Wednesday, November 04, 2009

A Passion For Potatoes


Peeling Potatoes, by Ernest Walbourn
British, 1872-1927


Potato Digging in the Kitchen Garden
by William Small,  British: 1843-1929


Potato Harvest
by Ernest Masson (France 19th century)


Planting Potatoes
by Frederick Leighton
Britain, 1830-1896




Digging Potatoes
by Carl Larsson,  Sweden, 1853- 1919

Digging Potatoes November 4th
These are all Copyrighted photos: all rights reserved! Do not duplicate or put anywhere on the web.


How do you know when a potato is ready?  When the blossoms and the vine dies and looks lifeless.


Looks like there is something here...


I am quite sentimental about potatoes.



Potato digging is very hard labor and  dirty work...




Yet, it is somewhat more glorified if my dress matches the potatoes. This cotton fabric did not stain or tear, and looked just like those pink skinned potatoes. Please notice the back grounds of the potato diggers in the paintings of the 1800's and take in the pretty clothing of the homemakers of the 1800's, depicted there.  As I love potatoes I was just thrilled to find several artists that capture the women planting, harvesting and preparing potatoes. This is true beauty!

They scrub up quite nicely. I can bake them or use them in different recipes...


...such as baking them in a large, shallow pan in the oven, with olive oil and rosemary...

...or making a garden potato salad with tomatoes and chives..

or
Potato Scones, which are always a great hit at a tea party.

Take 6 cups of mashed potatoes and mix in one cup of unbleached flour. Lay the mixture on a flour covered piece of wax paper and pat to about an inch thick. Cut into circles or squares and fry both sides in hot olive oil until brown and slightly crisp on each side. . Let drain on a paper towel and serve with butter or jam or honey.


Our parents wisely put us to work when we were very young, planting and harvesting potatoes. If you have read my book, "Just Breathing the Air, " you would have seen the photograph of me with my first potato crop, which I sold to a local grocery store. I have not stopped loving the discovery of dozens of beautiful pink, gold, or purple potatoes beneath one dead stalk, which began with one tiny potato. 

One reason I like potatoes so much, is that I know how comforting they are, as a food, even when you do not feel well. They are loaded with nutrients that improve your mood and can help you feel better when you are not well.  One way to fix them for a sick person is to cook them til they are soft enough to mash, and mix them with other boiled produce such as green beans, brocoli, carrots, etc.  Take all these cooked vegetables and blend them in a blender or mash them or use a mixer and puree them. Leave some of the broth from the saucepan, and blend it up til it is a soup. Then pour it into a bowl and top it with croutons, and it seems to revive a person suffering from illness.

One reason for this, is that potatoes are easily digestable. Potatoes are packed with Vitamin C and B-complex, and minerals like potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, and zinc, which are all good for your skin!!  You can make a face pack out of crushed  raw potatoes and honey, and you can use a slice of potato on a burn or cut to heal it.  Eating cooked potatoes can help prevent viral infections like colds.

Eating potatoes regularly can reduce high blood pressure and prevent sugar cravings, thus lowering the chances of related diseases. It keeps the brain active and alert, prevents heart disease, kidney stones, and diarrhea. No wonder potato soup is a favorite among potato-lovers.

For me, it is the entire outdoor experience that makes me a potato-lover.  You do not have to be in the country to have potatoes. Just turn a section of your yard into a miniature farm and you'll experience the joy of having your own food, unadulterated by chemicals of any kind. You must dig a shallow, long ditch, and plant the potatoes, sprout side up (or a whole sprouted potato) in the dirt that makes the hill section.  If you will make a distinct mound for each plant, they will be easier to find when it is time to dig.  Dig a wide area around the hill and not too close to the vine, so that you wont cut the potatoes with your shovel. 

Working outside seems to clear the mind of troubles, and renew your optimism. When you return to the house, you feel you can do anything!


Pretty potatoes from my garden: Yukon Gold, White, and Purple. The purple potatoes are purple inside, as well, which adds color to any meal.

Your local farmers market, and some grocery stores that have good produce, is a great way to get the potatoes you need if you do not grow them.  You can use potatoes for the entire meal and put a variety of toppings on them. If you have limited space, try growing them in a large container. You will not even have to dig them. Just pull up the potato vine or dump the pot of soil, and see those wonderful potatoes.

Read more about potatoes here http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vegetable/health-benefits-of-potato.html

and see a list or essential nutrients, including a whopping amount of Vitamin C, here http://home.howstuffworks.com/potatoes3.htm

If you are interested in "potato politics" you might study this site http://mises.org/story/2978  


48 comments:

Anonymous said...

I get sick of women saying they "cant do anything" in a dress. They DON'T do anything much in jeans! Notice how active these women are in the paintings. You can bend over in a dress and never be embarrassed, as it covers you completely.

Rachel said...

Anonymous, I agree. Admittedly, climbing a fence can be difficult. But it can be done in a pinch! Short of a really brisk wind (and living in OK, we definitely get our share) at the right angles, you don't have to worry about anything embarrassing. People just don't seem to think anymore...frustrating, indeed.

Our potatoes were viciously attacked by potato beetles. Oh my word, were they ever. We need to go see if we actually have anything left out there (we had 20+ 200 ft rows, and inclement weather and the aftermath thereof has prevented us from getting out there and checking).

Your potatoes look lovely, though--and you are as pretty as one of the pictures you've been so good as to share with us!

Lydia said...

Just a hint for newbie potato-people: Give your potatoes a lot of water. If your potatoes taste bitter, it is because they have not been watered enough.

Anonymous said...

I too love potatoes and unwittingly planted some in my garden.
I keep a compost bucket and lid (old laundry soap bucket) under my sink and fill it once a day with veg. scraps from my kitchen. I bury the scraps directly into an unused area or path in the garden and before long it is decomposed into the soil. Makes wonderful soil.

Well, one day I threw out some sprouted and wrinkly old white potatoes into the compost and garden. Before long I had a potatoe plant and let it go till it died down. I didn't know growing potatoes was so easy.

And the fun thing is you never get all the potatoes harvested. Seed potatoes are left in the ground and you get new potatoes next spring.
When dear husband tilled the garden the next spring a very large 7" potatoe came to the surface and we were both surprized.
Thank you for sharing the gardening and dress making articles on your blog. I always look forward to all your entries.

Anonymous said...

HA! Anonymous at 5:44PM, you made me laugh out loud, and you are absolutely right!

Anonymous said...

You look so pretty working in your dress! No one would want to paint women the way most of them dress today.

I saw a young mom yesterday who was stuffed into a really tight pair of jeans that dragged on the ground. She looked so uncomfortable and I am sure she would be embarrassed if she knew how much of her backside was showing as she was bending over to put her baby in the car seat. All I could think was how much better a long skirt would have worked for her.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and I live your apron (dress too. Is the apron made with a specific pattern?

Primrose Hill said...

Wonderful post! That potato salad looks divine!

Brenda@CoffeeTeaBooks said...

My mother was a widow with seven children for many years before she met and married my dad.

One way she stretched her meals was having fried potatoes with onions quite a few times a week.

I do the same thing but I parboil mine first and leave the skins on (less fat required and more vitamins and fiber). My guys always smile when they see those potatoes on the plate.

It is a shame potatoes have gotten such a bad reputation.

Anonymous said...

Looks like you have been very busy. Thank you for posting on your blog. I check everyday,and am truly encouraged with the beautiful pictures and information. I can't wait to get some potatoes and make some soup! Next year I may try planting some. May God bless everything you put your hand to. In His love.

Anonymous said...

Lady Lydia,

I love your dress. I love the fact that you show how you can wear dresses, skirts and DO things... I only wear dresses and skirts and I do so many activities. It does pay to learn how to sew. I ski in a snow skirt... I took a ski bib overall and split it and added material, to make it a skirt, and I ski just fine thank you... I love being feminine and try not to let that stop me from being active.

Lydia said...

I have a ski painting of women in the 1800's wearing ski dresses and was going to use it for an appropriate article. It was painted by a well known artist of that time.

To those who say you can't "do anything" in a dress, I agree that some things MIGHT warrant wearing dungarees or overalls--such as driving a tractor or plowing a field or slopping the hogs, but, how many women in our country today are agrarian? Not many are actually growing their own food and most go to the grocery store. Does one NEED to wear dungarees or denim overalls to the grocery store? Most women drive nice cars, at that. Is the lifestyle of cars and shopping and vacumming the floor and baking, so difficult, so rigourous and so dirty that it requires "sturdy" jeans and huge, clunky sport shoes? I too have seen women bending down with a child, and showing their underwear and thong and everything else. It is because they do not think they can find anything better to wear than the low cut jeans. The stores sell all that creepy clothing more cheaply and mothers are very active and think they HAVE to wear sportswear. We've had discussions like this before, and many women have felt that they are not given a choice about clothing; that there just isn't much out there to choose from. However, you can get a denim skirt and wear it over a summer dress, with a denim jacket, if you are so attached to denim. You can wear that outfit in winter over the summer dresses.

Lydia said...

Another potato-scone method:

Take any mashed potatoes, left over or new, and roll them in wax paper like you would for frozen sliced cookies. Freeze until hard enough to slice. Slice and coat in flour and fry both sides in olive oil.

Unknown said...

A wonderful post! It is so wonderful to see other women out and about wearing beautiful dresses! I love potatoes, and we use them so often! Someday I hope to have a garden where I can plant them! Have a beautiful day!

Anonymous said...

I read the site about the so called potato famine. It is a good lesson for today: never let the government establish such a thing as "free trade". Land does not grow barren because of bad weather as much as bad government! Keep growing potatoes and keep the government out of your life.

Anonymous said...

The humble tattie; not to be lightly mocked or dismissed...

This simple vegetable and nothing else, on its own, can be survived upon for a year. Add in milk, and both of these can sustain one indefinitely... To see what a powerhouse the potato actually is, go to

http://www.worldshealthiestfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=48

Ours grew very well and took around 4-5 months; unfortunately, we didn't get as many per planted, sprouted potato as we'd have hoped, but what we did get was beautiful and perfectly textured; we planted out deseraes . Nicola are beautiful; yellow skinned and fleshed; full of flavour and perfect for potato salads. there is a deep purple skinned potato with equally deep purple flesh that would make a stunning potato salad, mash or soup! They're also beautifully flavourful...

Just type in 'gnocci recipe' into your search engine of choice - potato, flour and egg - and a lovely slow cooked pasta sauce... out of this world, and gnocci freezes well, even though potato as is once cooked freezes not so well... I make a similar soup to your potato soup to finish up vegetable odds and ends during winter. For winter viruses, my soup is potato with as much garlic as you dare - even a whole bulb - and isn't it half good!!

Our carrots have been booming for around 6 weeks now; and our cauliflower have yielded two, with three coming up at various stages; our Garlic should be ready to harvest by Christmas and our summer rediccio and various basils are jumping out of the pots!

As for gardening in skirts, good long practicle work skirts - not a problem!! these are so much more comfortable than pants or jeans and allow for infinitely better movement.


Keep on gardening!

candy said...

I LOVE your dress!!!
Also, I love potatoes too! We have them almost every single day. Im a meat and potatoes girl. I especially like mashed potatoes and gravy haha as well as potatoe salad. I grew up in Newfoundland, Canada (which is the province in Canada that is completely different from the rest of Canada as people have their own ways, their own dialect and all. Newfoundland is very similar to Ireland).
Anyway, one of the popular dishes in Newfoundland is potato salad but not regular potato salad, its either mustard or beet potato salads. It is a staple at weddings and any events. The beet salad is pink. (naturally from the beets) and the mustard one is yellow so its funny but tastes amazing!

Recipe for Beet Salad:
boil potatoes well. drain and mash. add 1/2 cup miracle whip. add 1/2 jar of beets and beet juice. Will turn the potato salad pink. add a spoonful of sugar. mash more. taste and see if more miracle whip is needed or more beets. And then chill in fridge for a min. of 30 mins (or longer) as its supposed to be served cold like regular potato salad.

For mustard potato salad, just add mustard instead of beets.

Lydia said...

Thank you for the great links about potatoes.

I do wear pants...under my clothes. They are ankle length leggings, gray, and cost about $5.00 at WalMart. They come in knee length also. I believe the ladies in the past were not bare-legged in spite of wearing dresses exclusively. THey had a lot of things they wore beneath the dresses, and a type of pant was worn next to their skin. Dresses were the outer wear and pants were the underwear. Now, underwear has become outer-wear, it seems.

As for keeping clean while gardening. It is easy, unless it is raining or the ground is soggy. The photographs were taken on a very dry day. The only things that got dirty were my hands, and I often wear gloves when picking up potatoes. Lavender soap and a brush for gardeners, removes the dirt from nails and hands. I wore the same dress to do my daily house routine, to town afterwards and then for company. Ihave found other old paintings I will show, with women of the past doing all kinds of things, and photographs also from the autochrome era, showing women in nature.

Anonymous said...

I had to laugh because that is exactly what I was doing on November 4th, digging out the rest of my taters. It took me all morning and by nighttime, my back was hurting but maybe that was also because the day before I had cleaned out my chicken house which takes me an hour to shovel out each time I do it if I do it every 3 months. Next I need to spread the chicken litter on the empty garden but we haven't had frost yet so I still have tomatos, peppers and lettuce growing. And I do all of this in a dress. I don't even think about it, just do it.But I don't wear those dresses to town, they are my older dresses that used to be either church dresses or going to town dresses that are wearing out. That way, you get to wear your dresses for several years which is great when you have to take the time to sew each one
Laura

Anonymous said...

These posts are such a blessing and you look lovely. Even though I am not dresses-only, I like this encouragement to look feminine and even wear dresses whenever we can. You are an inspiration. This is an awesome series.

Jennifer C. Valerie said...

I love potatoes but we don't have a yard to plant. I came across a site that shows a way to grow them using a barrel that I found interesting. I'm thinking of trying that.

Anonymous said...

Thanks dear Lydia for your posts. I too love potatoes but don't have the physical ability to put that effort into growing/picking them but I do get to cook them.:) Part of lunch today will be potato, garlic and tomatoes cooked in a pan on the stove top with some other pre-cooked vegetables I have left over in the fridge. Thanks for sharing; (and the ladies too), all very interesting. (I have never had a problem doing anything I wish in a skirt/dress.) Linda

Anonymous said...

Your potatoes are wonderful, Mrs. Sherman! And the meals you prepared with them, as well...yum!
I don't grow good potatoes. My soil is not sandy enough, & I'm plagued with scab in the soil. :o(

Thanks for all the recipes & nutritional advice relating to potatoes. I always like learning all I can!

Anonymous said...

Lydia,

yes, it's what we wear beneath the dresses that helps abundantly with their practicality. i wear leggings similar to the ones you've mentioned in winter, mine are black and are of the 'City rose' or 'Tello' brand (available through Middle Eastern modest womens' clothing retailers) along with longer socks (outside, they grip to the leggings and don't slip throughout the day), both in black, or leggings in white if I wear knee black socks. In summer, its long pettishorts of simple plain calico just below the knee, a half slip or pettiblouse, then the dress or skirt depending. These maximize comfort, give modesty and keep the wearer either warm or cool through the chilliest winters or hottest summers. Pettipants, a half slip or pettiblouse allow me to wear my long skirts or dresses with good leather walking sandals and no need for stockings without looking trampy or unfinished. also a must during Sydney summers.

Ladies wondering how one would wear skirts re practicality, I believe too many women automatically imagine the kneelength pencil or equally impractical skirt with stockings...........and not the practical dress with its underpinnings that allow one to work hard in the garden or home in skirts without impediment or risk of imodesty.

Borrow any historical costume encyclopedia from your local library and you'll find extensive enntries on underclothing; bloomers or pantiloons have been worn by women for the better part of 200 years precisely for their comfort, modesty and practicality. Indeed, underwear is now worn and marketed as outerwear; shorts or kneelength leggings with sleeveless top...only thing missing from this picture is a lovely flowing dress!!

keep up the wonderful work!!

Anonymous said...

Potatoes are NOT fattenning. They got bad press when low-carb craze swept the nation. They are a more natural source of complex carbs than bread, which is a combination of ingredients from other sources. The potato will help you lose weight, because it satisfies you. If you decided to eliminate it from your eating, you end up hungry, and eating more of something else. It doesn't hurt at all to have a baked potato. Just dont have other carbs, like bread, pie, a milkshake, corn on the cob, etc. all at the same time. If you have meat and a potato and a salad or vegetable, it is extremely satisfying.

Anonymous said...

I have been reading your blog for about a year and I just wanted to let you know how much I have been blessed by everything! The pictures, the wisdom--it is the highlight of my day to check your blog and see if anything new is posted. I am not a woman "at home" although I would like to be. Reading your blog has convinced me of that. I would like to ask for any advice from you or your readers about what to do if your husband doesn't feel it to be that important for the wife to be at home. He is a wonderful husband but he feels that we would go under if I quit my job. I am a very thrifty person--we don't eat out, we buy at thrift stores, we garden, but it IS still hard to make ends meet but I think I could do it but I want his full cooperation. Any advice would be appreciated!!

Anonymous said...

I love visiting your blog. Thank you so much!

Sonya

Anonymous said...

Re. what to do if your husband does not think you can make it if you come home. I have been a homemaker for 10 years, but it started out slow. I went from working 12 hour days at a professional job to part time hours after our first child. My husband had a job that barely supported us but I persisted in greatly cutting back my hours, wanting to be home with my child. It was a real leap of faith. Amazingly, the less I worked, the more my husband started looking for a better job. He quickly secured good employment with benefits that allowed me to stay home. It was just like I later read in Fascinating Womanhood - the more I worked outside the home, the less motivation he had. When I worked less outside the home, he worked more and eventually made double what he had when we first married. I know of so many situations like this.In one case, the husband actually started working less as his wife worked more. If he did not like a job, he was quick to quit after his wife started working, knowing there was a backup income. His earnings have decreased to the point that she now earns nearly as much as him and has to keep a job to maintain their home. They are both more miserable and exhausted than ever. He feels bad and she is angry at his lack of motivation. It is so sad to see.

In this economy, things are tough, but it can be done. Lady Lydia has written extensively on this and I have found her points to be completely accurate in "real life" application. It is also very important to keep your expenses down in every way possible. There are many articles and websites for this that can be a big help.

Laura Ashley said...

I have to say that, if what you wrote is true, then everything I thought I knew about potatoes was wrong. I had been taught they didn't provide any nutrition, that all they did was fill your stomach. And this was long before the Adkin's Diet became popular.

One thing, my mother didn't like us to cook them because they take so long to cook in the oven, over an hour, and that of course uses a lot of electricity.

Well I am off to research potatoes!

Lydia said...

Expenses go way, way down, when you quit work. No more driving two or three or four times a day to work and then some, and no buying ready made food or clothes. At home, you can wear out your clothes down to the last outfit, and then shop around carefully to try to get something for nothing. I noticed our local dollar stores are selling sweaters and jackets for a dollar, which are made in USA and some of the Pendleton brand, 100 percent wool. A working woman just does not have the time to find that kind of bargain.

Lydia said...

If you shun potatoes, you will just get a craving for carbs that are simple (sweets, processed foods). Carbs from potatoes fill you up but satisfy you and dont take so long to hit your brain so there is not a sudden leap and then a downfall in your blood sugar. Potatoes that are cooked the day they are dug, cook up quickly. It is the grocery store potatoes that seem to be tough as nails and take a long time in the oven to cook.

Lydia said...

You remember the old adage that was spread around in the 1950's and 60's: a woman should have a career so she will have something to fall back on if something happens to her husband. What really happened was a woman got a career and a man thought he had something to fall back on so he did not take as much responsibility to earn a living.

Anonymous said...

It's hard to put into words how a family lives on one income. First of all it comes down to having a different mind-set to what you have when both man and woman work. I think you must accept a more simple life, which in fact becomes a more contented life. You cannot buy all the latest stuff, but after a while you don't want to and that is pleasure in itself.

Most of all though it comes down to knowing God will provide. Put Him first in your life and do your best to do as He requires and He really does do the rest. God is faithful.

Growing some of your food yourself, cooking a great deal of your own food (creative and a joy), not having to travel to work and not having to have the best clothes for every day is saving.

As others have said, it does seem that when the woman stops working and starts relying on the man for the family income, the man somehow steps up. He feels more important.

Sonya

Anonymous said...

Aha. Last summer we went to a picnic at my husband's work, and like usual, about one woman in 400 wore a skirt. Anyway, I participated in the canoe race with my husband, and came in second place! The boss's wife couldn't believe I had done it in a skirt...Who says you can do NOTHING in a dress!!!

Laura Ashley said...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20091106/cm_csm/yperri

I saw the above article and thought you might be interested. It is one woman's thoughts about the clothes children are wearing these days.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you're here, Lady Lydia. I had a rotten day and just needed some encouragement.

Think I'm going to make myself some potato soup now. In my dress, wink wink.

xoxo
Jo

Anonymous said...

It was fun to read along. Planting potatoes is something I definitely want to try out. I could seriously eat them for every meal!

Sarah R said...

Lady Lydia:

A great come-back to that old "I need a career in case something awful happens to my husband" is simply to buy life insurance. It's a lot cheaper than college. Of course, this doesn't guarantee against divorce, but when I speak to most women, they're not concerned about divorce. They're worried about if their husbands pass away.

Jo (again)

Lydia said...

Jo, Great advice. I cannot emphasise it enough myself: insurance will pay a lot more than a college education and you will not have to leave your duties at home or send your children to government institutions to be raised and educated. Its really worth the small monthly payments.

Anonymous said...

To Laura Ashley, try buying a ten pound bag of potatoes and baking them all at the same time in your oven. Then when they cool, place them back in the plastic bag and store it in the freezer.
Every time you want one for dinner take it from the freezer and put it in the microwave oven on thaw. Once it is thawed then reheat for a minute or two.
You will use less electricity and have a meal a lot faster whenever it is convenient.

I started doing this when I was a young mother. I was able to find more time to play with my little girl, spent less time cooking meals, and I saved a bundle not heating the oven for an hour each time I wanted baked potatoes for dinner. It didn't take up that much room in my freezer.

Anonymous said...

Lady Lydia, I have never heard of purple potatoes before! Thanks for sharing, that's so interesting.

Anonymous said...

One piece of advice about the life insurance. Try to buy it while you are young (under 35 or 40) and without any medical conditions. As we get older, it gets harder to qualify for a good rate, if the insurance can be obtained at all. I was diagnosed with a chronic illness in my early 30s that basically precludes me from ever getting an affordable policy. I can get a simple policy that would cover my funeral expenses, but that is about it. When my husband got life insurance, he was put through an extensive physical. They came to our home and drew blood, weighed him, examined his history, the family history, etc. It would be hard for many older folks to pass such a rigorous physical examination so that is something to consider when you are young.

Lydia said...

It stands to reason that if you need to turn on the oven you might as well cook more than one loaf of bread or more than one or two potatoes.

Anonymous said...

Lady Lydia, I am the one who wanted advice on helping my husband see that I could come home. I appreciate the encouragement from you and your readers, and I have been given a lot of things to think about. I did realize that I haven't been relying on the Lord like I should. Right now I am just so discouraged because my child needs me at home. She is thirteen and has to be at other peoples home and sometimes stay by herself, I know that little ones need supervision but I feel that a child that age still needs supervision. The trouble she could get into could be serious. I feel like it could be just too late by the time my husband thinks it okay for me to come home. Please pray for me.

Lydia said...

This is my opinion about the above comment:

Women are less able to control their own situations at home than their Victorian counterparts. They knew they were responsible to "rule" their homes, like the Bible says. They had their way in things connected to home life, and they ruled the children's daily lives. SInce feminism, women are powerless in their own homes! tHEY RULE NOWHWERE, and yet, in the Bible, they were told to guide and guard their homes. Guiding entails managing children and managing the housekeeping and the meals and the family money. Women today have been robbed of this power that the Victorian women had. They do not even know how to take charge and they feel they must get permission to do the very things that come natural to them and that are commanded by God for them. Where is the courageous woman who will take a stand when others are against her? WHere is the woman who recognizes that her children are helpless and that all decisoins she makes will effect their lives? A decision not to stay home is a decision to put the child, through no fault of his own, in the hands of others to be taught their values and not her values. A decision not to be home with her child is to put the child at the mercy of others. Childhood is so fleeting and when all is said and all is done, there is nothing more important--not money, not time, not others, not even popular opinion. If you think that you will one day look back and have deep sorrow and regrets about it, then do what is right, no matter what the cost and choose to take your appointed place in his life. Choose to take hold of the job that is rightfully yours and give your child memories of a mother who ignored the prevailing culture and took her God-given place in life as wife, mother and homemaker.

As for convincing the husbanda: the job you do at home with your child is the only convincing example there is. Arguing and talking just doesn't do it as well, and by the time he is convinced, it will be too late.

Anonymous said...

There is a scripture that says we must obey God, rather than man. I think too many women are letting men tell them to do something that is contrary to God's word. If women go to work at the request of their husbands, they are putting their own husbands in spiritual danger because they are helping him participate in disobedience to God.

Anonymous said...

I feel I must comment about the woman who wanted advice on how to convince her husband that her time & efforts would be more valuable at home.

I think there is a lonliness that settles in children's souls when their mother isn't at home. I know that my three, though teenagers all, count on me a great deal to advise & guide them. It isn't as though they cling...it's more that they just want to know I'm "there". And I am.

My seasonal (paid) work is done for the year; I will not try to make anyone reading this believe there wasn't a measure of satisfaction that I received from doing this work. Of course there was. But I know that those hours spent away from home (sometimes as many as 6 in a day) meant that my influence could wane, if I didn't hold on tight. I knew I would have to work extra hard to maintain the attitudes, respect, & behaviors I expected from them.

All went well....that is, I can't honestly report anything earth-shattering that happened in my absence. But I missed home terribly. I was thankful that the type of work I was getting paid for was not the kind that required intense & continual concentration. So I would let my mind wander to the things I had going at home. What type of salad should I make for supper?...I hope the kids remembered to look after the cat...Once we have the dishes washed tonight, I think I'll sit down & work on my knitting project. And so my thoughts would go.

I really pray, Mrs. Sherman, that your reader who wants to come home will be able to do so- soon. There can be no substitute for her presence there. I think in the longer term, her husband & daughter will appreciate it more than they realize.

Anonymous said...

Lady Lydia, you have given me some of the most wise and Godly advice I have ever been given and I will never forget it. I appreciate you taking the time and thought to do that for me. I have made up my mind what I'm going to do about being at home and I feel God has confirmed it through you. Thank you again! Anonymous at 7:57pm