Listen While You Work: Teacups for Lefties, Small Portion Eating, Keeping Your Interest, Conversation Tips, Those Special Meetings(!)

Hello Ladies,

I hope you enjoy this lively talk, but this is just my opinion, so,  always do what works the best for your own home. This video is designed to listen while you work at something.

Please do not forget to leave a comment!  Also, I am keeping a list of your requests and planning videos. Thanks so much.

Wet 'n' Wild silk finish "Sunset Peach" frost

Prices range from $1.99 - 97cents in various stores.

Days at Home

Picture from Pinterest

Hello Ladies,

I'm trying to get another listen-while-you-work (or play) video.

In the meantime to keep in touch, I'm sharing pictures of things around here, and you get any ideas from it, help yourself to these changes too!

 Using these seasonal $1.00 board signs in another way:

Of course a pool can be a small pool for children or whatever is used in the garden, to warrant a pool sign!

Of course I saved one each of the original Harvest signs. Since they were only $1.00 I was able to buy one each to paint differently.

This one is for outside and it is also a Dollar Tree makeover:

Our Ladies Bible Class was invited to a Tea at a place way up in the hills,  and she went all out with the lovely food. I remembered to get a picture  only after it was almost gone:

Her daughter had decorated the mantel. Where can I get a house like that?!!! Do you like it?

There are a few changes here at home, too:

 Easy way to change a color scheme with covers and cushions:

  The field where I spoke to you on video is now all green again:

I'll see you all soon on video I hope, if I can get myself together.

Lydia 

Listen While You Work: Developing Other Interests, Staying the Course, Using Negative for Good

Listen While You Work: The Hotel Lobby, Cooking Neatly, You "Might" Be Right

Painting by Carl Thomsen, Denmark 1847-1912

Hello Ladies,

I hope you enjoy listening while you work and that you'll leave a comment!

 Here is the link to the Nutrition videos you can listen to while you go about your day
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_2NxGqQpr2r0VBp221LM7w

Homemaker Support: Listen While You Work - Teacup technique, Dignity in Dress, Work to Feel Uplifted, Antecedents

Hello Ladies,

I'm so grateful for your visits here. Your comments give me good material to talk about!

If you need some company while you work, this video lasts an hour. You can get the kitchen cleaned, the laundry folded and two bedrooms in order!

Homemaker Support: Each Day a New Start!

 Hello Ladies,

Please enjoy this video while you work. It is only 26 minutes long so you won't be able to do much but I hope to have a longer one next time.

At approximately 9 minutes you may notice the sound of the nearby train, Amtrack, which passes at this time every day. We live close enough to the tracks (but we are on not on the wrong side of the tracks, haha) to hear it each morning and night.

Wet and Wild, $1.00 from Dollar Tree,  lower in price at other stores. Color: Red

Homemaker Support: Listen While You Work - Appearance at Home, Convenient Placement of Things in the Kitchen, Working Around Children, Other Things

Hello Ladies,

I hope you enjoy the video today!  Please be sure and leave a comment!

Here is the poem I was taking about in the video:

In My Nursery

by Laura Elizabeth Richards
(American 1850-1943)

In my nursery as I sit,
To and fro the children flit:

Rosy Alice, eldest born,
Rosalind, like summer morn,

Sturdy Hal, as brown as berry,
Little Julia, shy and merry,

John, the king, who rules us all,
And the baby, sweet and small.

Flitting, flitting, to and fro,
Light they come, and light they go:

And their presence fair and young,
Still I weave into my song.

Here rings out their merry laughter,
Here their speech comes tripping after:

Here their pranks, their sportive ways,
Flash along the lyric maze,

Til I hardly know, in fine,
What is theirs, and what is mine:

Can but say, through wind and weather:
They and I are wrought together.

Life At Home is Freedom

Hello Ladies,

It has been busy around here and I wanted to check in and post a little message.

It is good to be home where we can live as we please, creating the customs of the future with our family celebrations, inside jokes and sayings, talents and so forth.

I'm getting further into the "deep state" of my house, and finding old treasures and getting rid of some things that don't work any more so I hope soon to see the walls again (that's a joke).  If I can get rid of the old curtains and carpet in one last room I will have "drained the swamp".

Don't worry about politics of the world, ladies. Just make sure you get your own house in order. It is nice that Americans especially are very informed about their government and keeps it accountable. There is a website you can go to to see the President's daily schedule and a report of when he arrives here or there and who he talked to, and what events he  attends. 

For all you ladies outside of the U.S. I probably should explain that our government is our servant. We elect people to do our will and serve the needs of the country. We do not serve them; they serve us. However, we respect the ones we elect and do not treat them as underlings. And here in my area we elect our own local Sheriff and try to make his job tolerable by not living riotously or in a way that would put undue burden on these public servant. In our home education we had several books about citizenship that outlined some things the Bible taught about how to treat rulers.

Remember some basic things that Christians are obligated, according to the scriptures, to do, regarding dignitaries and those in power:

1. Live a blameless life. (Proverbs 2:6-8) Your voice will be heard more readily.

2. Be respectful towards those who have been elected. (Romans 13). A lot of people misunderstand the word "submit" but one of the Koine Greek (the original language of the NT) meanings is "respect".  Though we may not always be able to comply with something that is not right, we must always show respect. We respect their position and their responsibility and authority but it does not mean we can obey something that is not right.

3. Make a proper appeal when there is something a ruler is doing wrong, so that the dignitary does not have a reason to resist your request. If it is done politely and with dignity rather than demanding and rebellious, it will bring better results, as with the apostle Paul's appeal to Caesar.

4. Pray for the rulers, so that you can live a peaceful life.  This is from 1st Timothy 2:2, pasted below:

1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Do not wring your hands or obsess over government until you have taken those four steps, and of course, doing those four things will give you mental clarity and reassurance.

So now, if you are in distress or feel disgusted over the rulers in the world, have you prayed for the President (Prime Minister, King, etc.)?  

Often we ladies go around frantically trying to fix things (and we want it now), instead of going through the wise process our Lord laid out for us in these four points I've discussed here.

If you think of any more of them, please leave a comment!!

Now, to another subject:

As I mentioned previously, sometimes the paintings that other people post on Pinterest lack the information necessary to give credit to the artist, so if you need to know about this painting, you will have to research it yourself.

I am posting it here to illustrate what I was talking about in my last video on the previous post, namely dressing to compliment and coordinate or contrast the beautiful nature that surrounds us or the place we are visiting.  I am old enough now to remember how ladies used to dress and now I rarely see anything pretty on women. It is partly due to the designers and manufacturers of women's clothing, and partly to our lack of education on the subject. However, we can get a lot of good ideas from the paintings of old and some of the contemporary paintings of ladies as well.

I remember decades ago there was a fiction writer named Barbara Cartland in England, who so despised the modern era for its lack of  beauty, that she set her stories in a historical period so the ladies would be wearing nice clothing.

It seems to be the same with modern artists, who are not very impressed with modern clothing and are painting pictures of women in the nature wearing pretty long dresses.

  

We can't approach life with the idea that everyone has to comply with our way of life, and if you sit around wishing for things to be less depressing, particularly in the mode of dress in the prevailing culture, you will have a long wait and in the end have spent your life waiting for better times and wishing you were born in another era. Please don't do that. Just live the way you want to and don't have any regrets.

You can do anything you like at home, and,  just as the author Janette Oake  said in her pioneer saga "Love Comes Softly," 
"When you read a book you can go anywhere in the world and have an adventure."

At home though, it is not necessary to read a book to have freedom at home and have an event or an adventure. You can do all sorts of things with your life at home.  It saves a lot of money and stress if you can figure out ways to enjoy the house and the yard and the area surrounding you. 

Homemaker Support- Listen While You Work: Appearance at the Beach, Being A Day Ahead, Contradicting

Hello Dear Ladies,

I took some time to find a few 19th century type paintings of ladies at the beach, to illustrate how a visit to the ocean can be used as an opportunity for serenity and beauty. Pinterest is a great source of paintings but the people who post them do not always include the artist and name of the painting, so today you will have to look all that up yourself.  

I am very much concerned that the glory of the ocean is lost on the physical fitness movement, where going to the beach is for exercise alone. A visit to the ocean can inspire an artist or a poet,  and give ideas to a writer, and provide an adventure in nature-studies to children.

A walk on the beach can even draw your thoughts back through history, thinking of the many people before you in past times, who enjoyed the same salt air experience.

We hear people today wistfully talking about more elegant eras of the past, but some time at the coast has a refining effect on the people who know how to approach this experience with thoughtfulness, looking for all they can find to love and enjoy.

And, of course, it is evidence of God's glorious creation.

It is also a time of re-creation and relaxation.

Today in my video I discuss dressing for the beach, because it is more than sports and swimming. In "the olden days" people who wanted to swim in the ocean gathered in a different part of the beach that was set aside with bathing shelters just for sea-bathing (swimming), while other people preferred to stroll or sit and look at scenery, and even take tea.

artist: Gregory Harris

It is sometimes difficult to find long, feminine clothing, so I perused Pinterest and found something very simple but loose and long for the beach:

I would love to have a pattern for this! I like using one pattern and making a dresses from a variety of prints and solids. I had an Aunt who lived on a farm in the 1940's and she used the same pattern for her farm style dresses but she always liked to see what kind of interesting print fabric she could find.

Hermann Seeger

 I hope you will leave some comments!!

With my Time and Tru plaid cotton shirt today I am wearing Wet and Wild Silk Finish Lipstick in Dark Wine, 99 cents at some stores and $1.00 at Dollar Tree. It has a very light feel and is so moisturizing. I'd like to try the L.A. Colors cosmetic brand which is sold at Dollar Tree, and I may do that soon.

Homemaker's Support - Listen While You Work: Good Grooming, Health, Careful With Information, and More

Hello Ladies,

I am attempting to keep these videos coming a little more often, and hopefully I can sit down and do one tomorrow also. In the meantime I hope you get a lot done at home while you listen to this!

Someone asked me to give my input about what to do if you are a homemaker and homeschooling and have suffered a loss of income or have to adjust to less money, and so I do my best to warn not to panic or be drastic when adjusting to this.

I included something more concerning health, with a discussion of the waistline: in a way the waistline is the "center" of your bodily health and has a lot to do with how things are going with the rest of your body. I heard a nutritionist say "If you can get your waistline back, you can retrieve your health." You can look up more about this yourself, online and see what you come up with.

Also, the subject of having your own car is laid forth in this discussion, as I talk about how I have to be efficient with my time, get what I need to run the house and get back home to do things I need done, rather than sharing a ride with anyone and waiting many more hours for them.

Today while describing my plaid "Time and True" shirt that I bought at Walmart, I mentioned this coat that was worn by one of the European royals last winter. This is the plaid I was looking for in fabric. It doesn't appear to have so much dark blue in it and I really like how the red stripes show up. I always peruse the plaid aisle of the fabric stores hoping there might be something like it there. I like the aqua color.

I also read a little from one of the original publications of Christian Charm Course by Emily Hunter, which I had used when I was a teenager. It has been revised several times since "the olden days" and I noticed there is a new version, as you see here, however, you can still get good copies of the older versions on Ebay, Etsy, Thrift Books and other places. Although it says it is for young girls, I would suggest every woman of every age get a copy for themselves and take the course!

Click here to Order this book

Give your girls a guide to growing up into charming Christian women! This workbook features traditional advice on posture, pleasant countenances, exercising & nutrition, hygiene, makeup, the best clothing for you, and other aspects of growing up. Information is given in short, fun-to-read paragraphs, and the end of each chapter relates to a scriptural truth. Questions are given at the end for the girls to answer and reflect upon. 80 pages, softcover. This student guide is designed to be used alongside the The New Christian Charm Course Teacher's Manual.

Samples of kitchen cannisters that I spoke of in the video:

Thank you so much for your kind visit, and especially your comments! If you have difficulty leaving a comment here, you are welcome to click that email link on the side and send me a letter.



I live in the country so I take advantage of the shopping in nearby small-town-America where there is a Dollar Tree. I have purchased my cosmetics there and today I am wearing Wet and Wild. I wish they would change the name to "Happy and Free" or something like like "Sensible and Serene." I like that these products are not promoted by film and television celebrities and that they are only 99cents in some of the other stores in town.

Today I am wearing Wet and Wild Lip Silk Finish lip color  called Cherry Frost.

Listen While You Work: Nutrition, Cooking, The Jane Austen Diet, Alcohol

Hello Ladies!!

It felt good to talk to you again, and you can talk back to me by leaving some comments!

The purpose of this video is to keep you company while you catch up on a few things at home. It is always nice to listen to something while you work.  

The book I read aloud from:

Today I am wearing on my face:

Above: Castor Oil--which has to be mixed with another oil because it is too sticky to spread. I have been using this on my face, neck and back of hands for the last two weeks. It is too early for a report.  The foundation is from W & W in Rose Ivory, and the blush is a wonderful emollient stick from the same company.  These are all available from Dollar Tree and Walmart, all under $5.00.  I like that these products do not promote any celebrities or big names.

The Jane Austen Diet book pointed out that as fat was reduced from foods, carbohydrates (which convert to sugar in the body) were consumed more , causing many of the health problems we have today.

In this video I bring out some simple points:

Eat food as close the original form it was created in, as much as you can.

Shop the perimeters of the grocery store where the real food is located.

Your liver can only handle a teaspoon or so a day of sugar, but sugar may also be in your bread and pasta, cereals ,  peanut butter, coated on nuts, spaghetti and tomato sauces, condiments and many other foods.

Eating protein foods will help you lose your craving for sweets.

One-pan cooking gives you the flavor you need and does a great job of cooking things adequately, leaving less clean-up in the kitchen.

Salads in summer and home made soups in winter help keep viruses at bay and will make you feel good all around.

Alcoholic drinks have a very high sugar content but few nutritionists are talking about it. They go on and on about juices being "pure sugar" but fail to mention alcohol. Modern alcohol is not the same as ancient alcohol because rather than being naturally fermented, it is fortified (strengthened) by mixing it with an ingredient called ethanol, contained in strong drink. 

I spoke a little about women and alcohol, and I also took the trouble to find a link with more information than I could give. https://www.health.com/alcoholism/rethink-relationship-to-alcohol

Those who wish to search this issue further might benefit from this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoY9aY80lL0&t=250s


If you are concerned at all about your weight, it is good to know that the calories from alcohol, just like sugar, are used up first and more quickly than anything else you eat, turning the rest of it to stored  fat. So if you want to burn up your stored fat, avoid the alcohol. (As I said before, research this for yourself.)

Too much sugar https://sugarscience.ucsf.edu/the-toxic-truth/#.XY2L0VVKjIU

Dressing in Harmony With Creation

Painting: Honeydew by 

Hello Ladies,

I was intending to make another listen-as-you-work video but I got struck with a feeling of sleepiness early in the day that wouldn't shake off, so I decided to rest. It had been a very busy weekend.  During this time of resting I ate some honeydew melon and also took the time to research the benefits of honeydew and cantaloupe. These fruits are incredibly loaded with nutrients that improve the body and help alleviate many ailments.   

Above you see from the view through our window, how very green it is around here.

The paintings below are by an artist, Hans Dahl, (Norway 1849-1937) and I am posting there here because I want to talk a little about how we dress.  The older women really need to be examples in the what they wear, but if you are younger, please do not waste time looking for examples in older women. Just start right now becoming that older woman, by dressing well and being a good example.

Despite the natural wildness of the surroundings, this girl is dressed in something that harmonizes well with nature--quite a contrast with what you might see today.  In speaking of harmony, I mean that it does not jolt your senses with something that seems to contradict the surroundings. I can talk more about that on a video.

The sleeves take on the hue of the blue water and the longer garment is as graceful as the soft meadow. The colors, too, of the dress likely are the same as the surrounding flowers.

Have you ever noticed how the painters of the 19th century include something with the subject from the background?  I will try to find more of these paintings to show you.

I realize the artists painted an idealistic version of dress, but wouldn't it be lovely if we all paid more attention to what we look like to others, maybe with the thought in mind of dressing to inspire an artist?  Would the way you dress  inspire someone to think, "I must put this on canvas to create an all-time memory?"

I was thinking of the pioneers, of whom I have spoken in some of my posts, who walked the Oregon trail. Yes, the women walked. They did not ride in the wagons, which carried their supplies and belongings.  Despite the rough circumstances,, the photographs and museums exhibit women's clothing as being much like the ones here in the Hans Dahl paintings. 

Why is it that women of the past managed to help the men in so many things, from chopping wood to carrying water, in clothing, though very plain and rough, that covered them so amply and gracefully. If they could have looked ahead to future generations that never had to walk such an arduous path, yet are wearing things that make them look like they are always running a race, I wonder what they would think. That is not to say that we should ever view ourselves in light of the judgement of others in the past but I wonder a lot about how the clothing has become what you are seeing now, so that only a minority of women are able to dress in a lovely way, and even question the very idea of it.

I noticed on Pinterest many dresses and skirts that are being sold today which are quite feminine and flattering to women. 

I'm certainly not saying we must wear 19th century costumes, but we can wear things that make us look different from the men; in fact, why not wear things that make us look strikingly different than the men.

I realize the prevailing culture has made this a controversy. Isn't that sad?  I wonder if the Victorian women or the pioneer women would ever have imagined that choosing long pretty dresses would become a bone of contention in society.

There is good news. It is possible to choose "pretty."

Have a look at Pinterest for long dresses with sleeves  and see what you get. There are a lot of floral dresses too, and if you don't want to wear dresses, there are some very feminine and pretty tops you can get that are longer.  

Actually, these aren't very pretty but they have a soft appearance and I wanted to show some fashions with the nature in the background. Perhaps you could find more that are nicer.

I noticed that April Cornell's catalog which came in the mail (you can get one for free online) are shown in nature backgrounds and many are posed in home-settings, such as the entry, living room, patio, kitchen, and it is so lovely. 

I hope to talk in more detail about this on video and share some ideas I've had.

I found this on Pinterest, from Summer Storm (UK) . If you are young I think you can wear this, and enjoy being pretty. Don't dress drab and dull or look like you are giving up when you are young.  Don't be old before your time!

To older ladies I would say, do not give up on your appearance. You can still dress beautifully and it will give you a feeling of purpose.

Here are some more from Pinterest:

This might not be as modest as we like, but I can get some design and fabric ideas from it for sewing.  I like the calico fabric.

This is a Laura Ashley original, which I read was in a museum --- that seems so amusing, to know that dresses I used to wear are now in a museum. It reminds me of something someone said in a movie, "The time will come when your beliefs will be locked up in a museum."

I am searching for a pattern for this particular Laura Ashley design, if one ever existed. Some of the clothing sold in the Laura Ashley stores  were never put into commercial patterns. 

For a closing note, I will share some pictures of sayings found in a local home goods shop:

 When Mr. S. is with me, he gets out his daytimer and writes down all the sayings he sees that he gets a kick out of, while he is waiting for me.