I really need to make Lucy, her royal puggle highness, a crown. She is so lovely, it makes my heart ache sometimes. Such joy. Every.Single.Day.
My neighbor, The Church Lady, offered to lend me her gas powered trimmer to trim our hedges. Trimming hedges are totally out of my comfort zone in the first place and I didn’t want to take my chances with a giant machine so I declined her offer.
I had only planned to stop by her place real quick to borrow 2 eggs. But then I asked how everything was going with her daughter {who left for college 2 weeks ago} and then it turned into a sobfest.
I think freshman year for any parent is the hardest. And it hurts for a really long time. And that’s okay. It’s normal. It’s like getting your arm severed, but you learn to adapt and it gets better. Eventually. Right?
I can’t imagine what it was like for parents 20 years ago before texting.
It’s a sad day when you realize you don’t have a 5 year old anymore who will happily wash all the dishes in the sink for a quarter.
I could have eaten the whole thing…
Dying wool.
Because why settle for what everyone else is using.
The peeps at MiniGarden sent me one of their fancy schmancy vertical kitchen planters to try out. I like the idea of being able to grow lettuce without having to trek out to the garden boxes in the rain during the cooler months.
If all goes well, I should have 15 heads of lettuce to harvest in about a month.
Can’t have a clothesline they say… #StickinItToTheHOA.
That’s the latest from suburbia, what’s new with you?
~Mavis
Em says
Lucy is so cute, and her digging is more “helpful” than my dog’s. 🙂
My clothesline is one of my favorite things. You can’t have one even behind your fence? 🙁
Julie says
What about a sunbrella? The square shaped laundry lines. The sheath stays cemented into the ground but the rest folds up and can be stored out of sight.
Jonnie says
Your HOA sucks big purple ones. The reason people buy homes is to be able to live the way they want, be it have a garden, able to hang out their clothes,, or what ever they choose, with out gaining permission. You are buying the house, and not from them. Even if you were purchasing it from them, when you moved in it becomes yours, so they still wouldn’t be able to dictate, how you should live. I would probably be in jail, by now, for socking one of them in the mouth. Their conformity issues would have begged for it. I have rented houses with fewer restrictions. The choices they made were off the wall,( painted Pink, pea soup gree, military khaki green, and so on.) Changes to the houses, I got their permission, Changes to the yard, front of back, I just did them, with the understanding, that if they didn’t like them, I would remove them when I moved out. To think that renting is the better option, is depressing. More so, when you can change flooring, cabinets, counters, etc…, in an apartment, which is also more frequently done.
Marivene says
Check to see if your state has a “right to dry” law. Many do, & if yours does, the HOA has to let you put up a clothesline. They can refuse to allow it in the front yard, but they cannot forbid you from using one, in the interest of … energy conservation.
Deborah from FL says
Thanks Marivene! I had no idea!!
So I looked it up. For those who are curious, as of 2013, the following states had this law:
AZ, CA, CO, FL, HI, IL, IN, LA, ME, MD, MA, NV, NM, NC, OR, TX, VT, VA, & WI.
Heather says
The more I read about what you can’t do due to the HOA (needing the solid fence to have a garden, can’t have a clothes line even behind a fence, etc) makes me realize I never want to live in one (I was on the fence at one time, but now I agree with my husband).
Carla says
I have lived under HOA domain many times. When I bought my last house one of the reasons was no HOA. In theory they are good in reality they are horrid.
Cheryl says
I am one of the mom’s who lost her arm almost one month ago. My son left for college and is 4 hours away. Why I thought this was o.k. I will never know. The only reason I did suggest this school was because his major is not something that many schools offer. Can I ask, why move into a home with a HOA when you don’t seem to like their ideas? Cheryl
Sandy says
I thought I was the only one hanging clothes from my patio umbrella and laying clothes out to dry on the patio furniture. You could be like the early settlers and lay them on the grass to dry! I understand the whites get really white that way.
Tracey says
I second checking to see if your state has a “right to dry” law. I found out ours did when our HOA started to make a stink about ours… However, the law is on our side, so we line dry most of the time. (Saves big time with 2 kids).
Ours is an umbrella type one and we’re discreet about hanging items out (only dirty laundry gets fully aired, not clean!! Ha!!). Undies on the inside etc. Though I was highly temped to find the biggest pair of leopard print panties and the loudest boxers I could find and hang ’em front and center to prove a point, I didn’t. I’m all rebellious like that. 🙂
Ann says
Sadly, WA does not yet have legal protection for clotheslines:
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/20_right_to_dry_states_outlaw_clothesline_bans_is_yours_among_them
My clothes dry on lines strung across the garage and love it. Fabrics don’t fade and those huge leopard panties & chile pepper boxers 😉 are out of sight until it’s convenient to retrieve them. Closed garage has sufficient circulation and I can slightly raise the overhead door for added airflow if desired.
Anne says
I just started dying some wool myself. Watcha gonna make?
Mavis Butterfield says
Hooked rugs of course. What are you making?
Laura says
Is there anything in your HOA Covenants prohibiting temporary clotheslines like an umbrella model? I use one that I only put out when I’m doing laundry and take it down when the laundry is dry.
Deborah from FL says
I have a couple folding rack dryers that I schlep outside when it’s not allergy season.
Diana says
Y’know, the big box stores have retractable clothes lines. Just put a hook where you want it to stretch to and voila! You have a clothesline when you want it and not when you don’t. I use mine all the time. I also have clothesline cord that I connect between a couple of trees. When I’m not using it, I just roll it up like you would a hose or extension cord and hang it at one of the ends on a hook. 🙂 Because cotton clothesline likes to stretch, I’ve been contemplating using wire cord and getting fancy schmancy with the end connectors, lol.
When is your time up and you can get sprung from this place?