Old Fashioned Laundry

Felt the urge for one of my 'living history re-enactments' today. Decided to boil wash my dish cloths and tea towels the old fashioned way, instead of in the washing machine. (Although, technically, it only goes up to 95 degrees.)

First I got myself a bucketful of rain water (which has been collecting in my tin bath outside) and put it on my cooker to heat up. This took a looooooooooongggg time! Eventually I realised it would be quicker with a cover, so I used the lid of the bread bin.

I used my late mother-in-law's oven glove to lift the lid to add grated soap (Fairy household bar soap).

After boiling for a while I used a pair of wooden tongs to get the tea towel out - just like I remember my Mum and Nan using.

Squeezing out the excess water.

Rinsing the soap out in a sinkful of cool water. I like the reflection from the window in this picture.



Look at the condensation on the window! The kitchen was full of the distinctive smell of a boil wash, bringing back memories of being off primary school, unwell, watching Mum use the twin tub to wash and hearing Jimmy Young on the radio - "What's the recipe today, Jim?"

After wringing out the water (by hand, since these were small things) I hung them on the line - using wooden dolly pegs of course!

Do you like my 1940s wrapover apron?






Thoroughly enjoyed myself today - but I wouldn't want to do that all the time!

True forgiveness

Most of us, even if we are not Christians, are aware of Jesus' words in Matthew 5:43-44
'You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.'
 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,'
but we are seldom in a situation of real emnity to put this into practise. Yes, of course, we have our petty situations, such as work colleagues 'backstabbing' their way to promotion but, praise God, most of us in the West are not being actually persecuted.

I was perusing the Norwich cathedral website, with a view to taking a visit this week, when I came across this page showing the Chapel of Holy Innocents. Here, it says, 'prayers are said for victims of cruelty, persecution, and intolerance.' But just look at the prayer found at Ravensbruck concentration camp during the second world war:

O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted upon us; remember the fruits we have bought, thanks to this suffering, our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of this; and when they come to judgement, let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness. Amen.’

Wow! Now that's what I call forgiveness!!! What a saint! But it made me think....I've been through some awful times these last few years due to my husband's descent into alcoholism (though not even on the same scale as the suffering of concentration camp detainees, of course) and I can certainly see positive things, 'fruits', in myself that have come from it, such as greater self-confidence and the boldness and daring to do things instead of shrinking from them. I don't know that I'm quite ready yet to say 'do not remember all the suffering they inflicted upon us', I still need to deal with the remnants of anger and resentment, but I can certainly thank God for the good that has come from it, and for the wonderful people in Al-Anon that He has used to bring this about. Forgiveness will come...

Second blog!!

I've always found writing to be a good way to explore and let out my thoughts and feelings, and have done just that for many years. Thought I'd set up a second blog to share some of these!

To find it you could click on the title of this post, go to my profile, or click the link below - hope you enjoy it.

http://patchworkmusings.blogspot.com/2012/01/welcome.html

More Thursford Wood photos

My daughter is a much better photographer than me, so I feel privileged to share these piccies from our recent visit to Thursford Wood, Norfolk. She has such an artist's eye for lighting and subject and other things that are a mystery to me! I have not put in pictures similar to the ones I posted earlier, but have picked out the ones showing details she spots - enjoy!

Ladybirds clustered together to hibernate.

Beautiful detail of gills.

The lichen on this fallen stick looks like seaweed.

Shiny holly.

Winter pond at the end of the walk, before turning back.



A time for reflection....    ;-)

If you look hard you can find little clusters of fungi in all sorts of nooks and crannies.



These were tiny.

Very spooky faces!!! Glad it wasn't dark!



Some mad lady enjoying her day out......

A bit of tree love......

Benedictus

Just had to share this beautiful, beautiful song by Simon and Garfunkel. It's like plainsong with acoustic guitar......simply gorgeous!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne-DXzlnw-8

Christmas heart for Keith

Final post of the day!

I wanted to use some evergreens from my garden to make a wreath for Keith for Christmas.

Here we have ivy, rosemary, snowberries, holly and a variegated leafed plant that pokes through the fence from next door.

I was originally going to make a circle with the ivy and then add bits to it, but I found this lovely heart shaped base in Next. All i did was cut small pieces of ivy and tuck them in.

The finished piece. I went for simplicity in the end, adding a small sprig of mistletoe (bought) in the middle.

I feel really pleased with the finished thing. Keith loved flower arrangements - he was much better at it than me, having his family's artistic flair - and would have loved the home-madeness of this. We also joked every Christmas about me chasing him for a kiss under the mistletoe, so I just had to add some. Don't think you're getting away with it this year my love!!  ;-)   x x x

A walk in Thursford Woods

Had a day out with Daughter at Thursford Wood, which is owned by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. I chose this particular one because there is a position for Volunteer Warden going there, and it sounds just the sort of thing I'd enjoy. I've been a Primary School Teacher for over 25 years now and would like to have a complete change of job. I would love to work with nature in some capacity, or maybe with local history. Consequently I've joined several local support groups and aim to begin by volunteering.

So, back to Thursford....   It was very difficult to find as the opening off the main road is tiny. Once there, it has a clearly marked path and info board. As you can see from the pictures, there was a wide variety of trees of different ages, with some spectacular old oaks. I'd love to help take care of it - and the first thing I'd campaign for would be a big signpost to show where it is!!!  ;-)