RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31907, 7 February 1969, Page 15

RANDOM REMINDER

PUT OUT THE WELCOME MATTRESS

They say a woman’s work is never done, and when she leaves the house to her husband while she takes the family away on holiday, it very seldom is. This always requires a frenzied effort from the husband on the eve of the family’s return. Many a man, in these circumstances, discovers that enthusiasm is no substitute for orderliness. This one rose early on a Saturday morning, prodded by awareness of how much had to be done to restore the happy home to the state of freshness and cleanliness in which it had been left when the

family departed. First, he applied himself with some diligence and very little skill to the washing, and this was a major item, with children in the family. He went from room to room, refiling back bedding, stripping off the linen, opening wide the windows to air all the rooms, and getting an enormous load into the washing machine. But he knew that it was not part of the business to sit round waiting for the first load to be done; more tasks must be fitted in during this period. And he remembered that, he was supposed to have been yery careful while they were away to water the flower beds; better, he

thought, late than never, so trooped outside and put the hose on. Back to the drudgery, and he worked away solidly at the washing and cleaning so that several - hours passed before he had occasion to return to his bedroom. Then it was he discovered that opening a window for the fresh air was one thing; but having an open window allowed water from the hose—one of those with little holes all down its length—to enter. He also discovered that the couple of hours remaining before the return of the family was not nearly enough to allow a sodden mattress and pillow to dry out