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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Photo Hunt - HANGING


I decided to post a photo showing how the Italians do their laundry. Everyone hangs it out their window to dry - the day we ended up in the small villages along the Cinque Terre must have been laundry day. There was laundry everywhere! Even personal items are hung out to dry in the wonderful warm sun with the gentle breeze helping the process along. The British usually hang their clothes outside, even on drizzly days, but if necessary they hang their clothes around the house or in the "drying room" (the closet where the hot water pipes go through). Quite different to how we in North America do our laundry.

37 comments:

jmb said...

I remember this well, for when I did homestays in Italy (three times at language school) I hung my washing outside my bedroom window on the line. I was always terrified I would drop my underwear on some passing Italian male.

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

How do you do laundry in North America then????

I was afraid mine would find its way into the garden of the apartment below us in Lake Como...

Claudia said...

Leslie, Very good example of hanging. And it is ecological too.

Harajuku PearL said...

hehehe you can see the same sight here too ;) but we would be seeing scrurrying to the windows and parapet when the rain comes pouring down....hehe

Pearl - have a good weekend

Napaboaniya.Elaine Ling said...

A lot of Singaporeans do that as well, since we have 365 summer days a year :)

Leslie: said...

Anne - we use washers and dryers. I think it's against the law to have clotheslines in the city areas, but some people do have those fold up circular types of lines. But it just isn't "done."

mrsnesbitt said...

Do you know Leslie, I love hanging out the washing and infact have just been out to get some on the line! My picture today was taken only minutes away, very near to the washing!

Anonymous said...

I thought of putting one of my pics of this up too. :) Great minds think alike! :)

I don't know if he'll ever wear the Australia blazer again, I would need to look to see if it has 2008 on it. I think it will just become a momento. :)

Carver said...

That is an appealing shot to me. I love air dried clothes. We have places where I live that don't allow clotheslines. I wouldn't be willing to live in one of those developments. I don't use my clothesline very much any more but I still have one and want that option. Mine is in my back garden (two wooden poles) but I do take the line off the poles so it doesn't get too dirty.

Marja said...

In Holland we alway dried it on the attick. Here in nz outside on the line. Nice picturemarja.blom

Michele said...

Heh... what a wonderful photo! I still hang the odd piece here and there over my balcony to dry but not my "personal Items" LOL... it's funny when they are really wet and they drip on the person below that are walking by... hehehehe...

Patricia said...

What an interesting photo. I love to hang my clothes on the line when the weather is mild and there is a nice breeze to keep things soft and fluffy.

My daughter wants to visit and/or live in Italy in the worst way.

Ruth L.~ said...

Energy efficient!! Love the smell of air dried laundry. I picture my mother at the clothes line . . . wooden pins in her mouth

Velvet Ginger said...

That's very "earth friendly". I guess unlike us...they have nothing to hide and don't mind airing their clean laundry! Coll pic!

Paulie said...

Clothes always smell so good when hung outdoors to dry in the sun. I liked it for sheets and pillowcases best. The clothes, you always had to sprinkle down and iron -- which I love doing -- and the towels got stiff and were not soft to touch to your skin after a bath/shower. I can remember some neighborhoods banning clotheslines. Then, there's the problem of drying clothes in the winter. THEn came permanent press which required no ironing IF the dryer eased the wrinkles away. If you hate ironing, you wouldn't want to hang your clothes laundry outside.

Pretty Life Online said...

I'm a bit late for photohunt today… Cool catch for today's theme... Mine's up too hope you can drop by... Happy weekend!

SabineM said...

Oh I have been there. LOVELY place!
Thank you for also visiting snap2days

Anonymous said...

Do their clothes look all stiff? That's why I use a dryer.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Laundry's out on the balcony line very day here, Leslie. I love having it dry in the sun.
Yes, what on earth do you so in Namerica?

Anonymous said...

I dun think we can air our laundry like that with our Pacific NW weather. :)

Anonymous said...

I use to help with the laundry and would hang it out to dry. I still have a clothesline at my own house for larger items like quilts to air them out and such.

Barbara said...

It's interesting how a simple thing like washing clothes, I was able to get my washing dry outside today, for once it was not raining. I do use a dryer in the winter occasionally, normally it is hung on the 'maiden' inside.

Leslie: said...

For those who are wondering, we use washers and dryers all the time, even in the summer. Although clothes smell great when dried outdoors, you end up having to iron more. And that can be very hot work in the summer.

Linda said...

Wow, could be bad on a windy day. But this brings back memories. When we were first married we didn't have a dryer so I hung our clothes out on a line to dry. When are kids were born I would put them in a laundry basket outside with me to hang laundry. We are so spoiled these days.

Anonymous said...

laundry - it just keeps coming back! Great shot!

PastormacsAnn said...

Oooo, I really like your choice for our theme! And you've taken such a nice picture. Must make the neighborhoods look so interesting - a special kind of art!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

Anonymous said...

How interesting! I hang my wash, too, on my clothesline outside; but in the winter I do use the dryer most of the time.

Thank you for visiting my Photo Hunt. :)

YTSL said...

Nice to know that it's not just Asians who hang out their washing from balconies... ;b

tanabata said...

Great idea for the theme! Most people hang out their laundry to dry here in Japan too. Dryers are very rare.

Anonymous said...

Washing used to put out on gorse bushes here not so very long ago. Got to dry it somewhere. Nice choice.

kaycee said...

Haha! Good one! I remember people do the same back home.
Thanks for dropping by & for your lovely comment. Hope your daughter is alright...

Claudia said...

Wonderful shot for the theme.

Liz Hinds said...

I was thinking about this the other day when I was hanging out washing. How do you do your washing then?

It's okay: I've just read your reply to the same question! There's nothing like the smell of freshly blown dry clothes.

Dragonstar said...

Nothing to beat the smell of laundry dried in the open air.

sammawow said...

This was a great picture for this week's theme! I think that the last time I used a clothesline was about 28 years ago when I didn't have a dryer!

Colin Campbell said...

This is very common all over Asia too. In the US you must use a dryer. Here we are half the way through the winter and we haven't had to go to the laundromat to dry clothes yet.

When I was in the Philippines, we had our clothes washed in the local river and dried on the stones. They didn't last very long with all that abuse.

Anonymous said...

What a great photo. It's very romantic.

I have to say, if I hung my laundry out to dry here it would dry quickly (thanks to the wind) and also be coated in dust (thanks also to the wind).

Thanks for stopping by my blog!