Many of you may not
have a grandma that fits this category.
I share with you an
article sent me by Tom...and hopefully, to some degree,
you'll gain 'respect
for the apron'!
The concept I have of
Grandmother Lily is not only of her 'old fashion methods' but that
she wore purple a lot. So, when young, I associated this colour to be
worn by 'old women'! Today it's a favourite colour of mine!
I
don't think our kids today know what an apron is. The principle use
of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she
only had a few. It was also because it was easier to wash aprons
than dresses (which had to be ironed)...and aprons used less
material.
But
along with that, it served
as a potholder
for removing hot pans from the oven.
It
was wonderful for drying
children's tears ...and
on occasion was even used for cleaning dirty ears.
From
the chicken coup, the apron was used for
carrying eggs,
fussy chicks and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the
warming oven.
When
company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent
over the hot wood stove.
Chips
and kindling
wood (from the woodhouse)
were brought into the kitchen in that apron. From the garden, it
carried all
sorts of vegetables.
After the peas had been shelled, it carried the hulls. In the fall,
the apron was used to bring
in the apples
that had fallen from the orchard trees.
When
unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much
furniture that apron could
dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch...waved her
apron...and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields
to the noon-hour dinner.
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to
cool.
Her grand daughters set their pies on the window sill to thaw.
Today, “Do-Gooders” would go crazy trying to figure out
how many germs were on that apron.
I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron...but Love!
My grandma baked her own bread...and cut it, holding against her
chest...and never cut herself.
She cooked on a wood-burning stove that had to be lit each day.
Her stove heated water to wash or bathe or for hot drinks.
She churned her own butter...and made farmers cheese.
I could go on, but this was 'farm life'. City folk had it a mite
easier perhaps; maybe didn't need the wood stove...but those aprons
were still there. For those who didn't have a grandma like
this...well, you did miss out on a very unique part of life...as it
was in those days!
Merle Baird-Kerr...written May 12, 2016
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