At 06:55 AM 11/24/04 +1100, W & N Lafferty wrote: >Talking of night lights, does anyone else remember the old >kerosene lamp? During my early school days, we had quite a >few electricity blackouts, and out would come the kerosene lamp >and I would still have to do my homework. I still have a lovely >green frosted glass base (for holding the kerosene) on an iron >stand, but sadly the top glass fitting is missing.
I rather enjoyed blackouts as a child: we would all sit around the kitchen table to share the lamp. Sometimes Mom would hang a blanket in the archway and build a fire in the fireplace, which was in the kitchen where a fireplace belongs. I still have two of my mother's lamps -- one that hangs on the wall in a holder with a reflector, and one with a handle on the side. We also have a table lamp that belonged to DH's parents. All are fitted with wicks and ready to light, but the oil is in a sealed bottle out in the garage -- we no longer get blackouts often enough to keep kerosene from turning into varnish in the reservoir. Dried-up oil is tough to clean out and looks horrid in a glass reservoir, so if the lights do stay out long enough for me to hit the switch on the surge protector -- which can take a bit of time, since I never remember which end of the protector the switch is on -- we use candles. The last time I checked, the hardware store still had replacement chimneys. But one of the lamps is fitted with a frosted chimney intended to hide the light bulb in a fake lamp. (I bought that chimney in New York; real stuff should be easier to find here in "Amish Country". (I think they are actually Dunkers or Mennonites, but "Amish" appeals to tourists.)) ((Which reminds me that I must put a cite for "Why Do They Dress That Way" on my shopping list; there is a field guild to "plain dress" in the back, and I am an exceeding nosy person.)) -- Joy Beeson http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/ http://home.earthlink.net/~dbeeson594/ROUGHSEW/ROUGH.HTM west of Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.A. where it's raining again. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
