Friday 19 October 2012

Friday muddlings . . .


You could always tell which day of the week it was when I was a child by what my mother was doing, and if that didn't tell you what day it was . . . then you knew what day it was by what we were having for supper.

 My mother had "dyed in the wool" chores and meals for every day of the week, and they never varied.   In fact, even now . . .  at the age of 80, I know enough not to telephone her on a Thursday, unless it's an emergency,  because I know that Thursdays is the day she vacuums the house, and she doesn't like to be disturbed when she is doing that!

Fridays and Mondays always used to be wash days.  Monday would be the regular wash, but on Fridays she changed all of the beds, so you could always look forward to getting into a bed with fresh sheets on Friday nights.  We also had our towels changed on Fridays.  Each of us had a different color of washcloth and space to hang our towel, so we knew exactly which one was which.  No mistakes allowed!



Doing the wash was a lot more complicated back in those days.  Mom never had an automatic washing machine until I was well into my teens.  During a good deal of my growing up years she had a big old Wringer/Washer washing machine, which took up a goodly space in our utility room.  I can still remember the sound of the agitator swishing the clothes back and forth in the soapy water.

The art of loading of it and emptying of it was a very arduous process . . . and I can remember being terrified of the wringer.  I would watch my mother feeding sheets and other things into it and them coming out the other side all squashed and wrinkly.  There was a child in my class at school who was missing fingers on one hand.  We were told that they had been caught in a wringer . . . and so fear of losing my own fingers kept me well away from ours.


My mother never had an electric clothes dryer until I was much older and she went back to work.  In the early days everything was hung on the line outside of our back door to dry.  Every day of the year . . . no matter the season.  I don't know how she coped in the Winter time as her fingers must have almost frozen.  I can remember the sheets freezing solid on the line, and her bringing them in and hanging them up in the Utility room next to the big old furnace to finish drying.  They always smelled so nice.

She always had a particular way of making the beds.  The top sheet was always rotated to the bottom and the bottom was the one which got washed each week, along with the pillow cases.  I confess to being very pedantic myself about bed making.


I much prefer a proper made bed, with top and bottom sheets, blankets and coverlet . . . we also each have three pillows.  One which is just for show and goes on the outside, and then two other ones to sleep with, and they each have their own special unique pillow slips.  The top sheet must be folded down about six inches over the top edge of the blanket, which must come just up to where your neck begins when lying down.  Silly I know, but that is the way I like it done.  I also cannot stand the sheets to be overly tucked in at the sides, but they must be super tucked in on the ends.  I hate getting into a bed with wrinkled sheets, and there is positively no eating allowed in bed.  Crumbs . . . yech!  Heaven forbid!

And I have summer sheets and winter sheets.  Todd doesn't even try to make the bed because he knows he will get it wrong.    Yes people . . . I am the Martha Stewart of bed-dom!  There is a right and a wrong way . . . and he always gets it wrong, poor dear.


Yes . . . my pillows do have a specific order in which they are placed . . . and a particular layout.  The bottom one, goes right to the edge of the bed, the next one in about six inches from that so that we can see the edge trim of the bottom one and then the ones which are in the shams, which match the bedspreads . . . they go a further six inches in from the edge of the second pillows, again so that we can see the ruffled edge of the second pillows . . . then the top ones meet together in the middle of both beds.



It's just the way I like things done.  In truth, he doesn't mind that I make the beds . . . he'd got better things to do!  I think he rather wishes that I was as pedantic about the way I did other things too, but . . . you just can't have it all can you???

I don't have particular days for doing certain things . . . although sometimes I do wish I could be much more organized in that way.   Then again, I love a bit of spontaneity in my life . . . it keeps things interesting.  I do plan menus each week, but I find I never stick to them . . . as something catches my eye during the week, my plans will change, and the menu goes out the window!  I think pedantic bed-making is about as structured as my life gets!

So long as what needs to be done . . . gets done, I figure my life is on track . . . and as long as nothing in the refrigerator goes to waste, then a bit of variety there is not a bad thing either!  I have a loose plan each day of what I am going to cook for supper . . . but it all depends on how my day goes if we actually end up having what I have planned or not. 

I believe that finding joy in the journey is the most important thing of all.  I never want to be the kind of person that gets upset if someone drops in for a visit because it messes up my routine. Life is far too short for any of that!


I am a gather ye rosebuds while ye may kind of girl!

Wash on Monday 
Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and vanity,
so I may serve you with perfect humility through the week ahead.
Iron on Tuesday 
Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles of prejudice I have collected though the years
so that I may see the beauty in others.
Mend on Wednesday 
Lord help me mend my ways
so I will not set a bad example for others.
Churn on Thursday 
Oh Lord churn and search my heart,
create it pure and clean renewing a right spirit in me
Clean on Friday 
Lord Jesus, help me to dust out all the many faults
I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.
Bake on Saturday 
Help me, my Savior, to bake a big loaf of brotherly love
and serve it clean, as the sweet bread of human kindness.
Church and Rest on Sunday 
Lord, I have prepared my house for you.
Please come into my heart so I may spend the day,
and the rest of my life, in your presence

  

Soup is on the menu in The English Kitchen today . . . a delicious Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese Soup!

Have a great day people.  The weekend is upon us!!

 

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