Two Old Faithful Family Friends Retire!

We've been thinking about it for a while and putting it off but eventually these two old family friends are being put into retirement.  Who are we talking about we hear you cry? 
Well our faithful old washing baskets of course - here they are!

 

As you can see both washing baskets are looking a little worn and well past their best.  The yellow one is 43 and 'bluey' is even older, in fact he is heading towards a 50th golden anniversary!

They've served our family and B&B guests well over the years but we think it's time to retire them now before they fall apart altogether.  Are they the oldest washing baskets ever?  Let us know if you have a laundry aid older than ours.

Anyway, you know what softies we are, we're having difficulty actually throwing them away, so we have decided to find jobs for them that are a little less taxing - maybe storage.  Ideas please!  

 

Here is one of the two new washing baskets we bought to replace our old friends.  They have three sturdy handles and one side is curved to fit nicely onto the hip (very handy when the basket is really full as ours usually are)!

Hope you're reading this and see the funny side, if not you'll probably thing we're basket cases! 

SAD NEWS

Yesterday was a very sad day indeed at The Malthouse. As you will know if you have stayed with us or looked at our blog we have two cats Flossy and Smudge. However we are sad to report that we now only have one cat. Flossy our elderly cat (aged around 20) had been unwell for a little while and unfortunately she had to be put to sleep yesterday. She had looked pretty frail for a year or two but had still been eating well and enjoying taking life easy in her old age.

Here is a picture of Flossy taken this summer in one of her favorite spots on our front lawn.

Needless to say we are devastated and already miss her terribly. The only good news is that Smudge (our youngster) is taking it all in his stride and still eating for England!