I like to fill the sink with dirty dishes and then run it full of warm/hot water and put in a squirt of Ivory . I can then plunge my hands into that and look out my back window at my domain while I wash the dishes, rinse them and put them in the drainer. But my mind is never still and this morning it flashed back to Plevna and I heard Mrs. Crawford explaining the fine art of washing dishes correctly.
"Be sure that all the dishes are scraped and piled before you begin. You will pile them in the order they are to be washed. Glassware first, then silver, then plates, followed by the cooking utensils. Each item will be rinsed in your tub of very hot water."
"Some times a bit of food will be stubborn and not come off when you whisk it with your dish cloth. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT attempt to remove it with your finger nail. Your hands are in the water and the nail is soft and you do not want to do damage to the nail. There is a wire scratcher that comes in handy for removal of stubborn things that do not want to be removed. You will want to keep your hands lovely and soft for your husband, so when you are finished with the dishes and the sink is clean and dry, apply a little lotion and rub in in well."
I can still see her in my minds eye standing in the home economics room in her skirt and jacket with every hair in place pointing to the sink and the dish drainer as if they were the most important items on earth. I actually grew up believing that man was superior and I must do all I could to please one of these creatures if I ever was lucky enough to catch one. I had a helluva lot to learn back in those days!
At the end of the semester my grandma passed away and I was returned to Nickerson and enrolled in Home Economics where Miss Irvin was my teacher. Here I attempted to learn how to make a simple dress. As I recall mother bought me the required pattern in the size I needed and cotton fabric that was white with small blue flowers. And thus that exercise I futility began. We measured each other to get the proper measurements. And then it was time to cut the pattern and pin the darts for the chest area. Well, until I was 16 years old, I never had a sign of a boob, so darts were pretty well wasted on me, but nonetheless, there would be darts because as sure as there was a God in heaven, I would develop before that dress wore out! Not sure that happened though.
"Be sure that all the dishes are scraped and piled before you begin. You will pile them in the order they are to be washed. Glassware first, then silver, then plates, followed by the cooking utensils. Each item will be rinsed in your tub of very hot water."
"Some times a bit of food will be stubborn and not come off when you whisk it with your dish cloth. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT attempt to remove it with your finger nail. Your hands are in the water and the nail is soft and you do not want to do damage to the nail. There is a wire scratcher that comes in handy for removal of stubborn things that do not want to be removed. You will want to keep your hands lovely and soft for your husband, so when you are finished with the dishes and the sink is clean and dry, apply a little lotion and rub in in well."
Do I need to interject here that I failed Home Economics under the able tuteledge of Mrs. Crawford? Now when I say failed I do not mean C or D but a big Red F.
I can still see her in my minds eye standing in the home economics room in her skirt and jacket with every hair in place pointing to the sink and the dish drainer as if they were the most important items on earth. I actually grew up believing that man was superior and I must do all I could to please one of these creatures if I ever was lucky enough to catch one. I had a helluva lot to learn back in those days!
At the end of the semester my grandma passed away and I was returned to Nickerson and enrolled in Home Economics where Miss Irvin was my teacher. Here I attempted to learn how to make a simple dress. As I recall mother bought me the required pattern in the size I needed and cotton fabric that was white with small blue flowers. And thus that exercise I futility began. We measured each other to get the proper measurements. And then it was time to cut the pattern and pin the darts for the chest area. Well, until I was 16 years old, I never had a sign of a boob, so darts were pretty well wasted on me, but nonetheless, there would be darts because as sure as there was a God in heaven, I would develop before that dress wore out! Not sure that happened though.
After 4 1/2 months of cutting, ripping, stitching, and crying, the dress was finished. The darts in the chest were perfect, but there was nothing there to hold them out for the world to see. My sewing career was finished and Miss Irvin gave me a final grade. Seems I had been a very difficult student. I had not listened and I was disrespectful with all that crying. You guessed it. A big RED F.
Now, after a full year of schooling on how to cook, clean and sew for my man, I walked away empty handed! My life was over as far as my mother was concerned. I would never catch a man. Even grandma kept telling me things like "Where spider webs grow, no beau ever goes." The way to a man's heart is through his stomach." And more crap like that.
So I finished high school and began life in the real world. My first marriage lasted 10 years and produced 5 kids. After a string of husbands I finally found one that understood all I needed was stability. I do not think my cleaning and cooking skills were ever on any of the divorce papers.
What is the most amazing part of this whole thing is that I am now an excellent seamstress. I have a sewing room to die for and am the proud owner of 5 sergers, 5 sewing machines, a machine quilter and a 6 needle embroidery machine, all of which make me money.
I raised my kids on money I made as a short order cook, a dinner cook, a caterer, and personal orders as needed. I baked and decorated wedding cakes while I was at the Red Carpet.
Sorry, Mrs. Crawford and Miss Irvin! I know you tried, but I am just one of those people that have to learn the hard way.
Isn't it amazing how I can get off track? Guess I was not meant to be a writer. Oh, wait a minute! I am a writer!!
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