Better Than TV!

It was a busy day at our Boondock home yesterday! It all started late Sunday afternoon, when Pa declared the new clothes washer was ready for it's initial test spin.

We all gathered in the bathroom, where we had set our new family member up. I measured a small amount of my homemade detergent into the proper receptacle, closed the drawer, pushed the power button, determined how to set the dial, then hesitated before pushing "start". I was nervous! The fellow who had helped us load the machine into the pickup had warned us if we didn't have everything unhooked, hooked up and leveled correctly our new machine could become quite violent! After taking a deep breath I pushed the button, and we all watched and listed as the water began trickling in, finally reaching the level where we could actually see it.

The glass door on our front loading machine is a smokey color, so in order to see inside we need to use a flashlight. Our flashlight got a lot of use on Sunday! We took turns positioning ourselves in front of the machine, squatting down, facing the beam of the flashlight in just the right direction so we could see what was going on. We were amazed at how little water the machine used. That made us a bit nervous, but we continued to watch for the 54 minutes it took for the machine to finish it's course. There were multiple oohs and aahs, and "look at it spin!" comments from each of us in turn, until it finally finished.

We left the room feeling quite impressed. Within a couple minutes time I decided I really couldn't wait until the next day. My family followed me in and watched as I loaded an incredible amount of laundry into the machine, once again measured detergent into the little drawer and pushed all the right buttons.

As the machine began doing it's job, which on Monday seemed to be the all important job of providing entertainment to the four of us, Lindsay plopped herself down in front of it, crossed her legs and shined the flashlight inside. I think she remained in that position for 20 minutes before I couldn't stand it any longer. She relinquished her position to me. I chose not to sit on the floor, opting to watch from a semi standing position (known at our house as "Sit-standing")

I was fascinated at the way this machine worked. It uses so little water, which it seems to manage to disperse through the clothing utilizing gravity. Then it began spinning. Wow! That thing can really spin! Even Pa was impressed! Once it was finished, and the light informed me my clothes were clean, I began pulling the massive load out. More amazement. As I pulled each item out, I was shocked, not only by the cleanliness, but by the lack of moisture in them. That thing had extracted so much water from the clothing that it was like they were halfway dry already!

Yesterday, I got an early start on laundry. It was a sunny day, but just the same, I was amazed at how much I was able to wash and dry out on my line. This is a king sized washer, and we filled it to capacity each time. At the end of the day I had managed to wash, hang, remove when dry and replace with more, 4 full loads of clothing! All but 3 of those items were completely dry. Those 3 items included one flannel sheet, one heavy comforter, and a pair of Pa's jeans. Even those items were close though, and considering they didn't find their way out on the line until after 5 PM I sure couldn't complain about that! At one point yesterday, I wandered into the bathroom in search of Pa. I thought I'd seen him go in there, but he was gone such a long time! I found him, fully clothed, sitting on the toilet, facing the washer, peering inside, just enjoying the show.

Today brought cloudy skies to our area, so we're taking a break from laundry. Last we heard the sun will be returning again tomorrow. You'll never guess what I have planned for tomorrow!