08 May 2009

washer/dryer




Most Spanish households do not have dryers. Probably because the cost of the energy it uses in just one year could fund a small country. Imagine my surprise, when we went to buy our first washer/dryer and we came home with a washer and a pack of clothespins... OK, maybe not as big as when I went to buy a razor to shave my legs and came home with beeswax...
Have a great weekend!

36 comments:

Ida/FarEastLogbook said...

Good point! I remember my surprise when I moved to California because everybody had a dryer...'in California, really?' I've hung a clothes line on the top of our roof and the clothes are dried in 1,5-2 hours. Nothing like the smell and feel or bedding dried the good old fashioned way... ;-) -Ida

Guusje said...

Hi, nice to meet you! I really like your blog and like Spain. I will be visiting again soon!
Lovely greetings, Guusje, The Netherlands

Anonymous said...

I can't even put the dryer AND my oven on at the same time here in this house.
But tell me, what happend between the decision of buying a dryer and coming home with a washer?? The shaving part I can understand, but the other story seems rather odd to me...giggle, giggle....Have a nice weekend Jane, un beso Carmencita.

la lune dans le ciel said...

Very nice photos, which reminds me of my everyday life ... because even with a washing machine, it's always us women who push the button ! very good weekend
elodie

Isabelle said...

I love your fun posts ... and your photos !!! and to reply to your question my husband is working for the french ministry of foreign affair and he will be posted there for 3 to 4 years ... we have the week end to make up our mind !!!

me and alice said...

Ha, ha, you are so funny Jane!
Hmm... I do´nt have a dishwasher. Belive it or not I do the dishes with my hands. Probably the only one in Sweden...*ha,ha*
Hugs Susanne

Sammi said...

Plus no need for a drier, I mean what half an hour to dry clothes?!

kristina - no penny for them said...

i love the picture with the clothespins!

Guusje said...

I do have a language tool. Please feel free to visit anytime soon again. Sunny greetings!

Kate Coveny Hood said...

Once my husband and I were on vacation in Marbella, and since we stayed at a Marriott resort (yeah for hotel points - nothing better than free vacations!) with condos, we actually had both a washer AND dryer at our disposal. It took me about an hour to figure out how to use them though since even the directions translated into English were unintelligible.

On another note, I love the smell of line dried clothes. Reminds me of family vacations at the beach.

Our dryer is broken and the new one won't be delivered until next week. Maybe I should start stringing clothesline around the deck. It will have to wait until the rain clears up though. It appears to be monsoon season this week in the Washington, DC area...

nathalie et cetera said...

I must be the only Canadian who doesn't have a drier. During winter, I hang my clothes inside. The're all over the place :)
Love your clothespins photo!

Joyce said...

Oh Jane! You are a hoot. You always make me smile and laugh. OK my question is did the beeswax work? Have not only a golden weekend, but a very Happy Mother's Day my dear friend! xoxo

Crescent Moon said...

I have always been able to hang my clothes out on a line to dry, even in a big apartment complex in Madison we had outdoor clothes lines, until now. University Family Housing (which is where we live now) has some very strict rules about what can be done outside. They allow baby clothes to dry outside the apartments on a small rack, but no clothes bigger than that. We have to use the washers and driers provided by the university, so it's a $1.25 to wash and another $1.25 to dry.
There is something sweet and domestic looking about clothes hanging on a line, blowing in a breeze.

Anonymous said...

DESDE VITORIA JANE, ENHORABUENA

HE IDO POCO A POCO TRADUCIENDO TUS TEXTOS Y ME ENCANTAN, CASI MAS QUE LAS FOTOS

POR CIERTO, YA SABIA QUE ERES UNA GRAN COCINERA, AHORA SE QUE ERES TAMBIEN UNA GRAN ARTISTA DE LA FOTOGRAFIA. ME GUSTA MUCHO LA NATURALIDAD DE LAS FOTOS, "EL INSTANTE QUE NO PASA NADA"

Y A TODOS LOS QUE TE CONTESTAN Y QUE QUIZAS NO TE CONOCEN EN PERSONA, OS PUEDO DECIR QUE JANE ES UNA PERSONA GRANDE, ...PERO MAS IMPORTANTE Y NO ES LO MISMO, ....ES UNA GRAN PERSONA.

SALUDOS A LA FAMILIA, Y A COCO

HASTA PRONTO. MIKEL

Daan said...

Hello!
I am on a bloghoppingtour and cam from a Norwegian blog whop in Spain, how nice, i'll be back for some more reading and your nice photo's!

Love from a small village in The netherlands, Daan

Ana Cristina Abreu said...

hi jane!!
here in brazil we also didn't use dryes. there's no need!! but the bad thing is that here is raining a lot, more than usual.
have a great weekend and a happy mother's day!!

Flo said...

Although the cost of energy in Chile is not as high as it might be in Spain (although it is on the rise), we don't own a dryer. Sure, it takes a bit longer to get your clothes back ready to use again, but isn't that the way Humanity used to live before? I always wonder how it is we have drifted away from the old ways and why: to have an easier life. I could go on for ages writing how that affects our tolerance towards frustration and all, but I think the main point here is to live WITH Nature a bit more.
Great post!
Greetings from Chile

caitlin said...

Oh I won't even tell you what happened to me while vacationing in Barcelona, and having a yeast infection.. needless to say I was traumatized. (can I even say yeast infection on a blog?! :)

Palmer and Co said...

Ha!! So great! I love how the Spanish think!

Happy Weekend, Jane!

Palmer and Co said...

Oh, do tell, Caitlin!! Better yet, do a post on it!! You have us all curious now! :)

Dorte said...

Great post :-)
I do enjoy the smell of air dried clothes - it's so fresh, but if I had like four children living at home then I would be sorry not to have a dryer!

Anonymous said...

yet another reason to move to tybee!

natsumi said...

Personally, i don't like using dryer... I had some of my clothes damaged.
I love your photos! very fresh!

Have a great weekend! ox

malo said...

I love the photo of the clothespins. Beauty! I dont't have a dryer and I live in Sweden. In the winter we have drying clothes by the fireplace. Sound cosy maybe but it's not.

Anonymous said...

If I had to chose between a dryer and a dishwasher... I don't know what I'd do!? I guess I'd chose dishwasher, as it's a marriage saver. ;)

Now... do tell about the beeswax. I don't understand. Did you have to wax your own legs? *ouch*

Juana said...

hi jane! beautiful pics! I live in Italy, and I am the only one in my building that do not hung the clothes out of the balcony as it's typical in Italy! The reasons are: 1) In my country (Argentina) we do not use to do it.
2) the few times I did, my clothespins, along with some clothes, kept flying down to the garden, (I am at the fourth flat!)lol besos!

Bonnie said...

it's the same in australia. we have a dryer but i probably use it twice a year. i hang everything. and you know, i don't mind it ... especially when the sky is blue and the clouds are out and i can daydream while i hang !!

Unknown said...

I love to hang clothes in the sun! the smell... the freshness... of course in Argentina we have enough sun to dry everything... so no dryer machine is needed!

therese said...

lovely photos! and good for your budget, your clothes, AND the environment! i've never owned a dryer myself, don't see the point of spending (energy, money).

Coucou Couture said...

you guys "invented" organic! actually, you're so Third World...in a good way! i can relate...except for the beeswax...Bic always works better! i'm suddenly nostalgic for home, and my childhood, dodging the clothesline while playing "gun-gun" with my brothers... :}

Coucou Couture said...

i love the clothespins, jane! so quaint...so coffeetable book...so martha stewart? :)

denise said...

I'd love to hang my wash to dry. It is against our neighborhood rules. Silly, isn't it? I do have portable racks I take out on my deck, but not the same as a big line and sunshine on flapping clothes.

Donatella said...

Hi! Just discovered your lovely blog! Living in Italy I'd say the situation here is very similar to yours in Spain: most of us don't have a dryer.
Washing lines full of clothes gracefully drying in the sun are so poetic!

Anonymous said...

it's the same here in japan. almost no one has a clothes dryer. my family back in the US can't believe i actually hang my families laundry to dry. our washing machine broke two weeks ago and since we are planning on moving soonish we decided not to get it repaired or replaced so we are also currently handwashing everything. it's becoming a bit tedious to be quite honest, but i know we use less water so i suppose it's justifiable.

Anonymous said...

oh! i forgot to add, un besito!

Melissa A said...

This is kind of funny. But you know what. Dryers really aren't that good for clothes anyway. They fade them and break down the fibers of the clothing, so they wear out faster. I live in the U.S. and I have been hanging more and more of my clothes lately, especially my jeans. I've noticed that they don't fade so fast this way and they look better.

pink

I knew a girl who was blue. So she painted her world pink. xoxo