a bit of dirty laundry for you

Every now and then, it is suggested that my portrayal of life on the farm here in Beautiful British Columbia is perhaps a little too idyllic. I must admit that I'm not one to air our dirty laundry and it must be a wee bit tempting to wonder what our life is like. . if you could be a peeping tom.

I imagine you all to be at one end of this long tunnel peering at me and mine squinting to get a glimpse of our reality. You've all been warned. . .dirty laundry in this post.

When we moved to the farm back in 1994 my beloved continued his full time work at Safeway while he learned how to be a farmer. I worked in the barns in the morning gathering eggs, and our two boys aged 13 and 15 gathered eggs in the afternoon and on weekends. This resulted in many loads of dirty chore clothes.

My beloved would check the chickens before he went to work and then again after work and often spent his evenings doing repairs and general cleaning. His chore clothes were far dustier and dirtier than mine and the boys and so he decided all on his own, that he would throw his dirty laundry in the washing machine himself so that the clothes wouldn't a) be strewn on the laundry room floor and b) no one else would need to touch them. He would begin the laundry by putting his load into the washer, adding the detergent and starting the cycle and I would then move it to the dryer and do the folding and putting away.

I pointed out to him several times that his socks didn't wash properly because his method of removing them left them bunched. I would usually take them out of the wash, and throw them in with another load for their second proper wash. This is how we have been doing it here in the bungalow ever since. It never really dawned on me that this should or could be addressed again. After all, everyone that knows me already suggests that my work load is less than strenuous and couldn't I at the very least. . . do my husbands laundry without complaining.


On Friday my daughter by love who shall remain unnamed to protect the innocent in this story. . though I will hint that her name starts with a B and ends with "ah", was doing some chicken laundry of her own. It seems that one little rogue chick was loose on the farmyard and got his feathers in a bit of a muck. Being the good little mother hen that she is. . stripped him down to his skivvies and popped his feathers in the wash. When she went to put the feathers in the dryer, she noted that were was a load of chore clothes that needed folding. Again, being the peach she is. . .proceeded to do this. In the meantime, I was busy in the office "working". Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of my dbl taking the normal 10 paces from one end of the hallway to the other end in 4 leaps or less . . . where my beloved was reclining on the couch.
All I heard was. . . ."are these you socks?".. .
He said. . "yes"
She said. . ."does something look wrong with them?"
He said. . ."why do you ask?"
She said. . "can they wash properly if they are all bunched up like this?"
He said. . ."who wants to know?"
As she moseyed back down the hallway. . . I noted the smile on her face.
On Saturday, after the barns received their weekend treat to be blown free of cobwebs, my beloved in his typical manner, came into the laundry room with his arm loaded full of dusty clothes, put them in the washing machine and called me to come and see.
Is that not just precious? He said he didn't know. . .and I can nearly be certain that there will never be another bunched up sock at the end of the wash cycle again.

Is there a lesson in today's airing of the dirty laundry?
I'm not sure. I do know though that when that dbl of ours flashes her beautiful smile at us. . .
we purpose to please her.
If that is not the best kind of teacher. . . .I don't know.
Have a wonderful day my friends . . .

Comments

  1. I loved your story Lovella, even if there isn't a lesson..or is there?? grin
    That sock thing..that happens here too. I need a dbl, don't I??
    And now I am off to do the laundry..

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  2. Wonderful story! I do think that a daughter by love can get a lot more accomplished in certain situations than the usual "nag." No, no, I am not calling you one of those...heavens, no, never would I say that. It's just, well, you know, it's hearing the message from a new messenger that does the trick.

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  3. Hmmm

    I've noticed that it works with daughters too - mine just has to flash a little grin at dad and he's putty...

    It comes in handy :)

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  4. I love it! Oh yes...those smiles do wonders.

    That got me thinking about the socks...I think my DH must have learned that lesson before I knew him. I'm worse with socks than he is!

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  5. Please send her over here to deal with my kids!
    Husband is trained thankfully...it's just the little boys that don't quite get it!

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  6. Love this post Lovella! But for being farm dirties those are the cleanest dirties I've seen :O)
    I can so relate to that sock thing but it's my daughter who is the culprit!!

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  7. Awwww... the lesson?? There is ALWAYS a way to get a message across... sometimes it just takes the right messenger !!! smile..

    Could B....ah come over and try to explain to my dh, who likes to help, that putting dark colored towels with light ones is a terrible thing to do????

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  8. too cute, i pray for that kind of dbl, since my ds surely will need one. it seems that it will take a very special woman to do what i have not been able to.....:^).

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  9. i loved your post today!!! So great. I agree about not airing dirty laundry on the blog -- I guess that leads to unrealistic ideas, but that's the way it goes.

    How cute about the socks!!! I know my husband would have probably said the same thing and genuinely meant it "I didn't know that...." And, he would also have tried never to do it again.

    So fun to hear a bit more about the farm.

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  10. Terry just won more of my admiration. I don't fully trust men that don't know how to start a load of laundry...it is good to know the man is trustworthy

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  11. Thanks for the smile at the end of a long hard day.
    Vange

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  12. Yes, daughters can do so much more. Then again, who am I to say that a son can worm his way into a mom's heart and accomplish much more than a beloved? Is it that we listen more closely?

    Cute story Lovella!

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