Laundry - Hazardous!!??!!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

One of my favourite household chores would be laundry. I love the way you take something stinky & dirty & transform it into something that smells so fresh & clean...all in a few hours.

I enjoy the time outside hanging it on the line in the breeze .... or burning sun as it is today (of course under my wide brimmed "gardening" hat - don't want sunburn). Always the songs of birds accompany this job - this morning the magpies were warbling their song from the box gums over "little cow" dam. The smell of line-fresh clothes compels me to by-pass the dryer each day - that & the thought of using unnecessary electricity.
"So what's so hazardous about that" you may be wondering. Well generally I would say it is one job that even the children can assist in. Eli & Jud love counting pegs - I'll tell them how many I need for the next garment & they'll count out that many of the same colour (yeah - I'm freaky & use the same colour pegs for each garment- I don't know why or when it started, but hey!!).
The other day while I was happily pegging out the laundry - about half way through the load. I was searching for a particular colour (weird hey) peg when I lifted a peg & found this:




Yes it's a spider...but look a little closer:






Yeah that's right - it's a red back - one of Australia's deadly spiders.


I quickly tipped the bucket & killed it, but it certainly has made me reconsider hanging the clothes at night time (something I often do as by morning they are dry).

So next time you hang out your clothes...just check your peg basket - you never know what you may find!!!

18 comments:

A Bite of Country Cupcakes said...

oH dear! I had one drop formthe ironing board recently,so they must be really around.
You need to come live here and you'd be "Happy" lots....Our laundry is never eneding.
Thankfully our line is in a nice spot too,Lots of birds and nearby grazing Kangas.

Smilie girl said...

Eek!
I leave our peg basket outside and have been known to hang out the laundry of an evening too. It's cooler and gets the laundry dry earlier.
But I will have to reconsider...
Hope you don't find any other surprise visitors while you are doing your house work!

Mum-me said...

Yes they have certainly been around in large numbers this summer! We've had quite a few but not, thankfully, in the peg basket.

I did put my hand in the peg basket once and encountered something furry .... a huge huntsman spider!! That gave me a fright.

aunty sel said...

Be careful Narn!!!
We seem to have millions of spiders at the moment too!!!
luv
sel

Grandma said...

Wonder how long it had been in there?????? I'm so glad that no little (or big) fingers found it first! Better have a quick look before delving into the peg basket, especially at night!!!
Hanging out washing would have to be about my favourite household task - it's great for cloud watching, bird watching, and escaping from everyone else (okay - you probably get helpers at times - I used to). I have a friend who used to live in the UK. She has never hung clothes on a clothes line - she only uses her drier. I've told her she doesn't know what she's missing!
Anyway look after those fingers!!!!!!!!!! Lots of love, mum xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Anonymous said...

Ewwww! I will be giving the peg basket a good ol shake before dipping my hand in from now on. From Kylie (can't remember my user name or password!!)

Ana Degenaar said...

Oh oh... I'm glad it didn't bite you!

When we first came to this house I was going out our patio to hang up the washing and found a baby snake crawling on the floor, I've never been that close to one, not even a 12 inch baby one, like the one I found.

Laundry time should be consider an Xsport... hehe

Ann at eightacresofeden said...

I once carried in my 'overnight' washing and dropped the whole basket when I spotted what I had brought into the house - a funnel web spider sitting on top of the towels. I try not to leave washing out overnight for this very reason and I have read leaving clothes out at night fades them quicker.

Cassandra said...

Scary stuff! I hate spiders, lucky you saw it ;-)

Skipper said...

*shudder*
We seem to be having lots of visitors of the 8 legged variety too. Redbacks are everywhere as well - freaks me out. Especially when I turn taps on in the dark outside!! :) Good spotting though!

peta said...

Hi renata, I think I might not hang my washing out at might anymore either..lol

The car seat laws were introduced over 2yrs ago. Children 0-4 had to be in a harness seat (you know the baby reversable thing or 0-6mths have to be in a capsule) and 4-7yrs have to be in a booster with or without harness..(Jack has a harness because he is only just 4 but Sam doesnt as he is now 6)..they brought it in slowly so people could get used to it and then about 12mths ago the fines came into force aswell. Im not sure what the fine is but I still think it's better to have them in a seat anyway..to many 3-4-5yr old dieing because they are using ADULT seats and ADULT seatbelts.
Anyway this is what I was told by someone(can't remember who but they were either RTA or something)..

SF said...

Oooo wow! We used to have a few at our old house but haven't seen any here.. yet. :) I too love hanging the washing! My favourite domestic chore. And do you know what? My Nanna always matched pegs with the colour of the garments, and always in matching pairs. :) I often think of that and smile at the memory of her when I'm at the clothes line! xo

Catherine said...

Yikesies! That coulda really hurt! I really agree with you about the washing and I've blogged about it too! It's such a nice job, unlike the washing up, which I hate. xx PS, good idea about the peg counting. I used to use matching colours but have been able to release that obsession. Now I just use wooden ones: they're all the same!

Jen said...

Hi!
I have just stumbled across your blog looking for christian homeschoolers on farms! I have five boys (praying for more!) and we have homeschooled for years.
Yikes about the red back! I got stung by a wasp hanging washing at night.
I live in WA by the way!

Jen

Kimmie said...

Yikes, that Itsy-bitsy Spider needs to move away from the clothespins (as we call them here).

glad you didn't get bit.

Kimmie
mama to 7
one homemade and 6 adopted

Traci @ The Bakery said...

Well, I am not going to be afraid of my tiny black jumpy spiders anymore....you guys have way more vicious ones there...ewwwwww. I will not be afraid, I will not be afraid!!! I was really enjoying getting to know your children...then the stupid spider ruined it...lol. Have a blessed day!

Anonymous said...

YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

I just had to comment on this one! :) All my children gathered around the computer when they heard my exclamation of dread. They were really interested in the fact that you all are from Australia, but none of us were to fond of the spider!

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