A Drying Wind

I learned the term "drying wind" before I needed one. Although I learned it in the agricultural context, a drying wind helps get the fields ready for the new season, I knew it had to hold meaning also for the inside of the house. Yesterday was a perfect example. My fleeces were ready for gentle drying on the lawn and the wind obliged.

In Caithness there is always the danger of a drying wind being too close a cousin of a boisterous wind or a hurrying wind. A hurrying wind once took my laundry into three fields over the fence. A boisterous wind steals it off the line and takes it wherever its mischievous heart desires no matter how many pegs you've put into it.

So yesterday as I lay my fleece on a sheet out on the lawn in the walled garden, I took the precaution of weighting it down with plasticized grills that are meant for the wings on a drying rack designed for more civilized climes.

They were almost dry by last night, but, tempting fate, I thought to leave them overnight.

OK somewhere there is lore to suggest that a fresh rainwater rinse makes better wool. If not, I think I'll start one.

So probably no carding or fleecing til tomorrow. It all depends on the clouds, and, of course, the wind.