Washday

After checking the weather forecast this morning, I decided that today, at last, was to be washday - the first chance to use both the posser and wringer for real.


First I boiled up a kettle full of water on the primus - I swapped it for the Beatrice last night after the Beatrice ran out of paraffin again; it seems to be getting through half a gallon every couple of days, which is far more than the primus uses. You can see the soot it's left behind on the kettle though.


A kettleful of boiling water goes a long way in making warm water and soon the first lot of not-very-dirty washing was soaking. Then we got stuck in with the posser, which is very effective at forcing water through the clothes. Although we have a good supply of water, waste not want not, so this soapy water was saved for the next, dirtier lot of clothes. Three rinses, each using a couple of gallons of clean water, and the clothes were ready for wringing.


Jim set the wringer up on the bank, clamping it to a trestle as a temporary measure. It was a bit wobbly, but works fantastically, and unlike wringing by hand leaves clothes flat, rather than crumpled. It's a terrible photo as it was straight into the sun (all these blog photos a taken on the iPad itself as I have no was at present of transferring photos from the camera). The wringer has a big adjusting screw on the top so it can be set to squeeze really tightly for small thin things, and loosened off to get bulky items through.


Then I did one of my favourite jobs, hanging the washing on the line, before we went off to town again. This time we went to the market and got a few bits and pieces, to Porters for some triple smoked bacon, and the Real Ale Store for something to wash it down with. We also discovered the more downmarket end of town, and a Sports Direct, whe Jim stocked up on t-shirts.

It is starting to look as if it might finally rain - the long awaited hailstorm is now due at one o'clock tomorrow morning, but it's been an excellent drying day and most of the laundry is folded and put away already.


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