It's strange, isn't it, how we drift through stages in our lives; how we enjoy doing something, then we go off it, and occasionally back to it again. I am drifting slowly back to ironing. Yes, it's a surprise to me too. It used to be one of the household tasks that I really didn't like and rarely did. I reorganised how we washed, hung and dried our clothes to avoid ironing. I told myself I wasn't ironing because it saved electricity, but the truth of it was that I didn't like standing over a hot iron pressing clothes.
I'm not a methodical ironer. I make sure the creases are out and that's about it. When I see advice to ironers about rolling up a towel to insert inside sleeves to iron them correctly, I wonder if anyone would fall for that. Or use paper clips when ironing pleats! Life's too short. I do tend to take the washing from the line when it's still damp, or spray the clothes and roll them before I iron. That's what my mother and grandma did, so that's what I do.
Monday is Washing Day
Tuesday is Ironing Day
Wednesday is Mending Day
Thursday is Market Day
Friday is Cleaning Day
Saturday is Baking Day
Sunday is a Day of Rest
I doubt I'll ever have a regular ironing day but as most of our clothes are natural fibres like cotton, denim and linen, I guess I have quite a few ironing hours ahead of me. So I'm pleased to be drifting back to the pleasure of it. The last few times I've ironed, it's not been such a chore. I have to admit, it's a great way of checking on clothes that might need a repair and to find it early, generally saves time and effort later.
Right now there is a big stack of ironing in our spare room waiting for me to tend to it. If my sister Tricia is reading this she will be nodding her head about now. But I intend to get through it by doing a little every week and hopefully by Christmas, the room will be clear again.
Are there others out there who dislike ironing, or is there another household task you detest and put off? Surely I'm not the lone ranger. What's your house work nemesis? Do you just ignore it like I have, or have you discovered a way around it so it gets done every week? Tell me your secret, I told you mine.
