MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 November 1939, Page 9

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

CUT FLOWERS HOW TO CARE FOR THEM Most women, even if they do not care to work in the garden, like to arrange flowers in the home, for that is a task that gives them a. chance to express their individuality. Many, however, do not study the art of preserving flowers as long as possible when they are cut, and are suiprised when their lovely blooms wilt almost as soon as they are gathered. Flowers, in almost every instance, should be picked as early in the morning as possible, especially in the summer months. One exception is the nasturtium, which should not be picked till after sunset. When cutting flowers use a sharp knife rather than scissors, for scissors tend to close up the stems, thereby hindering them from absorbing water. Cut hardwood stems on the slant, as it gives a large surface for taking in water. If hard stems are also bruised or split this will help to prolong their life.. Such flowers as cyclamens, daffodils hyacinths, lily of the valley, violets, etc., should be pulled by hand the full length of the stalk. All flowers should be put into water as soon as they are picked, and if they are not being arranged at once they should be put into a large bucket of water, preferably with the chill off (especially in winter) right up to their necks. Daffodils should be picked when the flowers are young, and allowed to mature in water. Both daffodils and narcissi should stand in water for an hour or two, and then have a portion of the stem cut off before being arranged in the vases. This takes away the mucus which soon pollutes the water if left in the stems.

Long-stemmed tulips which are inclined to droop should be immersed in lukewarm water the le’ngth of the stem for a while.

When arranging, the flowers should have the foliage stripped off up to the point of immersion, especially such flowers as stocks, wallflowers, etc., which pollute the water quickly and give it a nasty odour. Some flowers are bad mixers and poison others. A few examples are forget-me-nots, mignonette, poppy and stock. If any of these have to be mixed with other flowers, use them sparing ; ly, and renew the water frequently, washing the stems of the flowers in warm water.

Iris and poppies should have the ends of the stems burnt as soon as cut, and hydrangeas should have several inches of stem scraped, then burnt at the ends.

People with sensitive skins should wear gloves when picking and handling daffodils or primulas. The juice of the daffodils and the hairy leaves and stalks of the .primulas often set up severe skin irritation. Flowers will not last long if placed on a mantelshelf when a fire is burning, or in a window which has the sun’s rays directly on it. A severe draught is equally injurious to them. If they are kept in warm rooms during the day, remove them at night to a cool place. Some flowers, soon give the water they are placed in an unpleasant smell. The water can be kept sweet by adding a little charcoal to it. The water in the vases should be changed every day, and if the flower stems are slimy they should be rinsed well under the tap before being put back into the vases, and a small piece should be cut off the end, especially of woody stems. Narrow-necked vases, besides being difficult to clean, very often hold too little water, .and are therefore unsuitable, except, perhaps, for a single specimen flower. A wide-mouthed vase or bowl with a good, firm base is ideal whether tall or short. If tall, the flowers are easily arranged without any “aid” such as a perforated glass holder. Crumpled wire netting makes a splendid “aid,” as the stems are easily arranged in it, and it keeps them upright. Simple earthenware vases look better than elaborate ones of cut glass or silver, and glass vases should never be used for flowers that have ugly stems.

An eminent florist in London who does floral decorations for Mayfair’s exclusive houses gives almost as much though to the receptacles as she does to the flowers themselves, and she is noted for her charming and lovely ideas. One particular decoration is a plain brown wicker basket with a tin lining to fit inside. This is filled with daffodils (crumpled netting holds them in position), arranged with their own leaves springing from a bed of moss. It does not need much imagination to realise how lovely such a decoration will be.

CHEST AND ARMS

HOW TO IMPROVE THEM

It is often suprising to notice that women who pay the greatest attention to the condition of their skin and hair and who do certain exercises for the good of their figures, quite overlook the importance of arms, chest and elbows in the scheme of things. There is one famous beauty whose arms are so thin and angular that people often remark upon it. They have been heard to say: “But she is spoilt by hei* arms —she is so much more attractive in day clothes than in evening dress,” which is quite true, because at night her bony chest and pointed elbows are no longer safe from discovery! When you have your daily bath or sponge down, take, a soft nail-brush or a loofah, soap it well with a good super-fatted soap, and scrub the backs of the arms very hard. If you suffer from that distressing “gooseflesh” appearance and redness this treatment will soon cure it. If your arms are perfect, then the scrubbing will keep them in good condition. The cause of goose-flesh is poor circulation, and the hard scrubbing will make the flesh tingle and the blood flow healthily. Dont expose your chest to cold winds however hardy you think you are. The nip in the air will make the skin red and rough, and' when you wear an evening frock it will make a very unsightly patch. Here is the exercise that will keep your arms rounded and supple: Swing both arms out from the shoulders, round and round and round. Loosen up, try to feel as if there are no bones in the upper part of your body, then cross the arms in front of you with a wide sweeping movement, bringing them in above your head with

the fingers drooping towards you and the hands perfectly limp. Do not pause at the top of your swing, but keep up an uninterrupted sweeping of the arms. Take'care not to stoop while performing this exercise, but stand erect and hold your head up.

It is suprising that these swinging exercises keep the limbs supple and well-shaped, whereas the more strenous and jerky movements increase muscular development, which is not to be recommended from the aesthetic point of view. All the movements which dancers learn to perform with their arms increase their gracefulness and keep these limbs prettily rounded and youthful, but all other forms of physical exercises are not beauty-making so far as the arms are concerned. The swinging of Indian clubs is a most-joy-inspiring and beauty-promot-ing form of exercise. It is good for the .back, neck, and chest, as well as for the arms.

You can perform another simple exercise which will help to fill out hollows in the chest, as since “slimming” became the craze too many girls have lost their womanly plumpness in the region of the collar bone'. Well, you have been practising the swing from the shoulders, haven’t you? Now take the sweep of the arms still further over and try to cross them behind your head. This movement pulls up the chest muscles and stimulates the tissues in the upper part of the chest. Now go through the three movements, head held erect and shoulders well back. Start the big swing round from the shoulders, then the crossing in front and finally the big sweep bringing the hands up and over until they cross behind the head. There should be a rhythm and a suavity about all the beauty-giving exercises and they are so much easier and pleasanter to perform if one does them to the accompaniment of a lazy waltz tune played on the gramophone.

WINDOW CURTAINS

CARE AND CLEANING

Window curtains are becoming more and more important in yes of homeloving housewives. Well polished windows and clean curtains, hung neatly were regarded as an indication of standard of living throughout Victorian times, but neither in the matter of taste in colour nor technique in washing was the housewife called on to depart from routine. The long, heavy curtains of velvet chenille brocade, repp or art serge hung from brass or wooden cornice poles Were brought to last —fashion in colour changed little —and the washable lace curtains screening the panes were either snow-white or ecru-tinted. Even when the revolutionary casement cloths for the new casement windows that challenged the older bow-fronted or sash type came along, it was still merely a question of ivory white or deeper ecru.

To-day a multitude of window curtain materials has brought fascinating opportunities for indulging in charming colour schemes, and the novel fabrics, and with them, new problems in washing, cleaning and adjustment. Soak net curtains for half an hour in cold waiter. Then put innto warm water, well lathered with soap flakes and add two tablespoonfls of household ammoniaSwish round and leave for quarter of an hour, occasionally moving them about. Take out. Put into clear warm water, rinse well, and finish rinsing under running cold water. Fold and put through the wringer, and leave wet until ready to iron. Do not hang or dry them at all. Iron still wet and put curtains up as soon as possible, pulling them to length and eveness when they are up. . A sure way of preserving size and avoiding either stretching or shrinking of panel curtains after washing in soap and flakes and rinsing well,

is to take the curtains whilst wet and bang up to the windows. Then pull to shape and size of window gently, and fix each side to the window frame with drawing pins. In an hour or less they will be dry and shapely. When making net curtains always make a double hem. This will give between 2in. or Sin. extra length if required after the second or third washing. Soak the curtains for half a day in cold water with a tablespoonful of cloudy ammonia; then make a lather with soap flakes and tepid water and squeeze and shake the curtains in it, and repeat for even two, more such basinfuls. Rinse in tepid water until there is no sign of soap sud. Squeeze tho water out, but do not wring or rub.

Next, run a long rod through the top and the bottom hems, which I assume to be about 1J to 2 inches wide. The rods are the usual casement curtain kind, white enamelled, as stout as the hems will admit, and projecting hits may rest upon some object very High up, in order to allow the curtain to hang its full length; this is a valuable help in preventing shrinkage. To help matters one can gently stretch the net. holding .the top rod with one hand, care fully pulling the net downwards, all along its width. This gives very softly hanging curtains.