Laundry and Other Weekend Chores

Today has been laundry day, as my Saturdays all too often are lately. I don't mind too much because I have a nice washer and dryer right here in my house. Whenever I am tempted to feel grumpy about having to get up and run deal with another load of laundry, I remind myself of what a drag it was (literally and figuratively) to have to go to the laundromat. I only had to do that for a little while, when we were in Germany because the part for the washer we had was being sent from Stuttgart, and it took its sweet time getting to the greater Frankfurt area.
My current washer and dryer were also made in Stuttgart, by the same company, but are sold in this country by Sears. I love my front load washer and the large capacity dryer. They use less water and less energy than my old machines, and yes, they are very conveniently located in my laundry room down the hall from the bedroom.
This was also lawn mowing day. This chore has usually been mine instead of my husband's because for a lot of our marriage, he just plain wasn't home. (Do you speak Air Force? Can you say TDY? ) He'd be home long enough to wash all his clothes and be gone again. (Cargo haulers have such a glamorous life!) So, yours truly became the lawn and yard care crew. I can clip hedges and mulch lawns with the best of them. These days, Matt will help with the edging and etc, but I'd rather keep him away from the dust and pollen. His allergies are so bad that he won't be able to sing on Sunday if he works in the yard too much on Saturday.
Anyway, all that is to get me to this point. I have been incredibly dense where my convertible lawnmower is concerned. All the years we've had it, I haven't liked using the bagging mode (necessary in Fall for leaf control) because you have to dump the bag out through the same place it goes into the mower (Or so I thought) and it takes forever because it clogs up. Well, today by chance I noticed that the back (read large) end of the bag opens for emptying. Gee, that sure is easier to deal with! How come I never noticed this before, and how come I don't remember seeing anything about that in the manual? (I ALWAYS read manuals for machinery and appliances. Life is much easier when you know the directions.)
We also washed both cars today. They really needed it. They are supposed to be white, but they had become that shade I can only describe as "Oklahoma Beige". It is what happens when a fine layer of red Oklahoma dust is deposited on a white surface. I always think of my Focus station wagon as a small car until I have to wash it. It is so much taller than our Escort wagon was. I have to stand on a stool to wash the top.
At least now it and the Taurus are white again, and I don't need to be afraid to get too close to the car when wearing my good clothes.
At any rate, my dryer is imperiously requesting my presence in the laundry room, so I guess that will be all for today.