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Being a Domestic Diva

Today is hot and sticky. And it isn't even noon yet. Realizing that the day that the day would only get worse, I decided to deal with the growing mountain or ironing even before I showered today.

Today's stack of table cloths, from top to bottom :

White linen cloth embroidered by my cousin's mother in law. I love the basket of fruit embroidery. the crocheted edging in multicolored cotton yarn, less so.I also love how well the cloth takes to ironing. Just below that, Ikea upholstery cotton that I made into a table cloth a few winters back. Then a pink linen that came from my mother's stash.I hate ironing that cloth It's just hard to get a nice press on that one. We stopped using that cloth when I was five or so. Nostalgia is the only reason I use the cloth. It reminds me of our then pink kitchen and the Formica table with it's matching wire chairs.

My mother is big on setting an elegant table.I tend to set a funky table. I don't have elegant dishes. mine are fairly utilitarian. I love using deeply colored cloths. I seem to inherit funky cloths from various friends and relatives. I figure that those cloths do no good sitting in a drawer, so I use them all. The 1930's printed cloths, the small cloths embroidered by my cousin's mother in law, 1960's Vera floral prints,  fine linen cloths from mymother's stash,and some cloths that I have made out of home dec fabric It makes for a lively looking table.

The bottom cloth was one that my mother bought after I had left the house. I think that it comes from The Pottery Barn.

There are domestic tasks that none of us is particularly good at, like organizing our dressers. Other tasks may be grotty but are truly satisfying. I asked my son to take apart the air conditioner in the dining room and clean it up. It was a dirty job, but ultimately fun to do. Now the air conditioner is happily blasting away at my shoulder.

Now that the whole gang is home, there is just more of that domestic stuff to do. More laundry to wash and fold, more to iron, more grocery shopping and more cooking.My kids have become pretty good at pitching in.

My youngest s leaving for camp at the end of the week. being sure that he has enough of what he needs has been a big task. Last night I completed the last couple of pairs of boxers, the latest boxers made in a turquoise and white cotton poly knit.
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