Saturday, August 28, 2010

Laundry and Puppy Mess

Different RV Parks and Campgrounds have different rules. It can be mind boggling and funny at times. 


Many, but not all, will not allow one to hang out laundry or utilize a clothes line.  Some have washers and dryers on site, which is quite a convenience for those like me, who live fulltime in a motorhome.  Some dryers are priced with so many minutes per quarter (US 25 cent piece.)  Others have a predetermined time and price, such as 30 minutes for 75 cents. This can be maddening when your load takes 40 minutes to dry. I guess someone else gets the free 20 minute use of the dryer, or maybe it has a timer, to click off the time so nobody gets it. 


I use a lightweight collapsible hamper to accumulate my dirty laundry in, then haul it to the camp's laundry room. It is made to collapse and fold up flat for storage, but since I always have dirty laundry, mine hides in the corner of the bedroom, accumulating the next load. 

I also have several small  mesh wash bags, that I often use to put my unmentionables inside of, while washing.  I try to be super careful that I am nearby to empty out the washer or dryer as soon as my laundry is finished, so no one has to wait on me, or even worse, feel obligated to dump my stuff out, so they can use the machine. But should someone dump my stuff out, at least my undies are corralled in a mesh bag.

One day a bunch of my undies were zipped up in a laundry bag, then tossed in with the rest of the clothes to wash and dry. When the dryer was done, I tossed the bag of undies  back into my laundry basket, then folded up the rest of the stuff, laying it neatly on top.

While putting my things away, I came to the underwear bag and horrors upon horrors, everything was dry but them. I had to leave in a hurry, to go take care of business elsewhere, so I draped them over the window  valance, then departed. I should have draped them neater, but they dried anyhow.  The sight struck me as funny, so here it is:
Notice I pulled the shades, to hide the fact I was hanging my undies in the window!


I've now become organized better about this laundry business. I keep a special change purse where I save all my quarters for the laundry room. I can toss this change purse on top of the hamper full of clothes,  when I am ready to hike to the laundry room. Next,  I have a small plastic bottle, actually an old plastic spice jar I washed out, that holds about a load of liquid washing soap.  My laundry soap is kept in an outside locker by the front door. I can pop open the door, transfer the soap from the large bottle to the small bottle, then add that to the laundry hamper. My dryer softener sheets, those things that keep your socks from sticking to your clothes, are inside a Ziploc bag and since they are lightweight, live in the bottom of the laundry hamper all the time.

Finally I am organized, arriving at the laundry center, with clothes, money, soap and softener. This saves me lots of walking back and forth to get the various things I typically forget. My last home had a washer but no dryer, so I didn't have to remember to load up all the necessities to run do a load of laundry. I always feel better, when I am better organized. A feat that is sometimes hard for me!

Just take a look at this mess! Click the picture to enlarge, if you dare.
I heard a loud crash outside. 

When I went to investigate, puppy dog had somehow managed to tangle up with the folding table.  I swear the legs were locked in place, but somehow he collapsed it while on his lengthy tether. All the carefully organized rubble landed on the patio rug. 

In case you are wondering what all that stuff is:
Leash with Carabiner
Flashlight on a  keychain
Doggy poop bags and carrier
My Straw hat
Wok (on sale) in shopping bag
Pad of paper and two pens
Small ashtray can with red lid
Covered garbage can (aka coffee can)
2 screw-in stakes in a big clear baggy
Black leash that somebody chewed through (I wonder who?)
Dog Clicker for training
Parrot Table Cloth over a card table

Under the table is his portable dog house. So far he only uses it for dining and refuses to play or sleep in it. Notice how he neatly left the dust pan upright, but his tether is tied around the red chair (his doing, not mine).

When I took a picture of this puppy-made  mess, he ran and hid under the motorhome.  Gee, I wonder why. 

I put him inside, while I cleaned up the patio. 



"OK, if I can't play outside, then I'll go inside and DRIVE this beast."

Now I am beginning to see where my day goes, between housekeeping, writing, cleaning up after puppy, feeding puppy, walking puppy, playing with puppy, training puppy, scolding puppy, loving puppy, brushing puppy, it's a dadgum miracle I get anything accomplished. 

I have to finish this now, puppy sees his canine buddies are going for a walk and wants to run play with them. If I don't take him, then I have to listen to his pitiful, poor-little-me whines. He can sound soooooo pathetic. Who is training who here? 

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2 comments:

  1. DMM - too funny! You closed the shade to hide your undies, and then post the picture on your blog!!! Bet more people see them here than there! All is fine here on STJ after Earl's visit. No school yet tomorrow - kids are probably glad they got a few extra summer vacation days! Be Blessed! Pam on STJ

    ReplyDelete
  2. My parents rv alot. They got themselves a really nice wooden clothes drying rack that they take with them. That way they can always get their clothes dried. Outside if it's allowed on inside it they can't put them outside.

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