A Tutorial on Ironing, Sleeves, Creased Pants, and Ruffles

The Old Farmers Wife instructs us on ironing.

Now we are home enjoying our semi quarantine

and I am tidying up some of my neglected mending and ironing.

So it seemed a good time for this.

First you want dampened cloth or you can spray or steam as you go.

For a laundry basket full of predampened clothes go back to one of the early posts

Called "Tueday was....". (It followed Monday is Wash Day)

SLEEVES

These are tricky if you don't know the tricks.
Start with the shoulder over the end of the board and iron it.
Then lay the sleeve out flat and iron it. Now the trick!

Flatten it with the outer side centered over the inner seam 

and lay one edge over the side of the board.

Then you can iron the middle out with the iron off the edge 

of the board and not pressing the other edge, ergo no inadvertent creases.

TROUSER CREASE

If you don't want creased pants iron them as you would sleeves.
Start your pants with the tops put over the end of board and iron around
the waist and pockets. Then lay them out lengthwise along the top of board.
 with the inseam and outside seams lined up over top of each other

from the crotch down to the hem. Iron flat to the edges.
Them fold back the top leg and iron the bottom leg.
Flip them over and repeat on reverse side.

Perfectly centered creases.

RUFFLES

These may just require a little practice to get the feel of.
You stretch out the edge of ruffle following the curve as it goes.
Iron along the edge with the tip of the iron working into ruffle.
You may only be able to do a few inches at a time depending on how wide the ruffle is.

You will get the feel for this after doing a few inches.

So there it is.
Wishing us all luck clearing up these odds and ends
lingering around the house until we have time! 

Old Fashioned Spaghetti Sauce

On the farm Thursday was spaghetti day. 

Today the Old Farmers Daughter is cooking Spaghetti, 

so it seemed a good place to start the "recipe book". 

The Old Farmer's Wife's technique, slightly updated from home canned 

to store bought tomatoes, also a couple cans 

as opposed to 3-4 quarts home canned tomatoes and puree.

2 cans diced tomatoes, recommend 

good brand without to many

stem end pieces or skin in it

2 cans tomato paste

12 fennel seeds, ok...more or less!

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

1/3 cup sugar

A couple halved garlic cloves

This is a good start....will smell great simmering as low as you can set it, stir everytime you pass thru the kitchen, hopefully at least every 15 mins! The Old Farmers Wife was working around the house so passed through the kitchen often.   Don't worry....

see note 1*

A couple hours before supper it's time to do the meatballs and sausage.

Take 1 pound of hamburger

Add 1/2 cup bread crumbs
         1/4 cup parmesan cheese
          Few shakes of mixed Italian
    seasoning
          Some minced or diced onion
          Salt/pepper to taste
          1 egg
Mix well, form balls to preferred size, fry or bake, then add to sauce.

And the Sausage, cut mild or hot to 3-4" lengths
Saute until done. Prick in several places to release the grease. Some modern sausage is so fat free you might want to add a bit of oil to pan, it will cook better.
Add to sauce

  NOW the magic

Add diced onion (1/2 to a whole depending on onion and batch size)

to the sausage drippings and saute. 

When tender add a couple scoops of the sauce, drain excess grease if any.

Stir up the sausage flavor into that bit of sauce and add to the pot!

Adjust seasonings, maybe a shake of Italian seasonings. 

Maybe a shake of red pepper flakes, careful, very spicy! 

The Old Farmer used to shake a bit on his plate. 

A tsp. of salt...While it continues to simmer cook your pasta. 

Then enjoy.

*1 - if sauce is to thin you can let simmer longer or you can cheat 

and thicken with cornstarch.

Its The Little Things

Its the little things...

 Speaking in pig latin,

    the Old Farmer was quite proficient.

Playing games around the table after dinner,

    guessing state capitals and national capitals.

Jigsaw puzzles and bedtime stories.

Board games on Saturday night.

 Homemade popcorn.

Homemade milkshakes!

 Sitting on the porch 

watching a storm.

Riding on the tractor.

Learning to drive the tractor!


Blowing out the birthday candles.

Hanging tinsel on the Christmas tree.

Learning to ride a bicycle.

 


Climbing trees, 

picking blackberries,

 apples, and pears

 Making snowmen.

Throwing snowballs.

Piggy back rides (a bucking bronco!)

A hidey hole, (a blanket over a card table)

Hide and seek, outdoors at night!

Tag and move up baseball and croquet.

 Spur of the moment ride in the country.

Hiking on the railroad tracks.

Niagara falls and Watkins Glen.

Olcott Beach 
and amusement park.

Welland Canal, the Erie Canal.

Finding a bird's nest

 or some baby rabbits.

 Catching frogs and crawdads at the pond.

And then letting them go.

 Nightmares and fire sirens 
and hearing ghosts at night.

Hiding under the covers.

Playing with a flashlight at night,
 can you see through your hand.

What is this shadow animal, 
duck, dog, bird flying!

The things a child will remember all of their lives.

What are some of yours?

Fireman's Field Days

Farmers worked hard in the summer.
We also played hard!

Those were the days of volunteer fire departments.
The siren would go off and could be heard for a couple miles away.
The first ones to the department would get the location
and head out with the trucks.
Volunteer firemen farmers would converge on the site.

Volunteer firemen also had a band at each department.
All were recruited if they could play an instrument.
The old farmer's oldest daughter played a glockenspiel.
Then every weekend over the summer a different department hosted
a field days event and parade.
They all marched in each others parade.

 

The field days involved many booth of games.
Dart throwing, ping pong balls tossed into ivy bowls.
(With a gold fish in each!),  hammering a nail into a 2x4
(who could drive a nail with one blow?), knocking down the weighted critters,
target shooting, and on and on. 

Guess who always came home
with a 50s ruby or green glass ivy bowl and a goldfish!

So this was actually a lot of work too, building the booths,
volunteering to run them, barbecuing the chicken, parading.
But the work was on the host department,
you got to enjoy everyone elses!

What do you remember about field days? 

Did you ever run a booth or march in the parade?

The Old Farmer's Wife

The Old Farmer's wife was a good mother.
She cooked and cleaned and canned the produce of the garden.

The Old Farmer's children learned cooking
by helping prepare vegetables and observing.
They were sent to the basement to bring up potatoes
or the back room to get canned goods.

 

They learned cleaning with weekly chores.
Each was responsible for their bedroom and a living room
or dining room or bathroom as assigned.
These became daily chores when school was out for the summer.
Beds were made and sinks scoured daily.

They learned canning by picking the produce and washing the jars.
And watching the loading of the canner
and hearing the lids pop when the jars came out.

 

When the old farmer's back was out she got the heating pad
and made him comfortable.
When the children had the mumps and measles and chicken pox
they were babied and loved back to health.

And she had lots of favorite sayings. Mostly was "it takes two to tango".
We could not get away with saying it was the other persons fault!

The Old Farmer's wife was a good mother.

New schedule for the Old Farmer's Daughter

The Old Farmer's Daughter 

Is going to start posting periodically

As seasonal posts come up.

This is an effort to avoid repeating myself.

I thank all my followers and if you are not

following on my blogg or via blogger

I hope you will consider doing so

so that you don't miss any of my great upcoming stories !

Hot Potato

It was really cold out and The Old Farmer 

decided it was time to take us out into the wild

for a cookout. The old fashioned way.
None of these civilized picnics with the grill and charcoal stuff. 

We trekked through the snow to the field at the far side of the garden

from the farmhouse. There The Old Farmer lit a wood fire

and got it going good. We picked up any sticks and limbs we

found around to help stoke it. 

When there was a good bed of coals he put foil wrapped potatoes

deep back under them, pushing with a stick.
Then we had to wait, and wait, "how much longer!" 

Sitting in the snow around the fire we shivered and chatted for an hour,

until the taters would be ready. 

When the Old Farmer deemed it had been long enough
he raked the foil packages out with another stick,
digging until he found them all. Hot potato, hot potato!
Tossing from hand to hand to unwrap them hot potatoes

which were charred on the outside and did not look to appetizing! 

Ah, but inside they were light and fluffy
and so good to have something hot to eat on that cold day outside. 

Skating on the Pond

Cold Cold Cold

Like we are having now. 

It is time to check the pond and go ICE SKATING! 

Before we were allowed on the ice the old farmer would

sweep snow off the edge to see how thick it was.

If 3" or more he would edge out farther into the ice

and check again. 

And he would show us how to check. 4-5" was good to go.
It was amazing how clear the ice might

be so you could see how thick it was. 

Then let the fun begin! 

Someone would start with the snow shovel

and make paths until there was a large clear area. 

We were warned to stay away from the left side

along which there were muskrat holes and thinner places in the ice. 

At the far end a spring ran into the pond so that was thinner too. 

So when deemed safe we spent many a winter day
down on the pond. Just skating back and forth.
The neighbor boys would play hockey. 

Occassionally the top of the ice would get wet with snow on it

then the ice would refreeze all tiny bumpy and be unusuable,
pretty much for the rest of the winter :   ( 

Play safe everyone!~ 

Christmas Candle Tradition

GIFT WRAPPING

So it came to pass as the excitement of Christmas approached
a gift wrapping table was set up in the back bedroom.

The Old Farmer's Wife helped the little ones wrap their packages.

The older ones wrapped themselves! 

The Old Farmer was many things, 

but he was not an artist when it came to wrapping packages! 

Fortunately the Old Farmer's Wife helped out.

 

Guess which was from The Old Farmer to The Old Farmer's Wife?

Christmas On Main Street

The Old Farmer's Daughter would like to say how much I enjoyed

the past couple weeks on her school's facebook page. 

We have been remembering our small town and the stores on Main Street
It was fun to remember many and learn of some I didn't remember.

Go Starpoint! 

So there came a time when The Old Farmer

and The Old Farmer's Wife decided I was old enough

to go Christmas shopping by myself!  

I was dropped off at the corner of Main Street
just above the bridge (widest bridge in the world! at that time).

The street was decorated for the holidays. 

My heart was pounding with excitement! 

With some trepidation I set off up the street.

I had $10.00 and 5 gifts to buy. 

First stop the menswear store to get a tie for The Old Farmer.
Second stop the 5 and dime.
Evening in Paris gift set for The Old Farmer's wife.
Then some gifts for the brother and sisters.
Life saver's gift book? Pez? 
A dollar went a long ways then!

All to soon the adventure over and I waited on the corner

for The Old Farmer's Wife to pick me up.  

Are all those celebrating ready for Christmas?
What are you doing for the holidays?

What is a first cousin....

There were many discussions over the years 

Especially at Thanksgiving dinner,

about extended families and who was who. 

Especially Cousins. Can you imagine such a mundane
subject becoming intense! It can!

Who was a cousin, what was a cousin once removed? 

Who was a first cousin, who was a second cousin..

Oh good grief, now I am getting confused all over again! 

There were many opinions.  

I'll try to sort this out a bit,
First cousins, the children of siblings to each other.
Second cousin, the children of first cousins to each other. 

Cousin once removed. Once removed refers to generations,
So your once removed cousin is the child of your first cousin. 

Now The Old Farmer's Daughter is going on vacation! 

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING FEAST

Let's celebrate our farmers who make this possible. 

Church Life

The Old Farmer's Wife was a good catholic. 

And the Old Farmer loved her so he promised to
go to church with her and raise the children as catholics too.

The Old Farmer and his wife were active community members

and both belonged to the church societies.
 The men of the church belonged to the Holy Name Society.
And the women had the Rosary Altar Society.

The men did the barbecuing at the yearly church dinner.
And helped run the lawn fete. This involved building booths
and running the games, there were darts and balloons, with one
small balloon in the middle for a bigger prize.
And the venerable ping pong ball in the goldfish bowls.
Pounding in a nail with hammer, can you do it in one blow!?

The women cooked and served family style at the church dinner.
They had a rotation for cleaning the church and bringing flowers in. 

My funny memory of the ladies was the teas at our house.
One older lady was something of a diviner.

I may have mentioned the Old Farmer's Wife had a teacup
collection and when she held the tea was proud to use these.
(No? well we will get to it!~)

She went out to buy loose leaf tea special.
And the diviner would read the tea leaves.
This always struck me as incongruous.
But it was "just for fun".

Sending You a Halloween Postcard

All Hallow's Eve Memories

I look out the window and see the leaves falling

The spiders are weaving the webs around the front door. 

I think the season calls for leaving the webs through the end of the month.

Why you ask? Its soon to be All Hallows Eve!

My mind wanders back to Halloween on the farm.

We always carved the pumpkins and roasted the seeds. 

The Old Farmer would get the pumpkins started by cutting out
a round lid with a notch to fit it in place. And carefully

held the knife on an angle inwards so the lid was beveled
to fit and would not fall in!

The pumpkins went out at sunset with a candle inside.

Then there was the year
The Old Farmer made a pumpkin man
to sit in a chair out by the road.
He stuffed an old pair of overalls with straw
and put him in an old pair of boots.
And he had a spooky pumpkin head. 

Something dark and scary happened overnight
and in the morning his parts were scattered to all corners. 

Halloween did not disappoint.

Getting the Old Farmhouse in Shape for the Winter

The Old Farmhouse needed a bit of work from time to time.
Painting those fancy corbels was tricky! 

( The ornate decorative brackets under the eaves. )

One Old Farmer's Daughter remembers

 being on the roof where they overlapped
with the Old Farmer 

  reaching to paint them.

Of course in places you could put a ladder

on a porch roof, which made it much easier. 

A blessing was the Old Farmhouse 

having permanently colored shingles.
They were cement asbestos, 

very rigid and stonelike.

Every fall the screens were taken off 

the old windows and storm windows 

put in their place. 

And vice versa in the spring. 

No triple tracks back then.
And think about all the storage space

this took in the off season too! 

 The Old Farmer's children's job was to wash them prior to installing for the season.

This one picture shows the corbels and the siding

and some of the many windows needing to be changed spring and fall.

Shift Work and Children's Games

The Old Farmer had another job. 

He was a printer by trade. 

But his heart was in farming. 

The printing trade was learned through a series of steps.
You started as an apprentice, running and toting for

the master printer. When you had learned all the ins and outs

of the materials and how they were used you moved up to
Journeyman. Then maybe you assisted in loading the ink
and paper rolls. learning to run the presses.
 

  

There was a lot more to this than you might think.
You had to get the ink flowing evenly.
To do it right you ran a test page checked it and adjusted as necessary.
If you just ran it and waited for it to get flowing as it went
you may have wasted a lot of ink and paper in the process. 

And learning to use colors!
The Old Farmer was a Master Printer.

Well the point of this story from the Old Farmer's Daughter's
point of view was how he always made time to play a game

with me before heading off to shift work in the afternoon,
or when getting home after a night shift before going to bed
for the day.

It was often chinese checkers. Or cards.
We played war where when two cards you each put down matched...

the first person to shout war could confiscate all the cards down on the table.
The first person to run out of cards lost. 

And our personal family game, Jud.
Named with a shortened family members name.
This was an abbreviated game of rummy with just
4 cards instead of 7 and you made your sets of 3 or runs. 

I hope all children can have these fun memories of their fathers.
They seem like little things but are big to the children.

The Old Farmhouse Needed a Lot of Work

 As mentioned in my previous entry

the old plaster was coming loose from the lathe. 

If anyone was too rambunctious upstairs a new crack

might form on the ceiling downstairs! 

An interesting aside about old plaster, the coarse base layer
was full of horsehair, which made it strong and then the
skim coat was thin and smooth, sticking well to the coarse base. 

The Old Farmer spent many years as time and money allowed
knocking off the loose plaster and putting up drywall.

 The Old Farmer's Wife was usually in charge of choosing
a suitable wallpaper to finish the project.
She was conservative and classic in her choices
so not to offend anyone's sensibilities.

There were places with old wallpaper and sound plaster. 

Removing old wallpaper was quite the project. Not the easy
damp and strip of the new glues. This stuff was on there!
and in many layers! You had to rent a steamer. It had a big flat head

That fed the steam to the surface, then followed scrapping, 

there were places with 10 layers of old paper! 

It was a hot messy job.

The fascinating thing was when old dates

were found penciled on the wall under the paper. 

I remember in the front hall a place
marked with the paperer's name and date of the project.
My memory recalls 1896, altho there is some disagreement
about that!