Hope to Talk to You Soon!

Greetings, Ladies,

I have missed talking to you but never sure if the world really needs to hear me nattering on about sewing and art and home-schooling your wonderful selves.

Many people today think homemaking is a lazy escape for "going to work" outside the home, but if you have a sense of duty and a conscience of good stewardship, staying home is a big job.  It follows the scripture to women to be "keepers and workers at home." The same passage in Titus 2 also says "that the Word of God be not discredited."

I have found out more and more that there are other full grown ladies, grandmothers, even, who love to create their school year with things they are interested in learning, reading, creating, and that they even buy themselves deluxe quality crayons for unique coloring books and art projects.  Self schooling is one of the subjects I want to cover in my upcoming video. Such a noble endeavor makes them feel youthful, vibrant and purposeful.  God is good and he has a future and a hope for all of us, young or old.

Also, I have been discovering more about the author, Jane Austen. She was truly one of us, at home, dealing with family and friends and all the world's crazy rules. She was also a very devoted, spiritual person who read the scriptures.  I hope to tell you more about this in future talks. 

In many ways, we ladies at home (and those who want to be) are like the ancient shepherds who laid down their time and lives for their sheep. I will talk about getting "sheeped" and how important health and sleep is for all that needs to be guarded and guided. This also, will be one of my topics of discussion.

The problem with letting so much time go by between posts and videos is that my pile of notes gets larger, stashed into a bag, and must be sorted out. Also my home duties, even at a "vital" age, have increased!!  

Please continue to pray for me to sit still long enough to give you one of my proper talks and straighten out the world. 

Some of you have been promised mail from me, and I have a pile of things to send out.  I thank those of you who thoughtfully sent me Christmas cards. I still have them and hope to get back to you.  

Someone did an online search for me and since I am not on any social media outside of my phone and texts, discovered there are many other Lydia Shermans, some who were very unappealing characters. That is why I use my first and second name now, online  Even in the small town nearby, there are a couple more of me!  

I had discussed with you about the dismissal of middle names in our culture. We used to be known by double names such as Jenny Lynn, Sandra Kathy, Carol Ann, Joy Dawn, and so forth.  Boys also had wonderful double names that were dropped by the social dominants of our time. That is one reason I am bringing back the double name, even if only for myself 

Lydia Ruth

 

Comments and Questions About Home Life (With Video)

Hello Dear Ones,

All is well here and I hope all is well with you. If not, maybe you'll feel better about everything after listening to this current video. I answered a few things on my list of subjects suggested by viewers.

Picture below: I recently learned about the benefits of this tea:

You may recall years ago when I made some fake cakes with silk flower petals. This year, for the child play kitchen. I made this fake cake using stickers from the dollar store. I explained more about it in the video. I sometimes scent them with a bit of vanilla.

There is an interest amongst grown-ups to create their own homeschool curriculum and homeschool themselves.  I suggested several books, but a curriculum could also include craft kits and other kinds of activities. Sometimes the Victoria magazines have articles about ancient architecture and countries of the world, that could be used as extra interest in home school.

Coloring books from Dover Books have lovely art and all kinds of themes including, farms, houses, scenery, and more. Although this is a coloring book, I got this one to use as a drawing book for future art themes. 

The recent Victoria magazine and 

an original book about the home by Emily Barnes, of whom I always say, "Her works live on after her." 

Eric Sloane books have good drawings and descriptions of how things work.

I like the Lamplighter books, and you can see some of them stacked in the background of this photo:

An antique vase of dollar store flowers placed on one of Grandma's handwork lace pieces. 

 I took a picture of this old barn through the fog.

Thank you for coming, and I hope this video is edifying and that you use the video to listen while you get a few things done at home.

See You Soon

Thank you all for your prayers for me to get time enough to come here more often and especially to supply you with original video messages. Thanks also to those kind ladies who send me emails with suggestions. That is a great help and I'll be addressing some of those subjects

And, keep in mind, this blog and video channel is not any kind of standard for any particular church or group, but simply my experience and observations being handed down to my descendants, and shared with you also. You all have different and varying lives with unexpected issues, but we can still be friends, like I always say.

Here are a few pictures from my Pinterest account . When you do not see any current posts, just go over there and look around at everything I save. Sometimes it can be creative to the homemaker.

You might enjoy THIS site:

Please note that not all links I post will not be completely agreeable to everyone. Just ignore the ones you don't like and take a look at what is most edifying to you.

These pictures are only for ideas and uplift and inspiration. Enjoy what you like, but forget what you don't 

Clip art: I like the way flowers were delivered in these long boxes:

You might enjoy having a daily scripture reading like this (or maybe you could write one yourself)

I have not read it but liked the cover and the idea.

Another idea filled course here:

More inspiring clip art below. What a beautiful pose for anyone; calm repose in a crazy world.

Painting by Alexander Averin:  

Lydia Ruth

Please do not hesitate to leave speaking topics for me on comments.  I do have a list that I am working on and will try and get to what you have already suggested.

Thank you again for your Christmas cards and I will try to honor them this year with a note.

I will try to do a video soon!!!!

Thank You Dear Readers

 

Hello Ladies,

A few of you sent nice Christmas cards and a couple of gifts. I have not been able to answer personally yet but I want you to know I have not forgotten. Thank you for your encouraging words. I hope to have a video and some good articles this year.

 

I go out in the mornings looking for a a photo opportunity of a contrast between rustic and refined. You see one here with the gilded tea cup on the stack of wood. The cup

May have belonged to one of the grandmothers. 

I acquired this pattern, Butterick 4250 in the 1990’s but did not find time to sew it. I get it out from time to time and look at it. 

I found this 100% cotton outfit in the Walmart and it looked so similar I purchased it. The red dress was under $20 and goes nicely with a white blouse but could be paired with a print, stripe or check. The ensemble is similar to that sewing pattern, which I still like and hope to sew. 

If you buy one of these you might choose a bigger size as it is quite snug in the waist. 

Here is the back view:

Although it is made of cotton, it is nothing like the cotton fabric we sewists use— not as soft nor do the seams appear to be as secure like home sewn clothing. 

My goal is always to have hand made clothing but I get so busy in the kitchen and also with other needs of home and family.

 I changed some items in one of the little bedrooms, using Grandmas crocheted and books and what-nots she collected but have not many pictures of it yet. 

Maybe with simple things handed down, a lady at home could give her rooms a new, refreshing look. 

My young grandsons are enjoying a book that shows how to make shadow movies across a wall and invited me to movie time.

As I watched it, I thought of all the families in the past  who enjoyed each other’s little shadow movies at night. 

Here is the little chest of drawers where the boxes of tea are kept. I encourage visitors to take some of it home with them.

Individual bags out of their original boxes are put in a basket. 

Your comments are very helpful and I’ll use them as content in a future article and video. 

Thank you again for the cards and greetings. 

Lydia Ruth