This post isn't very rock and roll but I'm so excited about my new toy that I just had to share.
Over the past month I seem to have spent too much time rushing down the garden in the rain to rescue the washing from the clothes line and most afternoons tripping over the clothes airer and swearing. Fed up with my constant whingeing, Jon grabbed a pen and started sketching something mysterious on the back of an old envelope.
Fast forward a couple of days and this was hanging in the utility room, made entirely from bits Jon had lying around, with the exception of the six mop handles purchased from Wednesday's car boot sale for £1 each, which shaved around £10 off the cost from not buying dowel.
Using the rope pulley, I just need to lower the rack to my height, fully load it with washing, hoist it back into position and leave it to its own devices. No stubbed toes, bruised hips or swearing.
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| Wearing: vintage rose print cotton maxi (snaffled from the Kinky Melon storeroom), denim waistcoat (had for at least 15 years) |
When I wasn't day dreaming about Morrissey I paid just enough attention to my O Level physics class to know that warm air rises so the never ending laundry pile not only dries quickly but my biceps get a good old work out at the same time. Multi-tasking magic!
And with that pleasant little distraction I'd better get back to ironing my stock in readiness for tomorrow's vintage fair.
See you soon!
Brilliant! The man and his invention!(Wonder if it would work with bunches of herbs in brown paper bags...)
ReplyDeleteA gifted handy man ! perfect .
ReplyDeletexx
Clever clogs Jon. I've got a little secret in my laundry too, I've been meaning to share on the blog . But it's things like this that makes life so much easier when you've got mountains of extra laundry (stock ) to wash and dry.
ReplyDeleteJobs a good 'un! He's proper handy is Jon. Is there nothing he can't invent and make?
ReplyDeleteI've got one the old man made too which saves me rushing out in a downpour, tripping over the dog or stepping in her leavings! Tell you what love, we are sooooo rock n'roll.
Have a fab fair tomorrow.
Loves ya.
xxxxxxx
I want one!! Wah! Not sure where to put it. My utility/laundry room is the back door which is used as the front door...hmm. So glad you don't have to dodge the raindrops and the clothes airer anymore! And reusing mop handles. He's not just a pretty face is he, your Jon!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy! Xo JJ
An old cot sode is really good to use too, yours looks fabby x Caddy x
ReplyDeleteThat is the best! Such a clever solution. Way to go Jon.
ReplyDeleteThe man is a genius ... when he starts marketing them I'll be the first one in line.
ReplyDeletexx
A brilliant man! I love this invention, and you can decorate your home with your colorful textiles too. xox
ReplyDeletewe had on of those in our farm house, over the wood stove!!! I think they are an amazing contraption, you did a great job and wow, you will get so much use from this, very nice!!!you have some lovely things hanging on it as well!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fab contraption! No more running/injuring/swearing. Huzzah!!
ReplyDeleteHaha, what a fab post, love the dryer!
ReplyDeleteYou did it again!!!
ReplyDeleteYou made my day!!!
I love, love, love your posts!
They are so full of light!!!
Excellent -- wish my ceilings were strong enough to take stuff hanging from them, but everything always falls down, even the lightest of light stuff.
ReplyDeleteOh -- I dreamed about you last night! I was waiting to meet a friend at a crowded station and I spotted you and Curtise with her two youngest, so I went over to say hello but we didn't have much of a chat cos you all had to run off and catch a bus and I couldn't keep up through the crowds... (later on in the same dream I met a cat on a leash that thought it was a dog and it kept barking)
How genius! Especially to be able to get it up off the floor and out of the way like that. Do you sell vintage fabric pieces in your ebay shop? I must go check!
ReplyDeleteFantastic stuff.xx
ReplyDeleteThe smile says how pleased you are with your knew drying aid - it does look fab, clever Jon. I had a hanging rail put in my utility, such a great idea.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!!! He's a keeper, that Jon! Love all that fabric!
ReplyDeleteThat boy's a genius! Oh, to have high enough ceilings for one of these!
ReplyDeleteIs that St Theresa I see on the shelf?
Hope it goes well tomorrow...xxx
I hang all of mine on wire coat hangers in all the doorways of the house!
ReplyDeleteExcellent - and it's out of the way up there so you have more space! what a clever man you have!
ReplyDeleteWell conceived and executed! The yellow pine drying rack Jon made blends right in with the character of your vintage abode and will no doubt be of great assistance in the careful drying of your delightful vintage frocks. I love the way you can lower it to hang items on it and then hoist it up close to the ceiling to dry.
ReplyDeleteI hope all goes fabulously for you and Jon at the Moseley Retro & Vintage Fair tomorrow. Best wishes!
http://www.full-brief-panties.blogspot.com/
Wahay! A Sheila Maid :) I have one with wrought iron ends that I keep all my pans on (suspended by olde fashioned butchers hooks). Got to love high ceilings :) I believe the top notch place to have your Sheila was in your stair well :)) Our local hardware shop used to sell all the components including sash cord to DIY one - but Jons handsome wooden creation is a wonder. Love it.
ReplyDeleteYay for a man that can and high ceilings.
ReplyDeleteThere's no end to Jon's talents it seems....lucky you.
X
I had one of these when we lived in a cottage with an Aga - they are the most brilliant thing ever - I loved it! x
ReplyDeleteIve got one of those i used in in out old house as a decoration with antique linen on it , we haven't the space for it here as a decorative item , I am going to use it like you , in the spare room to save on fuel from the dryer xxx
ReplyDeleteJon is a genius! And you look so sexy in this vest! xxx
ReplyDeleteDoes he take orders????
ReplyDeleteUsed to have one at work - perfect for drying tutus etc.
Think if I put one up in this place it'd take down the ceiling and that'd be without heavy wet washing on!
Have a great day in Moseley; watch out for off-duty dancers!
Zxx
What a talented darling you have!
ReplyDeleteMy clothes airer doesn't have a pulley, but I use it for drying flowers.
I love the 'Wales, Land of Song' tea towel....
It certainly is, especially at 3am on a Saturday morning xx
Brilliant idea and invention.
ReplyDeleteLizzie's Daily Blog
Wow! That is so clever! I want one! :)
ReplyDeleteThat is genius!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful!!! Our ceilings are too low for ones of those - envious.
ReplyDeleteDidn't the movie version (maybe the book version, too) of "I Capture the Castle" have one of those?
Oh this is awesome! I want one xxx
ReplyDeleteTake a bow Jon you clever man you. What a great new toy Vix. My sister had one set up in her house years ago, and she swore by it.
ReplyDeleteMy Mum had one that I remember in our first house here.
ReplyDeleteThen they disappeared.
It's hard to find a drying rack here in my part of Canada. I'm the only one on my street that still dries outside. Totally confused the son's gf when she realized that I was actually going to line dry in the basement. The dryer is only used for towels in the dead of winter.
Hi!!! We actually had an Edwardian drying rack in the stairwell of my old house like this to dry our clothes. Supposedly, you pulled it up each time, but I was too lazy and just let it hang!!! We found a brand new boxed one at my Grandad's house but our ceilings are too low here so it is just hanging around!!! They're great though! Clever John! X
ReplyDeleteGenius John! Great idea. Now to try and convince my fella to try and build one. XXX
ReplyDeletegenius!!!!
ReplyDeletewhat a man! :-) love the rose skirt!!!
best wishes for the fair!
xxxxx
What a clever cloggs your Jon is! And to sketch it up upon seeing you have to dart out to fetch the laundry! what a man! My ceiling is of the very modern low height so no such fun for me, but growing up our house has something silly like 10 ft ceilings and my dad wanted to build something like this for my mum, but I don't think she liked the idea of having the laundry hanging above her. She was happily domesticated but i think having her laundry looming over her while cooking dinner wasn't so attractive
ReplyDeleteThis is so smart!
ReplyDeleteCongrats oh so excited for you. This is such an honor and your home so deserving. I cannot wait to see you in the next issue.
ReplyDeleteinteriors-with-laminated-floors
Jon is a multi-talented guy, and a stylish dresser too. I'd like to find myself one of those some day :)
ReplyDeleteI miss not having a clothesline to hang stuff outside; I use a metal drying rack for small stuff and the big things get hung on hangers around my apartment.
wonderful thing and i love the multi task it provides (yay for the workout). In fact - a lovely tool need to almost everyone.
ReplyDeleteI loved the way you wore a vest! very charming!
Not only does he have great ideas, but he goes off, makes no fuss, and comes up with the goods. How wonderfully easy it all sounds. I get a lot more excited about things like this than anything rock and roll. Getting bedding dried is one of the Big Things in my life!! I love to see you doing domestic tasks, it looks so much less boring than doing it yourself. There's that 1966 towel again! Xxxxxx
ReplyDeletePulleys are brilliant, we have one in our kitchen and they are a frequent feature in Glasgow tenement flats like ours, which have high ceilings. What a great idea to use mop handles instead of dowelling too.
ReplyDeleteThese girls are such a brilliant idea for a small house. I have had one of these in my upstairs hallway for years. Besides my wardrobe it's the best thing in the house. I think mine was mail order, you get the winch kit and some cast iron edge pieces (so technical) and then we bought some slats of wood for it and that was that. Excellent post x.
ReplyDeleteThis idea is genius! I would have loved something like this at my old place. I hate those roller laundry stands.
ReplyDeleteMy hubs had one of those in his old house in St. Annes,,an original Fisherman's Cottage built in 1874, which was original to the cottage. He tells me it's called a Sheila Rack (sounds so sexist now, doesn't it?). He used it all the time, and so did I when I lived there. :) xoxo
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pulleymaid.com/index.htm - warning SPENDY but not as much as a Sheila Maid (opens smelling salts) - I think I paid about £15 for mine years ago and it felt very extravagant
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pulleymaid.com/index.htm - warning SPENDY but not as much as a Sheila Maid (opens smelling salts) - I think I paid about £15 for mine years ago and it felt very extravagant
ReplyDeleteIs there anything you two can't build? This is genius and will no doubt make all that laundry business much more easy. I have mine hanging everywhere I can in the house something like this would do me good. Hope the weekend has been awesome!
ReplyDeleteLove you!
Xxxxxx
Woo hoo for you! Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteThat is yet another great idea from your blog that I'm going to have to borrow. Once again, your man proves to be a keeper!
ReplyDeleteThat's so clever of you guys!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck for the fair!
What a brilliant idea !!! have a great week Vix xxx
ReplyDeleteLooks like a daVinci sketch of an invention. Brilliant, I say. Do frame that drawing and display it next to the apparatus for posterity.
ReplyDeleteBloody excellent! A friend had the same set up, and I was always rather impressed with the idea...now it makes me think that I need one on the back deck! I do love a man with brains, nice one Jon!
ReplyDeleteLove Helga! XXX
for a second I thought it was an indoor swing! smart idea indeed.
ReplyDeleteDamn that boy's a clever one, look at you playing with the new household toy - such a great gif. And just in time for the colder days ahead, your new dryer is going to be incredibly handy for sprucing up new Kinky Melon stock. xoxox
ReplyDeleteHello Vix,
ReplyDeleteWonderful! A 'Sheila Maid'! We love them as they are so simple, practical and efficient. Yes, you might even look forward to wash days from now on.
Good luck at the fair!
What a great idea! x
ReplyDeleteCatching up... Brilliant job on the clothes drier, you and Jon are so clever! Much greener and cheaper than a tumble drier. We used to have one, but it fell apart when we took it down to re-fit the kitchen... Oh well. xxxx
ReplyDeleteHe's a clever bugger ain't he! he's a keeper I reckon :D
ReplyDeleteI LOVE it!!!! So sick of the clothes getting rained on!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic idea. We used to have one of these in our utility room when I was a kid. Great for keeping damp clothes out of the way and out of the rain.
ReplyDeleteNice work Jon! I could see something like this working well in our wee apartment and it actually would be out of the way (unlike the drying racks which always seem to be in our hall way!)
ReplyDelete