Friday, July 06, 2012

#007 You Might Live in Scotland If...

...You hang your clothes to dry outside or inside (depending on the weather!)
Our clothes drying in our shared back garden on a sunny day!

That's right. We don't have a dryer. I honestly didn't think I would ever get used to not having a dishwasher OR a dryer...but after 9 months without I think I'm am pretty well acclimated. That's not to say that I love not having those conveniences, but I have learned to use my time wisely and "get er done!" I find that I basically have to be doing laundry and dishes all throughout the day every day. The other tricky thing about laundry is that our washing machine holds about half of the amount that ours did in the States. So you really have it running all of the time. Then if you hang laundry outside (while it looks sunny), it could be 20 minutes before it rains again and you have to rush out and bring them in. Or if it's just a light sprinkle, you could just leave them out and hope for sunshine in the next hour. 
Our clothes drying inside with a heater on a cool, rainy day!

Now outside hanging of wash works MUCH better in the Spring and Summer when we are getting light until late in the evening, but in the Winter when the sun starts to set at 3pm, you have got to get your clothes outside first thing in the morning and take them down quickly before the sun begins to set or they will get damp again (at least that's what my sweet downstairs neighbors taught me :) We also have radiators that are on 2x a day for a couple of hours (yes most often even in the Spring and Summer- unless we have a "hot day"). So I also hang some of my clothes directly onto the radiators to dry. 
On those days when I am tempted to complain -ok most every day :() 
I try to meditate on this verse: 

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Phil 4:11-13 (NIV)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That looks like Becky's house. You two can understand each other very well. One good thing - your clothes will not shrink in the dryer!

Danielle said...

Holy cow- you're amazing, Julie. My sister in Brazil has these same challenges. I really can't imagine! I love that Phil passage. I memorized it earlier this year and need to think of it often. :)