Heh - I remember more than once my mom leaving the clothes out on the line when it got too cold and having jeans that were frozen stiff. 
Is it too weird that I want pictures of people’s clothesline set-ups? I’d love to have a clothesline, but we live in an apartment with managers that are very finicky about ANYTHING on the patios that aren’t strictly made to be on one.
I actually broke a sock once.
Dry your stuff inside out! Very very important! The sun will fade your clothes faster than you would believe.
I used to line dry (and wash my clothes by hand, too) in the Olden Days, when I lived in Bulgaria. As far as I’m concerned, the use of washers and dryers is my right as an American.
One time. Sigh. This was my life. I only had one warm room in my house, my bedroom, because it was where my wood-burning stove was. I would wash my clothes by hand and then hang it in my laundry room, where it would all freeze solid. Then I would bring it in, piece by piece, to dry in my bedroom. It would take about a day to dry in there. Because I didn’t have a lot of space for drying in there, it was a continual process, drying just a couple of items a day. Which meant I had to do the wash once a day, too, to keep it going.
My pipes froze, so I would go out to the well to bring in near-freezing water from the town well, which I would then heat up in my kettle so I didn’t have to wash my clothes in icy water…
But I digress.
I like washers and dryers.
Why do clothes dried outside smell so good? In the winter I hang up clothes in the basement and they never get that wonderful fresh smell. I’d claim it was the sun, but they smell just as good dried on cloudy days.
My neighbors think that we’re showing our concern for the environment by hanging out clothes (several have said so), but actually we’re just sticking it to the gas company.
With regard to drying clothes outside in the winter, when my sister was born my mother demanded a clothes drier, as wasn’t going to dry three kids’ clothes (two in cloth diapers) on outside clothes lines in North Dakota in the winter. Apparently it was the third kid that did it, as for several winters she’d shovel a path to the clothes lines.
I’m envious. We used to have a clothes line.
Now, we have an HOA. The sole purpose of an HOA is to ensure every house looks like the other with a manicured lawn, no visible evidence of pets and no clotheslines. :mad:
I have lots of birds in my yard as well, not to mention “industrial” smells from the body shop on the corner and GM down the street. We can tell when they’re painting. I mostly use my dryer now. I used to line dry until I noticed the smell was less fresh than I hoped.
Please tell me if you ever publish an autobiography, I’ve noticed you have a very interesting life. 