My New Apron

My mom gave me a beautiful apron for Christmas. It is from Japan, indigo dyed, and simply but beautifully sewn. A bit of "coals to Newcastle", as it were, but I do love it.

Given the hyper-domestic nature of my daily activities, I should wear an apron all the time. But I rarely do. Until this arrived, all the ones I owned had a neck strap, which I find uncomfortable. And my usual wardrobe is very much work wear, so it hardly needs protection.

There are a couple of small shibori patches as a decorative touch.

I put on the apron this morning and instantly went into pie-baking mode. Then I took advantage of a warmish day to hang out some laundry. Very Suzy Homemaker-esque.

I know cute little cocktail aprons are trendy these days, but a nice roomy bib apron with pockets can't be beat for practicality. I'm thinking of making a couple more for myself, actually.

My mom also sent me this little blurb that has been making the email rounds. (If you aren't one for nostalgia, feel free to move on now.)

I don't think our kids
know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few and because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons required 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 out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, 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 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 out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old 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 dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

Send this to those who would know (and love) the story about Grandma's aprons.


REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill
to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.

I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron - but love...