The Romantic Clothesline…

Just returned from Scotland a couple of weeks ago… and that trip has changed my life in several ways… like how I dry my clothes!  My first day in Edinburgh, Sarah, our hostess for the first three nights, laid out towels on the bed for us to use and … well.. my towel was crunchy and was more like a loofah than a towel! I was told that it was because she hangs her clothes out.. and I looked around and everyone had a clothesline… thus began my romance with the clothesline. Everywhere I went in Scotland there were clotheslines.. here’s just a few pictures.. (1. Applecross 2. Dollar and 3. Ullapool).  I honestly think they are beautiful… the sizes and shapes… the textures… the movement in the wind… ahhhhhhh a clothesline..

Don’t assume these folks had no dryer… a lot of people have dryers but they still hang their clothes out because it’s better for the clothes (less fiber wear and tear), better for the environment (using less electricity) and better for their pocketbook (I figured I save about .60 per load)..

You know how it is when you become aware of something you see/read about it everywhere?? I never saw jeep wranglers until I decided I wanted one and now I see them everywhere.. I’m sure there’s some scientific name for this… Well it’s true of clotheslines too… I saw clotheslines all over Scotland.. and I see them here in Oklahoma too.. even in the virtual world when looking for the “how to’s” to putting up a clothesline I’ve found some lovely blogs totally committed to the Clothesline like Jeannie’s Life On A (Clothes) Line.  Her blog features readers clotheslines and I’ve been asked to be featured!  Soooo excited (and nervous).  That blog led me to several other interesting blogs like Caitlin’s Ubiquitous Non Sequitur where I read about her adventures in homesteading.  Then I find out that I have a lot of friends who’ve been hanging their laundry out for ages!  Why did I not know?!?  My friend Phara sent me this link to Drying for Freedom.. who knew that a clothesline was a political statement??

This is just one way my trip to Scotland changed my life.  What about you?  Have you gone a trip and brought back something other than chotskies that changed your life?

(P.S.  Please pretend this isn’t the first blog post… cuz it’s too much pressure.. I’ve been sitting on this for two weeks trying to figure out an appropriate first blog entry.. R U KIDDING ME?? LOL… I finally decided that the next thing that popped into my head and I thought “Oh that’s an interesting blog idea” that I would write it… so this morning… I hung out my laundry.. then read Jeannie’s blog and thought.. “Hey? That’s a good idea for a blog entry”.. and here I am.  No pressure!)