Laundry the Eco-Old-Fashioned Way - Joanna Style

I've been on this kick lately of not using the dryer. For anything. At all. Under any circumstances.

The problem with this idea is that I don't have a clothesline.

When Seth and I first moved in together (almost 5 years ago!) Seth had more than no interest in hanging clothes outside to dry. He loathed the idea. He said that the air outside is DIRTY and one shouldn't hang CLEAN clothes in it. I never really figured out how the air outside is really much different than the air in the dryer, in the basement, where Seth regularly fires up a motorcycle and fills the house with exhaust. (If anything, I think the air outside is cleaner.) But still, Seth maintains that if a bird were to sit in our tree and poop on our clothes, we would have to wash them again, and I really can't argue with that.

When we got home after our wedding, for some reason we had a ton of laundry. I think we left a bit of laundry and then came back with only dirty clothes. We did load after load after load of laundry, but the piles never seemed to get smaller. As I switched the clothes from the washer to the dryer for what seemed like the thousandth time, I thought "man, the electric bill is going to be a doozy this month!"

[Sidenote: I just looked up the word "doozy" because Google doesn't believe that its a word. So, I found it in Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary. Here's what they say:

doo zy : noun : an extraordinary one of its kind.

Does anyone else find that definition hilarious?]

Anyway, the electric bill came. I suppose "extraordinary" could be an accurate description. Seth's eyes almost popped out of his head.

The next day, I needed to wash our sheets. Not only did I not want to use the dryer (and its huge amount of electricity) because of the bill, but in general I'm always trying to use less electricity, or at least get my electricity from sustainable sources. I can't control where the electric from the grid comes from, but I can control whether I use that electric or not. Sometimes. OK, I can at least take small steps to use less of it. Right?
Of course right. (name that movie!)

So I was interested in washing my sheets and not using the dryer. But I don't have a clothesline!
Don't despair, YOU CAN DO IT!

We don't have a clothesline, but here's what we do have. 
A drying rack (for clothes that don't go in the dryer).
Two hangers with clips on them (for pants and shorts and things).
Two clothespins.


So, I put the sheets in the washer confident that when they came out I could find a way to hang them up to dry. And I did it! I positioned the drying rack in the middle of the dining room, hung the end of one sheet over one edge of it, and clipped the other end to a hanger, which I hung on a nail in the doorway to the kitchen. (Normally this nail is only used to hold Christmas lights up. I'm not sure what its original purpose was.) Then, I did the same thing with the duvet cover, hanging the second clippy hanger in the doorway to the living room - which also has a convenient Christmas light nail in the center of it.


I had the fanciful feeling of a 7 year old making a tent clubhouse out of quilts and blankets.

I attached the two clothespins to another hanger and hung the end of the last sheet from the door of the guest room, with the other end of the sheet draped loosely over the ironing board. I hung the pillowcases on the rack.


I did this around noon, (lunch break!) and everything was dry well before it was time to go to bed. I'd even say they were dry by the time we ate dinner! How exciting! How inspiring! I can do it! We can do it! We don't need a dryer!


When Seth came home ("this place is like a Bedouin tent") I told him of my electric bill theory and may have started rambling about mountain top removal, clean coal propaganda, unions, labor, solar power and windmills. He remembered doing load after load of laundry with me, and he thought perhaps the section of my rant that had to do with us not using our dryer had merit. I told him we should get a clothesline outside so I could hang ALL the clothes out to dry, and he said "Ok, and we'll just hang a sign on it that says '$$' so that I remember not to complain about it."


So I'm taking off and not looking back. I haven't used the dryer for all of June, and I don't even have to skimp on a load. (And I haven't even gotten a clothesline yet!) I hang most things on our drying rack, which is a pretty good size. What doesn't fit I hang on hangers in doorways. Everything is usually dry by that evening.


So - I'm going to see how long I can go without using the dryer. I'm shooting for - all summer. Who's with me!? I've already even started thinking I can manage all of this without a clothesline too. Who need a clothesline anyway, when you have a drying rack, two clippy hangers and two clothespins?


Not I!

Seth vs. KTM vs. The Stream of My Conciousness

Interruption, again. Apologies - I don't find wedding planning fascinating enough to let it take over my life.

As you may recall, Seth has been having some minor problems with his motorcycle. After he got it going last time, we began working on our new fully enclosed motorcycle trailer. We're building a clubhouse inside of it.

Or something like that.

Here are some shots of Seth when he got the trailer home:

It kinda reminded me of when Dad and Urban brought the "new" rollback home.
:)

I'll tell you more about our new clubhouse later. Back to the story at hand. Seth left his bike sitting for a while, neglected, and it didn't appreciate it. So, of course, when we tried to go for a ride on Sunday (Seth hasn't ridden a motorcycle since February and is racing in a prestigious race in 2 1/2 weeks - eeek!) it didn't start. Actually, oh yes. It did start, but conked out when we were about 2 miles away. Seth left me in the parking lot of a hotel with his bike and took my bike (which starts every time) home to get the clubhouse trailer.

When we got home we stripped his bike down, preparing to open up the engine for worst-case-scenario investigation. In the process, we saw a wire that was split in two. "Oh" said Seth, "that's obviously the problem." He took off the wire, which goes to his computer system (the one that tells him how fast he's going and silly things like that) and put the battery on the charger overnight.

On Monday when he got home from work, Seth put the battery in and took the bike outside. He tried to start it and

WREE WREE WREE WREE WREE

no go.

Last time this happened he bump started it and everything was fine. So he tried that again, but everything was not fine. It started, but it sounded TEEEERRIBLE. He managed to keep it alive around the block, and rode back up the driveway with blue exhaust sputtering from his tailpipe. I told him his exhaust was blue and asked if there could be oil getting into the gas. Or something...not that I really know.

"I hope I didn't blow a head gasket in this baby," Seth despaired.

Upon closer examination we found black gunk all over the place, like it was spitting out from the engine or the exhaust pipes. Seth hopped in the car and went to "the shop." When he came back he had an idea! He had cleaned the carburetor on Saturday, maybe he messed something up! He spent the night taking his carburetor apart piece by piece, cleaning it, (over and over again) and then carefully putting it back together again. Around 12:30 he had it together, and decided he'd put it in the bike the next day, and we'd go for a ride.

Tuesday. Seth got home from work and went straight to the basement. He brought his bike outside and turned on the gas. Immediately a stream of gas came pouring out of the petcock. I started cracking up, he gasped, and quickly turned the gas off. "Did you forget something?" I asked. He grinned and went inside. When he put the proper tubing back on his bike, he turned on the gas again, and tried to start the temperamental beast.

WREE WREE WREE WREE WREE

WREE WREE WREE WREE WREE

He tried to kick start it.
CaTHUMP
CaTHUMP
CaTHUMP

He looked at me with a frown.

He tried to bump start it. He rolled down the hill and it started for a few cycles of the engine without ever sounding like it was going to keep going. It didn't.

He pushed it back up the hill and tried again. It did the same thing.

We pushed it back up the hill and tried again.

We pushed it aaaall the way up the hill to our main driveway, and he tried again.

We pushed it aaaall the way up the hill and tried again.

We pushed it back to the basement driveway and poor Seth looked at it in despair. He decided to check and see what the spark plug looked like. Every other time we've tried to start it we've burned up the spark plug, so this seemed like a reasonable idea to me. He went and got his tools and a new spark plug. Suddenly, he looked up at me with a huge grin on his face.

"This is perhaps not my finest mechanical hour," he said.
"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I forgot to put the spark plug back in."
He he he a ha ha ha  ho ho ho.

I was rolling on the ground with laughter. He put the spark plug in and it started. right. up.

We were both sweaty hot from all that unnecessary pushing his motorcycle (with a full tank of gas) up our steep hill. "Wanna have a freezy pop and go for a ride?" I asked.

"YES" Seth responded.

When we finally got out for our first ride of the year it was ultimate bliss. We were so excited. Paul got us a new camcorder for our wedding present that you can attach to helmets and bikes and stuff, and Seth put it on his helmet. (We were testing it out before he races pikes peak!)

Now that Seth has finally (once and for all - hopefully) conquered the KTM battle, I thought I'd humor you with the thoughts that run through my brain while we're on a motorcycle ride. Our plan was to go over Warren Mountain (Roxbury Gap), Lincoln Peak (Lincoln Gap) and then come back over the App Gap.

Here goes...
"These mountains are SO beautiful. I love Vermont. How could we ever consider moving away? What a beautiful summer day - the wind in our hair, the sun on our faces, aaaah perfection. What? We're getting on the highway?? That never happens. Seth is pretty far ahead of me. I'm going about as fast as I care to and I'm not catching up. There are a lot of cars in between us, I hope I see where he gets off!

OH! He's getting off!

I enjoy this road. Wait. We're not turning here? Ooooh we're taking a back way. Woo-oo-ooah this road is bumpy!

Holy Cow that guard rail in the corner of my vision is totally mangled. It's down in the creek! Oooooh. I'll bet this road got wiped OUT during the flood. Huh. I wonder if we're going to come across any huge crevasses. Seth would probably manage to hop over it and I would tumble into it like a daydreaming WOAH there's a stop sign. Those things always sneak up on me.

Ha! This is Roxbury? What a dump. I'll have to tell Mom never to move here. There are so many houses for sale on Warren Mountain. I'll have to count them as I'm going up. The whole dagon mountain is for sale! I wonder how much it would cost to buy all of those properties and just have an entire mountain. Probably a gazillion dollars. (There's a house for sale!) Seth and I totally need a gazillion dollars. That house is for sale! And its so pretty! Mom could buy that house! Naah, its to close to Roxbury.

Oh yes, the road is turning to dirt. I prefer dirt to pavement [babump] I take it back. I like pavement way better than gravel. Gravel slides and moves, pavement usually doesn't. That transition from pavement to dirt was tricky! Huh. Pikes Peak is partially paved, and partially dirt. Seth is going to be flying over those transitions. I wonder what the dirt part of Pikes Peak is like. Is it hard pack with a few pieces of gravel here and there  like this? or is it just hard pack and the same as pavement? I'm not nervous at all about this race.
Nope, not me.

There's a house for sale! Its driveway is so long I can't even see the house! That's a good sign.

Wooooah that was a tight turn. There's a house for sale!

There's another house for sale! The whole mountain really is for sale!

Oh, here's the top, now back down. Huh, there aren't any houses for sale on this side, I wonder why.

Duh Joanna, remember how dumpy Roxbury was? And you know how nice Warren is, of course this side of the mountain isn't for sale.

I love going over covered bridges on motorcycles.

Lincoln Gap is Sooooo beautiful. I hope Seth turned the video camera on for this. Ugh. We forgot to come skiing here last winter! Going up steep mountains is so much easier than going down. Oh. Here's the top! Holy Cannoli that is steep! I can't believe we braved this gap with Paul when it was already closed for winter. What a bunch of eejits. Woooooah man this gravel is deep! I'm-not-going-to-make-this-turn, I'm-not-going-to-make-this-turn, I'm-not-going-to-make-this-turn eeeeEEEEEEAAAAAIIII'm going to diiiie!! phew! Made it. Yikes. This gravel is AFRICA deep.
I hope the dirt section of Pikes Peak doesn't have deep gravel like this.
It probably does.
Seth is probably sliding all through this stuff on purpose.
I am sooo not nervous at all about the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.

Hey! There's a church for sale! We should buy it and Dad can have two kids living at church. Ha.

Oooooh the App Gap. I am at once terrified and in love. Seth must be blazing. I wonder if he turned the camera on. I'll bet he forgot about it. Maybe he'll remember and film me from the top. That would be awesome."

As soon as I get to the top Seth tells me that he totally forgot about the camera. "Did you get me coming up the last stretch?" I asked.
"No, I forgot about it til just this instant."

Then we took this video...

Then he filmed me going down the mountain, but its like 10 minutes long and really boring. I'll spare you.

Then we ate at the Dairy Creme, which has the best fried chicken and the only good french fries in all of Vermont, and then we went home.
Wasn't that fun!