Today the sun is shining. I have hung two lots of washing in the garden to dry. Quite how effective that will be I really do not know as the temperature has dropped. Out and about first thing this morning, I noticed that I could see my breath on the cool morning air, for the first time in a while. In sunny spots you can still feel the warmth of the sun but it’s decidedly cooler now in the shade. Those weathermen were right again!
Granddaughter Number Two sent this message on the group chat this morning: “It’s nice and cold today!!! I have been waiting since March for this”. She’s always been like this. Even as a tiny girl she used to peel off layers of clothing when she felt it was too hot. Shopping trips were fun as the first thing she did on entering a shop was remove her coat. Now, as an officially grown-up person, she relishes cold, bright mornings like today when she can put on a big hoody when she goes out, or curl up in her duvet to read a book when she stays in. No sunbathing for her! Each to their own, I guess!
As the weather has been changeable I have been seeking out coats and jackets I have not worn for a while. In almost every one I have found a facemask in the pocket, a throwback to the not very distant time when some shops were still demanding that customers wore a facemask. Oddly, when Phil organised his Covid booster injection he was instructed to wear a facemask when he went to the chemist’s to have it administered, the first time in ages either of us has had such an instruction.
The other thing I have been finding in pockets is lipbalm. No wonder I have never been able to find one when needed and have had to open up a new one. Clearly they were all stowed away in jacket pockets - apart from the one that was in a trouser pocket and ended up in the washing machine this morning!
At this time of year, and with our largely unpredictable / unreliable weather, the choice of jacket depends on the likelihood, or otherwise, of rain. So here’s a little oddity I found about the mackintosh, which apparently made it’s first appearance in shops 100 years ago today:
“On 12 October 1823 a shop in Glasgow sold the very first rainproof raincoat made of a new material. Previously waterproof clothing had been made of heavy oiled cotton with a characteristic unpleasant smell; the new coat was lighter, odourless, and completely waterproof, thanks to a novel material described as “india rubber cloth”.
Charles Macintosh, a Scottish chemist, had patented the material four months earlier. Other attempts to create rubber clothing had been unsuccessful, and Macintosh’s secret was to use naphtha to soften the rubber before sandwiching it between two layers of fabric. This meant that even when the rubber became sticky with heat it did not affect the wearer.
The invention was an instant hit and was adopted by the army, police and others as suitable wear in Britain’s famously wet climate. The new coats became known as Mackintoshes with an extra K; in fact, the inventor’s birth name was McIntosh.
Early versions were not ideal as the rubber tended to perish. This was solved in 1843 with vulcanised rubber made more durable by the addition of sulphur.
Two hundred years later, the Japanese company Yagi Tsusho owns the Mackintosh brand name. It now manufactures the rubbery sandwich core material in Japan in before shipping it to a factory in Lancashire to be made into Mackintoshes.”
So there it is! The fabric is made in Japan and sent to Lancashire to be made into raincoats. Who gets most of the profits? I wonder. So much for taking back control! Personally I am all for a bit of international cooperation but I wonder what the ardent Brexiteers think about it.
Hey ho!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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