In the lap of luxury...

...is a relative term.  If you are used to gold plated utensils and liveried servants, then anything less would not be luxury.  However, if that's what you are used to, you most likely aren't reading this, as you are too busy trying to get Justin Bieber scheduled for your next tweener party.

For me, luxury is pretty simple to define:

My comfy couch. 

Firewood - cut, split, dried...and delivered.

 By the way, that's not a retouched photo.  But it's how every firewood delivery looks to me, anyway.  Can you hear the angelic chorus?  I can.

There was a time, not so long ago, that all of our wood came from our own woodlot.  The most high tech tool used in the harvesting of said wood was...a chainsaw.  That's it.  No tractor.  Not even a horse.  Just me, the chainsaw, and a wheelbarrow.  Oh, and then there was the splitting...with an ax and a maul.  No gas powered wood splitter.

On the firewood front, we didn't wimp out...we ran out.  Or close to it.  Our woodlot isn't all that big, and needs time to recover.  We still cut up the storm damaged trees, but we don't want our place anywhere near clear cut.  We want to live in the woods, and for that, we need, well, woods.

And finally...the new washer... and dryer.

Yes, that's right.  Country Wife has moved forward a few hundred years, and now does laundry in a washing machine.  **collective gasp of horror**

At first, I felt like a bit of a failure, dropping out of my laundry challenges that way.  I hate giving up.  But when I considered the resources invested in hand washing and indoor line drying vs those invested in the new machines, the machines were definitely the best investment.  

The wettest year on record for our area was probably a contributing factor.  Some days, when the weather was warmish but dampish, we were burning wood just to get the laundry dry.  The house was full of moisture and the windowsills were mildewing.  My time was spent washing and hanging the laundry, mopping up puddles, and constantly wiping down the windowsills.  Honestly, I have better things to do.

Of course I will still line dry in the summer; nothing smells as sweet as line dried laundry. 

The new machines are much more efficient than my old ones.  I can't get over how much easier my life feels now.  I am actually doing laundry as I type this!  (Not something you'd understand unless you'd done all your laundry by hand for a while.)

With all my new free time, I'm hoping to get back to work on the house.  First on the list are those pink counter tops in the laundry room.  Egads!! Can you believe our whole kitchen had those when we moved in? The laundry room sink also needs an overhaul; hard water leaves some pretty ugly stains.

But as I was saying, luxury is a relative term.  I know people that complain when they have to stack firewood that was delivered to them, and people that moan about having to do a load of laundry.  If you've done it the hard way, you won't ever complain about those things again.  I stacked firewood with a smile on my face and a (very off key) song on my lips.  I do laundry now with a little dance and a maniacal laugh.

Maybe I'll be a better listener to my friends now.  Before, when they would complain to me, I'd just stare at them unblinkingly, until they remembered that I was hauling wood in a wheelbarrow (uphill) and doing laundry in a frickin' bucket.  At this point, they'd stare sheepishly at the floor and change the subject.

Maybe now I'll be a nicer person.  Or maybe not. Bwhahahahaha!