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Keeping in Touch:  Washing Dishes By Hand  |
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chickenladycris
True Blue Farmgirl
77 Posts
Cris
Prairie Farm
WI
USA
77 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 29 2011 : 6:41:13 PM
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Every time I wash dishes, I think of my grandma. I admit, I don't particularly like the chore--which is funny, since I do love eating and cooking, which makes the pile of dirty plates and forks forever living in my sink--but it always makes me smile. My grandma was adamant about washing her dishes by hand(ALL of her dishes, even the stack of plates after Thanksgiving supper), in the sink, with plenty of scorching hot water, Palmolive soap, and a sturdy pair of yellow rubber gloves reaching up to her elbows. Dishes were always my chore growing up, and I hated them. My three brothers seemed to be unable to scrape off their plates, and a sudden flotilla of bread, ketchup and old peanut butter would loom up from the murk and stick to my hands. Yuck! I dreamed of moving away to the big city, finding a little apartment with a window box, a cat, and a big, steamy dishwasher. When I went away to graduate school, I found all those things, as well as moving closer to my grandma. Over the years I studied, I spent plenty of time over in grandma's kitchen. She loved to make me dinner, puttering about in her worn house slippers and banging away with pots and pans and that new-fangled microwave oven (which was covered with a plastic custom-sized dust cover when not in use). Every meal concluded with gathering the dishes, a pristine assortment of vintage correlle ware and dinged up forks and knives purchased when she was a new bride, and putting them into a scrubbed sink filled with hot, soapy water. I remember once asking her why she didn't put them into her dishwasher--she had one, a nice big one, and it worked great. I had seen my aunts fill it after many a big gathering! Grandma just looked at me, smiled, and said "Honey, I AM the best dishwasher!" Then she would wash, and I would dry. Together, we would put everything away and settle back at the table to talk, laugh, and maybe play a game of hearts (she forever won). Now, I am here in my little cottage, with its' sturdy square kitchen just big enough for a table for friends to gather at, but definitely not able to accommodate a deluxe automatic dishwasher. Sometimes, I dream of a bigger kitchen--I'd love more windows, maybe even south-facing french doors, or a built in dining nook complete with shelf upon shelf to hold my growing collection of old cookbooks. But then I see the pile of dishes waiting for me in my little worn tin sink, and I pull on my own pair of yellow rubber gloves. A squirt or two of my favorite soap (smells like lemon verbena) and piping hot water, and I am again washing dishes by hand with my grandma. I think she'd be glad that I am now the 'best dishwasher', just as she used to be.
"A farmgirl can never have enough chickens!"--me |
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prariehawk
True Blue Farmgirl
2914 Posts
Cindy
2914 Posts |
Posted - Mar 29 2011 : 7:21:49 PM
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I hear ya, sister! My mom has always washed her own dishes, and my dad helps. I often had to wash or dry them when I was growing up. I've never had a dishwasher either,and I have a tendency to let them pile up, but there's nothing quite like that warm sudsy water and cleaning dishes by hand. There is a Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, who writes that washing dishes is a spiritual exercise. I don't think I'd ever want a dishwasher--washing dishes by hand is a ritual. and I don't want to lose it.
Cindy
"Vast floods can't quench love, no matter what love did/ Rivers can't drown love, no matter where love's hid"--Sinead Connor
"In many ways, you don't just live in the country, it lives inside you"--Ellen Eilers
Visit my blog at http://www.farmerinthebelle.blogspot.com/ |
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Oggie
True Blue Farmgirl
526 Posts
Ginny
Machias
Maine
USA
526 Posts |
Posted - Mar 29 2011 : 7:49:47 PM
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My parents wash their dishes by hand and actually fight over who is going to do it! Even with a great dishwasher they always have a reason why this pot or this knife can not go in the dishwasher so by the time they've made excuses for everything, they all get done by hand. But let me tell you, I envy my Mother! Her stainless steel is pristine even though it's 50+ years old!
I wash my dishes by hand now too, but only because my dishwasher broke and I don't want to spend the money getting a new one. But I often feel like I am with my Grandmother, Mother, & Aunts after a big family dinner while doing them because, like you, I'm wearing those yellow gloves, an apron, and trying to stay with the conversation that I barely hear over the water I am constantly rinsing my dishes with!
On a side note, I put very little water in the sink at the beginning, but lots of suds, and first wash my silverware and knives, then glasses, then plates and bowls, then pots. Does everyone else wash them like that? The reason for little water is as I am rinsing them, the water gets deeper with the need for it being deeper closer to the pots. lol, what a thing to be talking about!
Ginny
Farmgirl #2343
www.thedewhopinn.com
"I always have a wonderful time, wherever I am, whomever I'm with."
"Well, I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it." Both by Elwood P. Dowd (Jimmy Stewart) in the Movie Harvey
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HDA
True Blue Farmgirl
59 Posts
Heidi
Hood River
OR
USA
59 Posts |
Posted - Mar 29 2011 : 10:51:39 PM
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| Cris-I read your post & felt kind of weepy because I miss my grandparents so much. They were the same way. Their dishwasher "broke" long before I was born. I'm not actually convinced it was ever broken. They said that "washing dishes together makes a strong marriage" and they were right. I even remember Grandma saying that at their 50th anniversary, but I knew long before that just from watching them. So we talked about it at my own wedding too. In their 50+ years of marriage Grandma washed and Grandpa dried after every meal and I look at their marriage as an example for my own. Now granted, I do have a dishwasher, but we spend a lot of time at the coast in a family house there & there is no dishwasher so my husband and I keep up the tradition there. Every time we do that I feel closer to them even though they are both gone now. Grandma never liked the dishes to sit around long so we always joked about the fact that we would be sitting down to start dinner, all waiting at the table for Grandma. "Where is she" Well we'd find her in the kitchen "getting the dishes started" from cooking the meal! Standing in her apron scrubbing away while the rest of us were ready to eat! So cute. I miss them so much. |
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Montrose Girl
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm
1360 Posts
Laurie
Montrose
CO
1360 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2011 : 06:18:40 AM
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I'll admit I never liked washign dishes but in recent years as Ed and I have spent meals together at his place or mine one, it's become a bit more of a ritual. He usually washes, but I dry and put away. There are times where one of us is so exhausted we just sit at the counter while the other cleans up, but it has worked both ways and we stay in the kitchen together. It is a good time to just be together.
Laurie
http://www.inntheorchardbnb.com/ |
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Sandy Fields
True Blue Farmgirl
165 Posts
Sandy
Portales
NM
165 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2011 : 07:04:59 AM
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I admit right off the bat that I love my dishwasher. I call it 'my favorite servant', and I'm thrilled at the good job it does. But I love the memory of washing dishes with my Nana. Yes.. she had the dishwasher, but couldn't stand to use it, so we all washed by hand. In her final year with Alzheimer's, I made breakfast for my grandparents daily. She dried the dishes and I helped her put them away. I remember her staring into the silverware drawer, spoon in one hand, drying towel in the other, and saying to me "I don't know where to put this spoon." I thanked God many times over for that moment... for arranging my life so I could be the one there with her to gently show her where to lay the spoon with the others.
Thank you, Cris, for this post. It brought back many happy memories.
Love writing about "My Field Days"
www.field-days.com
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Sandy Fields
True Blue Farmgirl
165 Posts
Sandy
Portales
NM
165 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2011 : 08:37:10 AM
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Thank You again Cris... as I was reading this morning, I didn't even realize that today was my Nana's birthday. Your post and her birthday gave me no choice.. I had to write about doing dishes with her on my blog.
http://field-days.com/doing-dishes
Have fun in your barn today!!!
Sandy
Love writing about "My Field Days"
www.field-days.com
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LeighErica
True Blue Farmgirl
306 Posts
Erica
PA
USA
306 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2011 : 08:45:38 AM
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| Great post...I too like to wash my dishes by hand:) I miss the days of being at my Grandma's and her and I doing dishes together...she would dry while I washed...and it wasn't a chore because of all the talking and chatting, laughing we did. Thanks for sharing...hugs, Erica |
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Ingrid
True Blue Farmgirl
432 Posts
Ingrid
BC
Canada
432 Posts |
Posted - Mar 31 2011 : 07:34:33 AM
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I don't have a dishwashwer either and wash my dishes by hand and I love the feel of the nice hot water and suds. Not only which I don't know anyone except for one of my sisters that actually empties her dishwasher when it is finished so most people have dishes on their counters. I also like doing the dishes and looking out my kitchen window at the everyday changes of the seasons and find it relaxing.
Give thanks to yourself everyday for all the wonderful things you do! |
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Heartbroken farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
604 Posts
Annette
rio vista
Ca
USA
604 Posts |
Posted - Mar 31 2011 : 07:35:55 AM
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This was so sweet! We have a dishwasher. We use our dishwasher. But I too have many reasons why *this or that* can't go in. This year my DH has started cooking AND helping with the dishes. All new to him.;) He's always askin, "hey babe, can this go in?" Then when he's cleared the table and put leftovers away, and I've bathed kids and gotten them in pj's; we stand together at the sink. I wash what can't go in the dishwasher, and he dries. I really dies help the marriage, relationship, family, and the state of your kitchen.
We talk, we play, he occasionally snaps my rear with the dish towel.(owies) thanks for posting this. A special time was kinda being overlooked.(((hugs)))
The tears I shed then, watered the flowers I harvest now.
www.broken908.blogspot.com
http://forums.familyfriendpoems.com/broken908
"The aim of education is the knowledge not of facts but of values."-Dean William Ralph Inge |
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Catherine L
True Blue Farmgirl
408 Posts
Cathy
Newton
Texas
USA
408 Posts |
Posted - Mar 31 2011 : 08:37:15 AM
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I wash my dishes by hand. My sink is stainless steel, but my best friend's sink is a big deep porcelain sink and the dishes sound so neat in the hot sudsy water bumping up against the sides of her sink. If I ever have a choice I want a sink like hers. I know this sounds crazy, but I get to know my dishes when I wash them by hand. I know which ones have stains or chips and which ones need replacing. I know how many of each thing I have because I handle them daily.
~Catherine~
Farmgirl 2428 |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
Posted - Mar 31 2011 : 10:46:42 AM
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I never had a mechanical dishwasher until a few years ago---I do like it. But i grew up washing and drying dishes raised my whole family without a dishwasher---why do you think I had 4 kids. LOL
I do use the dishwasher now but sometimes if there are few to do I just do them by hand.
Don't they just feel so good after washing and drying them???? MB
http://www.smallcityscenes.blogspot.com
www.day4plus.blogspot.com
"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
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crafter
True Blue Farmgirl
2313 Posts
lori
Fort Atkinson
Wisconsin
USA
2313 Posts |
Posted - Mar 31 2011 : 2:52:21 PM
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my new friend Ben and I believe in the same things, our God in first, our family second. After we have a meal together and the kids go to play we do dishes together, its such a wonderful time for us to talk and discuss things.
my grandmas and my mother never had a dishwasher and we always washed and dried by hand.. so many wonderful times talking, laughing and crying while doing the dishes with no boys allowed! |
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CurlysQuilts
True Blue Farmgirl
569 Posts
Sarah
Northeast Kingdom
VT
USA
569 Posts |
Posted - Mar 31 2011 : 6:22:28 PM
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I also have very sweet memories of my Grandma and I washing dishes together. She washed and I dried. Loved it, especially since I didn't visit real often. I always hated our dishwasher growing up. I hated loading it, I hated unloading it, I hated that we never really unloaded it and were forever pulling clean dishes from there until we had to load the dirty ones again. Hated all the dried on stuck on ffod because we never rinsed the dishes thoroughly enough. I have no memories of washing dishes by hand with my mom, so I thought I hated doing the dishes. It wasn't until I had to wash by hand in my first apartment that I realized what I had been missing. I disconnected my dishwasher and I currently use it as a storage cabinet for condiments and such. When you need more space you get creative!
Curly's Quilts
www.curlysquilts.etsy.com
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” - Micah 6:8
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gypsy goat
True Blue Farmgirl
673 Posts
mary jo
michigan
673 Posts |
Posted - Apr 01 2011 : 05:55:41 AM
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i have a dishwasher use it all the time except for those few special peices that can't be put in. i always thought i couldn't be without it but i just got home from a 10 day trip to north carolina to see friends and take a well needed break. she has 3 children,plus her house was full with other family that had come in to see me and spend time together. she does not have a dishwasher,i have never done so many dishes in my life but let me tell you there really is something special about it. it really does a body good to scrub some dishes laughing and talking with friends
farmgirl#1362 whatever you are be a good one-abe lincoln |
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walkinwalkoutcattle
True Blue Farmgirl
1675 Posts
Megan
Paint Lick
KY
USA
1675 Posts |
Posted - Apr 01 2011 : 07:34:05 AM
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I wish I had the OPTION to use a dishwasher-our old farmhouse does not have one, and I've been trying to figure out where one would work out. We'll see of I ever get one. I'm pretty content to do them by hand for now.
Farmgirl #2879 :)
Starbucks and sushi to green fried tomatoes and corn pudding-I wouldn't change it for the world.
www.cattleandcupcakes.blogspot.com
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Sue Feely
True Blue Farmgirl
1044 Posts
Sue
Buffalo
New York
USA
1044 Posts |
Posted - Apr 01 2011 : 09:51:02 AM
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| Great story Cris, brings back memories for me as both my grandmother and mother always washed the exact same as your grandma! I have had a dishwasher for about 25 years but a few months ago I moved in with my MIL, she does not have a dishwasher, dont like it though, I need a dishwasher here! Thanks for putting some old memories in my mind if just for a moment! |
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Crystal Koelzer
Farmgirl in Training
44 Posts
Crystal
Cosby
MO
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Apr 01 2011 : 12:25:25 PM
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| This made me stop and think more about washing dishes. I don't have any special memories associated with dishes but I think I might like doing them now :) We are currently designing to build our house and the plans really don't have a spot for a dishwasher. Maybe if I get in the hang and love of doing dishes now we won't even have to put a dishwasher in. |
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laurentany
True Blue Farmgirl
3259 Posts
Laurie
Patchogue
NY
USA
3259 Posts |
Posted - Apr 06 2011 : 4:35:36 PM
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I absolutely love washing my dishes by hand. I have a dishwasher and have owned our house for over 12 years and I've probably used the dishwasher maybe 5 times? It just seems like such a waste of time and energy to me. By the time i scrape the dishes and rinse them to load into the dishwasher I could have them washed by hand. SO... my dishwash is used as a drying rack here in my house! I wash them by hand and then palce them in the dishwasher to "sry" (without any power- just to air dry).
I dont think you could ever convince me to use a dishwasher on a daily basis- just one of those things in life that seem like more trouble then they are worth.LOL
Smiles,
Laurie
Farmgirl Sister#1403
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.. |
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SylviaE
True Blue Farmgirl
350 Posts
Sylvia
Wichita
KS
USA
350 Posts |
Posted - Apr 06 2011 : 5:22:48 PM
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I have always washed my dishes by hand and like Laurie, when I have a dishwasher in the house, I use it as my drying rack. We moved into this house 17 years ago and there was a small one here but it was broken and just needed a part-we chose to take it out and use the space for stoarage. I only regret not having a dishwasher when I have to cook for holidays or birthdays.
Sylvia E
Farmgirl Sister #2871 |
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ChickieMama
True Blue Farmgirl
303 Posts
Angela
Banks
Oregon
USA
303 Posts |
Posted - Apr 06 2011 : 8:44:27 PM
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When we lived in our old house with no dishwasher all I kept saying is how I couldn't wait to get a new kitchen with a dishwasher...here I am years later in my new house with a dishwasher and I rarely use it! Go figure ;D
Farmgirl Sister#2808
"Happy Hens make Happy Eggs"
http://lazyjoranch.blogspot.com
http://etsy.com/shop/lazyjoranch
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Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
Posted - Apr 06 2011 : 9:26:15 PM
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You know, I have a dishwasher that works just fine, but I end up washing them by hand a lot anyway. I have such hard well water and no water softener (I can't stand softened water, it tastes funny to me)that I usually have to scrub them by hand to get the deposits off and get them clean. I actually like standing in front of the sink washing away. It brings to mind all of the times I washed or dried dishes with my grandma or my great aunt =)
Annika
Farmgirl & sister #13
Palouse Prairie Girls Chapter
http://palouseprairiegirls.blogspot.com/
http://prairiegirlsjournal.blogspot.com/
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. ~Leonardo DaVinci
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walkinwalkoutcattle
True Blue Farmgirl
1675 Posts
Megan
Paint Lick
KY
USA
1675 Posts |
Posted - Apr 07 2011 : 05:08:09 AM
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The only thing that bothers me about hand washing is my husband! LOL. He likes to just leave his cereal bowls and whatnot sitting in the sink without so much as a rinse. I usually do two rounds of dishes-one in the morning (I'm BFing, so this includes bottles, pump parts, breakfast dishes, pet dishes) and one in the evening (dinner dishes, glasses, etc.) That milk and cereal combo make almost a cement on those bowls in mere minutes, it seems!
Farmgirl #2879 :)
Starbucks and sushi to green fried tomatoes and corn pudding-I wouldn't change it for the world.
www.cattleandcupcakes.blogspot.com
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Arctic Flower
True Blue Farmgirl
85 Posts
Marjorie
Nenana
Alaska
USA
85 Posts |
Posted - Apr 07 2011 : 7:48:35 PM
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Wow, I am surprised that so many wash dishes by hand. I have a dishwasher and store kitchen supplies in it.:) I love the time I spend washing by hand. I always loved the water and with our long dry winters, washing dishes by hand is just what I need everyday. Watching those occasional escaping soap bubbles float up in the air makes me laugh. My grandparents also washed dishes together. They were very happy. I never remember a dirty kitchen at their house. I also don't like wasting electricity these days because it is so expensive. Every little bit helps. I'm sure muscle power is better. And, I have a "Dish Fairy". Sometimes when my husband is home from work on his days off and we have had a hard busy day and we have had a late supper, he'll tell me to leave the dishes till morning. Only when I get up in the morning the dishes are all done and the coffee is made. So I bet you can't guess who the "Dish Fairy" is.??!! My loving husband of course. 
Farmgirl #2416
Believe in the power of Love! |
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Tammyb
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Tammy
Bluffton
Ohio
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2011 : 4:44:39 PM
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I have a dishwasher .... came with the house but I love LOVE love washing by hand.
The warm water and suds ... love it.
Tammyb
Live to leave a legacy
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shabbyms
True Blue Farmgirl
157 Posts
Cheryle
Naperville
IL
USA
157 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2011 : 10:13:12 AM
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Right now the only item left in my kitchen is the kitchen sink as we are currently undertaking a remodel. I love to wash my dishes by hand but then again, I like to iron and I still use an electric mangle, I also prefer a broom, a scrub brush for the floors and a hose and a bucket for the car. But getting back to the sink, when I was a little girl everything I learned in life centered in my grandmothers kitchen. Being the youngest I was at the sink, standing on a chair or the stepstool you know the chrome one with the bright red. Anyways Meemaw aways made all us girls matching aprons every holiday(I still have a few of the bitty ones).Her friends would stop by all day and talk, share, cry, gossip and drink coffee. My sister would chop and clean the big table, and I would wash and clean thing that weren't sharp and that I couldn't break. On a holiday we would work from sun up to sun down-from one meal right to the next. We didn't mind is was just what we did. It gave us a sense of pride and great joy actually. After the big meal my sister and I would dry the dishes that was always our big part. When Meemaw passed I asked for her collection of aprons and was giving them gladly with all of her depression glass. I still wear them and even though I have a fancy newer dishwasher. I am happiest standing at my kitchen window handwashing my dishes thinking about the past and all of those strong women. As I wash dishes I plan, figure things out, make mental shopping lists, honey do lists and all kinds of things as I do the most enjoyable task of the day wash... rinse and repeat.
Love will make a way out of no way. -Lynda Barry
Cheryle is Farmgirl #604 |
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Keeping in Touch: Washing Dishes By Hand |
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Washing Dishes By Hand
