Happy Thanksgiving

Her Retreat

by Susan Rios

As happy as we all are, I think the date of Thanksgiving should be changed to October, closer to the harvest. By November, the harvest is over and most of the farm markets are closed for the winter.  Since the church members provided a huge Thanksgiving meal on the last Lord's Day,  I am having a simple Thanksgiving Afternoon Tea.

The Warmth of Autumn

by Susan Rios

Redeeming the Time

Autumn Roses 

by Jean-Baptiste Robie, Belgium  1821-1910

Sometimes half a day or more is lost doing things that have nothing to do with home keeping. When you find your day slipping away and things that you strongly desire to do, not done, should you abandon all hope and just read a book, or is it possible to rescue the day in some way?  Over the years I've known some older homemakers who have given me some useful ideas on how to redeem the time.

Tea Time

by Janet Kruskamp

Make tea. I have laughed at this expression in the past, because it always came at a time when someone was trying to get out of a tight spot. Whether it was decision-making or working out some kind of furniture arrangement, stopping for tea was the immediate reaction when progress was at a stand still. I now see it as a good delay tactic that will allow the mind that is whirling with ideas or problems, to settle down and think more logically. This is a good time to survey the situation and simplify your ideas. 

Front Porch

by Janet Kruskamp

Write a list. This, almost more than anything, creates order in the mind and sets you on a path to success. List things you would dearly love to do, and then list the steps from beginning to end, that will help you accomplish this.  Listing is part of planning, and planning is half the job done.

Take time to breathe deeply and to pray.  One way to relieve stress is to stand up and breathe in slowly through the nose to the count of 10, and then puff your breath out through the mouth, slowly, to the count of ten. After doing this several times, you'll be a lot more relaxed and able to make plans to catch up with your work. Most people do not breathe properly and it has an effect on the mind's ability to handle stress. Go for a walk when you need some time to express your thoughts, your plans and the desires of your heart. His ears are open to the prayers of those who follow him. (I Peter 3:12)

Cottage by the Sea

by Janet Kruskamp

Dress up a little. Even if your day is shot, taking care of your appearance can give you a fresh new start, especially on days when the weather has driven you for cover inside the house. It can seem confining, but if you will dress up and take care of yourself first, you might redeem a little lost time. Dressing up gives your mind the message that you are about to do something important, and that you are ready for work.

Work a little faster than usual, if you have lost part of your time.  When you feel you have "all day", it is easy to slip into slow habits of dwaddling while folding things or washing dishes, preparing meals, but if you need to get caught up after having lost your morning, working a little faster can help redeem the time.

credit: HGTV

Do an extra good job instead of just "getting by".  Looking at a clean, streamlined kitchen or laundry room, seeing a sparkling bright bathroom, walking on well-swept floors and having things in order can also lift the heart and give you optimism and hope. A house that is not in order can cause discouragement, and discouragement can cause you to give up and then the house will slide further into disarray. The key to overcoming discouragement is to get something in order, even if it is a corner of the house or a part of the kitchen. When a small part is in order, you'll be stimulated to finish the job.

Credit: HGTV

Surround yourself with loveliness. Sometimes we get so practical we forget to add the soft, pretty things in homemaking that give the heart a lift.  After redeeming your day, consider planning and creating  a part of a room just for you; in a sense, a "parlor" where you have your favorite comforts, colors, style and design.  Most families have adequate cast-offs and old pieces of furniture that could be painted and re-covered for this purpose. This can be a welcome retreat when you need to collect your thoughts and get focused again on your home.

Do not pay any attention to dark skies.  There is no use in waiting for the sun to shine. Make your own sun shine by being the light of the home. You are the light of the home when you care for it and make it a lovely place.  Christians believe that Christ is the unseen guest in every home, and knowing how he is high and lifted up and holy, motivates us to keep house to His glory.  The creation is beautiful, and there are many things we can do in the home to imitate the creation.  When there are dark skies, create beauty in the house and think of brighter days. 

Prepare for Guests. Anticipating guests is very motivating if you have lost half your day. Most people experience more happiness when serving others through hospitality than when they are invited out.  Telling yourself you will plan to entertain a friend after you catch up with housekeeping, will help you get it done with more purpose and a better attitude. Even if it does not work out for someone to visit, your house will be in "viewer" shape and you'll be a lot more uplifted because of it.

credit: HGTV

Everyone should help . All members of the family should aid in getting the home in order. Everyone should rescue their own belongings from around the house and do their best to lighten the burden for the homemaker. They should all pitch in and try to get the house in order, especially if it is a great concern to the lady of the house. It is a good way to show honor and respect to the woman of the house.  When the housework has been neglected and the day is almost gone, the whole family can help gain back that time by pitching in and making it a place that they can be proud of.

Tour your home.  It is always enjoyable to walk through your home as though you were a stranger, and even more exciting to take your children through the house and show them where everything has been put, what has been cleaned, why things are arranged this way, and what sort of meaning you have put in the home.  You know how energizing it can be to go to a show-home where a group of new homes are open to the public for the purpose of selling them. Often these homes are professionally staged to put them in their most appealing light. Note the things you like about this kind of experience: the space, the light, the comforts, the orderliness, the feeling of warmth and happiness, etc. Do the same thing for your own home. Even if your day is nearly gone, there is still something that can be done before you retire for the night, and think of how delightful it will be to get up in the morning in a beautiful home.

Do one extra thing for yourself that you have been wanting to do when you are finished catching up with housework. Be thinking of a sewing project or maybe just a fireplace mantel arrangement you want to make while you are working. Get your housework out of the way as quickly and efficiently as possible so that you can work on the extra things you love. It is the way you reward yourself when a job is completed.

credit: HGTV

Either as a motivator or a reward, having something nice to read or look at.  Women used to go to a great effort to make picture books from clippings, post cards, calendars, photographs and other things, to place on the coffee  table for a time when they needed to be cheered up.  I like a favorite magazine, and sometimes just the picture on the cover will make me feel on top of the world.

If you'll choose one or more of these things to help motivate you to redeem lost time, you will find you have not only some time left over to pursue special interests, but you will increase your mental and physical energy.

To view or buy any of the beautiful artwork posted on this blog, please go to www.allposters.com and type in the name of the painting.

Up From Demoralization

My title today comes from a book written by the son of a slave, called "Up From Slavery."  Booker T. Washington lived in an era of change. His mother told him at the time of emancipation that although she was very excited about this change, she also felt very apprehensive and sad, since her people had become so dependent on others for their care. She said they would have to learn to earn a living on their own, and find homes of their own to live in.  They could no longer depend on the generational work and homes that the plantations provided. 

 Booker began immediately thinking about what he could do to help make this transition from dependency to independence successful. He began Tuskegee Institute, a college to teach skills that would help his people create jobs for themselves or to be able to be employed in some of the new businesses of the times. Here was taught everything from financial bookkeeping to creating a business.  

He first brought himself "up from slavery" by working at small jobs of seemingly no significance, in order to learn how things worked in the world. He aided a school teacher in her classroom by sweeping floors and washing the chalkboards, lighting the lamps and building a fire for warmth in winter. He wrote in his book, "Up From Slavery" which you can read free on Google books,  that he noticed the school teacher was not content just to let him do all the work he was hired for. When she had finished looking over her lessons, if she had time to spare, she would work along side him erasing the chalkboards or cleaning desks, just to get the job done. She did not avoid work just because it was not her job, nor did she expect others to do everything, even if they were hired. When she saw something that needed to be done, she would do it, not thinking whether or not it was her job or if it was beneath her.  This work principle deeply affected Booker and he adopted it into the teachings he imparted in his school, the Tuskegee Institute.

  There, he taught from that experience to find a job and do it and to look for things that needed to be done and to work with willing hands. He said he realized that although a person might have no trouble knowing how to work, it was largely the attitude toward work that needed to be improved, so that the students would not only have skills for new kinds of work but also the enthusiasm and purpose for it.  His mother wisely warned that while liberation was an uplifting thing for an oppressed people, there was a danger of trying to be liberated from work, totally.  This was one attitude that Booker thought about  quite a bit.

About the Outcome

Painting by John Everett Millais, 1856

Father, Mother and Children Waiting for the Ferry

by James Tissot  (1836-1902)

Good News From Abroad

by George Smith  1713-1776

Friends have asked me to post something about the election outcome. I have a longer article in progress but have been trying to keep up housework and do some sewing

. 

But I do have two things to say about politics. You are the most important and significant person in the political arena, for two reasons:

The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world....

and...

The pen is mightier than the sword.

Regarding the first:  Knowing the influence of the teachings of parents on children, to train their minds into believers of God's Word and to live the principles therein, the education establishment has successfully taken many children under its government wing. There, they can teach children to depend on government and to elect leaders who will take the nation into their so-called socialist utopia.  Socialism is just a nice word for communism.  Every year the schools graduate a class of voter-age people whom they have educated to vote for the government programs and the tax-payer funded causes, as well as the liberal candidates who foster them.  Every year there is another graduating class that has been in the institution for 12 years, being coached and primed to vote for and work for socialism.

This has been known for a long time, so I wonder why people keep sending their children to public schools. Homeschooling has grown, and is a way for both the parents and children to be bonded to one another throughout their teen years and beyond. Children can grow up knowing the faith of their fathers. They can learn the Biblical standards of economics, how to develop their own talents and how to apply them, and how to raise a family.  The educators undermine this, because they believe that they should educate children for a new world order, and if the children are homeschooled, they will not fit in.  

As a side note, I wonder why, since homeschooling has been well-established and well-proven for the last 30 to 40 years in our nation, that the impact of it has not been felt in politics in a big way. There has been enough time for these well informed children to become adults and run for office, and yet I hear of only one or two that have done so. When I first began homeschooling in 1982 one of my first thoughts was that the homeschoolers would soon be in Washington, putting things back the way they should be.

As for the second point, the pen is a way to publish liberty throughout the land. The world would not have noticed the plight of political prisoners if it had not been for the publications  Alexandre Soljenitsyn and others. He brought greater awareness of the dangers of losing our freedom by continuing to speak and to publish after his asylum in the U.S. He warned the U.S. about the education system and its goal to remove the Christian teachings of parents.

There are no doubt other ways in which the individual has power, and these are two of them.  The Bible says that those who follow Christ have been "elected," and urges them to make their calling and election "sure" and tells how to do that in 2 Peter 1:5-10.

When you take a stand in the personal education of your children, and in teaching others through personal communication and publication (blogs, newsletters, etc) you cast a vote. If you follow 2 Peter 1:5-10 you cast a vote every day. (Just run your finger or cursor over the verse and it will pop out in full). 

In teaching your children and sharing your knowledge with others, it is important to know and pass on the signs of communism, socialism and marxism, which are very destructive belief systems and governments, bringing death and human suffering when they are perpetrated on people.  Though these belief systems claim to be compassionate,  many who lived through the misery of them will tell you it is a lie. Recognize the signs of communism and marxism and teach it to your children and others.  When I was growing up in the 1950's we were taught to hate communism and to be be cautious of adopting religious beliefs outside of Christ. We need women who will take these bold attitudes and pass them on, so that future generations will not inherit the evil that the so-called progressives are imposing on us.

You may glean something from the documentary "The Singing Revolution" about the way freedom and belief was taught the younger generation even under an oppressive government, helping a country to finally free itself of opression. They protected their ability to broadcast and to publish, and they regained their culture through the message of their national songs.

Ruana Shawl

A Spring Day by the Seashore

by Rene Lelong

Lately I have been interested in the things that people are making with fleece, and the Irish ruana shawl caught my eye. The one you see above comes from Kohls and is nearly $30.00. I looked at a woven one in Walmart to see how it was made, and then experimented with 2 yards of 50 inch wide fleece. The 60 inch wide will work, also. A one-and-a-half yard length might suffice.  Here is how I made one of these ruana shawls.

To get the entire project in a photograph, I've just made a miniature sample to show on my blog.  First (above) you lay out your two yards of fabric. Make sure your cutting table is very clean if you use white fabric.

Next, I folded the piece in half, as you see, below.

Usually if you open your fabric up after you get it home from the fabric store, you will find there is a fold l down the middle, the long way, from the way it was folded on the bolt. That line will make it very easy to cut along. Just unfold the fabric and cut halfway up that line, to get the front piece into two pieces that you will use to put over your shoulders or around your waist.

After folding the fabric from one end to the other, fold it over from side to side, so that now it is folded four ways. If your fabric has a fold line that is already sort of pressed in to the fabric, you do not need this step.  

With colored chalk or a pencil, mark a complete line from one end to the other of this fold to cut along. (You will not need to do this if you just use the fold line of your fabric.) Do not cut through all the layers of the fold; only the outside layer. If you are using 50 or 60 inch fleece, all you have to do is open it up and cut halfway down the fold line.

Open the piece up again and lay it on the table and place a bowl halfway down the cut, and mark it with chalk for your neckline

Cut out the neckline, and if you wish, cut off the square edges so that the neckline area is more smooth down the front of the shawl.  You can roll the edges under and stitch the with a fancy stitch on your machine, or, you can use colored thread and any type of zig-zag stitch around the neckline and down the front, so that it will have a little gathered "curl."  The ruana shawl pictured above, has a ruffle on it. I may add a ruffle to mine later.

This is what your shawl will look like without any stitching on it. Although stitching is not necessary and makes it much quicker to construct, I would suggest making decorative machine hems on all edges.  Note: the sides of this shawl are separated and open, not sewn together.

Basically, you just lay your fabric down and cut it in the middle, halfway up, to make the front.  The back is not cut. also, you do not need to make the neckline, as it will work just fine with only the straight cut. I added the half circle for the neckline, but if you will examine the ruana shawls in stores, you will see that some of them do not have the curved neckline. So if you are not sure about doing it, you know that just a cut up the front will do fine.

Try on the shawl, placing the large unbroken piece in the back, and the rounded neckline on the neck. Then pull one front piece over one shoulder. There are many other ways to wear this, but I tried this one and it was very comfortable and does not fall apart even when going for a walk.  The cost of this is about $6.00 when you buy the very thinnest fleece. Fleece is quite warm, so you may not want to use the heavy fleece.

In the house, I hardly know I am wearing this shawl, as it is so comfortable and the parts you wrap around your shoulders stick to the fabric just fine.  It does not flop around nor get in the way during various activities of the home, and is perfect for times of sitting.

I will try to find some way to get a picture of myself wearing this, after I get the ruffled edge on it.

One thing that is so nice about this kind of garment, is that you can use the fabric later if you want to make a jacket or some other fleece project.

I like the fact that it is as long as a coat. Long coats are very expensive and this affordable project might mean you can get 2 yards of fleece in all your favorite colors and make wraps.  The thin fleece at WalMart is about $2.70  a yard. Fabric stores also sell reasonably priced thin fleece.

Contentment

Tranquility Defined

by Erin Dertner

Contentment drives away anxiety and worry. To be content means to adjust to any given circumstance, however, it does not mean to accept things that are not right. A woman may be content at home, yet not content with unswept floors, unwashed clothes, and an untidy kitchen.  To be content means that she accepts her responsibilities at home, and although the circumstances might be difficult, she will overcome them by prayer and hard work. Smiles and songs add to the plate of contentment, for while she is busy, she is creating pleasantness around her.

Overlooking the Pond

by Erin Dertner

There are some simple things to do, which will strengthen contentment:

Take the time to fix things that are within your ability to fix. I have known young women who started their adult lives in the most discouraging circumstances, but they figured out how to be orderly and clean and have time to develop their interests in art, poetry, interior decorating, gardening, music, and other things. The house and the income may not suit your needs, but it can bring out the best in you if you do what you can.

Work around the limitations and the discouragements. To have true contentment means to do your best to work around  inconveniences which are part of life. Some things will take care of themselves in due time, but do not wait to make life better for yourself and your family. Working around them builds personal fortitude, one of the attributes of good character.

Resourcefulness inspires creativity. This just means using what you have, or learning to do without, if you have to, yet compensating in a creative way.  There are many women in the blog world who have shared their discoveries of how to find free things, or make things at minimal cost. They also know how to help others be more content. Being resourceful means to look at things as resources that maybe you have overlooked. Discarded items may have value in other ways, and they can become resources. The dirt in your lawn or flower pots is a resource that can be used for something good. The scenes around you are resources for art inspiration. People who have learned to be resourceful have discovered contentment.

Use your home as a ministry.  Knowing that someone is going to be influenced by the way you keep house or the way you "sit in your house" (Deuteronomy 11:19) can foster  a feeling of contentment. Knowing there is a potential and a purpose in the home, in the way you live, the way you dress, the way you approach the early mornings, can be reassuring, and create contentment.

Shade Terrace 

by Vail Oxley

Use examples from the past to inspire contentment. The story is told of a woman whose husband's employment caused the family to locate in a relatively remote area of the country.  Though in the beginning the woman was daunted by the isolation and the dismal scenery, she realized that her family might have difficulty adjusting. She set about to make life as beautiful and as pleasant as possible, by engaging in the hard work of improving the place. She planted and watered and created an oasis of her home that exemplified the cheerful hopefulness she believed in. Sometimes travelers would drive by on the lonely highway and slow down toi get a better view of the house and property around it. Eventually, other people in that land took courage from this example and make the best of things where they lived. This took determination, courage, resourcefulness, hard work, and creativity. All those ingredients applied, brought about ultimate contentment, because then, people could enjoy the fruits of their labors. 

Do the things that are the most urgent, and be willing to let other things go.  When I have the Ladies Bible Class in my home each week, I realize it is not within my strength or within time limits, to get the entire house viewing-ready or tour-quality, so I just do the rooms that will be used, and close the doors on other rooms. This sort of approach has to be done with caution, especially when raising children, as they may use the technique as a short-cut and not achieve excellence in cleaning up their own rooms or helping in the general cleaning of the home. In a family, it should be everyone's job to understand the goal of the homemaker and do what they can to help her achieve it.

When life is disrupted and there is chaos, remember small things. Find contentment in a soft wind, the warm sun on your face, hanging the clothes outside on a line, the sound of birds, the beauty of a flower, fresh garden vegetables, the scent of something baking, the moments sitting alone reading, the ticking of a clock. When these things are unattainable, you can sometimes buy plants and fresh bouquets inexpensively in some places.  

Allow some things to be neglected when there are opportunities to do other things. Sometimes we need to take advantage of the season or the time when the sun shines. There will other things that need immediate attention, or there will be events that only come once or twice in a lifetime. While we need to be content at home, there will be chances to do seasonal things or travel, that will not always be there. Contentment means to be happy in whatever the circumstance.

Look back and take note of all the things that you have been discontent about, and see how they faded. If you tend to be anxious, which is the opposite of contentment, you will be able to see God's care over you in the past.

Plan Something. Make plans for an excursion or to host visitors, or to build something, to create something. These plans will involve a lot of steps that help the mind get organized. In doing so, you create contentment just by reaching for a goal.

Pray when restless discontent occurs. Examine the source of it, and, if it is possible to do something about it peacefully, make changes. If not, pray for contentment.

Philippians 4:11-13

... for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

To print this article go here.

How the West Was Won

Scene at the Signing of the Constitution

While I'd rather sew, I'm interupting this blog with a special plea before the election to watch this video, called "The Grinding Down of America," which describes how communists focus on how to take down a Judeo-Christian culture from the inside.  The West was "won" with the hard work and faith of those who have gone before us. This plan to  infiltrate, dismantle  and replace it with Fabianism/Communism  has been the main focus of the left, (who now call it progressive-ism) since the early 1900's to tear down what makes life bearable and beautiful, and replace it with the misery of Marxism. You will enjoy listening to the New Zealand  and Australian spokesmen who describe the tactics of communism very well.

Disciples of the movement did not want a revolution that could be suppressed by police, so they infiltrated the education system and agitated in places where they could pit the poor against the rich, the young against the old. They know they are not strong enough to split up a unified country, so they split the west into conflicts and chaos. Once the chaos comes, it is so unpleasant, that people will vote for anyone who will promise unity, without checking to see what their agenda really is.  This film reveals the names of people living today who are controlling politics today and are dedicated to communism and leftism.

"They discovered they could do more to destroy our country by infiltrating the education system than by throwing bombs."  Children are taught that government is the solution to all problems. Independence and self-sufficiency is discouraged.

 Because of the foundation of Biblical principles that gave America good success, these things became the target of attack. Feminism was part of that attack, taking away the importance of men in society, and breaking up the home. In the film, Phyllis Schlafly explains the agenda of the feminists, to make homemakers feel they are victims, confined, with limited freedom, etc. to mobilize them out of the home.

 "We are going to destroy the West by infiltrating its culture. We are going to turn their music, their art, and their literature against them," said one of the proponents of cultural marxism. Even if you are very busy, you can at least listen to this film.  I plan to work on my sewing while I listen.  When you are finished, you will be able to make a more informed choice in the coming election. The Grinding Down of America.

Free enterprise, freedom of religion and freedom from oppressive government were the identifying marks of the west. The west was won by the application of Biblical principles of liberty, life and the application of work and reward.

 "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." 

Thomas Jefferson 

The Art of Hans Dahl

Alpine Landscape

by Hans Dahl

Returning From the Fields

by Hans Dahl

The Fjord

by Hans Dahl

Hans Dahl 1849-1937

Norway

The paintings of this man are amazing. I enjoy looking at the misty mountains in the backgrounds, and the delicate wildflowers in the foreground.  From his photograph he appears to be a dignified, stately, masculine sort of man, and his paintings of women show them in just the opposite light: feminine and soft. He captured an air of innocent happiness in their faces, kissed by the cooler northern temperatures into a sweet rosy glow.

The clothings is also interesting. From the hand-embroidered vests to the bright skirts and the billowing blouses. I look at paintings like this for sewing inspiration, too.  One reason for this is that these women are depicted doing rigorous outdoor work in that clothing, and so, it must not have hindered them in their daily lives, as moderns are inclined to believe. Indeed, some of the current styles hardly allow normal household movement, compared to the garments in the old paintings. There are patterns available today for making clothes like this, from major pattern catalogs and from Neue Mode, a German pattern company.

After a century, these paintings are still vivid and looking like new, as if the girls just came in from a brisk walk in the fresh summer air. 

Easy to Make: Fleece Shawls

Painting, above by Gyorgyi Giergl (Hungary 1821-1863)

shows a beautiful shawl worn with a skirt with tucks.

Tuck Shawl from The Paragon Catalog

The fleece shawl shown above, comes from a catalog, with a price of $25.00.  The shawl shown below is similar. The fleece cost about $6.00 but the project requires that you cut it down the fold in the middle, leaving half the fleece for another project. So in effect, the cost is much less.  It takes about 2 and a half yards of thin fleece ($2.25 a yard at Walmart) and requires minimal sewing. I have used a sewing machine, but it can be hand stitched.

Since fleece is usually about 54 inches wide, I cut mine piece lengthwise down the fold in the middle. It is now one long piece. The other piece will be saved for future projects. The piece which makes the shawl can be anywhere from 2 to 2 and a half yards long, but the longer the length works best.

Fold the 2 yard or 2 and a half yard piece of fleece in half and mark the middle with chalk.

For the tab: On one of the short ends of the piece, cut a 5 inch (more or less, depending on how wide  you want the tab)

Cut that piece in  half and use one of the pieces for the tab. You do not have to make the tab as long as I made mine. The one in the catalog photo looks shorter.

Fold it in half and stitch three sides, leaving one short side open for turning.

Turn the piece inside out and fold the raw edge to the inside so that it can be stitched shut. Not shown: stitch on the outside, all the way around the tab, just about a fourth inch from the edges.

Lay the fleece around a dress form, around your own shoulders, or place it on someone else, and pin the finished tab to determine where it works best. Thread the fabric from the other side, through it to determine comfort. 

Using the chalk mark for the center, wrap the shawl around a dress form or another person, and put the chalk mark in the center back.  Then, pin the tab somewhere on the shawl and insert the other side, to see where you want to place the tab. Remove pins and replace the tab in a different area, if you need to. I placed mine parallel with the front edge of the fabric, and almost in the middle of the fabric. 

Once the tab is turned inside out, you can stitch all the way around it, including the end that was open (tuck in the open edge before stitching).

This is what it looks like finished. You can also hem the edges of the shawl on the sewing machine, using a decorative stitch, but it is not necessary.

Here is a white one, hemmed with a decorative machine stitch. You could also make several rosettes from the fleece to cover the loop. 

I experimented with placing the loop on the

shoulder, too. This would look good with

the fabric roses on the loop.

My view today, outside,

and inside!