Meredith Mansfield, Author

I’ve gotten a very little bit of writing done. I know exactly how this next scene goes, so there’s not much excuse. Except that, with a bit of help, I finally accomplished something I’d been trying to do for some time.

See, one of the things about living in an old house is, sometimes, old appliances. The washer and dryer are/were not less than 25 years old and probably closer to 30. The washer still works, with a couple of tweaks, but the dryer had given up the ghost more than a year ago. It’s okay. Clotheslines still work, in some ways better. (Well, except when it’s raining.) The mud room/utility room/pantry/laundry room is about 5 1/2 feet wide by roughly 11 feet long. And the dryer was smack in the middle of one long wall taking up 30 inches of the 5 1/2 foot width of the room. Bad enough when it was useful.

I wanted it out. But I couldn’t get the gas valve (which hadn’t been turned off probably since the dryer was installed) to budge. Finally had to ask for help. But it’s done now. The dryer is out. The washer stays, for now. But eventually I’ll replace it with a combination unit that is both washer and dryer. Still a bit of cleaning and reorganizing to do. (The only thing the dryer had been used for recently was a flat surface to put things on.) But that tiny room feels enormous with that beast out. And coming in the back door doesn’t feel nearly so crowded.

So, now, maybe I can stop fussing with trying to get that out and settle down to write. Hopefully.

Before and After pictures: