedworld.blogspot.com
Visit our Etsy Store:
Heart2Home
www.heart2home.etsy.com |
|
|
|
Across the Fence: all about clothes lines |
|
all about clothes lines
