On grandma's backporch there was a washstand,
and on that stand was a bucket of water, a 'washpan',
handsoap (probably homemade lye soap) and a towel
hanging from a nail close by...


You had to wash up before
you came into her kitchen to eat a meal... Face, neck,
ears and 'behind' your ears, and your hands...


Back in those days we didn't have water coming into
the house, it came from a 'well' and was carried into
the house in a 'water bucket'....



There was two things that grandma wouldn't tolerate
at her table, one was dirty hands and the other was
a dirty mouth, which meant 'bad language!'


I have had my mouth washed with that lye soap a
'few' times there in front of that ol' washstand
when I was a youngster... Yes, she was very
strict about that....


And she always gave thanks to God for the meals
she prepared and also for the water and soap
so we could be clean....


One of her favorite saying was
'cleanliness is next to godliness!'
I always thought that was a scripture
straight from the bible! ha haaa

 Just remembering...again....
Melva