The new clothesline out back.

It has been a mean week and a week of firsts here at Wildflower. It began, with the purchase of some new goats who are presently in milk. Then the clothes drier committed ritual suicide just when I needed it most. I was teaching myself how to milk our new prized goats. My aim still isn’t perfect and milk does get all over a bit more than I would like. Sometimes it runs down my hand and into my sleeve… It would have been so nice to put my sweatshirt in the wash then run it through the drier… But the drier was dead, so not an option. I have been waiting desperately for a way to dry clothes till today when the new clothesline was completed.

 

Building the clothesline

Dr. Farmer Moomin, was the hero that built the clothesline. I was in a hurry to get it up because the work I was doing was so messy and I was feeling rather grubby and gross. Especially considering the house too was momentarily a pit and we are also having an issue with our plumbing, leading to a problem with our water pressure that isn’t making it easy to get clean. The combination was just a bit too much for me. I may live on a farm but I am not an animal. Being able to get clean is a very basic and necessary thing. Poor Dr. Farmer Moomin, with a million other jobs to do, because this is a farm we live on. There are always jobs a plenty for *everyone.* So let’s put the clothesline on the list we will get to it….. Eventually… I was running out of clothes, and getting more milk covered by the day. Some cleanliness was desperately needed. So,T the hero of the hour went outside and dug some post holes and using his many tools he built us a clothesline.

The first side is up and the cement is drying.

The post holes were nice and deep. Surprisingly deep. He built the frame with wood.

Cement is dry for the first side of the frame. The second side is now waiting for the cement to harden.

Once the second side of the frame was up, we waited for the cement to dry again. It couldn’t dry fast enough…. I was feeling so gross.

Finally strung!

Lastly, Dr. Farmer Moomin, ran some cord. The clothesline was complete! I was over the moon with joy and scuttled off to go do laundry. A happier homestead wife, there never was.

View of clothesline from a distance.

We spent time selecting the perfect spot. Much labor and energy went into this clothesline. Now, we have a very good thing, because the drier, is still dead. But we can once again live as if we were civilized.

Clotheslines have long been homestead staples and there are many benefits to using them rather than an electric drier. Such as the sun’s impact on clothing, less damage to clothing so they last longer, the smell of clean clothes that dried in the garden, to name a few.

I am very grateful for the effort of Dr. Farmer Moomin, on this project.
Thank you for reading,
Amanda of Wildflower Farm