My Own Piece of Victorian History

This is one of my great great grandmother's irons. She had two irons that I know of. I always wondered why she would need two irons, after all, my own mother had just one iron and that was completely satisfactory.

Watching Victorian Slum House this week filled in the blanks for me. My great great grandmother had two irons, so that on ironing day, she could keep one on the stove at all times, and have a hot one to work with for afternoon without wasting time waiting for an iron to heat up.

Words of wisdom from one of the children in the Slum House, "every penny counts when you're in Victorian times because it could be the one penny that gets you your meal." This child was telling jokes on a street corner in London, for a penny a joke. She described the work as embarrassing, but she was willing to do this for the benefit of her family.

We're obviously far removed from needing to take on humiliating or back-breaking work to feed our families, or request any of this of our children. So, it is difficult to imagine this life.

If there is a lesson to be learned from this show, for me personally, it is to work hard whenever there is opportunity, plan for tomorrow, because one never knows what difficulties may lie around the corner, to appreciate the blessings that I have today, and to be compassionate with someone who has less than myself.

How about you? What have been your thoughts on this show, if you've been following? And I'm guessing that I'm not the only one who owns one of these old irons. I see them in vintage and antique shops frequently, so there must be many of them out there. Do you have one, too? What do you use yours for? Mine is a book end for some of my cookbooks.

No-Sew Method for Making Tea Bags for Loose-Leaf Tea

I prefer if my homemade tea bags look "pretty" but sometimes speed take priority. Here's how I make tea bags for loose-leaf tea in a jiffy, for 1/4 cent each.

I use a basket-style paper coffee filter, the smaller size, bought at WinCo, or Dollar Tree, for about 1/2 cent each filter, and an ordinary stapler.

Take one filter and fold in half.

Cut the filter into two wedge shapes, and open each up.

Place two to three teaspoons of loose tea on one side of an opened filter half.

Fold the filter over. On the straight edge, fold the edge over once, then a second time, and staple shut.

On the rounded edge, fold in two sections, over twice each section, and staple shut. There you go, one pre-filled tea bag for use with loose-leaf tea. They're not pretty, but very functional, require no sewing skills, and can be made in about one minute. I make a few at a time, for the same ease as commercial tea bags. I know, I could use tea balls, and I do. Sometimes, though, I'm too lazy to wash them out. Cheers!