“My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.”
Today I want to conjure the spirit of Mr. Rogers so he can sing It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood because it most decidedly is. A breeze, ever so slight, keeps the sun at bay and makes the deck the perfect spot to spend the day. I do have a few errands, but they shouldn’t take more than an hour then it’s back to the deck.
When I was a kid, I walked to school because my father left early every day to go to work. Most families back then only had that one car, the one our fathers drove, so we all walked. My mother didn’t even learn to drive until she was in her late 30’s. The walk wasn’t a long one and in the fall and spring was a pretty walk on sidewalks shaded by towering trees. Rainy days were the worst for walking. I never carried an umbrella so I always got soaked. My shoes got the worst. As I walked, they sometimes bubbled at the seams from all the water.
Changing into play clothes was the very first thing I always did when I got home from school. On rainy days, my mother would hang up my wet skirt, my uniform skirt, as I only had one. She’d let it dry a bit then iron it while it was still damp. My mother always ironed the clothes when they were slightly damp. It was the easiest way to iron out all the creases.
I sometimes watched my mother iron. She used to take the clothes, sprinkle water on them from a bottle of water with a perforated top she used to keep by the ironing board then fold them and put them in a basket to dampen. This was before steam irons so my mother sort of made her own steam with the water.
At my surprise house warming thirty odd years ago, someone gave me a steam iron as a gift. I still have it. I also have a plastic spray bottle, a descendant of my mother’s glass bottle. I used it to spray the creases.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: ironing, rainy days, walking to school
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
August 31, 2010 at 10:43 am
I’m glad I live in the age of knit fabrics and spray on wrinkle release. 🙂
September 1, 2010 at 9:22 am
Hi Caryn,
So am I! I do have some cotton shirts which get wrinkled regardless how quickly I get them out of the dryer. Those I bring to be pressed. This lady doesn’t iron!
August 31, 2010 at 1:36 pm
I love that quote 🙂 🙂
The only house hold shore I really like is ironing. I used to wear a lot of shirts and became really good at ironing thëm. Nowdyas I seldome uses shirts, mostly I use T-shirts and sweatshirts instead.
I only had about yeards to school so going there by car would have been a bit odd 🙂 🙂 But later when we moved I had to go by street car or bus. But the stop was only about yards from the school so rain wasn´t a big problem to be honest.
Beautiful day here today, but it started with our first ´night with frost!
Have a great day now!
Christer.
September 1, 2010 at 9:23 am
Christer,
I used to iron when I had five or six shirts saved up. Up went the ironing boards and I’d watch TV as I ironed. I did a good job too, but I never liked it.
I can’t imagine having frost already though given the heat of the last few days I might welcome the chill.
September 1, 2010 at 3:12 pm
My sisters hated to do the ironing. I never learned that job . . . it were woman’s work back in the day. I was happy to watch. Talk about watching the weather, looks like Earl is heading for Cape Cod Kat. Is that going to be a problem for you in S Dennis? Here I talk about Hurricanes all season and you’re the one that gets it. Not funny! Be Safe.
September 1, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Z&Me,
I didn’t learn to iron until I was in college. I didn’t care one way or the other about ironing.
It seems Earl is on his way, will be here by Friday. Tomorrow will be hunker down day. I’ll tie down or take anything off the deck which the wind might carry except the bird feeders which will come off Friday morning as expected landfall isn’t until later on Friday. It seems we on the Cape are the only lucky ones which Earl will visit.
I’ll do my best to stay safe-thanks.
September 5, 2010 at 10:42 pm
You have an iron that’s lasted thirty years and still works??? Jeebus, my wife kills one every second or third year!
September 6, 2010 at 11:05 am
Marchbanks,
That is true-a thirty three year old iron, but I suspect it speaks to how little I must use it.