Friday, May 14, 2010

Sunny Morning with a touch of clothes

I did the last of my pre-seeding last weekend and we moved most things out to the greenhouse except for the newest seed. But I like going in there - it is green and beautiful.

It has been really cloudy and rainy for the last several weeks and freezing at night. However, for the last 2 days it has been really sunny. The asparagus stayed just above the soil and did nothing until the sun hit us. Now it is ready to harvest.

For the last year, it has been has been our goal to get a clothes line up outside. There used to be one , but it was in the middle of the area we wanted to build a playset in (and in the shady part of the yard). Mike put the new one up yesterday. This morning I am hanging up our first load of clothes - I am delighted as it makes a big environmental difference.Only your furnace and air conditioner use more energy, and our dryer is an old green 70s number with no energy star advances. Check out the how much energy your appliances use in this info graphic by GE.

We'll need to see how often we use it. It will mean that Mike has to do more laundry (I can't do 4 loads on a Saturday when 1 fits on the clothesline), and that we may need to iron some things. My biggest concern, however, is cat hair. The dryer usually removes it, so we'll have to see if the wind can do the same. I put the load this morning out just before 8, so it will be interesting to compare the efficiency of the solar power to my clothes dryer.

Mike also added the sign the girl's made for me to the greenhouse. We'll see how all that wood does in the weather, but I love having it there. All in all, it's a beautiful morning.

4 comments:

  1. I'm nervous, too. I'll try and be more involved in laundry, but it's gonna be a challenge.

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  2. Wow, your greenhouse looks like it's doing wonderfully! I commented on Mike's blog about your clothesline -- very neat. You guys will have to let me know how it goes in terms of effort and use.

    Jodi

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  3. Good for you with all your projects! The greenhouse looks very inviting! The clothes line is a great idea and my environmental concience bugs me as I load up my dryer, but I really do rely on the time it saves me and I have to admit that I hate "crunchy" clothes. I'd rather live without the air conditioner!

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  4. Well, the first few loads have been fine and it seems cat hair is mostly blown away by the wind. Suzie, I don't think I'd be trying a clothesline with children as young as yours!

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