This is my dad getting a drink at "The Filter."
When we were growing up, the thing always at the top of my mother's subconscious was making sure we had enough water to drink. All our water had to be boiled to purify it, and that was a HUGE JOB. We had a wood stove, and there were always large pots of water on it being watched so they could be timed boiling for 20 minutes. The boiled water was then dumped into large covered white enamel pails. From there it was used either in cooking or in keeping The Filter full. The Filter had a chalk-like "candle" (that's what my dad always called it, anyway) through which the water we put in the top passed through to get to the bottom of The Filter. This did not purify the water at all but just helped to take out the smoky flavor it had after boiling on the wood stove. I would have to say that keeping up with the boiled water was one of my mother's biggest responsibilities for her family.
(I think every bit of furniture we had was made by my father. Check out that perfect made-to-measure filter stand with the handy-dandy little shelf for the glass!)
4 comments:
Wow. And we think we have it hard, just having to load and unload the dishwasher!
--r
I know! I am so spoiled now. Turn on the tap, and there is water I can drink, hot or cold! Not only that, I take it for granted and forget what a blessing it is.
Well, that little shelf on the filtre stand must have grown there after I left home! That filtre stand was amazing! Two spindly legs supporting a corner shelf with a HEAVY load on it! And we'd lean it dangerously forward to drain out the last drop! Yes! The filter table was the centre of good life, wasn't it! And the water ... carried in buckets from the stream at the bottom of the hill before the well days! and then drained through the sand bucket as the first level of purification before it ever hit the pot for boiling! What a life! I'm sure you are right about that water being Mom's #1 priority all those years!
We all knew what bad drinking water could do within a half an hour! After all, that's how you met your husband! Now there's a story for the blog, Babe!
Ha ha! Good point, Carol-Ann! Hmm...now I have several stories cooking... we shall see!
Yes, that little filter table (I did not remember -- or did I ever know? -- that you spell it filtre!) is a marvel. Designed by a man who knew how these things work. Legs totally out of the way, and see the look on his face -- so proud of his filter stand!
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