View allAll Photos Tagged Ironing
It's fun being a maid to do some household chores, but it will be even more fun when I get to put this red dress on.
Of all the domestic jobs around the house, ironing is my least favourire, especially when it's a pile like this.
It is with sincere apologies to flickr friends Fellsider and his wife Carole that I upload more images of our field mouse that lives in a pile of logs on our garden,
I had not seen it for ages so decided between ironing and cooking the evening meal that I would sit in the conservatory doors wide open and see if I could seduce it into venturing out into the open to find his beloved dried mealworms.
I did not have to sit too long before he turned up and simply could not resist but he was wary as we have a feral cat that also knows he is there and sits for ages hoping for a pour mouse for his meal. So far the mouse’s caution has paid off and we hope that that continues..
These are the few images that I clicked so I hope you can follow the storyline.
Sorry Carole – don’t look let Paul describe what he sees.
Found some of my grandmother's writing, including this, where she talks about her grandmother. The house and camellia trees mentioned in the text are still there to this day :)
--
ALICE FOX
　A small clock ticking in a darkened bedroom and I am a little girl again, snug in bed against Grandma's warm back; the little gold, orange and black check clock ticking away on the dressing table, alongside the quaint vanity set of fine china. I loved especially the swinging mirrors on both the chest of drawers and dressing table, under which I sometimes hid.
　The familiar stamp of the battery was something I just accepted – it had always been there even though I am told now it had sixty head of stamp it did not disturb my sleep.
　The warmth of the lamps and candles seemed so wonderful to me, instead of the electric light we had at home.
　I know I often stayed with Grandma; I loved her very much. I see her yet: her snow-white hair, always worn in the same way, in a high sort of pompadour, her steady blue eyes and such a firm mouth, for life had not been easy for her.
　My Grandfather, Joseph Richard Fox, was orphaned at an early age and brought up by relations. When he met Grandma - his sweet Alice - she was seventeen and he was twenty-three.
　Grandfather worked as the battery engine driver for the Black Hill Quartz Mining Company, which was started in 1861. Life was very hard in those days, but in spite of hardships, they had a wonderfully happy marriage.
　They had thirteen children: two died when they were quite small, another when she was twelve.
　The house that I remember was built originally for the mine manager, who I guess went on to better things.
　Grandmother's laundry was a copper in the open yard, the bathroom a tub in front of the fire. Hard to imagine isn't it? But I remember it so well.
　The big wood stove in the kitchen with the double oven. The immense boiler and cast-iron kettles with the copper lids, always seemed to be hot, if not on the stove, swinging on the hook over the open fire in the dining room
　The flat irons heating on the stove to do the ironing were an everyday occurrence. The kitchen table always scrubbed so white with sandsoap. The dresser with the blue and white china on it, the horsehair couch under the kitchen window and the cupboard with fly-wire each end where the food was kept. I have that cupboard yet. The set of milk jugs with Dutch scenes on them, which of course were always covered with nets edged with beads. For some reason a double jam dish stays especially in my mind.
　They were a musical family - for I remember playing with a harp – I am told I was something less than an angel, although I can lay claim to being descended from one, as my great-great grandmother's name was (Sarah) Angel. There was also a mandolin, a violin and piano, which I am told Grandfather played.
　Unfortunately, he died before I was born and Grandmother was left a widow at forty-nine, with ten children to raise. She had an indomitable spirit and brought them all up to become responsible citizens, with perhaps a slightly off-beat sense of humour.
　Family get-togethers were quite regular. Bonfire night was one such time, when a large fire would be built on the bank of the Yarrowee Creek, just down from the dray road bridge.
　At Christmas everyone who could seemed to gather at Grandmother's.
　I remember one year when one of my Uncles, a son-in-law, together with his brother pretended to steal the Christmas puddings and when the grand-children discovered this, we set out after them and caught them (with not too much trouble) on the bridge, with the puddings hidden under their coats, and we brought them back in triumph.
　I was only eight when my Grandmother died, but memories of her have stayed with me all my life. Her name will not be remembered in history books, but Alice Fox was a descendant of true pioneers: She was the granddaughter of one of South Australia’s first pioneers. Her Mother, my great-great-grandmother, Mary-Anne, was the first white child to step on South Australian soil. Her Uncle, John Rapid, was the first white child to be born there. He was, of course, born at Rapid Bay.
　Grandma’s house still stands today, two tall camelia trees, planted by my Grandfather, still bloom each year. It is in a peaceful little spot which I visit quite often - stepping, not quite, back into the past.
Not the actual task but I will have to handwash this dress to remove makeup marks and iron the bodice.
Do you like the sexy denim mini dress?
A digital black and white artwork of and old cabin interior. Taken at Dudley Farm Historic State Park, Newberry, Florida
Metal ironing board with a tiny old shirt and wooden iron. The metal bed is from the 1920s or 1930s, the bedspread is a pretty hanky and the pillowcase is made from scraps from a worn-out old apron.
No idea where this came from.
Strobist:
Canon Speedlite 430EX II 1/16 28mm left of camera through DIY softbox.
Model: Me
Lighting: Me
Processing: Me
Strobist Set Up:
Three flashes:
One KF36 at left lighting the wall power 1/4 on tripod at 1m60, one 580EXII at left lighting the scenery through a softbox 50x70 power 1/4 on tripod at 1m40, One 430EXII at right lighting the scenery through a white umbrella power 1/2 on tripod at 1m40 30°, all setup fired with TriggerV4.