LADIES' COLUMN.

Thames Star, Volume LVII, Issue 16138, 1 July 1924, Page 2

LADIES' COLUMN.

SOCIAL NOTES.

(By “Stella.”)

Mis W. Price has returned to Thames, after spending a few days in Auckland. Sister White, late of Thames Hospital, spent the week-end in Thames. Miss Frazer has returned to Auckland. Miss H. Bussell is spending a holiday with her parents at Tararu. Mrs von Bernewitz left Thames last week and is going to reside in Auckland. Miss Morgan is spending a few days in Auckland. Mrs Broadhurst is in Auckland for a short holiday. Mrs Salmon is on a visit to Auckland. Miss Steedman is visiting friends in Auckland.

WEDDING. HUNTER-FAIRBURN. A very pretty wedding took place at Kawai Kawa in the Roman Catholic Church on Tuesday June 17th by the Rev. Father McDonald between Miss Marie, third daughter of the late Mr and Mrs Fairburn of Wharepoa, Thames, and Mr Herbert Franklin Hunter, only son of Mr and Mrs F. Hunter, of Taumarero, Bay of Islands. The brido who was given away by Mr J. Graham of Wanganui, wore a frock of ivory crepe-de-chine beaded with pearls, tulle veil and coronet of orange blossoms and a trail of orange blossoms at the waist. She carried a sheaf of narcissis and asparagus fern. The bridesmaid, Miss Doris Hunter, sister of the bridegroom wore apricot crepe-de-cliine trimmed with gold beads and round her head a wreath of silver leaves. She carried a bouquet of roses and smilax. Mr Walter Deeming, cousin of the bridegroom was best man. A reception, was "held at the home of the bridegroom where the best of wishes were toasted to the happy couple. The bride’s travelling costume was of gray moracain and marabout with hat to, match. ...

DO YOU KNOW. That when you wish r o boil an egg that has a, crack or a hole in it you can keep the contents from coming out in this way— Turn the egg over and exactly opposite the first hole make another one. Then, at once, put the egg into the boiling water. None of the contents will emerge, because, with the two holes, the pressure on the egg is equalised.

AN OLD FASHIONED PEPPERMINT SWEETMEAT.

This delicious recipe requires no sweet-making utensils, and dates from the days when the lady of the house distilled her own peppermint cordial from the pungent herb, and ground her icing sugar with pestle and mortar, adding the necessary starch to make it adhesive. Now, these ingredients are procured from the chemist and grocer. The peppermint “cushions, ’ as the old manuscript book calls them, are far superior in flavour to the bought variety owing to the delicate addition of the fresh cream, and not only will they keep indefinitely in tin oi' box, but actually improve with

keening. THE RECIPE. One 11) of icing sugar, a level teaspoon of cream of tartar, rather less than a gil! of cream, a few drops of oil of peppermint. Rub the icing sugar through a wire sieve into a basin, add the cream of tartar, and mix thoroughly. Now add the cream, a tablespoonful at a time, and care and patience are required. for too much cream will spoil the sweetmeat. About three to four tablespoonfuls are enough for 111) of sugar, work all steadily with the hand add the peppermint in drops, and knead until the dry sugar begins to soften, and gradually work into a stiff paste. Turn it on to a board sprinkled with sugar, and knead until quite pliable and free from cracks. Use caster sugar if the paste is sticky. Cover and leave for one hour. At the end of that time roll out with a sugared rolling pin, when half an inch, thick cut into small squares, dipping the knife in sugar. Leave a few hours to harden, then store. If preferred, the paste may he rolled thinner and stamped into rounds. Knead up any scraps and roll again.

HAPPY THE BRIDE. The superstitious bride must have a nerve-racking time on her weddingday, for the most trivial happenings seem to he connected with good or bad luck. There are a great many superstitions connected with the bridal bouquet. Pansies, violets and violas, for example, are supposed to he infallible luck-bringers. An old belief in some parts of the country is that “Lavender means children and a united family, i as well as a happy old age.” Musk is regarded as Love’s weathercock ; When its perfume begins to fade, love will wane with it. Tlie bride should lie careful, so the

account should she allow anyone to speak to her husband on the way from the vestry before she has done so herself. Again, to enter the church by one door and leave by another is to court disaster. Quite a number of brides will do anything rather than hear their banns read. An old superstition is that if a girl goes to hear her own banns read, her children are likely to be born deaf. “Something old and something new, Something borrowed and something blue.” applies itself to the bride’s dress; North-country brides would rather forgo marriage than ignore this old saying.

AN INDOOR GARDEN. Though most children have at sometimo grown grass on a damp flannel, have you ever tried growing mustard and cress for your tea on a piece of flannel? It is a most successful way of doing it. Get your mother to give you a square of flannel about nine inches across and a plate. Buy some seed, and having poured some water into the plate and got the flannel thoroughly wet, sprinkle it fairly thick with seed. In a few days the seed will begin to sprout, and by the end of a week or ten days you should have a crap ready for tea. The flannel must be kept really wet, and not forgotten even slice, for the little plants, not having any earth from which to suck up moisture, will quickly die if allowed to grow dry.

ANIMAL FRIENDSHIP. About four years ago a tortoise crawled into the grounds of “Marengo Chase,” Morpeth, New South Wales, the residence of Captain D. J. Marshall. At the same time a bat appeared. The tortoise and the bat were friends, and their association caused much amusement. After wandering about the grounds for three months, the tortoise left followed by the bat. Neither the tortoise nor the bat was seen around Morpeth for three years, but a day or two ago Captain Marshall was greatly surprised at the reappearance in his grounds of the tortoise and the bat. During thenabsence they had made a new friend —a magpie. The tortoise, the bat and the magpie are still in the grounds each looking after the other.

WHEN WASHING CURTAINS. The plain, wide-meshed net curtains, now so popular, need frequent washing but, unless this is carefully done, they have a tendency to pull badly out of shape. Instead of going to all the bother of

\a ~ t pinning out the curtains on a clean sheet on the floor, when rinsed and ready for drying, simply put them back on to their rod.?. Run a rod through the hem at the bottom of each curtain —the weight of which will stretch the curtain and makes it perfectly straight —and hang them up, either in the fresh air, .or, if space is restricted, at the window in their usual places. The hem abovo the top rod, which forms a little frill, can be pulled and pinched into shape with the fingers when the curtain is still damp.

A SEWING HINT. Scallops are fashionable both on frocks and for underwear, and the home dressmaker may be glad of the following hint. Before starting to buttonhole scallops stitch round the edges on the machine, being careful that the tension is loose enough to prevent any risk of the edge puckering when washed. If you prefer it, you can use a needle and strong cotton. This will prevent any tearing between the scallops, and the material will not fray out after the scallops are cut.

HOW TO IMPROVE A THIN NECK

A woman can have no greater physical charm than a softly rounded neck —neither too fat or too thin.

In these hard-working times, thin necks and nervousness are more usual than fat necks and serenity, so I will give you some exercises that will round out the neck and strengthen the nervous system at the same time*.

Sitting at ease, but with shoulders well thrown back, take five deep breaths. Then turn your head over the left shoulder as far as it will go, place the right hand on the right side of the head and turn the head round to the right shoulder against the presure of the right hand. Repeat the exercise, beginning with head over the right shoulder, and alternate the two movements, each five times. Then rest a minute.

Throw the head back as far as possible, then raise It against the pressure of the 'hand on the forehead, Now let the head sink forward, chin on chest, rise, and press back against the pressure of the hand on the back of the head.- Alternate the movements, each five times. The third exercise consists .of laying head on the left shoulder and raising it against the pressure of right hand on right side of head. Reverse, the process. and alternate each five times. Finally, with shoulders straight and still, revolve the head slowly .on the neck, letting it fall loosely, first forward, then to the right, hack, and so on.

CHARM OF NURSERY TALES. There is so much that is charming in the old nursery lore which has been handed down to one generation after another, that it seems a great pity that it should-be in danger of dying out. All children love t.o learn little nursery rhymes and jingles, and, besides being good for training their memories, these jingles have little bits of whimsical humour in t'hem which just catch the little one’s attention and make him remember them. Among the modern books for children there are none half so fascinating as some of those published towards the end of the last century, and now, unfortunately, .out of print. They are more after the style of the immortal “Alice in Wonderland.”

With the higher education of women and the gradual disappearance of the old Nannies, all the nice .old nursery stories and, if you like the word, super stitions, are dying out. The modern child does not know the easy way _ol counting by learning that inconsequent rhyme that begins, “One, two, buckle my shoe.” Nor has he ever heard of “Jeremiah, blow the fire. Puff, puff, pufl. First you blow it gently and then you blow it rough.” The very modern baby is being made a responsible being now at such an early age that I sometimes wonder if the next generation will be really human at all. Perhaps the pendulum will swing back, but it saddens me to see the babies of parents with theories forced to forgo all that irresponsible nonsense that babies .of the last generation throve on.

In a large family of hoys and girls this tendency to experiment with new ideas does not matter so much. These children have their own charmingly silly games, hut in how many homes in the.se days are there the old-fashioned happy, noisy families of a bv-gone day?

WHEN A SHOELACE BREAKS. Shoe luces invariably break on Sundays, holidays, or after shop closing hours. When this has happened a strong temporary repair may be effected by cutting straight the broken parts, overlapping them and then covering with a neat, close darn. After a thorough pressing with a hot iron, the join will be barely perceptible, and the lace is almost certain ty last out for twenty-four hours, if not longer. Laces that Tiavc become dusty and shabby need not necessarily be discarded. Both black and brown may bo revived by washing and then rinsing

in some strong tea. They should be ironed whilst they are still wet. ABOUT PICTURE HANGING. Never overcrowd your pictures. Remember ..that they need space to show off their beauty, and one good picture is w.orth a dozen poor ones. Don’t mix your pictures up anyhow; water colours, oils, and engravings hung up haphazardly are a deplorable sight. Don’t mix types of frames either. Elaborately adorned fromes are always wrong. Have English gilt frames for your water colours and colour prints, with gilt or ivory, but never dead white mounts. Never glaze or cut the margin of colour prints. It kills their value. Deep gilt frames should be used for oil paintings, and oak frames with an inner line of gilt and a wide white mount for engravings. Etchings should have narrow black frames and cream .or white mounts. When hanging your pictures you must consider the background. Plain wallpapers or distemper make the best background for pictures, grey, green and brown being particularly good. Oval pictures are best on striped paper.