Young at Home

Greetings kind listeners.

We are hearing harvest all around us here.

On my list this week was to do two things I wanted to do, even though not at all necessary. One of them was to make a decorative cushion. This one is easy and you can do it too. All you need is a swath of cloth of some kind, and it doesn't even have to be new fabric. It can be square or you can cut it round. Then, put some kind of filler or stuffing in the middle, draw up all the sides and secure it with an elastic band and pull out the ends of the cloth into a ruffle. I used aqua fleece fabric because it does not shred, but any old piece of clothing that you are going to discard would suffice. 

I have been to Hobby Lobby and of course I love to look at the printed manufactured wall art there. I was noticing how many of them looked like this, which is a scene from my window, and also I didn't want to forget to say one of the reasons I enjoy walking around in that store is that the merchandise is "never a discouraging word."  

Around the Manse today...

 ...a fresh look for an old porch chair..

...a dress I made for one of my descendants, from Shabby Fabrics cotton print.

For those who like to sew, I'll try some day to do a picture tutorial of how to sew in the piping on the neckline.

I didn’t get “before” pictures but here’s the “after” of the floor.

Today I addressed the young ladies about the way being young helps you in your vital years.

Please enjoy the broadcast while you work, rest, walk, or sleep.

Reading to You, and More, While You Work

Today I mainly continued some of the thoughts from the previous post:

~The affect of weather in home life

-Outside in the morning

-Collecting natural things for indoors

-Chapter 7 from Wives and Daughters

-For young ladies--learning to be young

~ For older women--serious minded and alert

This picture below is for the lady who graciously sent me a gift certificate to Home Goods. These are some of the things I bought. I wore one of the aprons during the broadcast. Thank you! I had already begun using some of the kitchen things I got, so they are not shown here right now. 

Please enjoy your time at home while you listen to today's broadcast:

Learn to be Young at Home

Today I made a list of things young ladies can do that they can continue doing into their vital years.

I also brought up the subject of preventing people from taking off on tangents unrelated to the conversation. I introduced an ancient way of persuasion called casuity. Look at it carefully because it isn't the same as casual. In fact it is a common way of reasoning that doesn't make any sense, but you might need to know about it. 

If I get time I will add a list of what I said to young ladies at home on how to be young.

Another subject that I briefly covered was the problem of people wanting to know too much about you, and trying to keep  your privacy.

In the meantime, please enjoy resting or working, while you listen.

Liking it More at Home

Dear Ladies,

You are the ones (all 20 of you) who motivate me to post. I'm always thinking I should "say something that will astonish the whole room," but there is no real drama around me to report.  Therefore I want to give you something ordinary to hear while you walk, work or rest. I appreciate so much your comments for subject matter. 

I was invited to an artist's residence ( "Artworthy Life") in her holiday caravan

for a Southern Tea. The iced tea was made with a teabag called Ginger Lemon, and added raw honey, with dried mango bits. On ice, this is delicious. You can see it served on the tray, in the clear canning-jar glasses.  I was impressed with the spaciousness in her dwelling and her joyful life.

 The local grocery store yielded a brand new delight: Tea Time Magazine has a special collector's edition called British Tea, with an article that caught my eye about "the city of cotton." The BBC production of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South story was centered on the cotton mills of the 1800's. 

You can preview some of the pages HERE  (scroll down to the end of the page to see inside) or order it if you like. It is higher priced than I am used to but higher quality and worth keeping in your home library or cookbook collection.

To better understand some  atmospheric conditions, I read from Eric Sloane’s weather book.

In this broadcast I spoke of being careful of your own character and habits, as well as a message to older children about being cautious around people outside your home who may presume to guide your life.

Please enjoy your home while you listen today.

Doing Things With Thought

Hello Home Dwellers,

I hope you have yourself prepared, your list written and your serious cup of tea ready while I tell you some of my thoughts of home life.

In this broadcast I talked about the following:

-Sewing Ideas

-Doing things a little more thoughtfully and slowly, and noticing the effect it has on you.  In institutions, people are taught to do the work, but little personal spiritual thought is put into it. If you are new to homemaking, it will seem like it is just a lot of work, but if you do things thoughtfully, you bring out the meaning and purpose of it all.

-It was a poor reflection on the family and the homemaker when a home was neglected. It was supposed that a neglected house and home and family would result in poor health, unsettled minds and unhappiness.  

-When the world "settles down", remember the pleasant things you did at home that gave you a sense of well-being. Remember the habits you formed: the walks before breakfast, fresh food and meal preparation, writing letters to a loved one, singing, dressing well, and watching the dappled sun on the floor.

-While waiting for an opportunity to get into a different location that might be more adequate for your family, treat your current situation as though you were already there, so that good habits will be picked up easily in the next place.

 

-Be particular about the demands on your time that require you to be away from home.

I read from the weather book about how atmospheric weather conditions affect the mood.

I read about being careful to retreat for quiet time.

-Be gentle with the ones you know who speak error or live carelessly. They often are so caught up in an influence that they hardly know what they are doing.  

In my previous broadcast I talked about the "escapism" label sometimes leveled at people who choose to be home full time,  like to write stories or read old books, use a nice tea cup or attend a historical things.  Here are the witty quotes from old books that might be amusing to speak when you can fit them to the particular reproach,  from the book "Wives and Daughters" written in 1864.

"There, there. You can make everything right in the morning."

"I went into the surgery and I looked it up. I don't think I did anything wrong by doing that."

"How shall you bear it?"

"It's rather like tooth-drawing I suppose. The pain goes away eventually."

"I never managed it, but you might."

From Pride and Prejudice when Lizzie was asked about the family's terrible sorrow over her sister's unadvisable decision: "We are enduring it as best we can."

Please enjoy your home while you listen today:

Discerning the Weather From Home

Hello My Friends,

Thank you for your kind comments. They mean so much to me and keep me interested in talking to you.

Parsley was the herb study today. A search for benefits of parsley, nutritional and culinary, will yield practical uses of this wonderful plant. 

I was sitting in this quiet room today while I spoke of weather and other things.

The books I read from today:

A verse from the New Testament 

Cottage Core

Eric Sloane's Weather Book

The Jane Austen Diet

Wives and Daughters

There are old labels such as isolationism, legalism, escapism, etc. to address people like us who enjoy reading, writing, visiting places of history, re-enactments,  drinking tea from Porcelain cups, playing and working, etc.— labels which are being recycled, which might come to your ears soon. I countered it as best as I could in this broadcast. You probably are already so clever and witty that you have been able to reply to some of these things with ease. This subject begins at minute 30, for those of you like dessert first.

I also thought you might like hearing about "characters" often found in our favorite books, such as predictors of doom, apology extractors and escapist detectors. As always, keep in mind that this is only based on my own observations. Please do your own research and reach your own conclusions and remedies for everything from health, education, leisure time, and people-problems, to homemaking routines.

The view from my window is a good art composition too:

Please enjoy your time while you listen today:

           

Listen While Resting or Working

Hello Dear Ones,

I can't express well enough how honored I am that you come to visit

here. 

I have been working outside. I had this wrought iron beauty gathering cobwebs in an old shed,  and painted it to match the window sills. It makes the block house appear a bit more cottagey. 

The little path you see at the edge of the field is where I walk, just beyond the clothes line.

Today I read pieces from these books:

Cottage Core

Eric Sloane's Weather Book

The Jane Austen Diet

Wives and Daughters

I also shared the herb "oregano" and explained some of the virtues attributed to it; it is anti-fungal and cancer-fighting, among many culinary uses. Please do your homework and look up the benefits of oregano.

 

For those of you students who are skipping the lecture and just want to scroll ahead to the "people" part, it begins at approximately 41 minutes.  Please note that this is only based on my own observations and personal experience. Everyone is different and everyone has to be their own social scientist.

Please enjoy your home while you listen to the broadcast, and if you have time,  leave a comment, and let me know what you found interesting or education or enjoyable.

Enjoy Being Home While You Listen

It seems so long since we last visited. 

After several requests from you, my wonderful listeners, I spoke about the courtesy of Thank You notes. I am not sure what the procedure was in Jane Austen's time, but today, such gestures are still important. Extending a thank you is never relegated to the past but is in vogue always. 

 

Today I talked about putting the world and its hype on hold while you listen to the broadcast.

I also included a lesson on weather/atmosphere and how it can affect people at home.

I hope I stated how nice it is when you can have things around you that you like, and that have meaning to you.

These old pillowcases with crochet or embroidered edges can be used in many ways besides on pillows. Put them on the edges of mantels and side tables, on the backs of chairs or shelves when you want to have a special display, or just to air them out.

I talked about Jane Austen's "Miss Bates" and how we might handle the problem of being cornered by someone who hold us at attention beyond our endurance or availability.

Please come away from the world and its antics, and enjoy ordinary life while you listen:

For those of you that like to  bypass the message, the  “people “ part begins at minute 45 😊

Also listen to the lullaby I spoke of in my broadcast,  by Stephen Foster: "Slumber My Darling"

with lyrics so you can sing too.