I guess, about somethings, I am very naive. I never knew there were places where you could not hang your laundry out on a line. On occasions Anita at Prairie Dreams has mentioned that she is not allowed to have laundry lines in her “community” and it always makes me feel badly that I am able and she is not. I love hanging laundry and find it difficult to understand why a such a basic thing as hanging laundry can be denied. In Anita’s case, I believe the reason for the “law” is mainly because it is temporary housing, but there are places in the United States where is it actually written in the laws that laundry cannot be hung outside the home to dry. I find this absurd and right up there on the STUPID LAWS shelf with…not being able to collect water off of your roof line.

Project Laundry Line is an organization dedicated to education and advocacy of “making air-drying laundry acceptable as a simply and effective way to save energy.”  My Project Laundry List newsletter arrived the other day and it referenced an the article, about a laundry line art exhibit titled “Unmentionables’ Sculpture is Hung Out to Dry” from the Washington Post.

{snip}

“From The Washington Post, “Of all the office buildings downtown, Washington Square is perhaps the oddest place for an underwear-art [hung on a clothesline] controversy: One of its tenants is Victoria’s Secret. The lingerie store, under renovation until fall, is just a few feet from where [the] installation once stood. Victoria’s Secret is known for its racy window displays of scantily clad mannequins.” Nevertheless, lawyers got involved and an experienced artist, Joyce Zipperer, was forced to remove the exhibit…..” Read more HERE.

{snip}

Another interesting find at Project Laundry List is the “Petition to the Whitehouse to Regain Your Right to Line Dry” from the Right2Dry.org. (Be sure you have your volume turned up to hear the banjo music.)

“It is the inalienable right of every man, woman and child to line dry.”

♥ 

I feel as though I have  been away for weeks… maybe even months, but I am now home for at least a few days. We have been in Nebraska for the Miss Basketball Tournament since last Wednesday. I am now confirming that my brain is mush…because I just had to spell and re-spell…TWICE…the word Wednesday. No it wasn’t a typo…I just couldn’t spell WED-NES-DAY!

A couple of sad things have happened in this last week, both associated with our travels. First confession {deep sigh}..it is with deep sadness that I have to restart my counter for our dryer moritorium. I washed a load of clothes the day before we were to leave and it became cloudy and rainy…and then remained humid. I couldn’t leave the clothes in the washer while we were gone and I wasn’t in favor of having to rewash them, so the dryer came out of retirement and one load was run in our electric dryer. While we were on our trip, I did, however, wash 16 pairs of socks (daughter wears two pairs at a time) by hand and hang them to dry in our hotel room. That was a site. Her friends did not understand why I didn’t just go find a laundry mat. I was too tired to explain to teenage girls whom would most likely NOT care about the reason, nor whom would listen beyond my first few syllables of an explaination. They would opt for pushing that invisable “parents-off” button.

Another sad confession has to do with something that has not been publisized much, but we had sort of sworn off of soda. “Sort-of” because we were afraid to announce it because a feeling of inevitable failure.  Twenty-two entire days with soda and I blew it. Yes, it was I who lead us astray. To make it worse, it also took us off our path of not purchasing individual plastic bottles. For me, not drinking soda is as hard as quitting smoking….I have an addiction. I need a 12 step program.

“Hello, my name is anajz, and I am a popoholic.”

THERE! I said it. It is out there for everyone to see….my addiction.

Now they say admitting it is the first step to recovery, but I feel breaking down and having that very first Dr. Pepper the other night, was actually my first REAL step to recovery. Going to dinner with the other families on the team every night, I sat across from someone each night with a large, bubbling glass of soda. (I must mention here that we also have a frugal rule of only ordering water at restaurants.) As I watched the bubbles rise to the top and admired the sparkling shades of caramel glisten through the heavy pilsner glasses in which they were served….I kept telling myself…I can do this…I can do this! I held out, and held out, until one night… in solitude…. after dealing with just one too many difficulties that often ensue when you have too many teen age girls together at one time…. there it was…in a dimly lit, non descript, tiny room right off of the hotel lobby….the beautiful, large, bright red box that promised refreshment, relief from whatever ails you…. sugar crack….it was chipping away at my strength….calling my name…..offering a quick caffiene fix with a bit of carbonation. One Dr. Pepper from that machine and shame washed over me….but not for long.

How in the world can you go THAT long and stumble? The next day, I made my very first purchase from the concession stands at the university. I wanted MORE pop! Of course, who met me up with me at the concession?  One of the mom’s that I had told just the very night before, that we had gone 22 days without a carbonated beverage. (I have decided that it is the carbonation on which I am hooked.) She came up just as I was paying for my 1 Qt. refillable plastic cup, with handle and cool straw. So there is was, I had to admit in public my fall. For almost two days, I did not refill the cup with pop, I carried water and ice to the remaining games. It wasn’t until the last game, that I purchased a refill of Pepsi. And who do you suppose came up beside me at the concession stand? You guessed it…the same adorable, small figured, fit, healthy, mom that was there the first time. I found myself stumbling on explainations that this was the first refill I had purchased and that at least it wasn’t in an individual bottle (that previous discussion could  possibly fill an entire page of posts)  .

What I learned about my addiction this weekend is that, like I previously mentioned, I believe I am hooked on the carbonation..not the caffeine, not the sugar…well maybe not the sugar and that my desire was in my head. All three sodas that I consumed during this trip were not really even that good, especially not the fountain drinks. I had built this up and now I am over it. Telling myself that I could not have something in affect, made me want it even more.  I suspect that I am on the road to recovery and will continue in a more positive fashion…not making such stringent restrictions but following fluid guildelines.

As I close this post, I will leave you with a short snip of an email sent to an aquaintance this morning, explaining how our weekend ended….. 

 ”this is how my day went yesterday after five days spent in nebraska with my daughter playing basketball….at about 9:30 last night we are driving down the road when suddenly, i gasped loudly (for no apparent reason) …husband all but slams on the brakes asking…”what, WHAT?”…..i ask…”what is today?????”  the reply from my daughter in the backseat…”the 13th”. Hubby and I look at each other with unsure, questioning eyes and  then both of us begin to roar in laughter, followed by a quick ”high five” in celebration of our forgotten anniversary….lol. “

I have promised to post the recipe I use for my homemade laundry soap. Making my own laundry soap is not without scrutiny, nor rewards. My family thought Ihad gone bonkers when I began making my laundry soap. DD complained about everything from the scent to the new soap was “bleaching” out the colors of her favorite tee shirts. I happened to like the scent, as it had such a clean aroma to it and the reason her shirts are fading is that she wears the same favorite ones over and over…which means more washing…duh!

DH poked a slight bit of fun at me making my own “hooch”, but after I proved to him the amount of money I was saving, he hasn’t said another word. Correction, when my last batch failed to thicken, he made asked me what I did wrong..haha!

Today, I was going to make another batch and take photos to share, but I found that our water was turned off for the day. Okay, I cannot side step a quick rant here. Our city is undergoing a complete water system revamp..for over a year now. The town is divided into sections and assigned a letter…ours is E. On the post office door, the sections and hours that the water will be turned off are posted…however, I have learned not to depend on the validity of it. I had not check the television or the post office today and found, as I was putting a load of laundry in that there was no water. After a few words left my mouth, I turned the television on to find that the water is to be turned off in my section between 10AM and 4PM with the note An Emergency-Sorry. Holy Cow, has the day gotten away from me? Is after 10:00 already? A quick check showed it to be only 9:15 AM. ! Now my question is why even bother to post something, if it s not going to be correct?  {end rant}

Making your own laundry soap does save a considerable amount of money. I believe my initial investment was less than $20, and yet I have not purchased commercial brand detergent in several months. I still have plenty of my supplies left, and even have FELS NAPTHA Bars for sale at $4.75, which includes shipping.  I figure that I have gone through 40 or so bottles of detergent since I started this method and it boggles my mind, how much I have saved.

Anyhow, here’s my re-SESS-i-peee (recipe) for the laundry soap…it comes with no warrantees, gaurantees, or promises. I now make mine up in a double batch and fill several recycled laundry and vinegar bottles, but I suggest that anyone trying it for the first time to mix only one batch.

HomeMade Laundry Soap

1/3 bar Fels Naptha Bar-Grated

1/2 cup Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax

~In a large pot, add soap to six cups of water and heat on the stove, set at medium, until soap has melted.

~Add soda and Borax and stir until dissolved.

~ Remove from heat.

~Pour 4 cups hot water into a 5 gallon bucket.

~Add mix to hot water in bucket and stir. ( I use a recycled long piece of wood from a window shade.)

~Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water to mixture and stir until mixed.

~Allow laundry soap to sit for 24 hrs. to gel, stirring occasionally.

I use a little over 1/2 cup for regular loads of laundry. You can adjust as needed. Please note that this soap does not really produce bubbles. I have substituted other soaps for the FELS NAPTHA because I could not purchase it locally. Ivory soap, Zote, or homemande scented soaps work also.

If you decide to try this, let me know how your project goes.

Spin Dry: The Washing Machine that Needs Just One Cup of Water

A washing machine that uses only a cup of water to carry out a full wash, leaving clothes virtually dry, has been developed by British inventors.

Researchers say the technology, which uses less than 2 per cent of the water and energy of a conventional machine, could save billions of litres of water each year.

The machine, which has been created by academics at Leeds University, works by using thousands of plastic chips  -  each about half a centimetre in size  -  to absorb and remove dirt.

Remainder of story here

The story says the chips should last up to 6 months with up to 100 uses…does that sound right to you? Do you wash only 4 loads of clothes of clothes a week? What happens to the chips once they need to be replaced?