Checking In

Greetings Dear Gentle, Refined Ladies,

I hope all is well with you and your home, and that you have great plans for improvement.

The Manse is being changed from a Winter Retreat to a Summer Inn. I hope you will join me for the next months for respite from the noisy assault on our senses!

This is the south-east side of The Manse you rarely see, which I am going to use as an outdoor breakfast area during the late mornings. 

A little stealth sipping in this location, too. 

Due to expenses and obligations at home, many of us are not traveling or taking vacations, but are enjoying our homes in different ways. 

Maybe you recall the picnic in front of the cottage in the story “Sense and Sensibility” when Elinor and Marianne’s mother, Mrs. Dashwood, said of her home, “I have great plans for its improvement.”

That is my goal this year: Less time away from home, and more time getting things in order. 

Miss Lillian prepared food for an afternoon tea  which she served to several ladies.

I will try to talk to you all soon!

Lydia Ruth

 

Preparation in the Home

Hello Ladies

Today can be good for all of us in the home. 

It requires thinking on things that are lovely. Sometimes, looking at a few pictures is helpful.

This is the scene today from my front window. Could it possibly be anywhere else? I 'spect it might be mistaken for a number of places, due to the overcast condition of the sight.

I have revisited the paintings of Edmund B. Leighton (English, 1852-1922).

These two paintings depict women with sewing. I spoke a little bit about

the advantages of hand sewing, in this broadcast.

 Leighton had such an interesting life: he quietly and privately painted, while the world was in turmoil. I always thought this was profound: if you have a home to look after, do it whatever the condition of the world is, and refuse to allow its upheaval to shake you.

Before Leighton became known as an artist, he studied architecture. Most of his paintings have the beautiful architecture somewhere in the background. 

Many of the biographies of his career report that his wife helped him by sewing a mannequin, or a stuffed doll, with costumes  and cloaks for him to use as a model for his paintings of the historic past. He was living in the early 1900’s but his scenes depicted more idyllic times previous to his own.

A Quiet Moment

by Edmund Blair Leighton

On the Threshold 

by Edmund Blair Leighton

A friend of ours hiked the Appalachian Trail and has sent us some photographs. This is one of an old stone and brick house. The sign on it said it once belonged to George Washington.  The Appalachian Mountains and Trail covers the states:

New Hampshire

Maine

Vermont

Massachusetts 

Connecticut 

New York 

New Jersey

Pennsylvania 

Ohio

Maryland

West Virginia 

Virginia

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

North Carolina 

Mississippi 

Georgia

Alabama 

The trail goes through the original 13 colonies of New England and the mountains cover other states. 

In this broadcast I shared a letter from a grandchild, and showed 
The English Cottage publication, by Victoria Classics,

I also read from The Jane Austen Diet about the beliefs the Regency world had about keeping the mind calm. I listed a few things ladies used to consistently indulge in to keep the mind-body balance and create a sense of well-being. 

I also read from Scones and Tea (by Teatime Magazine)

about the Smith-Byrd House bed/breakfast/tea room

I will be reading from this book in future broadcasts, and next time will be about a tea room in Kentucky.

If you'd like to make a contribution, you are welcome to put something in the PayPal account on the left on this blog, or email me for my address: ladylydiaspeaks@comcast.net

Please practice a few calming things that I have suggested, and make note of the effect it has, whether it is beneficial.

Please pray for me that I can get here more often to talk to you. I have so many notes and never find time to read them to you.

I hope this broadcast is helpful in your routine at home today:

Tea and a Garden Tour

The day was cold and overcast with not even a ray of sun, as you can see on my driveway in the picture above.

Along with a few other ladies, I attended a Garden Tea gathering at a beautiful country cottage. The pictures look like note cards.

The lady who hosted us was wonderfully welcoming. 

She had a supply of umbrellas for everyone, and we were guided around her property. I didn’t get any pictures of the house but I can describe some of it. A little one-storey house was remodeled and added to over the years. 

This picture of a guest looks like a painting.

I will try to add more pictures of the event.

Also I hope to be back on a broadcast soon. The Manse is having plumbing problems and it is a mess right now. In the olden days the water pipes were put under the floors in some houses. It poses a problem when the pipes deteriorate, and the floor has to be pulled up and replaced from water damage. We are getting it all rerouted above ground. I’m trying not to lose my mind. I can hide out in one of the rooms in The Manse and try not to be involved. 

I’ll see you soon.

Lydia

 

The Home and Distress— Some Random Thoughts

Today I have enjoyed making a list, getting ready for the day,

going on a "Regency" walk, and preparing fruited scones.

Sometimes I text pictures of weeds and wildflowers to my children,

who look them up in a book for the identity. It was undecided on this

one, which looks like a dandelion but isn't quite.

My granddaughter sent me a water-color of her

favorite spot on the Manse lawn. You've often

viewed this scene here on my blog, and

this picture depicts her favorite 

memory.

In this broadcast I quoted two scriptures 

on the subject of stress:

Weeping may endure for a night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

Psalm 30:5

Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
6He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,

Psalm 126:5-6

From each of these books I read parts that might

address the subject of stress:

Please enjoy homemaking while you listen:

Homey Things

Good Day Wonderful Ladies at home and those who are planning to be.

 Perhaps one or two of you remember back-in-the-day when the pattern companies printed instructions for creating beauty in rooms. 

I loved this one, from the 1970’s, but while the patterns were inspiring, I was in a place where the materials and furnishings , or the finances, were not available . Maybe I will get into my fabric stash and give it a try. 

I hope you are doing well in your present circumstances and have great plans for improvement. I also hope to have a broadcast for you very soon.

In the meantime, a few notes of events around The Manse. In the photo above, is our very own reflection,  not quite the stunning beauty of Pemberly, but we don’t have as big a lake to work with. 

A little elegant sipping in a rustic scene.

No doubt doubt you have seen this view from the window many times. To my delight, Miss Lillian sent a water-color expression of her love for that picture from early childhood, in which she looks forward to strolling  about every  summer. Yes, that was a long sentence.

The Lord willing, and the Creek don’t rise, I’ll be talking to you soon. 

Miss Lillian has a new post and her link is across from this missive on my sidebar- a sewing blog. She soooo appreciates your visits.

Thank you for your graciousness to me and mine and the little Manse. As Georgiana would  say in P&P, “I don’t deserve it.”