Evening star., 1918-06-21
La,Dn and Porch Par
ties Plans and Con-
tr;vances That Make
the Work of Prefarat;on
Easy and Agreeable.

Hundreds OF washington nouse-
keepers will not be able to leave the
city this summer for vacation, but
they can have a number Of enjoyable
'home vacations" at very little ex-
pense and with very little work II
rightly managed.
In order to make a vacation at home
a real pleasure one must tighten the
work. Free the house of unnecessary
articles to sweep, wash, dust. iron or
move. Do not iron any articles in the
wash which can be left unironed,
such as sheets, pillowcases, towels,
stockings or gauze vests. Clear
everything out Of the house except
the useful and the beautiful There
are many persons who even take down
their curtains during the summer, but
this is not advisable unless they are
heavy draperies. as it leaves plain
looking house woefufly unattractive.
Live out of doors all you can. II
you have a porch leading from the
kitchen, do all the work you can out
there, or il there is a big tree at the
back door, go out there when you
are shelling peas, stringing beans.
pairing apples, sewing or working at
tree or on porch. When your work
is finished, sit anywhere but indoors:
Take advantage now of every bit of
the glorious summer weather and get
acquainted with the skies, the birds,
the flowers and the trees. Take an
:. afternoon off each week and devote 1t
to doing the thing that you really
want to do, not the thing that you
think you ought to do.
An interesting and profitable way to
spend vacation at home is to start a
hunt for nearby PORTS of historical in
terest, and Washington abounds in them.
Each member of the family should seek
to learn of some place to be visited. 1t
would be a good idea to have a sugges-
ton. box in which each member Of the
family could drop slip saying how they
would like to spend certain days.
Pleasant Surprises.
: Plan pleasant surprises for-the hus-
band and children. 1t will take little
money for outings on the street cars and
AN occasional day in the country. Watch
the notices of band concerts and take the
children to hear good music in the open
air, such as the Marine Band has to give
several times week.
If you have a porch, half the prob
lem of a home vacation is solved. Fit
1T up with a swinging couch, table.
comfortable chairs and awnings, and
you can almost live outdoors. If you
have no porch, there may be roof or
a section of a roof which can be
boarded over for outdoor living For
those who live in an apartment, there
is sometimes a roof garden to provide
outdoor life. If all else fails. morn
fngs and evenings can be spent in the
city parks.
,stay-at-home friends. These can be
held in the morning for sewing. play
ing cards or reading aloud. In the
evening. singing and other music.
Limit the refreshments to something
simple, such as an iced drink with
cheese or salad sandwiches, deviled
eggs. fried chicken, fruit and iced tea or
milk are good for something a little
more elaborate.
The daintiest Of picnic lunches can
be packed so that there will be no re-
ceptacles to carry home. Individual
salads can be packed into lemon
skin cases, thus doing away with
one large receptacle. Eggs. sand
wiches, chickens. pickles. etc, can
all be wrapped in oiled paper and
placed In berry boxes. and several of
these can be packed in a sood-sized
pasteboard box. Use paper napkins
and tablecloth and individual drink
ing cups.
Fiji a two-quart jar. with small
pieces OF ice. sealed tightly and
wrapped in several layers of news
paper. Ice will keep this way at
least twelve hours. A large cake
OF Ice covered with burlap viii keep
for two weeks. Dig a hole in the
ground, place the covered Ice in this
and cover with leaves. An old rub.
Der cover will protect from rain.
A Watermelon Bowl.
A pretty and appropriate punch