clothesline in lights

From the Milan LED festival,  via sfgirlbybay. Awesome. Just like the real thing - washing hanging in a lane way (do they still do that, or is it just in art?). Only it's sparkly. And whiter than real white. A celebration of the ordinary.

life goes on

I love the juxtaposition here of the old modern building and the loads on bicycles and the washing hanging from the lamp post. The modern and the mundane. The hyper reality that reminds me of what it's like to come out of an office building into the street and to see people with the their bags of shopping. To ride on the bus and see the backyard knee deep in grass and cars and saggy washing lines and the washing from yesterday hanging somewhat bedraggled. This washing does look very neat. I wonder who hung it there?

From "Manufactured Totems," by Alain Delorme sourced from here. Link to the whole series here.

when we still had the tree

We've chopped down the tree where Grace had her little washing line. So it's good that we have some photos of the area in all its grotty glory.

She had the bucket of soapy water over by the house and would wash the doll and toy clothes in the bucket and run across the yard with the dripping mess to hang on the line. Not very time and motion efficient, but there you go. I suppose that's not really a factor when you're five.

mitten washer

How cute is this mitten washer? I hope it has a wool setting so the kitten's mittens don't felt.

The illustration is from "The Wonder Book of Favourite Nursery Tales" with illustrations by Jackie Peller and Jean Tamburine. Here's the text.

Gosh it's lovely to have a scanner again.

muddy wash

I love Bob Graham books. For the stories, for the illustrations, for the cosy but less than perfect domesticity, for the blokes in aprons. I don't think I've ever seen another kids book author who shows men doing domesticity with such regularity and ordinariness as Bob Graham. That's what charms me so much - it doesn't seem like something special or a big deal. It just is.The women also look like people we might know*.


In one of our other books - Queenie - I think, there is a little sub story where the dad is knitting something for the baby about to arrive and then later you see him ironing his handiwork. Most excellent. These pictures come from a board book I found at the opshop Helping - a busy day boardbook. Even though we love our Bob Graham books I passed it on to Betty for Maeve and Ruby.

*Oh, and I didn't realise but he is Australian! How could I have missed that? Which maybe partly explains why these families seem so real to me. Der. But I am delighted that he is one of ours.