I was getting the 1/2 gallon milk (1.9L)container from the refrigerator when my hand, driven by some very old habit, shook the container. At one time containers of milk, usually in a glass quart container, needed to be shaken. While all containerized milk was pasteurized, not all milk was homogenized. Today the dairy industry utilizes the public concern for dairy fat and extracts the fat(cream) or blends it in with the milk(homogenizes) before putting the milk in the container. I remember being sent to the store for a quart of milk with 25 cents (.21 euro) and being told to make sure it was pasteurized. Homogenized milk was always pasteurized. I still catch myself, on occasion, shaking the container. Today string is not often used for packaging or to tie items together. I found myself with a piece of string in my hand and the thought of long ago when a round ball of string use to roll around in a kitchen drawer, wound with saved pieces of string, short and long. Today elastic bands, plastic wrap and zip ties perform that task when needed. Most string now is put out for the birds to build spring nests. Jerry
I have an old habit as well---I send paper Christmas cards, and write letters on paper which I send via the postal service. Another old habit is having cookies and milk before going to bed; although to be fair, the cookies are replaced with milk...so just a simple bowl of yoghurt. I have the idea that I sleep better at night. My gran always told me to do that, and when staying with my grandparents, it was a sort of nightly ritual--I would have the milk and cookies and then would go to bed without a peep (that was the agreement). My parents, who would leave me alone with the grandparents for three months in the summer could never understand how grandparents could get me to go to bed so willingly. I must say that this was not without a further concession--I had to brush my teeth before saying the prayers then hopping up into bed. My grandfather would just say, "Ach", should I try and negotiate my out of it...but Gran would always amazingly appear from nowhere and insist upon inspecting my teeth like I was some kind of horse or something. Tch. --rolling my eyes-- Well they raised horses to sell on their farm, so she had practice. Good thing that my teeth did not need filing--that would certainly have left me with traumas.
Back in the 70`s we milked two cows,, a Holstein and a Jersey. The Holstein only had about a half inch of cream so it mixed up easy enough. The Jersey was another matter. Her milk had a good 1 1/2 inches of cream on the top if not skimmed. That cow had the best milk in the world but you definitely had to shake it up. P.S. I still have that ball of string in my kitchen drawer.
Three cheers for the ball of string Mart. My mother told of skimming the cream off the top of the bucket with a knife and spreading it on bread like butter. I remember the bottles with the section for cream. Jerry
I have always covered up with a blanket sitting in my recliner and after moving to this house, I rarely have the need. Here we have radiant heat with a boiler system and water going through the floor. But I still keep my blanket close just in case I would need it. In our last home things were set up different and when I am looking for something, I will say to my husband that I can't find the item now but I know where it would be at the old house....
For many years two kitchen drawers had knives, forks and spoons in the right drawer. Other utensils in the left drawer. Then, for some reason my mother switched them.....I never recovered. If I wanted a spoon or fork, I would always open the right drawer. Today, In my own house? The knives forks and spoons are in the right drawer. Jerry
Ahhhh, but was there always a Candy Drawer in the kitchen when you were growing up??? My grandmother always had a Candy Drawer just to the left of the kitchen sink.....small candies, peppermints, life Savers, Bubble Gum or Chicklets, etc. Every house she lived in that was the first thing we would hit when we got to her house. Of course, she also kept her Alka Seltzer in there but we knew that was NOT candy and left it alone. My Mom established a Candy Drawer in her kitchen when I was very young and when my girls were both small I had a Candy Drawer for them too.
We did not have a candy drawer but we did have a pastry delivery truck that would make routine stops at our house. My grandmother, semi-bedridden, would select the weeks pastries for the household, from a large selection tray brought in to her bedside by the delivery person. As a reward for 'helping' I would get a penny or two to select from the candy section of the delivery truck. The reward was much better than the ice chip I would get from the ice man, chipped off the big block of ice in his truck. Jerry P.S. Google 'Cushman's Bakery Truck' to see the type of truck that would arrive at our house.
Of course, she also kept her Alka Seltzer in there Strange as it sounds I loved Alka-Seltzer when I was a kid ! Drank it as it fizzed and the fizzies tickled the nose. Jerry it took me a long time to learn to drink store bought milk.. I sure miss the butter, fresh buttermilk and cream on milk . Best whipped cream in the world. That old Jersey`s butterfat was so high you could get fat just looking at her milk.
We actually used this "habit thing" to place things in our new house, It made finding things infinitely easier to find. Some things couldn't, and these are still giving us trouble from time to time.
I grew up by the seaside, where the moisture content in the air is always very high. And electronic equipment in those days (80s to 90s) often operated at very high voltages. Specially TV sets, which needed about 25,000 volts to operate the picture tube... So being a habitual tinkerer in my childhood and teenage years, I often experienced a lot of electric shocks. I think this should now finally explain to everyone here, why I sometimes come across as a person with sanity issues. Like Captain Jack Sparrow! Anyway, electronic equipment of today operates at a very low voltage. From LCD and LED TV sets, to computers. All now operate at 5 to 12 volts, sometimes maybe up to 24 or 35 at the most. Even solar panels don't go higher then 48 volts, while our skin can easily protect us from about 60 volts (only after that can we feel the tingling sensation of electricity). So for a properly trained person, getting shocked by electricity is almost impossible today... But I still follow the old TV repairman's protocol - To only touch a component with your right hand, and put your left hand in your hip pocket, (as our heart is on the left side). So getting electrocuted via the left hand can potentially kill you. But getting shocked anywhere in your right hand, gives you a decent chance at surviving. All of this precaution is nowadays completely obsolete. But I still continue to follow it... Heck, when I ring someone's doorbell today, I do so only with my right hand only, and lift my left foot off the ground, (so that electricity doesn't pass through my left side). This I learned the hard way, as growing up by the seaside, (where moisture is always very high) - Nearly every doorbell of every house often gave you a very nasty shock. But today, where even doorbells have become obsolete in front of CCTV cameras linked with pyro sensors, I still follow this protocol.
