Splashed by the Dame

Everyone at our house has come down with a cold. Nothing serious but there's a lot of snot and sneezing, coughing and sore throats. And for me, sore eyes. I know that this will mean more washing, partly because Grace seems to need more cuddles and rubs her face against whatever I am wearing which then becomes covered in snot. Charming. Poor little mite, she is the worst affected of all of us. Also it means that I can't really practise laundry minimisation (read wearing things until they are very very dirty) because it's just too disgusting when everyone is sick. And I fear the further spread of germs. So I will be also washing my hands alot, which will probably result in the dermatitis coming back...

So even though this picture doesn't contain any laundry imagery, I thought that the use of hankies was quite apt. It's from a very lovely if somewhat battered copy of The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton first published in 1939. Illustrations are by D M Wheeler who I haven't found any information about. I really like these line illustrations and the texture of the old paper.

I also really like the look of the text. Again, this is a passage that I remember from my childhood. Today I'm thinking of being splashed by the water as an analogy for being touched by the cold germs. As I child, I loved the idea of someone throwing blue water down a tree and creating a waterfall.

In my mind the water also smelt of the blueing liquid that my mother's country cousin used in her washing. I remember their laundry well, but that's another story...