• Wednesday-What'sUP May 23 - 11:21 pm

Nothing can compare to the scent of freshly washed clothes hung outdoors to dry, like Joyce Tormala spotted for our Pasty Cam shot-of-the-day. Actually, Joyce was more interested in showing shadows that the drying articles of clothing were making, but either way, it's a good reminder that this is the season for hanging your laundry outside to dry, saving on the dryer and the electric bill. Of course some folks go to extremes to dry items outside as Joyce's second photo illustrates. Looks like someone wanted to get their shoes closer to the sun to dry, so they threw them up over a wire!

That first shot brings back memories. Seems as though everyone had clothes lines in their yards back in the day. Also, most people still had wringer washers. We called the poles "clothes props".

Don't ya just love the smell of hung out laundry? You just sleep so well when those sheets smell like the outdoors. Have hung shoes like that many a time.

This past winter we had plenty of 40+ temp days I was hanging clothes out on my line in January. Unreal!

Oh my gosh. That is a picture from my childhood. Haven't been able to hang anything outside here in TX because of the wind. Thanks for the memory.

Several years ago in Ohio I was so happy when I could hang the sheets out to dry on the line. They smelled so good! The Spring my daughter was about 2, I proudly made the beds with the fresh sheets. When I put her to bed, she said "These sheets stink!!" All she knew was the smell of the dryer sheets. She wouldn't go to bed until I changed the sheets.
My move from North Carolina to the UP is almost here! Just 5 more days. I feel like I have started getting aquainted with my new home through this site. Thanks Pasty!

With all the humidity in the air here in east Texas, it would take a month for clothes to dry outside!! I miss having clothes dried outside. To me, sheets just don't smell clean with that "perfumey" odor one gets from the dryer sheet. And no one has made "Lake Superior" scented dryer sheets yet......

Congrats Jeanette on your move to the UP, you lucky dog you. Where bouts' you moving to?? Someday we hope to be posting that same message as well.

It makes me happy to have the sun do the work instead of my dryer. For the past several weekends, the weather has cooperated and I have been able to hang out clothes to dry. It's one of the joys of summer.

The clothes even seem to be happy getting the fresh U.P. air - they're posting a large smiley face shadow!

I think the shadow resembles what my Halloween pumpkin looks like when the deer find it.
Brenda

Ah, ha, another Pasty.com person making the move home! Way
to go, Mrs. Rockwell. I don't suppose you are moving to Esky.
Most Pasty.comers have their eyes fixed further north, I know.
For others, tho, I guess Esky is a popular choice. There was an
article this last winter saying more seniors coming back to the
U.P. chose Esky than any other city. If that is true, I don't think it
is because of the pure air. Our big paper mill emits an odor that
is reminiscent of somewhat sour sourkraut, and when the winds
blows from the northwest, the air is none too sweet. I know it
smells like money, and that is true, of course. Those 1,000 or
more jobs related to the mill are vital to the economy. However,
putting your clothes out to dry on the "wrong" days is not
advisable.

While growing up it was my "task" to go out to the clothesline in the back yard and beat on the rugs to get the dirt/dust out of them.
The second view is similar to what we see here as the kids make their initiation dive from the roadway bridge into the Huron River. The local Edison company leaves them their until the kids go back to school in September.
It is going to be 88 in lower Michigan today.

What a wonderful picture!!!! Brings back alot of childhood memories. My sister and I had the chore of taking the clothes in at the end of the day. She also had to "hang" the clothes before she could go swimming at the Hancock Beach. I love to use the clothes line at our Bootjack house, never use the dryer!!!! Our neighborhood here in Columbus does not allow out door clotheslines-----its even written in our by-laws!!!!! They think it "tacky"---what a shame.
We also went up to Swede Town Creek to hunt for the perfect "clothes prop"---v-shaped prongs on the end to fit on the line!!! Can still smell the wonderful scent on the white sheets. My dad would bring home baskets from Cohodas Paoil and we would get plastic liners from the Hancock Harward to line the baskets for the clothes, we had several baskets for each load. The plastic was even cut out over the handles to fit. It was fun to pick out a new design after the plastic would wear out. They were 98 cents and lasted about two years.!!! We had a special one for our in door hamper---Monday's was always laundry day and we would line the baskets up in the kitchen for the ordeal!!!! We even hung the clotes out in the winter---shoveled a path to the line and then put them in the basement after a few hours to finish drying. Good olde days.!!!!

My thoughts and prayers are with Kevin, his generous donor and the skilled doctors on this very important surgery day. Mikie and Precious are in my thought and prayers as well. Hang in there everyone...we're all pullin' for ya!! I give thanks for every day that God gives us.

When I was young, living in Ontonagon, near the pulp mill, there were days when the hanging clothes were full of soot, when the wind was just right; Mom hung clothes in the winter, they would freeze, but when thawed-out inside the house, hanging on the backs of chairs, they became very soft: mother natures clothes softner!! Now, here in Ohio, I would like to hang out, but the neighbors huge tree blocks out the sun where my lines are, so I quit hanging out my clothes as the sun is needed for the whites. Maybe someday he will cut it down or cut some branches off...wishful thinking...

Good Morning, the shadows are so clear on that picture. Whenever i hang out clothes I end up with bugs all over them and always miss a few when I bring them in.

Apparently Charles in Esky does not work for or like the Excanaba Chamber of Commerce....

I have rented a house in Houghton. It is there waiting for me! My Grand-daughter in Tennessee is helping me drive to the UP. I want to spend next week with her prowling around seeing some of the things all of you have been writing about! She has to fly back to Tennessee on Saturday. The movers should get there with my furniture and boxes by the end of the week.

Love your pictures Joyce. Your photos make the simplest of life's pleasures look so wonderful.
How is your son doing? I heard he was injured in Iraq. Which twin is it? Both are in the service aren't they?

Outdoor clotheslines "tacky"?!? Now that's tacky.

Certainly can't hang clothes out here in Jersey. Not only would they come back in filthy, but the neighbors would think you were NUTS. Fortunately, I only have to put up with Jersey for another 6 or 7 weeks. We're finally moving to the REAL world. Not UP, but we'll be much closer to Superior...northern Minnesota. Can't wait!

Capt. Paul - Thanks for mentioning your photo gallery yesterday...it is absolutely fantastic!

I agree with Danbury! Buy your own house to have someone else tell you how to live in it. A lot of new housing developements are doing it that way. It's called Restrictive Covedences(sp?) lifestyle.

We used to hang the clothes out in the winter as well. They would be stiff when we took them in and had to hang them in the basement to finish drying. We had a wringer washer too. We rarely used the dryer when we finally got one. It was a luxury to own a dryer; an even greater luxury to actually use it.

There's a lot of that in MN also. There are projects here where you're not allowed to have vehicles sitting in YOUR driveway. Makes me glad I live in the boonies!
Mr. Deb

Good move Anna! :) My hubby and I vacation that area a lot!

Bootjackbabe--"Monday's were laundry day"--There's another custom that seems to have gone by the wayside over the years. I recall as well that there was only one day a week that laundry was done at our house. Now a days it seems like my washer is running 2 or three times a week, and there's only two of us living here!!! LOL Ah the good old days!

My neighbor always hangs her sheets out to dry. I have a lot of trees in my yard but not the right distance apart for sheets. I have hung out some beach towels though. There is no Monday "laundry day" at our house. I have too many kids.

Loved it when we hung laundry outside! What was really bothersome, though, was that the birds loved the clothesline, too! Thanks for the pictures and great memories!

I love the smell of fresh sheets that have hung in the wind all day. It's windy today but looks like rain. Mary, please let us know how Kevin is when you hear something. Thanks

EddyFitz, where on the Huron River are you? I go to Gallup Park in Ann Arbor a lot. The house I rent is near Dexter...and it has an actual clothesline (yeah!).

Years ago I discovered that if I hung my blouses outside on a windy day they didn't need ironing. At one place I rented, where there was no clotheline or place to string one, I put the blouses on hangers and hung them from the low branches of a fruit tree.

To anybody who has to deal with people who dismiss clothelines as tacky, remind them that you are using clean, non-polluting energy with no carbon emissions.

Love to hang clothes on the line! Shots of the ordinary are the best. Used to live in a place also where clothes lines were not allowed (and cars that weren't running that had to be moved) But no more! Maybe with all the talk of going "green", clothes lines will no longer be outlawed!

That clothesline looks a lot like my grandparents' clothesline did. They had a wringer washing machine, too. When I was young, I used to have a great time helping with their laundry, when we went to visit them. That picture brings back a lot of memories. I always loved the smell of the sheets. But, I found the sheets & towels to be stiff & scratchy if they were line-dried instead of in the dryer. :-)

Where we have lived, there have been restrictions about clotheslines, too. We could probably hang a temporary line here if we were drying something special, like a handmade quilt or afgan, or something, that needed to be aired or dried, but not routine laundry. We own our home in town, but there are a lot of other restrictions here in town, too, including where you can park cars, RVs, boat trailers, etc., among a number of other things.

We too have homeowners associations here, or as Dr. Nat likes to call them, "legal extortion artists". I agree, they are rediculous!! Here they are no so bad about clotheslines or vehicles parked in the driveway (we have 2), what they get bent about here is the "prettyness" of your home; grass, edging, garbage cans being visible, housepaint, etc... We've already gotten letters from them about edging our curbs to make them look all pretty and such.

I expect one of these days to come home and see the CapitolOne barbarian horde pilaging our yard and home for not trimming the hedges......

Whats with Mikie and Precious? I hope they are ok!!!

I have always dried our laundry on the line when the weather is warm enough. Usually April through October is this area. I would not like to live somewhere that had such rules. Alot of those same people that think clotheslines are tacky are probably the ones that tell us we have to conserve energy. It seems like the some of the ones that talk the loudest about global warming are the ones that use the most energy.
My clotheslines are not tacky. I always plant flowers in a box around the bottom of each post and 2 baskets hanging from the top of each post.

I'm not against clotheslines--in fact, I love the smell of air dryed clothes--but restrictive covenants can help make good neighbors. You should have knowledge of them before you buy your house, and so you express agreement to abide by the covenants when you buy. The covenants arguably reflect the standards that the majority of your neighbors want to see in place. If you find a particular rule too restrictive, you have a couple of options. The first is not to buy. There also are usually mechanisms for changing covenants by majority agreement of fellow owners, so if you think a covenant is too restrictive, you can try to convince your neighbors to change it. It's just democracy on a very small scale.

Who woulda thunk clotheslines would elicit so much conversation?! I do my laundry as needed (and that's once a week or less now that my 5 kids are adults). I do launder my newest granddaughter's baby clothes as they don't have a washer and dryer and she's growing so fast she doesn't have enough clothes! (4 months old tomorrow and she weighs 22-4 and is 27" long!) It's actually kinda enjoyable to fold cute little baby clothes.

Once driving the backroad hills by Chassell I saw a clothesline full of red flannel long underwear! I wish I'd had my husband slam on the brakes for a picture! Those beautiful hills were in the background and would have made a great picture!

Amazing all the memories generated from an outdoor clothesline! I have never owned a clothes dryer. Here in New Mexico, with the single digit humidity, the first load is dry by the time you take the second load out to hang!!

I'm right behind you Jeanette! I'll be moving back in July, after 30 years in NM, close to Lake Superior in Torch Lake township. Guess I'll have to change my pasty.com handle!! I'm still not getting a clothes dryer tho! Stuff can finish drying by the woodstove!

Thanks to all our Veterans, and everybody have a safe holiday weekend!

Solar powered clothes dryer!! Wouldn't have anything else. Just looking at the picture - I can smell the freshness that comes into the home.

There is nothing better than fresh clean air smelling scent of clothes. Especially on bedding. Its just a natural smell! Can't have enough of that. Gotta love it!

Capt. Paul,

You are mistaken about not being able to dry clothes outside in East Texas. We do it all the time.

I'm sure that our yuppie neighbors look down on us for doing it, but so be it. From about now until late October, they will dry completely in just a few hours, so even if you don't get them outside until after lunch, they'll still be dry by sundown. At other times of the year we bring them inside and put them on hangers overnight, and they're done.

Bryan McKamey,

Perhaps homeowner's associations where you live are democracy on a small scale. Where we live in Houston, Texas, they are run by a handful of small minded people who want to enforce their point of view on everyone. And no, we really have no choice.

We've lived in this subdivision for over 25 years. Because the homeowner's association enforced deed restrictions against some people, but not others, they were challenged in court, and regulations dating back to 1938 were thrown out. So about five people formed a new association, and waged a heavy propaganda campaign, in which they lied about many things.

We voted against adoption of their new rules, but apathy carried the day, with only 8% of the residents voting. Three of five sections rejected the new association, but unfortunately we live in one of the two that adopted it. Now we suffer the consequences of their small mindedness.

Well, actually, I guess we do have a choice. We can sell the house that we've lived in for 25 years because we don't like the new neighbors.

Capt. Paul,

No offense intended. It seems unfair to say the least that you are bound by rules of an "association" to which you never agreed to be a part. We bought some land on which we plan to build our retirement home someday. The property was subject to restrictive covenants that ranged from very sensible (minimal removal of trees and native vegetation, no mobile homes) to somewhat burdensome (no overnight camping prior to construction) to downright odd (no white siding or white roof on the house). That being said, we knew what we were agreeing to when we purchased, and we felt going in that we could comfortably abide by those restrictions. Sounds like that was not true in your case.

Sorry--meant to direct my response to Bill Denning. Bill, No offense intended . . .

Some comments on "association" covenants & city ordinances, etc: Bryan McK, actually at least in some cases, I think the blame about ignorance of these covenant & ordinances belongs square on the backs of the realtors & the laws or lack thereof regarding real estate transactions. "Association" covenants & city ordinances are not necessarily common around the country. I believe that the real estate agent should make sure that the buyer is completely aware of the restrictions or lack of restrictions prior to the signing of any major transactions. Decades ago, my parents bought a house in Houston, that was part of an "association", but I seriously doubt they were aware of its existence, or its covenants. It wasn't until years later that they found them in their deed. Fortunately for them, those covenants were pretty reasonable, and they never ran afoul of anything. Likewise, we were not aware of the city ordinances in the town Michigan where we bought our house. And, it really didn't matter--we needed to be living here for our jobs. Some of the city ordinances seem silly, but they aren't outrageous, thank goodness. Again, the real estate agents should be required by law to make full disclosure to the buyer before any sales transaction goes into affect.

On the other hand, my brother ran into problems in Montana by the LACK of restrictions. He lived in a subdivision with lots that were about 5 acres, if I remember correctly. It was the lack of restrictions that caused problems for him and his wife. They ran into a situation where one guy decided to turn his lot into a heavy equipment storage area for his business, including bull dozers, cranes, you name it. In addition, that guy put in huge, ugly fences surrounding his lot, including in front of his home, out to the street, not just to the house lines. It looked like a used heavy equipment dealership, not something most people have in mind for neighbors when they build their homes (the subdivision was wide open, no houses, when my brother built the first one). In addition, this neighbor was apparently into drugs & guns, which was not what you need, either. To make a long story short, it was easier for my brother to sell his home & move than to put up with the lack of restrictions.

So, restrictions and lack there of can work both ways. :-)

We always hung out our laundry. My Dad still has the first dryer he and my Mom ever bought. It's a Maytag, and must be almost 50 years old!
Sounds like a tractor, but still works. To my Mom, hanging laundry was an art. It all had to be arranged just SO. Too much humidity here in Florida to even think about hanging out!