On a good day I can move mountains, on a bad day I can move molehills. Whichever day it is, whether with the assistance of pain relief or not I find that putting a load of washing in when I first get up has to take priority over everything else bar letting the dog out. Once that's done, I'm on the right track and can move onto completing the other niceties like heading down to the bathroom, cleaning my teeth (during which time I swish & swipe with my homemade vinegar cleaner), brushing my hair, taking my tablets, getting dressed and of course making my first cup of tea for the day.
I don't recal just how long it's been since fate intervened and decided that Polly should buy a new washing machine but it's been a while now. I distinctly remember that DG & I went looking for one in the nearby town of Newbridge on afternoon. Heaven only knows quite why we decided to travel 27miles to select a washing machine, when we could have visited the local branch of the same store just 9miles away!
The 'new' washer is just that. It's a washer! This said, there are only three programmes I've yet to use; these are both of the economy settings because they take forever when a non-economy setting at the same temperature takes half an hour less (yes, I know!) and the sportshoe wash programme. I am one of those rare beasts that uses my washer to the absolute best of my ability...
DG's work jeans usually get boiled alive at 95C - it gets stubborn agricultural dirt out and makes them last longer. His shirts are allowed to cook at around 40C. His & the boys socks go in on a 60C programme and are pretty much the only items persistently tumble dried, life's too short to be hanging them out on the line! Most of my pretties (I can no longer refer to them as smalls) are delicate and are treated as such. I use the silk and the wool cycles interchangably depending on which I've got the most of, fabrics and synthetics I'm not sure of get the 30C treatment, despite the fact that I've got a synthetic cycle at 40C & one at 50C and by far my favourite setting is the 30' mini-cycle for lightly soiled things.
By far the best thing about this machine is the fact that it is indeed automatic. It's an energy saving appliance which fills from the top and is also water saving in nature. One thing I'm not crazy about is that I need a man to help me undo the cover when something like a plectrum or a penny get caught in the filter, I'm just not strong enough to open it. DG has suggested using a mole/vice grips but the opportunity has yet to arise!By far the best feature of my all singing, all dancing machine is the fact that I've recently discovered that there is indeed a need for pre-setting a delayed start. Yep, this is what I've been doing over the past couple of days before going to bed at night. Why? Because I don't want to be the victim of my appliances bursting into flames while unattended. Drama queen? Perhaps, but I did once witness my friends dishwasher doing just that, luckily it was during the day while we were around and able to deal with it.
So why have I all of a sudden become paranoid about this? It's largely thanks to another friend nagging her Mum about the same thing, Flylady's essays on the subject and a new acquaintance of mine who just happens to be an insurance claims assessor/adjuster. As a result of all of the above my washing had been growing - again - to Mt Washmore proportions and my frustration with it. I read something about using the delay start on Flylady.net and obviously it struck a chord as now I'm ahead of myself at last.And hey! Guess what? If it happens that it's going to be a pain filled bad day I don't end up feeling bad about not keeping up with the washing! I can go back to bed and wait for my pain relief to kick in in the secure knowledge that the house is in the process of looking after itself.
And that ladies & gentlemen is just perfect...
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