Earlier in the week, my partner did a load of laundry and noticed that the washing machine leaked a little. It's an old machine that we bought 11 or 12 years ago, used. He pulled it out and there was water and greasy oil on the floor under the machine. Yuck! Cleaned the floor - fortunately it's tile. I used the Seventh Generation orange cleaner - that stuff is amazing! Just spray it on and wipe off with a clean, dry, cloth. The grease came up with one wipe. We always use this stuff for cleaning. We started using it when we decided to try it to clean the dirty grease from the walls where the dogs liked to lie. It worked so well we've been using it ever since.

Neither one of us was in the mood for shopping for a washer, but it was either that or go to the laundromat - double yuck! I had recently started a subscription for Consumer Reports online, so printed out their listing for washing machines and off we went. We decided we would get a front loader as they are more efficient, use less water, etc. and got a great deal on a Bosch. Whew!

When we got home, we pulled out the old machine and put it on the corner next to our house. That corner is great; anything we put out there usually disappears within a week. While we were setting up the new machine, someone rang the doorbell. It was a man and his wife with two small children. She asked if we were selling the washer. Her face really lit up when I told her they could just take it, and I warned her it leaked but still worked and they should probably use it outside. I felt really good about it, because all four of them acted like I had just given them a million dollars.

If we hadn't pulled out the washer, the oil and grease could have built up or the laundry room could have flooded because of the leak. And as much as we both grumbled about the unexpected expense of having to buy a major appliance, it warmed our hearts to know someone would be able to use the old machine. We have both been in positions where doing laundry meant washing clothes in the bathtub with a plunger - not fun wringing out sheets and blankets by hand! I just wish the old machine had been in a little better shape for that family, but if it had been, we wouldn't have been getting rid of it and that family wouldn't now have a washing machine.

Life is full of surprises!!