Simple Days at Home

Things are very quiet in rural Vermont. Many of us are getting ready for the coming winter. There are pretty leaves all over the landscape. Raking will soon become a family activity.  

There is always so much to do, from sun up to sun down.  There are children to care for, meals to cook, and a home to clean.   We all enjoy having Grandbaby here for an extended stay, along with his dear mother.  They brighten the home and keep the laughter going. 

I have been teaching baby how to clean. He just turned a year old.  I will give him a damp rag and he loves to clean his own high chair tray.  He will laugh with delight when he helps me with the work.  Throughout the house, baby's laughter awakens a happiness in every heart. Every home should have a baby.

Our wood pellet stove has been fixed. Mister was able to take care of it.  He has been doing test runs for us on these cool September mornings.  I love sitting near the fire with a pleasant book.

The other afternoon, I made a double batch of homemade frozen pizza. I neatly wrapped them in wax paper and stacked them in Ziploc freezer bags.  I thought how wonderful it would be if my freezer was full of homemade foods, rather than packaged commercial products from the store.  A carefully filled freezer of home goods, is something like rows of home canned foods stored away for the coming winter.

I need to set up a little basket near my parlour chair.  Socks, in this house, need mending. I haven't mended socks in such a long time, but I know it will be an enjoyable process. Perhaps when Amy (baby's mother) sits with me to chat, she will pick up some of the work, and we can mend while we have our daily visits in the parlour.

One of the greatest things I have learned as a homemaker and mother, is to have incredible patience with life.  One must never act on emotion - never in the moment.  Time is needed to pray, or to consider.  Having simple, quiet days at home, has made this all very clear to me.  Through a trusting patience in the Lord, we have a great contentment. Worries tend not to linger. They fade away as quickly as they came. 

To keep busy at home, in a slow and simple way, is a wonderful way of life.

Blessings
Mrs. White

From the Archives:

Please don't be one of these - Bossy Wives.

From My Kitchen - Baking Homemade Cinnamon Rolls by Lamplight.




For Home-keeping Inspiration, order my book - For The Love of Christian Homemaking. 




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The Excitement of One New Dress

In my Mother's day, children normally had three outfits. The saying was: "One in the drawer. One in the wash. And One on your back." There were seasonal shopping trips to get a new dress (or outfit) at various times of the year. But it was nothing like today's shopping frenzy, in the modern home.

Before the "requirement" of walk-in closets, people generally had few outfits.  They had what was necessary along with one or two special (dress-up) garments.   There was no need for large closets. It was not a standard feature when building a home.

When young girls were learning to sew, they were excited at the idea of shopping for material, notions and a basic dress pattern. They would spend hours cutting pattern pieces and fabric. They would carefully sew, and try on portions of the dress. A tremendous amount of effort went into making such a dress! There was also much pride in the finished product.  Those dresses may not have cost very much, but they were treasured by each amateur seamstress. 

I still remember how much time went into making my very first dress.  I also remember selecting a pattern for a baby dress when my first child was only a few months old. I loved sewing a dress for her, and trimming the collar in lace!  I have made many girls' dresses over the years and those dresses have been cared for and enjoyed more than any store bought item. Why? Because so much time was spent on their creation.  Most of the dresses were made for a specific event or holiday, but worn many times, over many years.

Of course, in this present day, it is very inexpensive to buy a new dress. Sales at local department stores and the quality of items available at consignment and thrift shops make it very easy to find affordable clothes.   But sometimes I wonder if we buy too many dresses?  

What if we carefully sought out only one dress at a time. What if we bought one dress each season, or made one dress? Would we take our time and make a deliberate selection, rather than just buying whatever was available (or easy)?

Imagine how exciting it would be if we shopped for one pretty dress just like girls of yesteryear searched for a pattern and fabric?  Not only would we save a tremendous amount of money, but we would slowly build a lovely wardrobe of charming clothing!

Blessings
Mrs. White

Is Mother Required to Offer Daily Desserts? - The Thrifty Kitchen.

How Clean is your House? - Beware of Random Kitchen Inspections.

For those Very Busy Days - Cooking while Holding a Bible.

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Comforted by my Homemaking Tools

I have this old ironing board that I have used for many years. It is wobbly and the cover is faded and worn. I did some ironing yesterday. I set it up in front of the television and watched "The Waltons" while I ironed pillowcases and fabric for sewing projects. I took breaks from ironing to wash bedsheets and make beds. I did dishes, made lunch and enjoyed a very special homemaking day.

I love the scent of a hot iron, and the feel of warm clothes. It reminds me of the comfort of home. When it was time to put the ironing board away, I thought of how it would be nice to get a new one. But then realized I needed to keep this old one. It has been well-used, all these years, and is an important part of my life. Why would I replace it with something modern and cold and foreign? I need to be surrounded by the familiar. I need to look at my homemaking tools and remember they have been used year- after- year and that I've done well.

One thing that is difficult about using a computer is that it is very hard to keep house while surfing the Internet or checking emails, or writing.   But when I watch television or listen to the radio, I can iron and sew and walk about the house doing projects. I can dust and polish and visit with my family. I can interact with those around me and accomplish things that give me great joy.

I mostly try to use the computer in the very early hours before sunrise. Then I spend the rest of my day focusing on the joy of the home arts - familiar things - surrounded by my family - and ironing and sewing and doing dishes.    Even the mere act of sweeping the floor provides a good feeling.  I love to see the vacuum cleaner and the broom and my dustpan, over in the corner. I see the furniture polish under the kitchen shelf, and my sewing basket on the hutch,  and I know these special tools are part of my daily life.   It is a rich and full life.  And I am ever-grateful.

blessings
Mrs. White

Leading your Teens to the Lord - Mother's Silent Influence in the Home.

Precious Old Country Song -  About When Mama Dies.

Ideas and Encouragement - How The Old Time Mothers Survived Poverty.



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Importance of Home Economics Training

When Homemakers Learn The Science of Keeping a Home, Society Benefits.


Keeping the home is a challenging career in itself. We are not unemployed, living in leisure. We have daily work that keeps us busy. It is important that we are trained in the scientific arts of home economics.  Here are just some of the things we need to do:

1. Operate and maintain appliances. We also need to understand how new models work and see if they will make our homes more efficient - both in saving labor and money.

2. We need to learn nutrition. This is for the health of our families.  This includes our choices in the grocery store, our meal planning, our baking and cooking.  We must have basic cooking and shopping skills.

3. Basic Medical Care. We are lay-nurses. We must know how to handle colds, fevers, and minor injuries.

4. Child Care and Development. We need to know the basics of caring for a baby, toddler, child, teenager and young adult.

5. Basic Sewing.  We need to be able to, at the very least, repair clothes and sew on buttons. Making clothes for the family, or sewing drapes, and doing embroidery work, etc. are nice, but not essential in today's homes.

6. Laundry and Cleaning. To run a sanitary, efficient home, we must learn the basics of laundry and how to clean a house.

What if you don't know any of this stuff and are struggling at home?

 In the early part of the 1900's, homemakers clubs were available in many towns throughout the United States. This was where the women would get together to learn from one another. In my local town's Historical Society, there is a photograph of a group of mothers in a homemaker's club in the 1930's. Their support of one another was wonderful!

Today, we can join quilting clubs, cooking clubs and the like. We can also read books, watch videos and learn in many different ways. The important thing to remember is that we must always continue to sharpen our skills and learn because changes in modern culture and technology affect our work at home.

Some Quotes from the Experts:

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"Home economics should find its way into the curriculum of every school because the scientific study of a problem pertaining to food, shelter or clothing… raises manual labor that might be drudgery to the plane of intelligent effort that is always self-respecting…Home economics is not one department, in the sense in which dairying or entomology or soils is a department. It is not a single speciality… Many technical and educational departments will grow out of it as time goes on."

Martha Van Rensselaer (1913)
Professor of Home Economics and Co-Director of the New York State College of Home Economics


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"From the broad view of intelligent statecraft, the state will find an education in home economics a tool of the utmost importance in building up forces which increase physical well-being of the population and which make for a reduction in the number of persons thrown back to the state for support by reason of physical, mental, or moral failure."

Albert R, Mann (1930)
Dean, New York State College of Agriculture


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"Home-making today should have a background of scientific training because only in this way can real efficiency be achieved. The average girl wants to be able to keep her house with the least possible strain, and in order to do this she must have good training. This can best be achieved by taking a good course in home economics."

Eleanor Roosevelt (1933)
First Lady


Blessings
Mrs. White


The Blessing of Long Marriage - Are you Still Tricking Your Wife?

The Reality of Life at our House, and the Retreat of  - Mother's Domain.

Come Home for - Real Old Fashioned Suppers.


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