A Comparison

I got a new iron last week, sleek and almost too bright to get a good picture of it because it reflected things just like a mirror!  Immediately I couldn't help but compare it to Mama's heavy "sad" iron.

The new iron is heavier than my old iron, weighing about 3 1/2 pounds, but the sad iron, solid cast iron, is much heavier.  What a workout for a lady's arm muscles!

New irons come with automatic temperature controls; set the dial on the temperature for different fabrics and when it reaches that setting, it stops heating ~ perfect.  A sad iron ~ set it on a hot stove and let it heat, hoping it won't be hot enough to scorch that white shirt.  Mama tested the heat by wetting the end of her finger then quickly touching the bottom of the sad iron.  If the moisture sizzled, the iron was ready to use.

 The bottom of the new iron is so bright things are reflected in it, making it look brown!

Of course, with the addition of polyester to cotton fabrics, ironing is much easier today anyway.  The new irons make steam to remove small wrinkles, and if there is a stubborn wrinkle, just push a button for an extra shot of steam.  A lot of clothing was made from cotton feed sacks in yester-years and was starched to give it body.  Before the clothing could be ironed a good sprinkling of water droplets made it easier to remove wrinkles: Mama dipped her fingers into a bowl of water and sprinkled the items, then rolled them up so the moisture could reach the entire pieces.  While ironing, if she came across a dry spot, she would wet a cloth and rub it over the spot, then continue ironing the item.

Oh my!  The new iron seems heavy to me now, but how in the world could I iron with a sad iron!  And, by the looks of that stack of tablecloths, I need to go iron!  But, as Scarlet would say, "I won't think about it today; I'll think about it tomorrow."

Charlotte

Is This Surprise Coming Early?

Earlier in the week I noticed the surprise lilies were pushing up through the ground,

and by yesterday, they were blooming!

A beautiful mass of pink!  I think I'm learning that flowers planted in mass give better results.  My planting has usually been trying to put a little of this and that in several places.

If it weren't for the fact that these are close to my compost bin I probably wouldn't have noticed them at all until being totally surprised by their blooms.  In the spring they were a mass of green foliage.  I let it die back and turn brown, then I mowed over them, hoping to keep the four o'clocks and irises pushed back so there would be a clear spot for them to come up.  It seems too early for them to bloom; perhaps the fact that our weather has been cooler than normal (so far) this summer fooled them into thinking it's later in the year than it is?  Anyway, the other flower beds are looking tired and spent after a flush of spring irises and summer day lilies and tiger lilies, so these are a very welcome surprise.

Our chickens went out on Tuesday of this week so yesterday I put a quilt top on the frames to work on during my "out" time of two weeks.  The farmer has started the work of getting the litter ready to be put into wind rows so it can go through a "heat" that will kill any disease organisms.  Then while it sits for a day or two, weather permitting, we'll go finish the second cutting of hay, and before we know it, the two weeks will be gone and new baby chicks will be cheeping in the houses again.

Do you have surprise lilies?  Look around for them; they may be early too!

Charlotte

A Likeness of Me

This is how I feel today: a tired sunflower, with a drooping head and petals of energy fallen and scattered. 

We baled hay yesterday, and because there are chances of rain, the farmer decided we would wrap the bales.  Of course that means late hours with lots of travel across rough fields and at times I think, surely I will die from "shaken head syndrome".   We ate supper after 11:00 and when I went to bed I was too tired to fall asleep right away. I keep looking forward to the day when the farmer thinks enough is enough and cuts back on some of the farm work.

When the farmer pulls out of the field with the last load, I drive the loading tractor home, a lot of the time after dark.  Now I know the field backward and forward  in the daylight, but in the darkness things can get out of place, and tractor lights don't give a far range of vision.  We come out of the field, downhill, across a low water bridge and a big snag tree is our sign post of sorts to tell where the crossing is located.  One particular night the farmer had already crossed the bridge and his lights weren't visible to me when I started home.  I drove toward what I thought was the place to cross but couldn't find it; all the edges of the field looked the same in the dim lights of the tractor and there seemed to be lots of snag trees.  I kept driving along the edge of the field, searching, searching; soon I realized I was going in the opposite direction, turned around and found a tree at the edge of the field that I knew was just before the crossing, and slowly, slowly found it.  What a strange feeling to be lost!  I had begun to think I'd just have to sit in the field until someone came looking for me.  Of course I felt stupid to tell the farmer.  Someone should tie a white flag at that crossing!  Last night the farmer waited for me to come up behind him before he drove on.

When I grow so tired and think of how much we do at age 73, these verses from wise King Solomon come to mind:

Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.  And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun...  Ecclesiastes 2:18-19

Think about it!

Charlotte