Backyard Beautifucation: Part 2 (Airing our dirty laundry)

In Part 1 of the Backyard Beautification I mentioned how I would love to have a clothes line. I have always thought this would be a lovely addition to our yard, but once cloth diapering came along, it kind of became a necessity. If you are into the cloth diapering scene, you know those things can get kinda stained and smelly-- but you can't just use any old detergent or stain removers on them... and the very best, most effective stain and odor eliminator is... THE SUN.
But as much as I desired and required a clothesline, our space presented issues in making this dream come true
1) Shade. Our south facing house gets little sunlight in the backyard, as you can see in this picture. I needed the sunlight to bleach the diapers, but I didn't even have enough space to lay them out on the ground. Just that little strip on the back fence was all I had to work with.

2) Space. Obviously, we have a small yard, so putting in a permanent clothesline anywhere in our yard would be inconveniently in the way. Frustrating.
I started talking to Z about my dilemma. I thought I could put one up along the back fence... get some large screw eyes that would hold the line out a couple inches, and that should work. But it would be in the way of the gate, so you would have to duck if you wanted to go in and out, and that was a problem.

 

 Z thought for a moment, then cleverly suggested tying the ends of the clothes line to carabiners, so it could be easily removed when not in use. AHA!

 Genius! No? I knew I kept that man around for something! ;) So I purchased $.98 eye screws, $1.50 clothes line, and $1.00 carabiners for a project grand total under $5. And... I put up a clothes line.

And then I hung up diapers.

It worked perfectly. These guys were able to soak up all the sunlight necessary to dry them and remove stains (yay!). They hung a couple inches from the fence, too... so no splinters in wee one's bum. And it sure beats dragging a load of diapers to my parents backyard! 

 Oh, yeah! We are in business now! And when I am done with my laundry... I can just put the line away...

Which is handy if you want to open the gate, or walk through it without being--literally-- clotheslined.

Ah! It just makes me happy. Sooo... our yard is well on it's way to being beautiful AND functional now. YAY!