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frage or Wandering Jew. On the side next the kitchen 
is a door into the back entry. Here is a washbowl 
and water faucet; over this is a looking glass : under¬ 
neath a little closet for boots and rubbers : behind the 
outside door is an umbrella rack made of a three cor¬ 
nered piece of pine board with holes large enough to 
admit the umbrellas. A little further along on the 
same side is a small sliding door that opens into the 
dish closet, which is in the kitchen ; under this slide is 
a broad marble slab supported by brackets, so the 
dishes and food can be passed in and out. The pan¬ 
try opens out of the kitchen on the north side. The 
kitchen is an L and opens on the other side of the 
end entry. Kate said, “ I want to have my kitchen 
as convenient as possible, for I want every step to 
count. You see it is quite small, but that saves steps. 
On this side I have a number of cupboards, or rather 
a large one divided. This one is for tins and baking 
dishes, small but handy; hooks for all things hanga- 
ble, and shelves for those that dou't hang. This cup¬ 
board is for wash-day and ironing things; this drawer 
is for ironing sheet, bosom board, holders, and my 
white mittens for hanging clothes in cold weather, 
knit with a finger like the soldiers used to wear. On 
this shelf above I keep starch, blueing, &c., just room 
enough this side to hang my clothes-pin bag, the 
other for my skirtboard. This box beside the stove is 
for my kettles; you see it is lined with zinc, so there 
is no danger of fire from hot kettles. When I shut 
the cover down it makes a good seat. I never could 
bear a kettle closet under the sink. I think they smell 
musty. You see mine is open underneath. I had it 
made of soapstone. I think it keeps clean easier than 
iron. I have my. water handy. This pump is the 
hard water, and this faucet soft water from the pond. 
My cooking table is built against the wall between 
these two windows, so I can have all the light. It is 
enclosed at the back and ends, lias drawers and doors 
in front. This right hand closet is where I keep my 
flour barrel, this door open to let the barrel in, this lid 
opens over the barrel to take the flour out. Here I 
keep iny sieve, scoop, &c. The middle closet is for 
things I use to cook with. Above the door of this 
closet is a place made to slip in my bread board when 
not in use; it has a piece on the end of it with a knob 
to pull it out by, and slips into place like a drawer. 
Here are drawers for dish-cloths, holders, and a drawer 
for cooking knives and spoons.” 
The floor is bard pine, oiled; woodwork grained; 
walls painted light buff and varnished. Paper soon 
spoils with steam, and this is soon cleaned with a 
damp cloth. There is a small shed opening out of the 
kitchen where the washing is done. On wash days 
Kate has a piece of rubber hose she screws on to the 
kitchen faucet, which carries the water to the tub or 
boiler without lifting or slopping. If I could stop I 
could tell you of the pretty chambers and their fur¬ 
nishing, hut must defer it until another time. 
Lynn, Mass. M. J. W. 
Papering and painting are best done in cold 
weather, especially the latter, for the wood absorbs 
the oil of paint in warm weather, while in cold weather 
the oil hardens on the outside, making a coat which 
will protect the wood instead of soaking into it. 
An oaken color can be given to new pine floors 
and tables by washing them in a solution of copperas, 
dissolved in strong lye, a pound of the former to a gal¬ 
lon of the latter. When dry, this should he oiled, and 
it will look well for a year or two; then renew the 
oiling. 
[This article received second prize for Household Topics.] 
MY BREAKFAST SHAWL, AND WHAT 
BECAME OF IT. 
I thought it was handsome when it was new, hut 
that was a good dozen of years ago. It was none of 
your machine-woven concerns, but crocheted, of the 
brightest of scarlet zephyr, with a black and white 
border, scarlet fringe, and pretty - mixed tassels. I 
came across it one rainy day away down in the bottom 
of an old trunk, and, as usual, began to consider as to 
what good use it could he made to serve. I have it, 
said I, it shall he ravelled and made into a jacket to 
wear under my cloak in severe cold weather. Full of 
my new idea I commenced at once, hut before I had 
proceeded far in my work of destruction I began 
dubiously to shake my head, and by the -time I had 
finished winding my last ball a very: emphatic no es¬ 
caped my lips. It was not strong enough to hear the 
wear and tear of a tight-fitting jacket, so it was con¬ 
signed to the old trunk once more. 
iNot many weeks after this occurrence, by some un¬ 
fortunate accident, one of my kitchen curtains was 
completely ruined. My bedroom boasts of hut one 
window, and its curtain matched those in the kitchen. 
It was the work of only a few moments to take it 
down and put it into the place of the mined one; but 
now the query arose, what shall I get for my bed¬ 
room? This room, so far as furnished at all, was 
furnished well. A chamber set of chestnut, with 
black walnut trimmings, and a pretty ingrain carpet 
of scarlet, white. 'and green. The walls were just as 
the masons left them, simply lathed and plastered. 
The paint was white. If I bought a new curtain I 
must have a pretty one;—the old one was not half good 
enough—but it was hard times, money very scarce, 
and I wanted a great many things. Thus I pondered, 
Well, that night I closed the blinds and slept in a cur¬ 
tainless bedroom, hut ere the clock had tolled the mid¬ 
night hour my plans were all arranged. 
The morning found me up bright aud early, and 
searching my Floral Cabinets for directions for kal- 
somining. It is fortunate those papers are made of 
the best of material,, for if otherwise I am sure there 
would not he a piece left of mine. I wonder if every 
reader peruses them, as faithfully as I do ! But I am 
digressing. I found my directions, purchased the ma¬ 
terial, borrowed a brush, and with my husband’s help 
had that room all kalsomined clear and white before 
night. I was stiff and sore for a week afterward, hut 
that did not matter. 
Now for the curtain. I had a set of three sheets 
that I never used except in the hottest weather. They 
were made of very fine and light cotton, and had been 
washed times enough to he very soft. I took one of 
them, ripped it through the middle, picked out the 
stitches, tore a strip lengthwise off each breadth to 
make a nice hem or facing, tore off ruffles from dimity 
I had in the house, hemmed aud gathered them full 
enough to flute, set them within the facings, and 
stitched them on the machine, washed, boiled, starched, 
ironed and fluted them, and my curtains were finished. 
I brought my halls of scarlet wool from out the 
depths of the old trunk, and crocheted them into a 
hermitage lambrequin. They were plenty strong 
enough for that. I cut a stiff paper pattern of lam¬ 
brequin, and crocheted the wool in the exact shape of 
pattern, hid the* fringe into the edge, and fastened the 
tassels in their proper places. I lined it with two or 
three thicknesses of white, starched very stiff, tacking 
the outside to lining wherever it was necessary. The 
effect of the white showing through the scarlel was 
very pretty. I fastened the curtain to the top of win¬ 
dow, the lambrequin I tacked to the cornice, which 
was made in this wise: I obtained a half-inch pine 
board long enough to reach to the outside of the frame¬ 
work of window, a small piece v as tacked on each 
end to make the cornice set out the required distance, 
the top was sawed in fanciful shape, measuring six 
inches in the widest part, the lower edge was round 
hut straight—that is, the edge of the hoard was 
rounded off aud a groove cut a little above, to give the 
appearance of a moulding. I covered the cornice as 
far down as the groove, with smooth brown wrapping 
paper stained black walnut; the moulding I covered 
with gold paper. I stained more paper, cut and folded 
leaves, and tacked them the whole length of upper 
edge of cornice and down each end, and finished with 
a good coat of varnish. It was as handsome as carved 
black walnut. All that remained now to make my 
window complete was something with which to loop 
my curtains back. These I made of strips of paste¬ 
board covered with pieces of scarlet cloth, and again 
with Nottingham lace. My bed was already covered 
with a white counterpane, and my pillows with shams, 
tucked and ruffled, with embroidered initial in centre. 
The little table for lamp I covered with a handsome 
spread of lace lined with scarlet. My bureau I did the 
same. A little scarlet wool yet remained, which I 
speedily converted into a scarlet and white pin¬ 
cushion, hair-receiver and hair-pin box. I covered my 
washstand with white, and put hack of it a white 
splash-cloth bordered with scarlet; hung brackets and 
pictures on the wall, spread mats on the floor, and my 
room was finished. 
I suppose you think I was proud of it. I am not 
ashamed to own that I was both proud and satisfied. 
I had a very attractive room—a room in which every¬ 
thing so blended as to form one harmonious whole, 
while my purse remained about as full as when I 
began, which certainly was an important item. 
Before closing I would like to describe one of my 
floor mats. It is wholly oi my own invention, one of 
the wonders of the neighborhood, and has received the 
name of “ Centennial Mat.” It is three feet long by 
two wide, corners rounded. It is made on dark glossy 
green cloth, and lined with bed ticking. I made 
flowers, buds, leaves and vines of pieces of straw 
braid in all colors, both variegated and plain—of 
course they were perfectly flat. I arranged them as a 
collection or bed of flowers in centre of mat. Wherever 
it needed any delicate filling in, finer than I could give 
in straw, I chain-stitched vines and tendrils on the 
cloth, tracing the design with a pencil. The material 
used for the chain-stitcli was very fine white and 
brown mending cotton ; a needleful of each threaded 
into one needle, thus making a variegated stitch. The 
centre figure measured two feet in length by a little 
less than' one and one-half feet in width. The border 
of mat consisted of a long coarse piece, half an inch 
wide, of variegated red and white, variegated green 
and white, and plain white straw braid, braided very 
loosely together, and sewed on flat, nearly an inch 
from the edge of mat. These were stitched firmly on 
each edge of each braid, making six rows of stitches in 
the border. Every flower, leaf, hud and vine, was 
stitched around the edges and bade and forth every 
way through its centre, leaving no possible place for 
careless feet to damage. The edge of mat was hound 
with green skirt-braid to match the cloth. It is 
handsome placed in almost any situation, hut its own 
peculiar sphere is in a summer parlor, furnished in 
green and white, like the one described in The 
Floral Cabinet of May, 1875. Seaweed. 
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