8.23.2011

-little house on the farm-

oh it is so beautiful today! i am dying to get outside and do some yardwork! i'm not entirely sure what yardwork is safe when 8months pregnant, but i figure if i take some breaks  (and wear sunscreen) it should be pretty harmless. i'm just so tired of being cooped up inside! i couldn't take the heat at all this summer, so i've been indoors since May, basically.

i have been making use of my clothesline already though. i love it! we still have a dryer (with us planning on cloth diapering, i can't always wait for good weather to do laundry) but i line dry whenever i can--i love that it saves electricity and money and i love the way the clothes smell and feel when i bring them in. it takes a little more time--but so do a lot of things that are worth doing.

we still don't have a dishwasher--our attempt at getting a portable was a disaster, i won't go into it--so i have to handwash dishes, as usual. i was sad about that at first--handwashing dishes can be a pain--but having a bigger kitchen and sink makes it not so bad, and i have a window with a pretty view to look out at while i'm washing dishes. its good thinking time too.

and, the last of the modern conveniences: we don't have tv anymore (or netflix, since they're raising their prices--we just rent from the library, for free). we don't miss it like i thought we would though. living in a rural area, its quite expensive to get tv and internet, so we just opted for internet (bryan is taking online classes, so its a necessity for now). i had no idea how much time i wasted watching tv! i admit, i still follow Design Star and Project Runway online, but if i am watching tv, its something that i love to watch, not just mindlessly channel surfing (i had gotten bad about that, i'll confess!)

i'm not to the point of making everything from scratch (though we do eat at home almost always) or raising chickens in the yard, but i'm finding the more of these country-living type things i try out, the more i want to adopt into our way of doing things. 

4 comments:

  1. I love renting movies from the library! Usually they have a more family-friendly selection anyway (if you run out of movies in the adult section, check out the movies in the kids' section...that's what we do sometimes!). I just started watching Design Star on Hulu...addictive! I think I like The Next Food Network Star slightly better though...it inspires me to cook...which is always good, right? I'm thinking about getting a clothesline now because you've made it sound so appealing! Plus, our energy bills have been high lately (mainly because I have to have air conditioning so much more these days) so maybe it would help save on energy some! Plus I think it's supposed to make your clothes last longer, right? I might just have to give it a try! It sounds so earthy and relaxing...but perhaps I am romanticizing it. Where would I go about starting line-drying if I wanted to...can you just go to the dollar store and get a clothesline and clothespins or would I need to go to someplace more specialized?

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  2. I have the same questions about line drying that Heather does! It does seem like it would be great to try, and our dryer takes FOREVER anyway since it's almost 10 years old.

    We have thought a lot about going the no TV route. We downgraded to basic cable at the beginning of the summer, and while I missed my HGTV initially, I really haven't missed it like I thought I would. We don't want Charlotte to grow up in a house where the TV is always on, so we're trying to be mindful of it.

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  3. some people get those posts you hang clothes on, but i went the absolute cheapest way, i just bought some clothesline from the dollar store and some clothespins from walmart (our dollar store didn't have clothespins). i got about 40 pins but i think i need to get another pack, i needed more than i thought. and then i just hung the line between two trees--i'd recommend hanging it higher than you think you'll need, since it sags in the middle with heavy clothes (or at least mine did, maybe i didn't tie it tight enough?). i think overall i spent less than $5. it is supposed to make clothes last longer and its supposed to be best for cloth diapering which is why i wanted to do it in the first place

    i have probably overly romanticized it lol-- it does feel romantic and idealistic to be out there pinning up towels and such in the early morning, and i like looking out and seeing them hanging on the line. i'm such a city girl to even be excited about it lol!

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  4. & amen to not growing up in a house where the tv is always on!

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