Friday, November 05, 2021

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.

              

10 comments:

Flossy said...

Hello lovely Lydia!! Thank you for another wonderful vlog today - your makeup looked lovely. Thanks for keeping me company here in cloudy Brissy!! I'm enjoying the cooler air before the humdity hits us for the next 5 months!! I made some date scones to have with my cuppa.... I made them with some greek yoghurt that I wanted to use up & olive oil.... they didn't turn out too bad!!! xx

Lydia said...

Greetings, Flossy. Humidity is not easy to live with!

Janine said...

Such an interesting book! I love it and your commentary. I'm enjoying hearing from the McGuffey reader as well. Thanks!

Nadege said...

The Jane Austen diet book seems very interesting so will definitely read it. I do believe that the word “diet” in the old sense of the word is really eye-opening as it should be a way of life.

Lydia said...

Dear Lydia,

I am inspired, educated, and encouraged by another message from Homemaker radio. Thank you! I plan on taking a nature walk and then going around my house to pinpoint areas that I can spruce up a bit… inside and outside.😊And yes, I can totally relate to the tightness and frustration you sense when things get out of order. Sorting and organizing really helps my mind have rest. I know you have taught this homemaking concept many times, but it so liberating when you actually apply the principles. You find peace and comfort within the walls of your own home. Listening to your messages brings a lot of joy and happiness as I am always looking forward to hearing each episode!

God bless,
❤️Holly

Lydia said...


I am learning so much from your enriching and inspiring latest episode!

Warmly, Carolyn

Lydia said...


I am learning so much from your enriching and inspiring latest episode!

Warmly, Carolyn

Rose said...

I greatly appreciated the reminder and advice to not be a know it all as we get older. It just seems so easy to do that, in my opinion. I think we mostly have good intentions, but I agree with you, we often don't see it in ourselves!

SharonR said...

Lydia, you've just started, but I have to comment before I forget - When I taught at a day care and we had teachers' classes, one class taught about the children's eyesight. He suggested to put table tops for reading up at an angle so that the children don't look down, but straight at the book. It helps to prevent poor eyesight. In another example, keep the book off the lap and up, as you said here. Just had to put in that memory, from 1980 in here. :-)

Lydia said...

Before I read that, I had quite forgotten that rule. We do need the old paths and