fine linen and purple are her clothing

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St. Hunna

Patron saint of Laundresses 

Wednesdays and Saturdays are laundry days.


Laundry is one of my favorite chores.

I love that it has a beginning, a middle, and an end.

I love that the results are so tangible.

And, I love to notice the extraordinary in the ordinary

while I'm folding my husband's work shirt

or rolling up an errant sock.

Wednesdays I wash blue jeans and my husbands work clothes,

and my own bright or dark clothing.

Saturdays I wash the whites, sheets and towels,

and another load of dish cloths and miscellaneous

items that didn't make it into the washer on Wednesday.


I fold them as I pull them out of the dryer.

Right away, the clothing gets put into drawers,

the sheets get put into a trunk at the bottom of the bed,

and the towels get hung on hooks in the bathroom.

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picking zinnias for Mrs. Parker

Asparagus fern

Rabbit foot fern

Fish bone orchid cactus

Professional gardeners may have been men in ages past,

but women have tended to the home and kitchen gardens.

Savory herbs and vegetables to make a tasty feast for a hungry family.

Chives with purple blossoms bouncing at the kitchen doorway

teepees of scarlet runner beans,

 orange carrots hidden away and crooked-growing under the warm earth.

Flowers were a way to bring beauty to the season.

Honey bees buzzing through the snapdragons

and roses climbing lazily over a porch railing.  

Ferns in the shady spots and cornflower bachelor buttons

like a sunnier place. 

Here and there a jar of zinnias makes it's way 

onto the little table in the hallway

 a vase of tiny tea-cup roses set upon the bathroom sink.

In this way a house is made a home.

A woman's touch brings beauty and joy

and there are few things more beautiful

than the sight of a woman tending a garden.

She has a straw hat askew on her head

and a bit of dirt under her fingernails,

as she creates a fragrant offering for the family she loves. 

a charming companion

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marigold in the sunny window

bringer of all things simple and domestic

leave your peace with me

your yellow and orange blossom 

your pungent scent

cheer me as I keep my home

tidying the kitchen - washing the breakfast dishes

and when at evening I turn at last to rest

gift me with your charm once more

when I rise at morn.

t

You adorn the year with your bounty;
your paths drip with fruitful rain.
The meadows of the wilderness also drip;
the hills are robed with joy.
The pastures are clothed with flocks,
the valleys blanketed with grain;
they cheer and sing for joy.

Psalm 65:12-14

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