randma ironed with sad irons. One iron would be placed on the kitchen stove to heat while she was ironing with the other. When the one being used cooled off, it was replaced by the other hot one, and thus they were used alternately throughout the ironing. At this time Mother, who lived in town, had an electric iron, but it wasn't much like the electric irons we have today. The sole plate was shaped the same, but there were no controls. There was a plug-in at the back of the iron which was simply unplugged when you wanted to turn the iron off. There was a metal stand to rest the iron on when you needed to put it down for a moment.

aundry was done by hand by both Grandma and Mother. On Monday morning out would come the wash tubs, the boiler, the scrub board, and a big bar of P. and G. Iaundry soap. The water was heated on the stove and two wash tubs were placed side by side on a bench so they would be high enough to ease back strain. The P. and G. was added to one tub, and the clothes were scrubbed on a scrub board and then wnung by hand and put in the other tub to rinse. The white laundry went in first, then colored, and finally the dark. The white things were wrung again after they were rinsed and went to a third tub for a blueing rinse. When clean, the laundry went to the clothesline where it air dried. Later in the day the clean, sweet-smelling clothes and linens were brought in, sprinkled, rolled, and placed in a basket covered with a towel, ready for ironing on Tuesday. It is no wonder that Monday night suppers were rather light meals in those days.

randma's homemade butter was better than anything we can buy today. It was made in a churn such as we see in antique stores a keg with a plunger which was worked up and down vigorously. When done, the pale yellow butter was packed into small round molds so that when turned out on a serving plate, there was a pretty design on top. It was delicious, and so was everything else produced in that farm kitchen. Ethel made a gourmet Cole slaw. Grandma's pies were perfect, even though they were baked in an oven that didn't have a thermostat. That took talent!

randma's bedroom was upstairs in the southwest corner of the house. When bedtime came, we would get a kerosene lamp to light our way up the narrow staircase. When I was ready for bed, I crawled into the downy, soft featherbed, and Grandma blew out the kerosene lamp before joining me. Featherbeds were designed for very cozy sleeping, especially on a cold night. Needless to say, there was a little white chamber pot under the bed.