Dashing away with the smoothing iron

In this un-retouched photo

you see the truth behind my useful or beautiful facade.

I am indebted to Mise for her exposé

on clothes airing, which has gone global.

Even at this late stage in my domestic career

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.