Sheets +Clotheslines+Rain+Sun = Bliss

One of the keys to my happiness is the fact that I have LOW standards when it comes to housecleaning. It is a well-acknowledged failing of mine, but -- oh well -- I've decided I can live with it. (c'mon -- don't judge me. It's not like I'm smoking crack or gambling away the 401K -- I just do not enjoy cleaning...)

However -- the one thing I LOVE TO DO is hang our sheets out on the line to dry. But I don't do it like my mother did. She was fanatical and persnickety about her hanging-clothes-out-on-the-line-job. Dad's work shirts were hung in a certain way -- and the family underwear was lined up as though it was marching in a military parade. (remember -- SIX kids).

I'm fine with using the clothes dryer for most things. But NEVER for the bed linens. In the winter, I wear snow boots to get to my clothes line. When Mary Mulari & I do the Midwest Ya Ya Sisters presentation -- we often talk about hanging clothes out on the line. Mary says if you live in a place that won't let you have a clothesline -- you should MOVE.

Because the reward is HUGE...oooohhhhh.....that wonderful scent when your head hits the pillow. The freshness of a beautiful set of embroidered cotton pillowcases that just came off the clothesline. EVEN better if they got rained on. (my Mother would NEVER have allowed that.) The sheets in this picture were hanging out for at least five days -- it kept raining! But -- oooohhhh -- what a bonus! The wonderful smell of rain-rinsed, sun-dried cotton sheets snaps me right back to everything good about my childhood.

When I wrote the book, "Dress Your Dream Bed", the cover photo was a great picture of my cousin Kim's clothesline. It was PERFECT... You never know what a child is going to remember. Or when it might happen. So far, all my boys seem to remember is the house was a mess and they cooked their own food (NOT TRUE, PEOPLE!)

But here's what I believe. One day -- either Ross or Elliott will fall into a bed freshly made with crisp cotton sheets. He'll breath deep, inhaling the smell of fresh line-dried cotton and -- ZAP -- at that moment -- no matter how old he is -- he will remember how much his mom loved him...