My first thought when my alarm started buzzing at me yesterday morning: "Monday, again? Already?" Yep, the week makes it's round very quickly. I can remember so easily how happy I was last Tuesday evening when the washing and ironing were done. My clothes were clean and pressed. And not a speck of laundry to worry about for the rest of the week. Liberation! I'm not sure how those five days got by me so quickly. All I know is that the Monday Wash was back in my court in two shakes of a lamb's tail.
What a lot of work. I was up late into the night yesterday handwashing the "Gentle Cycle Only" items. Between sick days and holiday weekends, this is the first time since I took on these missions that I've had both the washing and ironing to do along with two full days at work. No wonder it's feeling like a ton of bricks! Nevertheless, I know the weeks are just going to get more and more rigorous, and I don't want to wear myself to the point of exhaustion every Monday handwashing stuff that could be washed just as nicely in a machine. I'll never have enough "Gentle Cycle Only" clothes in a single week to make up a full load, but what's stopping me from washing similar-colored items in a gentle cycle instead of a regular cycle? It's not like the rest of my clothes are so grimy and greasy that they couldn't relax in the gentle cycle from time to time. I'll still have some handwashing to do, but this should cut down on that a little. I still have to put some thought into sorting my laundry on Sunday nights. Should I bleach my whites this week? Do I need to get creative to put a gentle cycle load together? Which items need to be pulled before going into the dryer? Do I have enough quarters?
Tonight: the ironing. It's one big load of cottons and cotton blends this week. American Idol is just starting - the Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour of the 21st century - so that should keep me entertained... Here are some of the Top Ten Tips I still need to work into my technique:
2. When you straighten material on the ironing board or roll of a rotary ironer, use the palms of your hands and smooth from the center out. Your fingers are apt to stretch the fabrics and pull them out of shape.
3. Iron with straight strokes, with the thread of the fabric.
5. Collars, cuffs, sleeves, belts and trimmings are ironed first, then the flat sections of the garment.
10. Do not use too hot an iron or shoe. Most hand irons are thermostatically controlled. Ironers are also equipped with thermostatic controls so that you can select the proper heat for the fabric... Combinations of fibers - adjust heat to fiber needing lowest temperature.
Oh, yes. My breakfast menu this morning included something I haven't had since I was a kid:
Orange Juice
Scrambled Eggs
Toast
MarmaladeIt's been years since I tried Marmalade. (There's something about candied citrus peel that's never appealed to me.) It was okay. A very orange-y breakfast, too. It's not every day that your juice and marmalade coordinate so nicely!
7 comments:
I adore marmalade and want to make some grapefruit/orange/lemon and see if it would be lovely. It is funny, as I am gaining cooking skills I am thinking up meals on my own with the base of cooking I am learning. I know that canned and packaged was all the rage in the 50's but I think I would still want to do preserves and make homemade. I agree, it is funny how quickly wash day comes about. I must have been very sporatic in the past with my laundry, but I do see now that the laundry seems to be done and nicer more often now then it was when I lived in 2008. My husband said this morning, "Things seem so much more orderly lately" It made me beem a little, is that silly?
Hard to believe how quickly the week goes! When I started staying home, I thought for sure it was going to crawl. But it seems now it goes by fater than when I was actually working!!
I'm curious as to whether or not you wear a lot of vintage clothing? I would think that makes a huge difference in how your laundry is done, vs. washing more modern fabrics.
I've never learned the proper way to iron, so I just don't do it because when I do, the item usually looks worse afterwards than if I'd just left well enough alone. I'll be interested to see if I can pick up any tips from your blog that might encourage me to try again!
(off topic, are you JitterbugDoll from the Fedora Lounge site?)
50s gal, what a great compliment. No wonder you were beaming!
Emer, I used to think it was only weekends that sped by. :)
Gingerella, I don't wear any vintage clothing. I'd probably be terrified even to try a washing machine on something 60 years old! Gentle cycle or no. Nope, I'm not JitterbugDoll. I'll have to stop by the Fedora Lounge and find out who I'm sharing a name with...
Interesting! The gal who has the same online moniker is also from the southwest, single, works at a college, and is into everything vintage from the 30's and 40's....you can see why I was wondering. :)
I tried making marmalade out of leftover Christmas clementines. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! Oh, dear god it was bad! But I love regular orange marmalade and made some last year that was just scrummy!
If you have a weekend, you might want to try making a grapefruit marmalade, since they're in season where you are. I bet it would be delish!
Oh, and all of your weeks have been so inspiring to me that I've started adding breakfast every day to my routine. I can't start with airing and making bed because spouse is still in there when I leave for work, but the breakfast challenge has been great. I too could not normally face solids at such and hour, but have managed since Monday to prepare a full breakfast for myself and serve it up as a proper sir-down meal before going to work.
Most of my goals are food-related (we're doing UK WWII rationing at home), but I really want to try to add some of the housekeeping in to condition myself to having a nice, tidy home. I love reading about your routine and the challenges a it gives me hope that I might, someday, be les of a slattern :)
Yay, Teru!!! I'm inspired! I was absolutely nauseous at the thought of eating breakfast before I started doing it, but I've found that the filling menus leave me feeling so much less ravenous at lunchtime --- and so much less apt to overeat. Have you read this blog from a woman who tried a WWII British rations diet?
http://www.acountrylife.com/journal.php?id=2061
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