Do you iron?
I love this season when the pile in the ironing basket stays low.
Some weeks it's just pillow cases and tea towels as the flimsy, wrinkly clothing of hot
weather is packed away, and this season's sweaters don't require an iron thankfully.
I do make a point of always ironing these particular items as I like smooth
pillow cases and a freshly ironed tea towel, especially the linen ones for
glassware etc.
glassware etc.
I have quite a pleasing collection of tea towels now.
I like to set up my ironing board in the kitchen - I can watch the birds
and squirrels, and the light is bright and cheery.
Ironing them is not a chore, for me it's more like quiet time alone to think and ponder.
I enjoy spending a little time smoothing, dampening down, ironing and folding.
Recently several tea towels have been delightful gifts.
They are also an item often picked up whilst in a foreign country to bring back as
a useful souvenir. I've discovered that Italy and France have the best ones.
They are beautifully made and they never wear out. Several are pure linen - my
favorites, others linen/cotton blend. All are lightweight and, on a trip, easy to tuck
into that ever expanding suitcase being dragged along behind one!
Where do you iron?
What do you contemplate whilst ironing?
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Yes, I iron! My hubby isn't a t-shirt man so wears the cotton work shirts which really have to be ironed. And I love to sleep on ironed pillow cases! My sheets are high thread count so I sometimes iron my top sheet as it makes it feel so much nicer. My ironing area is in our upstairs bonus room so the ironing board stays up most of the time. I mostly listen to the radio or gospel cd's while I iron.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I love your tea towels. Most of mine are the terry cloth but I may have to invest in a few like yours as I love the look!
Happy ironing! Is it almost a thing of the past?
Happy New Year Mary, I only iron things similar to your list. Cloth napkins, tablecloths. I used to iron all of my husband's shirts when they were all cotton; now a days most of them do not need it. Some of the older ones need ironing down the button hole side. I love to smell his cologne when I do iron his shirts. If I travel of of the country, which is not much any more, I always return with a piece of fabric from that country. Most of my travel has been on this side of the hemisphere. Have friends in India and Africa who send me things from time to time. Blessings to you.
ReplyDeleteI iron in the laundry room and I don't do a lot, like you tea towels and pillow cases, everything else in on its own.
ReplyDeleteWhat gorgeous towels, they would be a joy to iron :)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Connie :)
Well I am proud of you Mary. I applaud you for ironing. My friend's mothers used to iron their sheets and tee shirts. My mother used to starch and iron but alas, I never iron. It all goes to the cleaners. You almost make it sound fun. I should do it, but I don't enjoy it. I have heard others say it is calming to them.
ReplyDeleteDear Mary, I also iron in my kitchen, by the window so that I can look up to see who is coming down the lane. I have a Miele ironing machine. When not in use it folds up to the size of a normal vacuum and gets rolled into the closet.
ReplyDeleteI also bring back a few tea towels from Italy. They cushion a ceramic plate or two in my suitcase.
Your tea towls are extra special.
Gina - I just had to look that machine up online - wow! how fabulous is that.
DeleteThe last person I knew with a similar machine - the very old fashioned version as this was in the '50's - was my dear Auntie Edith, in England of course. When I stayed at her home I was fascinated by it when she pressed the bed linens etc.
I bought my Italian tea towels in a tiny linen shop in Cortona, Tuscany about 15 years ago - they are still like new but better, and I use them all the time!
Mary -
DeleteHere is a post I wrote on February 2, 2012 about my Miele ironing machine.
http://ginaceramics.blogspot.com/search/label/Miele%20ironing%20machine
I dislike ironing. I iron in my bedroom, only when absolutely necessary. I try not to buy things that need ironing. You have a beautiful collection of towels!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Penny
I iron almost everything. I wish I didn't, but I can't help myself. Not as bad as a friend of mine, who as a teen decided to iron some stockings. The result, a ruined iron and a shrivelled stocking.
ReplyDeleteHI Mary, I do love a nice linen tea towel for drying dishes but very rarely iron them. :) I have brought tea towels home from vacation before too. I like to iron in the kitchen as well where it's bright. You have some very pretty tea towels. Have a wonderful week. xx Pam
ReplyDeleteI like to iron so much that sometimes I take everything out of the drawers and iron them all over again. I like the scent of freshly ironed items - and I love the slow, dreamy time spent ironing. I iron in the kitchen, where it is nice and cozy.
ReplyDelete. . . . I would love to set up my ironing board next to you JoAnn - we could even iron one another's things, and talk about ducks and such! What fun.
DeleteHugs - Mary
P.S. Can you recommend a good lavender, or lemon verbena, linen water spray by chance please? I can't seem to find them anymore.
I, too, enjoy ironing, but not the place where I do it now....in my laundry room in the basement. I try to iron when the sun is shining through the small window so that I have as much light as possible. It would be much more fun to be able to look out of a window at the birds, but I enjoy doing that when I am cooking and at my kitchen window. Thus it takes me longer to prepare meals because I have to stop and watch the birds! :)
ReplyDeleteFarm Gal in VA
Oh, Mary, I just do not iron. But perhaps my surroundings make it difficult. Small apartment. My grandmother loved ironing!
ReplyDeletexo
Lynn
Hello Mary... I was so pleased to hear from you and know that you remembered me after so long... I've not posted on my blog since 2013. However, I do intend to start again, just waiting for this rain to stop so I can get out with my camera and show off our new surroundings... day after day the rain has been relentless and many parts of the UK are suffering so with flooding, it truly is heartbreaking to see their plight... a sunny day would be so appreciated.
ReplyDeleteJust before Christmas we moved from Wales back to England to the beautiful medieval town of Ludlow. I was very hard to leave our lovely Old Police Station in Snowdonia, surrounded with such beautiful coast and countryside, but lacking in the facilities that one needs with these passing years.
It's been interesting to read the comments about your ironing post... I don't consider it a chore at all, I do iron just about everything too, even dusters, I like to keep things neat and tidy when put away, but one exception is underwear. In our new home I use a large bedroom for ironing, this room is going to be so useful and already serves not only for my ironing but as a dressing room and a place where I can keep my sewing machine set up on its own table.
I've been admiring the quality of your pictures, the clarity is excellent, what ccamera are you using? Have a good day and 'Happy New Year'. Marion
A happy new year to you. I also have quite a collection of tea towels from different places I've visited. They don't get used for drying dishes as I have a drainer, but get used for mobbing up the kitchen counters. My mother loved ironing. For me it's just another chore and one where I listen to the radio at the same time!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! Exceptional send with a fully designed jointly with beneficial making This unique excellent write-up shows the great comprehending you have using this style. Appreciate it this original perform the job.
ReplyDeleteI don't iron. Not anymore. If it doesn't come out of the dryer wrinkle free... it isn't bought! Call me lazy, call me old but I retired my iron.
ReplyDeleteI used to iron all my clothes, including my jeans. I was brought up that way...my grandmother ironed literally everything, even socks and underwear! My mom isn't too far behind. She still irons ALL her bedding...yes, even the sheets. I've relaxed my standards now and rarely iron anything. If an item of clothing is extremely wrinkled, then I'll iron it. Same with tablecloths (which I rarely use, anyway). Once in a great while (maybe a few times a year), I get a hankering to iron freshly laundered pillowcases. They look nice for just one day, then after we sleep on them, they're all wrinkled again. I guess that's why I normally don't bother.
ReplyDeleteYour tea towels are so pretty! I have some lovely pure cotton ones that were gifted to me by my cousin, but I have no idea where he got them. They're my favorites.
Like Penny, I dislike ironing also and am so busy, I don't see how I would find the time. You must surely have a lot of free time on your hands!
ReplyDeleteNot really, I'm always busy and don't really like free time! I'm the one who knits while watching a DVD - I even knitted a very long scarf while on a 3 week Antarctic expedition - it kept me busy and warm during the downtime on the ship! Of course being older and retired does help when it comes to having more time. Years back when it came time for things I wanted to do, but didn't have the time for when I had very demanding jobs away the house, and a family to care for, I too put the ironing aside on many an occasion, haha!
DeleteDon't forget though, life is short - make time to do things you enjoy, it's good for your health and well being.
Thanks for stopping by - Mary
Yes, I iron ... and it's often my thinking time to, as I'm ironing I gather my thoughts!
ReplyDeleteIt's always nice to get the ironing done and put away ... until the next time !
All the best Jan
I do iron, some things. Most of my husband's long sleeved shirts I can hang up straight out of the dryer, but his summer shirts are less perma-press - some linen, so they require ironing. I confess that I don't enjoy ironing shirts, but I do enjoy ironing table linens and tea towels. You have a lovely collection. I iron in the laundry room where there's no view but I do a lot of thinking while ironing. Sometimes, I'll move the whole affair to the living room and watch television while I iron, but only if I have piles of it to do.
ReplyDeleteHello Miss Mary!
ReplyDeleteI love to iron, but usually do the bulk of my ironing on holidays! As the oldest of 6 children, I have ironed plenty and enjoy how eveyerthing looks and smells. It's funny though, my three older daughters don't even own irons, much less take care of their clothes the way I do. Hand washing goes into the same category as ironing I think. How many people take the time to hand wash? Jim tells me I'm crazy, I should throw it in the delicate cycle of the washer. Well, call me crazy, but I enjoy stealing time to do these "very old fashioned" things. I actually teach students HOW to iron, or should say, show many of them what an iron is and HOW to put up and down an ironing board! So fun!!!
Love you! Mary Ann
. . . . and I hope you see your lovely gift to me there in the pile dear friend. I used it at my Christmas Eve party and several of the gals asked me where did I find it. Love it, and you! I love hand washing too. Let's have dinner before this month is out.
DeleteMary x
Mary, I enjoyed your post so much! Yes, I iron -- to me it is just like vacuuming or doing the dishes. I don't see how it could be ignored! I enjoy having freshly ironed linens when I take them out for my tables. And I think the "mindless" task and repetitive motions of ironing really provide some wonderful thinking time for me. I should post my tea towels. I have a collection from many places in the world, some which I collected myself and others which were brought to me as gifts. I love them all! Linda
ReplyDeleteneither my wife or I iron, must admit. Then again, it's not as necessary here in a dryer climate like CO as it would be there. Hanging clothes (and tea towels) up straight from out of the washing machine works wonders as usually within less than an hour (in summer) they are flat and dry.
ReplyDeleteWe have tons of tea towels too. They have been the gift of choice from UK for decades now. I have to chuckle at all the ones I have, many from places I've never stopped and actually visited. Along with those, like you, I've picked up some too. My favourite? The Yorkshire Tea tea towel with one of those marvelous watercolour pastoral paintings printed across.
Dearest Mary,
ReplyDeleteOkay, first looking here as I am a person that loves to iron.
Most of my towels are the perfect to iron ones from Le Jacquard Français and also some of their tablecloths.
Our bed linens are easy ironing due to the great quality of Yves Delorme bed linens.
Love to use scented spray as well...
And... if I ever had a reason for not being able to iron, I placed the linen basket with the laundry out of the dryer on hand iron, neatly folded and placed inside the freezer. Taking them out, letting them thaw just a bit, makes ironing still a piece of cake!
We do have the German Miele washer and dryer and that is a perfect match for great linen care.
Hugs,
Mariette