I am refining my approach to drying, airing and ironing clothes
by collating the advice of her worldwide readers.
I now have damp shirts hanging on hangers
from the original Edwardian airer, which we moved from the kitchen
where it previously hung over the stove.
The boiler, lacking much of its carapace,
wastes most of its useful heat in the downstairs loo
(not shown - I know where to draw the line)
and is smothered with wet towels.
The fancy iron is held together with parcel tape,
because I dropped it when trying to descale it
at the Belfast sink, also not seen.
It is ready for action if the creases do not drop out.
The sun is not shining, but it might at any minute
as we are experience scattered showers.
The washing line outside the window
is still supporting luxuriant creepers and so is of no practical use in this process. I haven't tried drying clothes on lavender bushes, so might for the sake of completeness, dash out with a sock or two in the next sunny spell. As a final option to consider, The Other Son came back from Japan with shirts individually laundered, folded, wrapped and labelled like this:
Hakuyosha clean living, for a cleaner, more comfortable living, Hakuyosha is extending its 'Clean Living' circle over the world. Contact details on request.
Hark, hearer, hear what I do; lend a thought now, make believe
We are leafwhelmed somewhere with the hood
Of some branchy bunchy bushybowered wood,
Southern dene or Lancashire clough or Devon cleave,
That leans along the loins of hills, where a candycoloured, where a gluegold-brown
Marbled river, boisterously beautiful, between
Roots and rocks is danced and dandled, all in froth and waterblowballs, down.
We are there, when we hear a shout
That the hanging honeysuck, the dogeared hazels in the cover
Makes dither, makes hover
And the riot of a rout
Of, it must be, boys from the town
Bathing: it is summer’s sovereign good.
By there comes a listless stranger: beckoned by the noise
He drops towards the river: unseen
Sees the bevy of them, how the boys
With dare and with downdolphinry and bellbright bodies huddling out,
Are earthworld, airworld, waterworld thorough hurled, all by turn and turn about.
This garland of their gambols flashes in his breast
Into such a sudden zest
Of summertime joys
That he hies to a pool neighbouring; sees it is the best
There; sweetest, freshest, shadowiest;
Fairyland; silk-beech, scrolled ash, packed sycamore, wild wychelm, hornbeam fretty overstood
By. Rafts and rafts of flake-leaves light, dealt so, painted on the air,
Hang as still as hawk or hawkmoth, as the stars or as the angels there,
Like the thing that never knew the earth, never off roots
Rose. Here he feasts: lovely all is! No more: off with—down he dings
His bleachèd both and woolwoven wear:
Careless these in coloured wisp
All lie tumbled-to; then with loop-locks
Forward falling, forehead frowning, lips crisp
Over finger-teasing task, his twiny boots
Fast he opens, last he offwrings
Till walk the world he can with bare his feet
And come where lies a coffer, burly all of blocks
Built of chancequarrièd, selfquainèd rocks
And the water warbles over into, filleted with glassy grassy quicksilvery shivès and shoots
And with heavenfallen freshness down from moorland still brims,
Dark or daylight on and on. Here he will then, here he will the fleet
Flinty kindcold element let break across his limbs
Long. Where we leave him, froliclavish while he looks about him, laughs, swims.
Enough now; since the sacred matter that I mean
I should be wronging longer leaving it to float
Upon this only gambolling and echoing-of-earth note—
What is … the delightful dene?
Wedlock. What the water? Spousal love.
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
Father, mother, brothers, sisters, friends
Into fairy trees, wild flowers, wood ferns
Rankèd round the bower
If you click to enlarge,
you will see that the air was filled with dragonflies.
