Today I did two things that blew my mind.

1: I took a soft! dry! clean! cloth diaper and wrapped my baby's bum in it.

2: I took wet clean clothes, tossed them into a magical piece of technology, turned a knob and pressed a button... And walked away.

Ladies and Gentlemen, not only do I have running water and a functional washing machine... I now have a dryer! It uses electricity to run, but propane to heat and dry so there is no fear that it will short circuit our generator or the inverter in our off-grid power system.

It's kind of amazing. It's all kinds of amazing. It is a game changer. Both for the everyday laundry tasks that keep a household (with a baby!) running and for the wet-finishing process of yard upon yard of handwoven fabric that I anticipate coming off of my loom.

With the exception of a blissful 6 days before the electric dryer blew out our generator's voltage regulator, we have been drying Avery's diapers (and all our clothes) on drying racks in the living room by the woodstove. It is a functional system. The water does evaporate from the fabric. They end up stiff, with dog hair and lint still attached, and eat up the useable space in the house. In the case of the diapers, not tumbling them dry decreases their potential absorbency. Extra bum salve is necessary. Long story short, an actual dryer is blissful to me.

Remind me, in a year or three, when I'm complaining about the never-ending task of keeping up with the laundry that I'm blessed to be able to do it.