Oh, the ThingsWe Used to Do

As I was ironing one of my vintage aprons yesterday (getting it ready for sale, BTW! ), I realized how seldom I iron actual clothing for my hubby and I to wear. What a difference from not so long ago, when I (gulp!) ironed literally everything, from my brother's white t-shirts to the linens on my bed. Yes, the linens on my bed. Fitted sheets and permanent press thankfully cured me of that. Here's one for you younger gals: I used to also iron jeans. And I wasn't the only one! There actually was a time when a well dressed person, young or old, wouldn't dream of leaving the house without their jeans having a nice, crisp crease down the front of the leg. All pants were ironed before being carefully folded by matching leg seams on each side and smoothing them over a hanger. (I still match seams before hanging them. Old habits die hard.) But I'm sure you've heard similar stories from others, including those touting the times when ground beef was 49 cents per pound and candy bars were a nickel each - and larger than they are now. So I won't bore you with those same stories. However, the task itself of ironing brought back other memories of those days. Like, for example, the first time my then-two year old son saw the ocean. He had been used to paddling around our midwest apartment swimming pool, so for our visit to southern California I made sure he was prepared with pail and shovel. He stood still and solemn, pail and shovel in hand, and stared at the waves. "What do you think of all that water," I asked him. Without hesitation he replied, "They should have made a baby pool." What a beautiful scrapbooking moment that would have made. Then, there was the time in Church when the pastor was allowing the preschoolers to sing their favorite songs. My girlfriend's son (about three or four, I think, at the time) took the microphone firmly in hand and turned toward the congregation with great confidence. He's going to be the very best one, she thought to herself as he straightened himself for what she thought would be the greatest debut performance in church history. In great voice and presentation, he burst into stanzas of "Rocking my Baby Tonight" instead of the anticipated "Jesus Loves Me". If you're not familiar with the song, let me assure you it is not a melody having to do with an infant in a cradle. With those fond memories, I leave you with pictures of our last pepper harvest of this season. They will be washed and prepared for freezing, except for the hot peppers that we grow for our parrots. They will take their places on drying racks. My next post will show you the rest of this month's Giftaway Package. Remember, all you need to do to qualify is leave a comment!

I almost forgot: Click here for my apron flea market!