Guard of the Home

Greetings, Dear Ones,

I am honored that you tuned in during your busy day at home. These are great times, in some ways, and I know everyone is finding out the many opportunities of life in the home.

This morning I have been on my Austenworld walk, and so have taken some pictures that looked Regency-World-ish.

 

One thing I learned from the book "The Jane Austen Diet", which I read from in my broadcast today, is purposeful appreciation of these sights, rather than neglecting them.

I have also this morning tried hibiscus raspberry herbal tea, which scented the whole house when I simply made it in a cup.

I have been down the little driveway to check the mail box, and found a delightful answer to my brown paper creative challenge, sent by a reader, Christine, and it was a great relief to show something that someone else thought of:

Things I talked about in the broadcast today:

 -No one would say a guard does not do anything.

-Now that you are home, you may need to learn to be self motivated.  It helps to have a list of 5 minute tasks.

-5 minute tasks are so refreshing and help alleviate feeling unfocused or unsettled:

5 minutes to pray and give thanks

5 minute check in the mirror

5 minutes for a fragrant cup of tea

5 minutes reading the mail

5 minute clean up a common clutter spot

5 minute reading aloud

5 minute on the "observation deck"

5 minutes to learn something new

5 minutes walking inside or outside

5 minutes to set the table for the next meal

5 minutes to talk with someone

5 minutes being creative

-Keeping clean, bathing often, and having fresh breath is essential in order to be thoughtful of others, and to put people  at ease. It is also very health giving for your body and mind. Bathing is also great therapy.

Please enjoy your walk, your work, or your rest, while listening to the Homemaker's Radio:

               

Natural Bread

Greetings and I hope you are doing uncommonly well today. I have returned from my before-breakfast Austenworld walk in which I appreciated the creation's green.  I believe that the color green indicates wellness, and it does us all good to feast our senses on it when it is available.

Here is my teacup for the day...

...and a sample of the way I store my cups in the shelf:

In this broadcast of Homemaking Radio I read from Bryan Koslowski's book The Jane Austen Diet, about natural bread. He noted the Regency bakery practice of using additives in bread, and says that the modern bread aisle is in some ways, "an additive blast from the Regency past."

To remedy this, I keep a running commentary of alternatives to commercial bread.

For my personal "use of brown paper" challenge, I made a shorter bag, leaving the handles on, for carrying nature walk collections:

My bread recipe for two small loaves of bread in  the toaster oven ("oven") setting is approximately this:

Mix 3 cups unbromated flour (King Arthur or any other that fits your requirements for health)

with 1 teaspoon of Red Star yeast

1 teaspoon coconut sugar (or raw sugar, turbano, other types--some people like to use molasses for flavor instead)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

In another bowl mix I cup lukewarm water with one fourth cup olive oil and 1 well beaten egg. 

Blend the dry ingredients with the liquids and knead with wooden spoon until the dough sticks together. Add a handful of flour if necessary to make the dough less sticky.  Knead until it forms a ball and then place in the bowl, cover with a towel, and set over the dishwasher or some warm place until the dough has risen, doubly.

form two long loaves by rolling and twisting the dough, then brush with egg white or milk on the top, and place in greased (I use olive oil) baking pan in warm place. Cover with a large bowl until it has risen to double.

Bake at 350 F in your toaster oven for 25 minutes.

To raise the bread, I turn on my toaster oven and let it heat for a few minutes. Then I turn it off and place the bowl or pan on top the oven on potholders, covered, until it has risen. 

Everyone has to figure out what works best for them. This is satisfactory to me, but other people have their own ideas of what is the best recipe and technique for making bread.

Please enjoy whatever you need to do, while you listen today:

 

            

Eating Bread, Silence in Conversation

I have returned from a "Regency" walk.

I hope this broadcast of Homemaking Radio will go well with your walk or your work at home today. This is intended for homemakers but there are other people who tune in to hear The Jane Austen Diet by Bryan Koslowski.   I have accumulated a wealth of good from the information in it, as I like having the insight from the Regency Era. Today I am reading the chapter about bread in the Regency Era, adding commentary about baking bread in the toaster-oven:

For the family brown-paper-use challenge I made a runner for a table from a pleated/gathered strip of ruffled brown paper that came inside a food delivery box,  and...

... a temporary file for my notes from half a paper grocery bag.

 

Please enjoy your walk or your work while listening today:

For those who are trying to keep their moods on the bright side, I suggested putting a list of 5 minute activities that are enjoyable and encouraging.

Evening at The Manse

The intermittent walking routine I spoke of was sent to me by an email friend and I have seen it used by physical therapists and exercise coaches. I can send it to you if you will email me: ladylydiaspeaks@comcast.net 

Regency Snacking and a Mandate

My mandates today are:

Attempt to be serene and content without worry or tension for one day.

Go for a leisurely stroll and look, listen, feel, think.

Please enjoy your fresh air or your indoor contentment while you listen.

 

            

Doing Things Mindfully

Topics I covered in this episode:

Things that give us mind-balance:

A nature walk

Appreciation in general

Gentle stretches

Prayer

Making our own events

Create, build, refine, orderliness

Go beyond the just-get-by habit

Health

Please enjoy your walk or your work while you listen.

 

         

Included is a reading of part of a chapter of Bryan Koslowski's book, The Jane Austen Diet,

Chapter 2, "Our Devouring Plan"

Greatness in Enjoying Home

In this broadcast I refer to a number of things that might be helpful at home.

 -Being orderly can help detox the mind.

-Greatness is enjoying the home, and being happy with life, appreciating your country, enjoying your interests, finding purpose in work, being happy with things like having meals, comfortable sleep, and walking in fresh air.

Please enjoy any of those things while you listen today:

          

Today's teacup is an antique with the wild rose by Royal Adderly

I made a quick crayon drawing on a torn piece of brown paper for the brown paper/paper bag challenge today, getting an idea from old postcard art (see end of post).

Morning walks around The Manse are finished too quickly. Since I've been reading 

The Jane Austen Diet by Bryan Koslowski, 

moments outside and more deliberate and frequent.

Below: a sample of old fashioned postcard art, which I described in the broadcast today:

Please breath the air, walk around, laugh at something, sing something, read, write, create, and do your best to make the home the best place to be.

Reading From Chapter 1 "The Jane Austen Diet" and Other Topics

The condition of The Manse today is stormy weather, knocking every  leaf off the trees in the vicinity.  It is certainly an adventure to walk in the crunchy goodness but I am bracing myself to endure the 7-9 months of isolation and cold. As Mr. Gibson said to Hyacinth: "Stormy weather!"

Here is a storm song to sing along with today. 

 In a situation like this, I depend on your visits and comments, and I can't thank you enough for providing my window to the world. 

Hopefully I will be able to get my order in for some warm cotton flannel. I know a lot of people use it for pyjamas and blankets, but I plan to make dresses for the home with this cozy material.

To compete in the family brown paper uses challenge, I made a drip catching doily for the teacup saucer. Most people are using cups these days for their drinks, but there are still some of my people who prefer the cup and saucer, and this is an essential creation that costs nothing but time and effort. (Although we do pay 5 cents for our large paper bags at the grocery stores). 

Today I talked about the home being the center for mind clarity, and briefly discussed what I called "mental detox". 

Please enjoy your walk or your work while you listen to this episode of Homemakers Radio:

            

Becaise I mentione pie in the broughtcast, I thought you might enjoy what this cook says about the making of Pumpkin Pie from 1670

              

Reading the Prologue

Greetings and welcome to The Manse, which is surrounded by beautiful leaves today. Get yourself a dish of tea and join me inside while I talk about some niceties of  life.

Today I read a paragraph from the 1837 McGuffey's 3rd reader, and it was delightful  how deeply thoughtful, spiritual and intellectual it was. You can order reprints of this set of treasures from various online publishers. 

Also, I read Bryan Koslowski's prologue in his book "The Jane Austen Diet." I am enjoying reading his observations about many things in the Austen world,  through these books. He looked deeper into these texts and found clues to their way of life--the way they spent their time, ate, exercised, socialized, and much more. 

This book has influenced me to take my morning dish of tea while outside.

Certainly we should be inspired as poets, writers, artists and composers when we observe our beautiful surroundings.

While talking about the fact that many women are home for long periods of time during this crazy political era, I mentioned that home is now "everything" and it is wise to make it the best place that you can.

I also talked about dressing your best and being clean and well groomed for even the most ordinary tasks at home: dressing well for exercise, reading the mail, going for walks, cleaning the house, and even ordering on the web, can remind us of the greater purpose of everything.

To walk through your home and note what areas give you a sense of peace and what other spaces create stress, is one way to analyze the house for comfort and appeal and to decide what quick changes you can make.

Courtesy in the family is paramount, for we never know what the future might bring. In an emergency situation, would your conversational habits (criticism, contradicting, arguing) make you an appealing person to be in confinement with? We must all come out the other side of any bad situation having been refined by the trials of life,  making us pleasant to be with. 

So, please enjoy your walk or your work while you listen today. My aim is to make it worth your precious time.

              

Create Your Own Culture

Greetings and welcome to Homemaker's Radio. Please enjoy your walk or your work while you tune in to the message today. There was some noise at the end that I had to edit out, so the broadcasts ends abruptly. 

I talked about being careful what we say, so that we don't provide too much "supply" for idle talkers, immature people, and those without general understanding, who will take off on tangents and draw wrong conclusions. 

 Its so important that while we ourselves are trying to have wholesome, uplifting conversation, we are aware of how some things we say will send people's minds into thoughts and ideas that are not so uplifting. 

We need to give a limited amount of information and keep a lot more things to ourselves. Sometimes, letting out too much of our plans and dreams to others who might be critical, can thwart us in our endeavors. 

 

For the brown paper challenge, I created a makeshift flower press, to teach the younger ones at home about the old fashioned flower press:

It is autumn here so I used the colored leaves. 

Also am sharing some current scenes surrounding The Manse, where I am happily in captivity for a few days, trying to keep up with everything, sew something, find things, plant things, and take care of Mr. S.

There was a mighty gust of wind when someone opened the door. He offered to sweep it all up,  but I declined the offer and  kept these treasures for awhile:

Think of the trend this could cause: that of reviving the ancient custom of spreading petals and leaves on the floors.

I also spoke in the broadcast about the concept of culture and how to create your own, outside of the loud, brash, unwholesome  "prevailing culture."

My mandate today is to spend some time thinking about your own culture based on your personal family history, your interests and your personality, and make something from a paper bag or brown paper.

 

I would like to remind you of the blog "On the Journey", where there are some really pleasant podcasts for people like us.