Wednesday Witterings . . .

 

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Oh, can't you just hear the sound of those sheets

flapping in the breeze and imagine how

lovely they are going to smell later on when

you pop them back onto the bed. What a great

night's sleep they are going to have!

Bedding washing day.  Growing up our beds always got changed on Fridays. Mom never had fitted sheets back then, so, the top sheet would go down on the bottom (because it hadn't barely been touched by dirt, etc.) and the bottom sheet went into the wash.

She had one of those wringer washing machines.  I remember being terrified of it. There was a child at school who was missing fingers and the story was that they had gotten crushed in the wringer washer . . . yep, crushed right into the palm of his hand, never to rise up normally again. This is the stuff of urban legends I am sure. 

In those days it would take mom almost the whole day to do the laundry.  Washing. Rinsing.  Wringing dry.  Then of course . . .  hanging everything out on the line.  It didn't matter the time of year.  Summer . . . Winter. It all got hung out. I wince to think of her hanging it out in the sub-zero temperatures of Winter. Her hands must have been so cold. It's a wonder she could pin them to the line.

They would come in at end of day. In the Winter they would be stiff as a board. They could almost stand up by themselves.  Frozen stiff.  The smell was intoxicating. Not quite dry, in the Winter, they would hang for a bit longer in the Utility room by the furnace to finish off.

And then there would be the ironing.

The sound of the steam and the iron brushing over the fabric.  The smell of the starch. 

It was not until I was in middle school that our mother got an automatic washer and a dryer. Mom had gone back to work by then. They were her pride and joy. We take them very much for granted now.

I did not have a clothes dryer the whole time I lived over in the U.K. I had a drying rack that folded up and was put away when I didn't have laundry drying on it.  Most people did not have clothes dryers. When I could not hang them outside, our sheets dried by being hung over open doors.  Bed changing day, for the most part, was on good outside drying days. Days it didn't rain.

You could go into any house in the U.K. and see clothes drying over the radiators, doorways, etc. It was just a fact of life.  The only full-sized washing machine and dryer that I ever saw in those 20 years was in the laundry room at the Manor when I worked there. Big, huge, American Maytag appliances. There was an old ironing lady that came in once a week, and she would spend most of the day doing all of the ironing.  Sheets, pillowcases, the Mr.'s shirts, etc.

 

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Rain is supposed to start tonight and it is suppose to carry on right through Friday.  That will be good if it actually happens. We still have two areas of fires burning here in the Valley, the one close to me and the other one.  They are both considered under control at the moment. Some rain would be very helpful in that cause. 

The leaves are mostly down now across the way. I was sitting in my chair looking at the trees above the rooftops across the street last night and thinking how bare the trees were looking now, having shed their beautiful autumn gowns.  They lay in tatters upon the ground and fly up dancing when a breeze catches their fancy.  An autumn dance of red and gold, amber and brown.

 

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There was a big announcement from my church yesterday afternoon. I watched it on YouTube.  The New Presidency of the church has been formed, with President Dallen H. Oaks being named and sustained as the President, and his counselors being President D. Todd Christofferson, and President Henry B. Eyring. It is a good mix.  I was a bit surprised at President Christofferson. Many had thought it would be someone else. But I think the church is in good hands.

I had the pleasure of meeting President Oaks in person, again when I was on my mission in the U.K. He is a very good man. They are all good men.

President Eyring has been serving in the Church Presidency since 2007. That is a long time. We love him.

You can read more about each of them here. 

 

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I have a foot care appointment in the mall today at the foot specialist there. I believe they are going to do my Diabetic check up and a Doppler test.  The Doppler test is where they do an ultrasound of the arteries in your feet and ankles to make sure that everything is tickity boo. I have my toe nail lady coming next week so I won't need my nails being done. 

I have not had a Doppler in a number of years now. I hope that all is well.

 

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I think I am doing alright with everything emotionally and for the most part I am, but every so often it will rear its ugly head and bit me on the ankles again.  I think lately it has all been nipping a bit at my heels. Most of the time I don't think about any of what happened, almost five years ago now. I am blessed to be where I am and living the life I am, and I know it. I think if everything was okay with all of my children, I would be fine. It is the loss of my youngest daughter and son that still really bothers me and whilst most of the time I can manage to stuff it down, those feelings of loss and hurt are always bubbling away just beneath the surface. Perhaps they always will.

Last night I dreamt about my youngest son, and his little boy.  I have never seen his little boy, who will be six the end of March, in person. The only communication that my son (who lives about 15 minutes away from me) that I have had since my return to Canada was an email just before Christmas last year telling me not to try to contact them ever again. When I am awake, I can quite successfully put things aside and not think about them overly much, but when I am dreaming, it is much harder. I was awake at 3:30 this morning after such a bad dream and had a hard time falling back to sleep. I finally did, but it was quarter to 7 before I woke up, which is late for me.

I don't know how to keep myself from dreaming about these things. Clearly, I hold it all in my sub-conscious self.   I guess it is bound to pop out when I can't control it and am at my most vulnerable. 

I have had to deal with rejection all of my life in one way or another.  But I never thought that I would have to deal with this type of rejection. If Joe Blow down the road doesn't like you, you can cope with that, even if it rankles a bit. I suppose I thought that your children will always love you, no matter what, the same way that we love them. But clearly that is not the case.  It is a huge and growing problem in today's world. I have read lots about it. It is a modern-day phenomenon. I will never understand it, but one thing which I have come to realize is that it is not about me or who I am. It is about them and who they are. 

I am training myself not to blame myself for anything. There is nothing I could have done differently. I did nothing wrong.  Easy to say I guess, but much harder to feel. It is what it is.

I looked over and could not help but take a photo of my little princess's profile last night. I just thought it was so cute, so perfect.  She is a little Diva. I have to pick up some more cat food this morning when I am out.  She changes her mind about what she wants to eat on an almost daily business. I am at my wits end with it all. She will eat all the treats that I can give her, dry or wet.  And she does eat the dry food no problem, but she turns her nose up at almost every wet food I put in front of her. I can tell her that you can't live on Churu cat treats until I am blue in the face. I dot them over her food from time to time in an effort to get her to eat it, but all she does is lick the Churu off.

There is no right answer.  I just keep buying different flavors in an attempt to tempt.

And with that I best leave you with a thought for the day!

A thought to carry with you . . . 

☾ ° ★° * 。  

• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

*Courage is going 

from failure to failure

without losing enthusiasm.

~Winston Churchill  • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 

• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •  

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Honey Mustard, Ham, Potato & Egg Bake. Simple.  Delicious. A great re-purposing of leftovers.

I hope you have a beautiful Wednesday! Whatever you get up to I hope it brings you joy!  Don't forget!

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⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿

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And I do too!