HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3994, 30 September 1930, Page 61

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Don’t say “ don’t ” if you don’t mean it. So many mothers get into the habit of saying “ don’t ” so often, that the children take no notice of the word, for they think it has no meaning. By all means teach them: — Don’t go near the fire.

Don’t pull the teapot over. Don’t go down the stairs. Don’t touch daddy’s lighted cigarette. Don’t try to cut with a knife.

But don’t say “ don’t ” when their little fingers grab at a piece of paper or take hold of their clothes while being dressed, or pick up anything bright and attractive. If you don’t want them to have that particular thing, just give them something else—a child’s mind is so easily distracted —and obedience when there is really danger will be much more easily enforced. Remember that “ don’t ”, at the wrong time will encourage “ won’t ’’ as an answer.

Aluminium saucepans will outlive the enamel variety by years almost always, providing they are given suitable treatment Soda should never be used in the cleansing of aluminium, as its drastic action tends to soften the metal.

Aluminium saucepans that have become very stained are much improved if fruit peelings are boiled in them. Apple peel is good, but lemon peel is particularly beneficial. Save some of your lemon peelings for this purpose when you have made vour lemonade.

Frequently it happens that a colour scheme, intended to be cool and restful, becomes aggravating by reason of its insistence. A really successful colour scheme calls for great restraint. Green, although Nature’s most soothing colour in the great out-of-doors, is not suitable for an ad lib introduction into the home. In the confines of a small room green is far too powerful a tint to be used anything but sparingly. Used in conjunction with blue or violet pastel shades, it can be artistic and cool. A green accent here and there is all that is required to give the desired effect. Blue chintz curtains with a faint green pattern running through them, blue cushions and covers of the same material, a blue vase with a single spray

of fresh green leaves in it, are ideas for a harmonious colour combination.

Employed too profusely, green touches tend to draw the eye from place to place, and are disturbing. The fewer there are the more effective they will be.

The finishing of kitchen furniture in enamel has become fashionable in the past few years, and has much to recommend its general use, being hard and durable, and presenting a rich glossy surface. The woodwork is first well rubbed down with fine glasspaper, or with powdered pumice-stone and water until quite smooth. The priming coat is prepared thus: Dissolve |lb concentrated size powder in 1 quart boiling water, add of slaked whiting; apply evenly every part, and when quite dry rub down gently with No. 1 glasspaper, and dust off. Apply a second coat in a similar way. When dry and hard it is ready for the enamel coat.

Prepared enamels of good quality, giving pleasing results, can be purchased, and are more satisfactory. Of the many shades and tints available, those in which yellow, green, and violet prevail having strong healing properties, which has been proved in cases of nervous headache, and other ailments of the nervous system. The bright, pleasant, and restful tones should predominate. To apply the enamel, which should be first gently heated by placing the closed tin in a warm place for a few hours, pour out a little on a clean saucer, and, with a flat enamel brush, dip sparingly and work over the surface in a smooth, even manner. Don’t apply too much, or the enamel might pool or pour off, and spoil the necessary effect. For most work two coats will be necessary, and should show up a brilliant surface.

Tea, made properly, is a healthy, stimulating drink. But taken in the form of stewed tannin, it is harmful. Tannin is injurious to the lining membrane of the gullet and the stomach, upon which it is deposited as a tough coating, hindering processes of secretion and interfering with assimilation of food. Ultimately the digestion is deranged. Excessive tea-drinking induces palpitation, muscular tremours, nervous excitement, and insomnia. The value of tea is in its exhilarating and restoring effect. The afternoon cup of tea dissipates fatigue and depression and freshens the mind. When the output of work in an office staffed by women was investigated, it was discovered that the production, at its lowest ebb just before the tea interval, reached its highest point immediately afterwards. This is the way to make good tea: Use freshly boiled cold water, neither too hard nor too soft. If the water is too soft, a bitter principle from the tea will be extracted; if too hard, not enough of the useful extractives will be dissolved out. If your water is hard you can soften it by adding a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. The water used for tea making should be just on the boil; tea made with overboiled or underboiled water is valueless. Well aerated water makes better tea than that from which the air has been driven by prolonged boiling.

Pour the water on the leaves in a warm teapot the moment it comes to the boil. Let the tea brew from four to six minutes; never longer, or a harmful amount of the bitter principle—tannin —will be dissolved out. This time for the infusion allows nearly all the caffeine and volatile oil to lie extracted, but keeps back all but insignificant amounts of tannin. Never take tea habitually on an empty stomach. Such a habit is liable to upset the digestion. It is inadvisable, also, to take tea at the same time as a meat jneal.