Started the day with video chatting with daughter and doing laundry.
I did two loads of laundry, including my bed sheets. Both loads were hung up to dry - it's both environment-friendly and frugal since I don't use any electricity or natural gas to air dry laundry. My bed sheets (queen sized) are folded in half and clipped onto two clothes hangers (the type used for pants) and hung from the door frame.
Later in the afternoon, I did some house cleaning. The house was relatively clean from all the cleaning I did in preparation for last week's prayer gathering. Today, I dusted the living room/dining area, family room, hallway, and my bedroom. Vacuumed the whole house. It's true what they say - it doesn't take a lot of time to clean an already clean house! I was able to complete everything in under 2 hours.
One other thing I did, when remaking my bed, was renew two of my pillows. What I mean by renewing them is, I cut open the pillow cover, transferred the inner pillow stuffing to an old pillowcase, and sewed the pillowcase closed. Then I tossed the old pillow cover. This is something I remember my mother doing, when I was a child.
My mother used to renew the pillows once a year, usually when she was home during the school holidays. Those days, when I was a child, all our pillows used to be home-made, with covers made from a fabric known as "ticking" (cream and black striped fabric) and filled with kapok fiber. The kapok fibers were harvested from the pods of the kapok tree. The pods are filled with the soft white fiber and when the pods are ripe, they crack open and the fibers carry the seeds off in the wind. People used to pick the pods as soon as they started to get ripe and opened, before the fibers started to float away. The fibers used to be spread on mats in the sun to dry, the seeds would be hand picked, and the fiber would be sold to be used for stuffing pillows. My mother would sometimes buy new kapok, and sometimes sun and reuse the old kapok.
The pillows I renewed today didn't contain any kapok, of course. They were filled with man-made fibers. And, as I mentioned, I used old pillowcases for the covers. But, maybe, the next time I get a 50% off coupon for fabric, I might see if I can buy some ticking for pillowcovers, just for the nostalgia of it.
Do you renew your pillows? If not, how do you refresh them?
I have never heard of re-making pillows, but it is a great idea! Sometimes they get a bit flat or lumpy so I can imagine re-stuffing them, maybe adding extra filling or just massaging it a bit would be great, as well as getting rid of the old covers which somehow seem to get a bit grey and stained after a while, even with pillow protectors and cases. I am definitely going to try to remember this! Good for the planet too!
ReplyDeletePS. Yes, I thought I would look through some of your archive posts - can't remember what prompted me initially but I am enjoying browsing (not thoroughly) so I hope you don't mind. I might not keep going all the way!
I don't mind it, at all! In fact, I feel honored that you are taking the time to do so. I'm enjoying looking back at what I wrote back then. :) I never did buy the ticking fabric to remake the pillows!
DeleteIt's my pleasure! I like your writing style and especially the posts where you reminisce about old friends, family and growing up. I've always loved those sorts of tales (and have deep appreciation for a well-placed apostrophe 😉).
ReplyDeleteDidn't know it was called ticking fabric but I know exactly the stuff you mean.
Thank you. I think my writing style might have changed over time and not always for the better! But, I do try to pay proper attention to my grammar and punctuation, including where I place my apostrophes! :D
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