Monthly Musing – June 2025 – Silver lining
Big daughter’s washing machine has broken down.
“I have no idea how we have ended up with so much washing!” she puffed, as she hauled a huge basket through the door, ready to load up our washing machine and make the most of the sunny afternoon to get them dry. There are only two of them in their house and her boyfriend (partner? That sounds so grown up!) had also taken some washing over to his Mum’s, but I suspect the reason for that is that they have tried to ignore the problem and now the pair of them had run out of clothes.
Not so small daughter also waits until the last minute before using the washing machine at her university accommodation. That’s fair enough, I guess, as she has to pay each time she uses the machine and it soon adds up if she doesn’t do a full load of washing. Now, you and I both know that we always have to pay for the washing machine every time we use it as water and electricity in our houses isn’t free – but it’s a bit different when it’s covered by monthly bills rather than having to book a machine time slot by app and pay for the use at the time!
She’s moving out of her first year student accommodation soon and into a shared house with three friends – and she is very excited to think that she will be able to use the washing machine whenever she wants to!
The conversations I have had with my girls this week about washing have reminded me that our appliances are not something to be taken for granted. I am always grateful to be able to close the washing machine door and know that when I open it again, my clothes will be clean and ready to go on the washing line without me having to stand over the sink and wash everything by hand. I am especially grateful to be able to open the fridge door and take out cold food as I think that having no fridge would be much worse than having no washing machine … and yet there are people in the world who live without both.
It never hurts to be reminded of what we have to be grateful for, and as we unpegged the last of big daughter’s washing from the line and folded it, smelling wonderfully of the outdoors, into her basket, we were both very thankful that we had one working washing machine between us – and that the sun had shone and dried it all in record time … and that needing to do all the washing meant that we got to spend extra time with big daughter as she arrived earlier than usual on a Sunday to get everything done.
She might not agree with me as they are still without a washing machine for the time being – but I would say that was the silver lining of this particular cloud – and hooray for it being the only one of the day!
It’s lovely that they do come home from time to time, even if it is just for washing! Our daughter has been living at home for the last 6 months (though is now about to move out) and it’s been lovely having her around.
It’s quite different having an adult child in the house to a younger child, isn’t it? Although that washing pile does get bigger … 🤣
How lovely that big daughter lives close enough to be able to come home! Even if it is for washing machine time.
In the late 40s and early 50s when I was little we had no washing machine and I remember my mother washing everything by hand- even blankets which went into the bath to be washed and we had a copper for boiling towels and things – and no fridge – we had a larder with a meat safe – how we survived and didn’t get food poisoning is a miracle. No vacuum cleaner either – just a carpet sweeper. My mother did have to shop every day – on top of the housework.
We moved to Switzerland in 1956 and suddenly had a washing machine and a fridge and a car! In the early 60s we moved to America and had a colour TV! We loved all these wonderful additions to our lives and enjoyed them very much.
So much has changed – thank goodness for the knitting to keep us grounded!
What an amazing life you have had! It must have been incredible to see these things for the first time – I don’t think you get that quite the same these days as technology generally just builds on what we already have, although of course there have still been innovations like video players to CD players to streaming. Big daughter is on her way with another load of washing … 🤣 xx
I realised recently that I moved to this house 11 years ago and brought with me the: fridge (now 18), Dyson (13?), TV (14), mower (19), and washer (also 18). I love in dread of them going…. They all work outstandingly too.
I love that smell of line dried laundry. Do you also have an electric dryer inside?
Yes – although I try not to use it over the summer, and even in the winter I dry what I can on the Aga as that’s always warm 🙂 xx