A real conversation …

It all started here:

Bob: I was watching a television show the other day about the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago (no longer existing) and what it was like in its heyday, which was the 1920s thru the 40s

Bob: Would have been interesting to have experienced it first hand

Sam: would have been something, eh?

Sam: there isn’t that kind of thing any more

Bob: Not in the same way

Sam: no

Bob: Television changed the way we entertain ourselves

Sam: amongst other things

Bob: yeah, but I think that is one of the biggest factors

Sam: for sure

Sam: but I meant more than entertain ourselves

Bob: ah

Sam: it destroyed the concept of “family”

Bob: It just seems that we were more “social” people back before television

Sam: and allowed us to be brainwashed by the marketers

Sam: made us an “I want that” society

Sam: yes, we were definitely more social people

Bob: I read stories about before television about people sitting out on their porches in the evening and visiting and think that would be a nice way to live

Sam: and neighbors meant something

Sam: now all they mean is something to complain about

Bob: well, they always meant that

Sam: lol

Sam: but yeah, sitting on the porch would be a nice way to have it

Bob: Now, you don’t even know who your neighbors are

Bob: hell, I don’t even speak the same language as my neighbors

Sam: hell, now you don’t even know who your kids are!

Bob: true

Sam: most parents haven’t a clue

Bob: Used to be that mothers would get together and talk about stuff, including raising kids, and there was a shared knowledge. Now everyone tries to raise kids from a book or just the same way they think they were raised

Bob: Then again, what do I really know? Maybe I’m just glamorizing the whole thing and making presuppositions.

Bob: Boy, sometimes I really would just like to be a kid again for a while

Sam: me, too

… and that’s the way it is today.

Doncha wish sometimes that we could just pull all these really wonderful things from the past into our ridiculous lives today?

Doncha wish parents could be parents again instead of battling the credit crunch and working 18 hours a day just to meet their foolish spending bills?

Doncha wish YOUR kids could have their moms and dads at home more?

Doncha wish you had a front porch?

Tonight I’m doing laundry … and that set me to wondering about other people’s laundry rooms and where they keep their washers and dryers.

Mine are stuck in a hallway just inside my front door. I suppose one could call it a “mud room” if one wanted to glamorize it a lot. It is, after all, where the mud enters my house on the Dawg’s paws.

If you think it’s odd that it’s at the front door, I have to confess I only have one door. If there’s a fire in here, I’ll be bailing out a window and shoving the Dawg out in front of me.

( *reminder to self – put Dawg on a diet and sign up for weight lifting class at the local gym)

My mom used to have an old Bendix, I think it was, that was one machine that served double purpose – it was both washer AND dryer.

It was very large, front loading, and if I remember correctly, it used to waltz all over the basement floor which frustrated her no end. It had a window in the door and I never have been able to figure out the logistics of first filling it with soap and water and then turning on the heat to dry your clothes. It wouldn’t be very funny if you had a malfunction and the machine forgot to drain itself …

http://www.adclassix.com/a3/53bendixwasherdryer.html

1953 Bendix Duomatic ad

(Amazing what you can find on the 3Dub when you go looking, eh?)

Years ago I saw a picture in a magazine of a laundry room where they had disguised the machinery in an old grain bin, cut down to size. You lifted the slanted lid on top to put the laundry in the washer, and there was a door on the front for access to the dryer. It was all very rustic and I remember how much I liked that idea. The room had lots of shelves and a big window with a willow branch for a curtain rod. I can’t remember what was on the window for a curtain, so I guess it didn’t impress me much at the time. Some old grain sacks would certainly have been appropriate, though!

So, let’s go sloshing around the ‘Net and see what other people have come up with … (but first I’ll go you-know-where because we ALL know what happens the instant you turn on the tap or stick your hands in water, right, Girls???)

FLUSH – okay, I’m back now …

Here’s one that appeals to me. I found it on My Home Ideas

http://www.myhomeideas.com/myhome/photos/0,30587,1055139_863913,00.html

I really like the old cabinetry. Latching onto an antique sideboard would make a cool top cabinet, and Verithaned pine shelving would make the countertop nicely. Add some moulding and some shutters down below and voila! The bead-board in the back wall is a nice old-fashioned touch. Love that mustardy colour on the walls, too. The washer and dryer are too cool, but with front-loading machines, I think I might want them raised off the floor about three or four inches – too much stooping down for me. Of course, that would raise the work surface, but perhaps that isn’t entirely a bad thing.

Sometimes odd things in photographs make me ask questions … so now I want to know … Does everyone store their apples on top of their washer and dryer???

I will have that rooster, though …

* * *

Now here’s a place that just looks like home to me … someone else is a collector of useful old tools, implements and gadgets … I’ll be bookmarking this page for sure and going back to drool some more over all those wonderful “finds”. The room is in her mother’s house, which she says is like this all over – not just the laundry room!

Those country blues are fabulous! That pale blue on the walls with the white trim sure sets off her massive display of collectibles. The spatter graniteware is a stunning collection – you’ll have to visit that blog to see the whole room, for sure! This is but one small corner of it. There’s even close-ups of some of the “stuff” she’s collected. *sigh* I am such a junk collector … I used to have much more than I do now – money got tight and I sold off a large part (okay, almost all) of my years of treasure hunting. I still have some rather unique pieces, tho. I’ll take pictures sometime and show y’all. Promise.

You can find this room and her fab photos at With a Grateful Heart http://withagratefulheart.blogspot.com/2008/04/laundry-room-blues.html

* * *

Ballard Designs offers up this little gem for drying your little things …

It wouldn’t take much weight to rip it off the wall and wet laundry can be quite heavy. With my luck the kids would think it was a toy when it was fully extended and play jungle gym with it!!!

Okay, so I don’t have kids at home any more … it’s a really cool idea and sure would beat hauling out the old accordion wooden one and trying to find enough floor space to set it up and still be able to walk around it …

I can see this idea working well for drying wet swimwear and beach towels out at the cabin or by the pool, too.

Someone was using their noodle when they thought this up!

http://www.ballarddesigns.com/By-Room/Laundry-Room/Drying-Racks/Accordion-Drying-Rack/p/4933?path=1%2C2%2C1752%2C1758%2C1954&iProductID=4933

* * *

Here’s a sign from Live, Laugh, Love http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/livelaughlove/product/metal_wall_sign to hang on your door or your laundry room wall … that chicken wire adds a lot of “atmosphere”!

and another from Jack and Friends inviting you to “drop your pants” retro-style …

http://www.jackandfriends.com/store/catalog/product_1411_ONE_HOUR_DRY_CLEANING_Metal_Sign.html

* * *

From the other side of the country, in Nova Scotia, at Nova News Now, http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-233366-The-Laundry-Room-Deserves-Respect.html they have decided laundry rooms need respect. Well, I agree but I must also add …”and so do all the women who for centuries have slaved away at getting all the stains out of their family’s dirty clothes”.

This modern laundry from their site is mega-organized, super sleek, and doncha just love those machines!

Again, I find myself wondering about things in their photo – I mean, where is all the colour? Do they only wear white, fergoodnessakes???? If, like me, your fave colour is rainbow, this room is good for a few nightmares!

I may not agree with their colourless laundy room, but I can sure relate to getting the laundry out of the dingy dark basement (where spiders like to hide) and getting them up where the sunlight can pour in. Somehow laundry is one of life’s detested chores, and adding some decorating accents, creating shared spaces with other family activities and making it a living, breathing room can sure remove some of the drudgery from the old laundry job.

Or …

We could all go back to doing it the old fashioned way …

www.jamd.com/image/g/52007577

*LOL – she’s got high heels on!

* * *

Just in case you want to live life the “simple way” …

http://down—to—earth.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html

… or maybe not.

]]> http://maggiesmeanderings.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/laundry-a-dreaded-chore/feed/ 0 Maggie 1953 Bendix Duomatic Washer and Dryer ad http://maggiesmeanderings.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/welcome/ http://maggiesmeanderings.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/welcome/#comments Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:06:52 +0000 Maggie http://maggiesmeanderings.wordpress.com/?p=23 ]]>

My first entry in a NEW BLOG! Woohoooooo!!!!

I do so much surfing all over the ‘Net, I figured I’d share some of the “places” I’ve been. This is a very random site – and I do mean RANDOM.

The photo in my header says a lot – and you all just thought it was a messy picture, didn’t you???

It was taken on one of my trips a few years ago, at a place called Silver Creek, British Columbia. This building is one of several on the property of the Silver Creek General Store. More about that place later … back to the mess … so, the pic is of travel, and portrays a “collection” – if you look closely – it’s quite an eclectic collection. There’s old tools of all descriptions and for all kinds of uses, new planters, greenery, furniture, wooden crates and a whole lot more. There’s even a pair of red flannel long johns hanging there! It’s all well used – just like me!

It’s kinda like my mind – has a hard time with just one thought and dashes hither and yon trying to capture new experiences and knowledge. There is a HUGE difference between this blog and my mind, though … my blog has “categories” and my mind refuses to stick things into compartments! It’s the most disorganized mind I know.

It’s also kinda like my housekeeping – they dust that old stuff at Silver Creek about as often as I do around here. But we won’t talk about the thick layer of dust and dog hair everywhere, okay??? And, no, I won’t post a pic to prove it.

* * *

I am interested in so many things … photography, home decorating, crafts, construction, birds, gardening, food and cooking, bugs, wildflowers, sewing and needlework, architectural stuff, THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, different cultures, old tools, “green” things, spaces, art of all descriptions, words of wisdom, parenting, celebrations, antiques, DIY, old fashioned remedies (and trickery) and news from the world of medicine, travel, and on and on and on …

The Internet is truly a marvelous invention. I sit in my favourite chair, light a smoke, pour a drink, munch some peanuts, get cozy with my electric throw and flip a switch – and the whole wonderful world opens up to me. Ain’t that grand???

I can read a book, listen to music or my fave talk radio (you rock, Phil Johnson !!! – and Bill and Christy and the trucking boys after midnight aren’t too shabby, either), go on a trip, laugh at jokes and funny videos, convert Celsius to Fehrenheit, learn how to spell “Fahrenheit”, take a painting course, look at the world from outer space, learn to cook something exotic, buy new undies (and anything else that strikes my fancy) and just never get out of my chair (until the potty calls my name and then it’s dash time) …

Such is life in my fast lane …

Want go exploring with me??? C’mon!!!!

( … and if you happen to find me wandering around on the ‘Net, send me back here so I can go somewhere else, okay??? )

]]> http://maggiesmeanderings.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/welcome/feed/ 0 Maggie