I visited Bren's blog this morning and read about a strange ritual that she remembers from her childhood involving her mother ironing. Funny thing is, I remember the same sort of ritual from my mom and from a spinster great aunt that I spent lots of time with. This great aunt was like a second mother to me. She actually took in ironing to support herself. Back then, people would starch everything they wore except underwear. They would use the powdered starch that you mix then immerse the garments.....and hang them outside on a clothesline to dry and would later iron them. The clothes were wrinkly and stiff. They would bring them to my aunt, she would sprinkle them with water, roll them up and put them in plastic bag, and put it in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, she would get up and start ironing. She always put them in the refrigerator because we lived in south Texas and if you didn't, she said the clothes would sour and begin to smell. I sometimes think it was so the garments would become evenly moist and easy to iron out the wrinkles. Anyway, these two pictures show the spout she put on the bottle...and then the bottle with the spout. She used a Coke bottle instead of a 7-Up bottle. Bren....is this it???????
Believe it or not, I still iron some of my husband's dress shirts using my aunt's old fashioned method. I even use the powdered starch! It works so much better than the spray starch....which I do use sometimes.

It is ever so cold this morning.....18 and the roads are icy....so no church today.