Our last freezing weather was less than two weeks ago, but I picked a ripe alpine strawberry yesterday afternoon, then found a few more this morning. Several days of high temperatures in the 80s °F (30°C) have speeded up growth of almost everything. The Wiegela bush out front is past peak blooming. It wasn’t as showy as last year, the frost last week nipped the first blooms, turning them brown.
The columbines are doing quite well, the one I planted right after I moved here was very full and showed no signs of frost damage:
Seedlings from that plant had only leaves last year when I planted them by the fence, but they now have blossoms in two shades of yellow, all white, and pink and yellow.
This morning I picked a first salad from the two kinds of lettuce that seeded themselves from last year. I had been planning to get the salad spinner out anyway. (See Rant section below in regard to hand washing laundry)
Yesterday I also picked the first two fleas of the season from the fur on Bode’s forehead, but guess you have to take the good with the bad.
rant section
Last Saturday the little Haier portable washing machine that I mail ordered in April 2003 from Wal-Mart ($193 plus tax and shipping) finally broke down. It was small and I could hook it up to almost any faucet and sink. The agitator and pump still work but it won’t spin. It had started to leak and was making a squealing noise when in the agitator was turning on occasion, so figured it was coming close to its end. When I took it apart, found that the bracket that held one end of a solenoid (for the brake?) was broken loose. It more than paid for the investment in saved laundromat fees though. Being able to spin out woolens after soaking in Eucalan was a real plus.
Until I got the washer for my apartment in Milwaukee, the salad spinner had been doing dual duty for cleaning greens plus spin drying wool socks, hats, and skeins of yarn that I hand washed.
Buying that washing machine was also the straw that broke the camel’s back for credit card use when a “lost” payment resulted in charges excessive enough to make me angry. That sparked enlightenment of the connection between of several big industries and questioning how we were manipulated into this financial mess as a society. While canceling the credit card, the last argument made for keeping it (along with an offer to forgive the late charge) was that everyone needed credit cards to cover medical treatment because of the obvious lack of universal care/single payer system! What we really need is a complete overhaul of the consumer credit and health insurance systems. When I hear reports about economic recovery it seems that a lot of people want to return to the recent better times — sort of like an alcoholic who seeks recovery in getting enough liver function back to start drinking again.
The other thing that struck me while shopping on Tuesday was that there are many apparent choices for doing laundry here in our consumer paradise provided you want an appliance that occupies a space of 25 to 28 inches wide by 27 inches deep by 36 inches high and weighs about 200 lbs. I was reminded of Henry Ford said about the Model T!
If you are researching washing machines, I found a good review on PublicBookshelf
Conspicuously absent from show rooms were compact and portable models, and what portables were available online cost a lot more than a standard machine.
The most important choices seem to be for front loading vs. top loading machine, the power of the motor and number of spin speeds. There are also a lot more microprocessor controlled models, including ones that will relieve you of the terrible burden of deciding if your wash load needs low, medium, or high water levels. How many people do you know of who broke down from repeatedly facing this decision?
I also looked on the web for laundry alternatives and found that I was not the only person who had discovered that soaking items in detergent in a tub, then stomping on them is very effective, especially for things like mattress pads that don’t do up well in either top nor front loading washers. Considering the amount of hand washing I do anyway (lots of hand knit wool items in my wardrobe), it is looking that what I need most is a way to spin dry stuff. I found two such items available for mail order:
Charm Spinner
Laundry Alternatives Spin Dryer
In this time when we have an opportunity to institute a more sane energy policy, it was shocking to find that in many neighborhoods in USA it is still illegal to hang your clothes out on a line to dry them! Mechanical clothes dryers account for a high percentage of household energy use. I guess that is closely akin to finding that in some places it is illegal to collect rain water. Sigh…
So today I have narrowed down the alternatives to two: buying a used, reconditioned top loader (which will eventually be 200 lbs of material to landfill) or buying a separate spinner unit that I can use with the malfunctioning Haier portable until it completely disintegrates and which would be complementary to a conventional washer to cut down drying time.
