posted by jta on Lessons from History, Memories, Senior Citizen Humor
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Like you, my email sometimes is junky – and then at times there is a treasure! Today was a treasure day – thanks to my sister, Betty. and I know you remember these days!
Remembering Mom’s Clothesline
There is one thing that’s left out. We had a long wooden pole (clothes pole) that was used to push the clotheslines up so that longer items (sheets/pants/etc.) didn’t brush the ground and get dirty. You have to be a “certain age” to appreciate this one…. (But you YOUNGER ones can read about “The GOOD ol’ days”!!)I can hear my mother now…..
THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:(If you don’t even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.)1. You had to hang the socks by the toes… NOT the top.2. You hung pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs… NOT the waistbands.3. You had to WASH the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes – walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.4. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang “whites” with “whites,” and hang them first.5. You NEVER hung a shirt by the shoulders – always by the tail! What would the neighbors think?6. Wash day on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend, or on Sunday, for Heaven’s sake!7. Hang the sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could hide your “unmentionables” in the middle (perverts & busybodies, y’know!)8. It didn’t matter if it was sub-zero weather… clothes would “freeze-dry.”9. ALWAYS gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were “tacky”!10. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed item.11. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.12. IRONED???!! Well, that’s a whole OTHER subject!
And now a POEM …
A clothesline was a news forecast, To neighbors passing by, There were no secrets you could keep, When clothes were hung to dry.It also was a friendly link, For neighbors always knewIf company had stopped on by, To spend a night or two.For then you’d see the “fancy sheets”, And towels upon the line; You’d see the “company table cloths”, With intricate designs.The line announced a baby’s birth, From folks who lived inside,As brand new infant clothes were hung, So carefully with pride!The ages of the children could, So readily be knownBy watching how the sizes changed, You’d know how much they’d grown! It also told when illness struck, As extra sheets were hung; Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe too, Haphazardly were strung.It also said, “On vacation now”, When lines hung limp and bare.It told, “We’re back!” when full lines sagged, With not an inch to spare!New folks in town were scorned upon, If wash was dingy and gray,As neighbors carefully raised their brows, And looked the other way.But clotheslines now are of the past, For dryers make work much less.Now what goes on inside a home, Is anybody’s guess!I really miss that way of life, It was a friendly sign When neighbors knew each other best… By what hung out on that line.
posted by jta on Uncategorized
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Do you journal? One of the simplest ways to journal is with a 10 year journal. You just have to write 5 lines a day. Each page shows you the same date for 10 years – such fun to look back and see what you were doing on the same day last year and the years before.
Admittedly, the first year is the hardest, but if you are faithful to it, you will create a treasure!
There is a space at the back too for special notes — My little granddaughter is 8, but I just read last night a note I had written when she helped me decorate the tree when she was just 18 months old. so glad I did that. She was in love with pearls. And we loaded the tree with them that year!
Journaling is a healthy practice too!
And I found another 10 year journal style you might like to try!
Journal: A Decade of Memories
posted by Correen on Money Issues, Senior Citizen Living
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A couple of weeks ago my mom got an early morning phone call from “her grandson“, he sounded frightened…she was instantly worried!
After a twist of events and quick thinking by my mom, we soon discovered that in all actuality, it was a telephone call from a scammer trying to convince “grandma” to send money to a lawyer in Puna, Peru. The adept scammer said, “Grandma, I’ve gotten in trouble with the law and I don’t want to tell my parents”. He even directed her where to go to send the money order and had the damn nerve to call her back in 3 hours to see if she had wired the $2,800 needed to get out of jail. My spunky mom told him to “Go to h e double l” and quickly hung up! || Read more
posted by jta on Baby Boomers, Memories, Senior Citizen Living
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Recently my sister came to visit and brought a beautiful quilt to show to me. She had had the quilt made from our Aunt Lillie’s 1950′s cashmere coat! The quilt is truly a treasure.
Betty wrote the story of the quilt and daughter, Kathy Trader took photos of it. We published the story on Squidoo. If you would like to see more pictures of the beautiful quilt and read the story, simply go to Our Family Treasure
posted by jta on Baby Boomers, Laugh Out Loud, Senior Citizen Humor
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I received this one in my email today and thought you would all enjoy! Ain’t it the truth?
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning…. Uphill… Barefoot… BOTH ways…yadda, yadda, yadda
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in the world I was going to lay a bunch of nonsense like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they’ve got it! || Read more
posted by jta on Thanksgiving for Boomers and Senior Citizens
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Our guest poster today is my dear friend Mary McManus, creator of beautiful poetry and kind thoughts. Mary is always an inspiration. Thank you, Mary!
To keep the giving thanks in Thanksgiving this year, I came to the conclusion that every day is Thanksgiving. Holidays were always a very painful time in my life growing up. Alcoholism cast a long dark shadow over every day. Holidays meant more time being around family dysfunction. || Read more
posted by jta on Senior Citizen Prayers
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Our guest today is my own sister, Nancy. Nancy created a beautiful page on Squidoo about our Thanksgiving Prayer and I know you would enjoy reading it. Thank you, Nancy! And now, here’s Nancy to tell you about it:
Some family traditions come out of necessity and I guess that is what you could say about our family tradition of sharing a very special Thanksgiving Prayer. Our dad was a big man with a real deep voice and he always said the most beautiful blessing especially on Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving after our brother died, we knew that he would not be able to say the blessing and it was a big deal to the whole family. What would we do? || Read more
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