Wash Day

I love living in the country where I can hang my wash out on the line. We recently moved here, and we had been living in town with the scent of feedyard in the background. I am a country woman, and I know feedyards smell like money, but I'm not into money in the bedroom. To have my sheets smell fresh and clean is a pleasure far superior to the "Downy smell" from the dryer. As I approached the clothes line, I was embarrassed by the number of broken clothes pins on the ground. I didn't even have a clothes line bag!!! A good wife never left her clothespins on the line....exposed to the weather.....she put them in the bag and kept them in the house when not in use! When hanging the clothes, you always started with the small items, and worked your way up. The towels were all hung together in a row, as were the shirts, the underwear, diapers, etc.. Random hanging was the sign of a poor housekeeper. Jeans were always a special job....they needed a sharp crease right down the front and back, and jeans stretchers saved one a lot of ironing. To get the pant stretchers into the legs, positioned in the right spot, and then pulled as tight as could be pulled, was an art that is well forgotten. I loved washing on the old ringer washer. In the summer, I set everything up outside and saved a lot of slopping water. The rinse tubs always cooled the washer woman better than anything! Ahhh....the good old days! Bah, humbug!!! Lye soap dried out your hands, the buckets of water broke your back, and it took all day to do washing. It is fine for the young of body, but I am very glad to have a washer, a dryer, good soap, bleach instead of bluing for the white clothes, and a clothesline to hang my bedding on a nice day. Enjoy.

Remembering Yesterday

My daughter has this wonderful blog, and I didn't think I would ever want to do one. Then today I was hanging my clothes out on the line, and Irealized there were many things that I would like to ask my mother.....or my aunts....or my grandmother....ANYONE! Alas, they are all gone, and with them an era of making soap, butchering livestock and making head cheese, liming the outdoor toilet (did we use lye or lime?) ..... questions of days-gone-by activities. Each generation has a knowledge, and when that generation dies, much of the knowledge dies with them. Now, granted, I am glad that I don't have to make my own soap, pickle the heart from a freshly butchered calf, or empty the "night pot" half full of urine. Some things are best lost, but to a history buff, some knowledge needs to be retained to fully appreciate today. To my grandchildren, my children, my students, and all of us old people, I invite you to read along and laugh at yesterday's ways. Grandma Vicki