Wednesday 1 July 2015

A Blissful Nights Sleep and a Trip Down Memory Lane



Last night I had the most blissful nights sleep.

I washed all the bedding yesterday, the pillow protectors, mattress protector everything.  They blew in the light breeze we had for some of the day and dried super quickly in the high heat of the midday sun.  So rather than getting out a fresh set from the storage basket I simply put the same duvet cover and pillow cases etc right back on the bed.

The room had been aired all day and damp dusted while the bedding dried, so everything felt fresh and lovely,  Even my towel had been added to the wash although it had only been washed the day before.  So after a cool bath, it was off to my fresh bedroom and my lovely fresh bedding.

Yes it was warm, very warm but the freshness was relaxing and I fell asleep in my customary two minutes and woke bright and early this morning raring to go.

Oh and nothing flew off the washing line, I now have super strong pegs just to be sure :-)

The top picture was borrowed from Google Images, and it reminded me of hanging out my washing when I lived with my first husband and my boys on Ship Street on Barrow Island in Cumbria .....


.... so I just Googled the flats, and this image is one of the ones I found, exactly as I remember the outside of our flat.  

We lived on the third floor, one from the top, oh how I remember bumping Jason's baby buggy up all those steps, then putting on the brake and going back down to fetch my shopping.  But the good thing about living so high up was the speed at which the washing dried, even on a wettish day because of the shape of the flats most things got nearly dry, a good thing as I didn't have a washing machine in those days, it was all done by hand in the bath and wrung out as  tightly as I could, and the washing line was accessed out of the bathroom window which was very handy.

I used to love seeing a row of freshly washed white terry nappies blowing in the breeze, but any bedding hung so low you would block out your lower neighbours view until it dried and you could reel it back in.

For all the hardship of the time we lived there I have lots of good memories to look back on, it was a simple time.

Sue xx

10 comments:

  1. Got all our bedding washed and dried yesterday too, today it has been all the towels, dusters, cloths got two loads out on the line now drying nicely. :-)

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  2. Fresh outdoor-dried washing does smell so much better, doesn't it, but it was so hot here last night that we slept without a duvet at all. I still had a restless night though :( Roll on Thursday when it will be a bit cooler.
    When we first got married we had no washing machine either and stuff took ages to dry. The winter was a nightmare. Just before our first child was born we saved up and bought one as I couldn't bear the thought of hand washing nappies. The first wash saw us sitting in the kitchen watching fascinated as it worked !

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  3. Nothing beats the smell of fresh bed linen. I don't use fabric conditioner in the summer as I prefer the clean natural fresh air smell from drying outdoors. I was brought up in Liverpool and my friend Elaine lived in very modern flats like that, I loved watching her mum pegging and reeling out the washing. We had a small concrete yard complete with air-raid shelter, dad grew Michaelmas daisies and mum dried the washing on a clothes line.

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  4. When we were first married, we had no washing machine either - everything was washed by hand. Occasionally, we would take a load of bedding to the launderette. We didn't have a TV, or a cooker, or a car, and everything else was second hand, including a fridge (no freezer) which my friend's mum was selling for £10, or donated to us from family and friends' attics. I remember curtains which were too short for the windows! We saved up for everything a bit at a time and really appreciate everything we have now. We lived in a third floor flat and carting the shopping home by hand and up the stairs was the hardest part. But at least we didn't have children then.

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  5. Ahhh memories! I remember moving into my first house, a council house with 3 bedrooms. I had very little furniture apart from a double and a single bed and 4 dining chairs; the rest gradually came via relatives and friends or bought on the never-never. I had no curtains, but I had 2 rolls of wallpaper. From these, I cut out four pairs of 'curtains' and four pelmets. They looked pretty good from outside and lasted until I had some material to replace them. Where there's a will, there's a way!!! Lol, lol.

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  6. Hello Sue, I've just discovered your lovely blog and started following you. Like you I love drying washing outside in the fresh air and often put it straight back on the bed. You can't beat the smell! Best wishes, Fiona - Lucy's Cottage

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  7. I still use my lines all the time, it's been over 35 years, and it is one of the best choices I've ever made.

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  8. I had a dreadful night's sleep !
    Lovely images & nice to hear about the flats in Cumbria that you remember with affection. Our first rented flat when we lived in Spain had a tiny balcony; I used to have the washing washed at a launderette then lug it home wet to peg out in the balcony.. happy days xx

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  9. David's dad grew up in a place just like that in CLydebank and we have some really old pictures of virtually the same scene. The only thing that's changed is the style of clothes.

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