For the love of ironing...oops life...

Iron...irony...time for some light heartedness tonight I thought.

Now how do you define irony you ask? Using words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning. Or an incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs!

Today I have been reflecting on how a mature woman of today compares with one of yesteryear. Now am I actually defining 'mature'?...Well actually yes I am...65!

I am looking at 3 generations of women in my family...photos that were taken when they were 65. The women - my grandmother, my mother and myself. Yes here we are...

 

 

Imagining Grandmother (no shortening to Gran, Nanna or any other frivolous term in her time) or Mum doing anything whacky and outrageous...that would be unthinkable, unimaginable...it just would not have happened. Yes I know society has changed, today we have so many opportunities available, better nutrition, better standard of living all round blah, blah, blah!. These ladies were not frivolous, to them life was a serious business. So was ironing, cleanliness was close to godliness and ironing was right up there with it...

Women of 65 then tended to be old, in looks, dress and attitude. My mother would be shocked and my grandmother horrified to come back and see me today. Sometimes, I shock myself...but that is another story.

For the 'love of ironing' meant what you did after washing using the copper,  rinsing in blue, starched, hand wrung then hung out on the old clothes line  supported with clothes props.

The dry clothes were sprinkled with warm water and rolled, then the ironing would begin. At least Mum had electricity, Grandmother started with a Mrs Potts iron. Heaven forbid...imagine having to heat this heavy cluncky object on the old wood stove and actually iron your clothes with it, quickly before it cooled down!  Mr Google to the rescue again, an advert for Mrs Potts iron of old.

Today for the love of ironing...oops life for a 65 year old could look like this?

 

Girls whatever you age, love your life, life your life and for the love of ironing...oops life... ensure you find something to have a belly laugh about every day...in fact several times a day is even better. 

Is that me in the surf or on the ironing board...noooooooooooooooooo!