Solar power!

It has been HOT! Thankfully we have central air conditioning and lots of things to do inside. But this week it seemed I was destined to be outside more than I had originally planned.



Below is a picture of my clothes dryer.

Yes this is the inside. Do the clothes go in that dirty ole thing?  

Well, not exactly.  There's a large piece missing.

 

 

That big thing on top is where the clothes go. Yes I could still put the clothes in it but it obviously won't dry them.  Well, maybe if I had the kids push it really fast down the hill a few times.....while holding a hair dryer.....with a really long extension cord......nah.

Can you see on the top of the dryer where the paint is coming off? Our washer and dryer used to be very nice looking. Okay, as nice looking as a basic washer and dryer can look. For some reason one of the children decided to squirt our laundry soap all over the place and failed to mention it to us and IT ATE THE PAINT OFF!  Lovely isn't it?  I wasn't pleased with the paint coming off but honestly, if it still works I'm not too worried about cosmetics. Really. It's a dryer.

But....the soap that ate the paint also ran down inside and IT ATE THROUGH THE BELT! Yes, the belt. You know, the thing that makes that big tub turn round and round so the clothes get all nice and fluffy and wrinkle free? Yes, that  belt. 

Of course Sears wanted to sell us the replacement belt for a chunk of change - I think it was around $19.00. That's before shipping. We found it on Amazon for $3.99. No kidding. I love Amazon!  Another part also needed replaced, I can't remember the name of it, but it helped guide the belt.

So this past week we have been using our solar powered dryer. 

 

 

Did I mention it's been hot? Our temps have been in the high 90's with a heat index around 110+. It is very humid and not much of a breeze. It was probably good there was no breeze since we didn't have clothespins. We would have had to search for our delicates in the neighbor's yard. I did cheat once and took a large load of undies and socks to my in-law's house and used their dryer. (THANKS!) That many small items would not work on the fence. 

 

I am thankful it didn't rain. I can't imagine hanging clothes inside the house. We learned quickly to place the clothes in the sunniest spots. Since there wasn't a breeze the sun had to bake the clothes dry. They sort of took the form of the fence and were a little crunchy, but they were dry and they smelled heavenly!  I really think I would like a clothesline someday. Not for everything, but it is nice to smell line-dried (er ummm fence dried) sheets. 

 

Todd got the parts and fixed the dryer!  It has a new sound now, but it seems to be working great. Maybe I'll get to start my new laundry system next week.