Washing Clothes:

I found myself actually talking back to you, Bernadette, in my Grandmother’s voice… My

Grandmother was a part of Australia’s Stolen Generations; an Aboriginal child whose skin
was lighter coloured. She was placed as a housemaid in a European household as a young
child (6 years old). She grew up with very strong opinions about “washing day”; including
which dress to wear on washing day (the oldest one made of the most worn out fabric). She
died in 1979, but not before I could be taught the ‘proper way’ to launder. And I still make
my own laundry detergents from her recipes; grate a stick of pure soap into boiling water,
remove from the heat and gently combine 2 cups of washing soda and a little essential oil of a
desired fragrance (according to her, lavender for haberdashery, eucalyptus or ti-tree for ‘mens
shirts’, sage for ‘ladies cloths’ and rosewater or orange water for summer dresses) I still use a
few drops of the oils, but only as a final rinse. Stain removal and washing was not done
properly just by soaking the garment in water/ chemicals. It needed to be agitated, by hand if
item was especially delicate, but stained hems and underarms would be (gently) rubbed
against a washing board with liberal applications of the chosen stain remover, and well rinsed
before the next step. And yes! Never Ever boil one’s delicates! My Grandmother always
believed the mangle was in fact better than a washing machine. It’s actually pretty easy to
hand wash most clothes and linens, but getting them dry could be much more problematic.
Items would be flattened out, and put through the mangle to remove excess water. Delicates
or items being starched were always placed flat between white towels or linens, mangled, and
then pressed, initially with only a warm iron to remove creases. If the item seemed to be
drying too quickly one should gently sprinkle clear water on the area, and keep ironing.
Delicate items not requiring starching would be dried by laying item flat over a raised rack.
All other items would be dried by hanging over a shaded rack and then placed in the late
afternoon sun for a final airing… Blueing the load only required a very small amount of
blueing medium, well dissolved in the rinse water. (Although at boarding school in the 80s,
we used to regularly pour heaps of liquid blue in with our white school shirts, dresses and
socks to make them go pale blue… because… boarding school?) (And home made laundry
soap only needs a small amount, can be used in washing machine or handwashing, and is
excellent for people who have sensitive skin… and leaves no residue.) Happy washing day!
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Breakfast ideas:

Bajra Congee steamed broccoli

Rice porridge with peanuts and dates

Tost with mashed sweet potato and honey/ red bead paste

sandwitch

Ragi roti,

Bajra roti

Dosa

Chia, seeds with flex seed

Oats with sesame seeds

Healthy pancake

Egg drop Soup and salade

(With boiled eggs, toasted nuts, fruits, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, honey, steamed vegetables, red
bean paste, shreaded chicken, fried fist, lotus root)