Tea at Trianon: Drying Clothes on the Line

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, February 13, 2009

Drying Clothes on the Line

It saves power and money. (Via Lew Rockwell)

When clothes dryers account for at least 6% of the electricity used by U.S. households, is it any wonder that line-drying is coming back? In places where the practice is banned as an unsightly nuisance to neighbors, right-to-dry activists and blogging eco-moms are forming an alliance. Their cause: to reduce energy consumption and to call upon sunlight rather than bleach to get those whites even whiter.

Alexandra said...: I agree with the article, discretion should be taken when hanging your laundry. I think as long as you keep it in the backyard out of site, it shouldn't be a problem. We hang ours across our back fence on a line which is hung low. You can't see it from the street, or anyone's windows.

In the winter I hang it inside on three racks, one load at a time.

I'm so glad we don't live under a HOA!; February 13, 2009 at 2:10:00 PM EST
Nancy Reyes said...: In the sunny days of summer, the sheets smell wonderful.

But when it's twenty below in Minnesota, it means a basement full of laundry hanging up.
And what if you live in an apartment?

We didn't have a drier when I was a kid, and believe me, having to hang up clothes and sheets is a chore when you have to do it, no matter how cold or hot..not to mention you have to run outside bring it in wet when it rains.

I suspect most of those advocating hanging up sheets will lose their enthusiasm after a year or two.; February 13, 2009 at 6:25:00 PM EST