A beautiful day in the neighborhood…

Now all of you say it with me, “Will you be mine, will you be mine, will you be my neighbor?” I suppose it's not verbatim, but I plead: too long ago to recall, when your youngest child is 36 years old. Giggle, insert here. Yes, all of us that brought up children in the 1970s and 80s and beyond know that Mr. Rogers was that sweet, kind, decent sort of guy that every child would listen to as soon as they heard his voice on the TV. But that's not what I'm here to talk about today, what I am talking about in our neighborhood had cooler temperatures and lower humidity; the kind of weather that screams for you to open your windows and we did! For about an hour we had a delightful breeze freshening our home and then it became a little warm and when it goes above 80 we close the windows and allow the air-conditioner to create the same effect as fresh air, if you can believe that one. This is the weather us Floridians wait for; the kind that gives us bragging rights. While the rest of the country goes magically through the seasons with snow in the North West cold rain in the Northeast; we here, in the southeastern United States, have the luxury of turning off any artificial heat or air conditioning to allow nature to maintain a pleasant temperature throughout our homes. I know that I said it was only for about an hour today, but as the weeks continue on that amount of time gets much, much longer… Sometimes we can go for several hours without using any artificial or electronic interjections of modern resources. It was a good time to do some fall cleaning, other than just sheets on the beds that we do weekly; today we did the pillow shams and the dust ruffles, the comforters the bedspreads and cleaned them in hot soapy water, dried them mostly in the electric dryer. Although, the very large king-sized comforter was dried instead on the clothesline; it dries much faster that way. Plus years ago we bought a compact stackable washer and dryer and the king-sized comforter is too heavy for it; many must wonder than how the heck do we clean it? Don't think that I am archaic I had two choices here make a pretty little laundry room with lots of built-in cabinetry or get two large machines and have very little space to maneuver without any storage. Now many people might think go to a Laundromat every once in a while to accomplish the job, but instead years ago when I was much healthier I came up with a very clever idea. At least I thought so, some may also feel it is quite archaic, since I put all the laundry detergent and booster soaps and baking soda and turn the faucet of my tub on hot full blast than I placed the comforter into the hot soapy water and squeeze or push or agitate the item within the tub and of course rinse thoroughly. Now these last few years my abilities have lessoned and although Hubby is home most all of the time, these days, we have become a team in this effort. In fact he pulled out the clothesline, which is a retractable line that goes from the shed to the overhang support on the patio which he attaches that cable by a chain and link system that makes it quite strong, although a king sized comforter when wet is much heavier than most items he puts an additional pole to handle the weight. The dry time for something in these weather conditions is less than you may think and that is why we do it this way, but not that often. No need to pack up the car to go over to the closest Laundromat, when we can do it in the privacy of our own home and at our own pace. Do you hate me for being old fashion? It is quite effective and the comforter is not only clean but smells so delightful from the fresh air. Here I go again, talking a lot about nothing, but I'm good at it, you have to admit, allow me now to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!