Well,
I’m standing the Christmas doing fine. – Ina Dobson, 1934
It snowed overnight. The old pines and the orchard were just beautiful wearing their white winter finery. But – it wasn’t enough snow to close the roads, so Jack carried little Sadie over to the schoolhouse on horseback, assuring her that he would be back for her at 3:00.
It
was a busy day for Jack and Ina, what with the laundry as well as – let’s see –
oh yes, as well as continuing to write their cards and letters. Jack was
responsible for writing to his family and friends back in Iowa. Even though they
felt under a deadline to finish, they enjoyed this once-yearly opportunity to
renew old acquaintances. 
Jack
was good to help with the laundry, carrying the water and wringing the heavier
items for Ina. He also carried the wet laundry to the sunporch where Ina hung it.
With no sun today, she would likely have to let them hang until tomorrow and
then iron them dry – or whatever it is she did in such circumstances.
In
the back of Ina’s mind, she contemplated other things she needed or wanted to
do. Sadie could use a new dress for Christmas, costumes for the pageants, another
new nightgown or two – and it would be nice to include her friends, too – but
Ina wasn’t sure she could manage it. First things first. She would just have to
see.
As
promised, Jack picked Sadie up at the schoolhouse, and on the way to the
farmhouse, they stopped at the mailbox. Today, they found half a dozen Christmas
cards. Sadie was as delighted as Ina and Jack. When the supper dishes were finished
and Sadie was ready for bed, the three of them sat together to read the cards
and letters. Such a happy memory! KW
3 comments:
Grandma Hansen always sent new pj's every Christmas and a new bathrobe every other Christmas. I loved getting them and having new, cozy ones to wear on Christmas night. I think she did the same for John, but I'm not sure he was as happy as I was about it. And of course, like Ina, she included other gifts as well.
I bet they put the wet laundry on a rack next to the fireplace and/or the cook stove. What do you think?
Ooooo! New pajamas for Christmas night! That would be great.
That's what I do with the wet laundry. I don't know what they did. I have that one picture that shows sheets hanging on the sunporch, and I know there was a clothesline in the west dormer, which is now the bathroom. It could be that smaller items were hung on a rack near the stove or the fireplace.
When we first began to use the farmhouse, we had sold the "big house" but the modular home hadn't arrived. I suddenly realized that I would have to do laundry somehow, so Mike bought an old washing machine and I bought a drying rack. He didn't think the drying rack would work -- silly man! -- but I said, "Women have been drying clothes this way forever."
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