Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Dry at Your Own Risk

I'd say 90% of Molfettans live in apartment blocks. Single family homes are rare and are certainly not found in town, but only out in the countryside. However, 99% of the apartments have a balcony where one can grow a few plants and, more importantly, hang out the laundry to dry. Around here basically no one has a dryer. The climate is temperate and for most of the year there are enough sunny days to get your clothes dry by hanging them out on the line. They have a lovely clean smell after being dried in the sun.

I'd be afraid to go out on the balcony in the center of the photo below for any reason! Do you think the people who live there have noticed what's happening to the underside of their balcony? (Click on the photo to enlarge it and see the full extent of the damage.)

14 comments:

Kate said...

A year or so ago I stumbled upon a blog that had invited people worldwide to submit hanging laundry. Unfortunately, I did not bookmark it; it was fascinating. As a child, I used to make up stories about the families when I saw laundry outdoors. I still hang my clothes outside when the weather permits, and I agree that the sunshine adds to the results. Love the top photo but the second one certainly does make one wonder about the safety of the balcony!!

Greg Dimitriadis said...

Great photo with the drying whites. To me, it's one of the defining aspects of life in the Mediterranean.

Thanks for visiting Liege City Daily Photo!

Unknown said...

White laundry drying under the sun allways make me remind of the the oldest parts of Lisbon with those very narrow streets and old ladies talking to each other on their windows. I think that is a characteristic of the mediterranean countries where the sun shines most of the year.

Tanya Breese said...

There's nothing like the fresh smell of clothes that have dried on the line. Although I can't imagine only hanging my clothes out considering as much laundry I do!
Yikes on that balcony!

By the way, I love your new profile pic!

Maria Verivaki said...

these scenes are both so typical oc hania where i live - and it's wonderful to smell your drying clothes on the balcony!

Virginia said...

I love photos of clothes drying as well. My grandmother had huge long clotheslines and was very specific as to what hung where! No mixing up the clothes, things had to be grouped all together and the underwear on the inside lines so the neighbors didn't see!HA

Hilda said...

Eek! Maybe you should give them a copy of your photo!

We hang our laundry out in the sun too. Sunlight's the best anti-bacterial there is! Takes so much longer to dry during our rainy season though.

Jane Hards Photography said...

This was one of my earlier posts about hanging washing. We still do it here, but not that often due to the climate. I love to see it though, something homely. That balcony needs a little tlc though.

nobu said...

We usually dry laundry in the balcony of apartment in Japan too.
( You may know it )

Pietro Brosio said...

To dry laundry in the sun is the best way, indeed: the clothes become so fresh and clean!
Very nice photographs.

PJ said...

This is a timely post as we just bought a new clothes line. We've used them for years but when we moved this last time we didn't get around to putting one up. I love the smell of sheets but not the scratchy towels. They're definitely still going in the dryer.

Saretta said...

Drying clothes on the line is nice for freshness, but you must use fabric softener or those towels are really rough. And I would love to have a dryer for the damp winters when things don't dry for days and days and start getting smelly from mold! At that point, you just have to wash them again...and start all over again!

Saretta said...

p.s. Thank you, Tanya! I thought maybe you all had seen enough of my right foot!

Benjamin Madison said...

There are neighborhoods here where it is actually illegal to hang clothes outside to dry. There are also apartment buildings where it is not allowed. Of course, everyone has access to a dryer but in these days of energy consciousness one would think that people would laud any energy saving procedure. And there's nothing unsightly about clean laundry!

Bad balcony - there's a definite sag there.