22 January 2008

Things I like about summer, III

Washing rugs and hanging them outdoors on a rack to dry.

Drying a rug in June 2004

I guess I have a theme going here. But after winter, it's time for spring cleaning. Make that late spring or early summer for drying rugs outdoors — you have to wait for the sun to get high in the sky and temperatures to climb into the 80s. Then the rugs dry fast.

I sometimes just sit in a chair and watch them dry. Okay, often I also do a little reading, or listen to the radio, too.

7 comments:

  1. Are you lazy , or something?

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  2. There I go again...When I was young, in my home (Montréal), we did not wash rugs. We did not use chemical sprays. We had three 12x10 carpets, with "franges", and many small carpets called "descentes de lit". All year around, my mother cleaned stains with a vinegar solution.She used a roller broom every Friday for the dust. In the spring and the fall, my father put the big carpets on the clothes line, and beat them up, with an old broom, to get dust off. My mother would do the same with the small carpets. Hard job! I loved to
    help until I reached 12. Then, I wanted to be paid "à la pièce", (like the vines'lady).

    Ken: Enjoy your chair, your book+ radio. The good old days are gone. All your carpet needs to dry is the company of the sun, and you sitting nearby.

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  3. chm, he washed the rug, didn't he?

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  4. Chrissoup, I think the machine did.

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  5. CHM, you are right about me but Chrissou is right about the rug. I scrubbed that rug by hand in the laundry sink. It's too big to go in our little washer. So I worked for my lazy moments.

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  6. I should refrain from making nasty comments. I had a sneaking suspicion that you did what you did with the rug, but could not help making that comment. Sorry!

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  7. CHM, your comments are never nasty. I'm glad to hear from you.

    Claudia, we have rugs that can't be washed but we are not so good about taking them out and beating them. We probably should do that, but a good vacuuming is all they get. The other rugs -- what are called rag rugs -- get a good washing once or twice a year. It's much easier to do them when the weather is warm outside because they dry so much more quickly.

    My mother tells me about the Mondays when they did the laundry outdoors when she was growing up.

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