19 April 1956 “Seedlings, Eggs, Apple Blossoms, Introspection, and Cookies”

Though I have not been as ‘Contrary as Mary’ it seems my garden does grow. My cucumber and tomato seedlings are doing so well.
Here is a close up of the cuke leaves and you can see we are onto the 4th set of leaves and they are already developing their little curly cues.I just find that patterns and shape of them so lovely. Here is a close up of one of the tendrils.I think this would make a lovely photo framed and hung on the wall as art or even reprinting the pattern of fabric. I am just always so amazed and in love with natures colors and patterns.
Here is a little view of the darlings all jumbled together. They are impatient to get outside, but here in New England that must wait.This year, rather than planting many seedlings per pot for tomatoes and then thinning them out, I decided one per pot. And I have to say they all look rather healthy to me for it.They smell wonderful and I can’t help but brush my hand along their little green heads when I walk by and then inhale the intoxicating fragrance of it. They smell, already, of tomatoes.
Here is my entire tray of Basil. I think one can never have too much of the stuff. You can freeze it fresh, dry it for seasoning and of course make buckets of pesto! It is wonderful on fish and lamb everything! So, I wanted to start a lot inside this year. I think it looks rather healthy and too has its distinctive fragrance already.I only have a few windows to access for light so the seedlings live on a wheeled cart and it gets pushed around to follow the sun through the house. I cannot wait until I can build my first greenhouse. To think of all the things I could start in January for the coming spring, the mind reels!
I am trying something new this year, Quinoa. I have always wanted to try my own grain, but never more so since I have learned to make my own bread and cakes etc. To have enough area to grow wheat is not possible for me at this time, but I found out that Quinoa (pronounced ‘keen-wa’) is a grain that can be eat like rice or ground and used as a baking grain. It is a striking beautiful flower that grows from 4-6 feet. So, one of my front flower beds are going to be full of these flowers, as they are lovely AND useful. I have started the seedlings inside and this is what I have so far.They have a beautiful red stems which I have found out was due to their not having enough light. But they are still holding on, so we shall see how they transplant. I am also going to direct sew some in the same garden bed to see how they do that way. I started some chives the other day as well. I am going to make a separate herb garden from the veg garden. I am also going to be making a Tea Garden with Fennel, Bergamot (bee balm), Cone Flower (Echinacea), Lemon Balm, Mint, chocolate mint, pineapple mint, Hyssop, Anise etc. I love all these fragrances both for cooking and to dry for tea. Many of these are perennial and so will come back again and again with vengeance (especially the mint!) I will share some photos of my before and after of the garden when I get them.
I brought two apple trees with me to transplant here and they are doing well. I also have an old espaliered apple that somehow managed not to be destroyed by various tenants and it is in bloom. I took these photos and I think they almost look like peony blossoms (though much smaller, but you can’t tell in the photos) I also bought a fig the other day, but may take it back and exchange it for another grape vine. I love figs, but in our climate they have to be wrapped and really protected here in the North East.
I receieved all my chicken eggs. I cannot recall if I shared that I will be hatching out all my chicks this year. This of course means I will be getting some roosters, but I will either sell them off or they will be destined for the table, depending on how we feel. I decided I wanted to try and have all ‘blue’ chickens. Many breeds of chickens have been bred to be blue (which is actually just a soft grey color) so I thought the idea of having an all blue chicken flock would be fun. I also decided to get True Ameraucanas this year. It is a breed of chicken that lays blue eggs. There is a mish mash breed that is off sold as Aracaunas or Ameracaunas that are actually just a mix of a few breeds and they can lay a green egg, blue egg a pinkish egg, or a brown egg. This year I wanted a pure bred Ameraucana so that I would know I was getting the blue eggs and also if I chose to show them at our local fair ( You cannot show the other ‘easter egg’ chickens as they are not pure breeds).
Here is the color of the egg. This picture does not do them justice.They are the perfect blue that I love and when I redo my kitchen I am going to have one of the eggs matched as closely as possible at the paint store (With their computer scan) to get the color.Here are all the eggs in my little incubator. It only holds 42 eggs, so a few extra Silkie Bantam eggs had to go on the side. They are sitting in an automatic turner. I treated myself to this last year, as before that I have always self turned eggs. But I have never tried to hatch 42 eggs before and having to turn all of these twice a day by hand would have been rather hard. I hope we get some good chicks.
The eggs had to be shipped so there is always a chance that none will hatch because of how they get treated in the mail, but we shall see.
I sometimes wonder if my intense need to grow and make new life, albeit seeds and chickens, is really just that human element of procreation finding new paths. I have always loved planting, plants and animals. I was the little kid with the worms in the pocket, the pet cricket in the old matchbox. I once held a funeral for a pet ant that was destroyed by my over zealousness in feeding it taco meat (it rolled on it and killed the little darling).
Where does this need to create come? It is the same impetus that compels me to paint or draw or even mess about with photos. My mind is fixated and continually obsessed with it through out the day. I am never happy with a recipe I have found. I must change it, add to it, combine it with something new. Perhaps that is why I took so quickly to homemaking. I often feel that homemakers are, indeed, artists at heart. One would have to be, really, to continually make and create a home, meals, family entertainment and all still feel satisfied at home. Although I know some people have said, “Oh, I wish I had that much ‘free time’” I wonder if they really do. It seems many people are not happy being self directed and really like the ‘work place’ where they know or are told or expected what to do and then when they return home they have ‘leave’ to veg out and ‘relax’. I have never been happy in that position. At any job I have ever been I have always thought how could I do it different or better? In what way could I make this into a situation that would allow me to be home more or to work it from home.
Sometime I think, too, it comes from being for all intents and purposes an only child. There were no arguments with siblings or spur of the moment games elicited by others in my childhood. Much of my young years were spent alone. And, when those coveted summer months would arrive and my best friend (who happened to be my niece only 4 years younger than I) was allowed to stay for the summer, my over excitement at having an outlet for all the games and scenarios I had played out alone often left me the ring leader to our fun. When I look back I must have seemed a bossy little mite, for I often was the ‘leader’ of our summer time fun games.
I have often considered that what we have or how we live when we are young, as children, really colors and affects our adult lives and decisions. I don’t mean in an obvious way, but very subconsciously. I think, unfortunately, this sometimes manifests itself when a child has grown up with an overbearing father, they often find themselves married to someone rather similar, as on some deep level this represents the early years of ‘home’ and safety. Even though it may not have been actually ‘safe’ it was what happened during those early years. Like the little ducks that see the first thing upon hatching, they imprint on that and despite their being a duck, you are their mother. It doesn’t matter what is good or bad for them, they see you and other humans as safety and nesting.
So, as I sit here, older and childless, I wonder how much of that is really just a normal response to what I knew as a child. Even my ‘career’ as homemaker and even as artist, they are both such solitary paths. There are hours upon hours in my day where I am alone, I might speak to myself out loud or in my mind, but besides the dogs, it is just me. Am I lonely? I am not even sure, in a case of an only child, lonely can mean the same thing as one who was raised around cacophony of noise and siblings. Our perceptions of that concept are so different.
I certainly know my thoughts are my companion and have always been. I can find myself, now, in the middle of the day, humming along as I water my plants or laying out ideas for the garden or dinner and I stop and recall. The small child alone in her room, toys, or drawing or bugs, but in my imagination I have travelled worlds and had adventures, but all so silent. To anyone one the outside looking in, a quite contemplative child sitting alone in her room humming along.
Again, I think that might have much to do with my instinct towards the living things. In fact I have a very good repore with animals. I often understand dogs in a way and animals are often drawn to me. Perhaps in my quiet contemplation I have seen and understood them in some way missed by those who are always talking and busy amongst other human beings. So, I grow the plants and they respond. I have another dog and it seems normal and natural to me. A fish tank. An incubator full of eggs. A compost bin full of worms. Are they my companions? I even have many times (I think many artists feel this way) considered my images and my drawings and paintings my children. They are, to me, alive in that I created them and I want the best for them.
I suppose I am not really sure where I am going with this post. I think maybe I feel bad I have not posted much lately, but I have allowed myself more time to slip back into my ‘alone time’. My writing here and creating the site, I truly love, but there is a taste of the crowd in it. So, sometimes, though I have only now started to feel it more, I have begun to just naturally slip away into myself again. I don’t want to lose sight of the blog nor to not continue forward, but I suppose I just need, sometimes, to be with my thoughts without sharing them. Silly, I know, but they are my old friends and sometimes I get selfish with them; I want them only to ‘come out and play’ with me.
Well, enough of that. I will close today with my recipe for delicious Maple Oatmeal sandwich cream cookies. I don’t remember if I shared this recipe before. The cookies are wonderful, I think.

3/4 c. butter

1 c. maple syrup

3 c. uncooked oats

1/2 tsp. soda

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 egg
1 c. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon
2tbs. vanilla
Beat together butter, sugar, syrup, vanilla and egg, until smooth. Add oats, flour, soda and cinnamon, and mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes at 350 degrees on upper oven rack. I always like to undercook them a bit as they continue to cook when you take them out. Then they hold their chewiness.
50 Gal’s Maple Cream Filling
One package cream cheese
one cup confectioners sugar(add more if not stiff enough add more liquid if too stiff)
2 TBS cream
1 Tbs Vanilla
1/4 maple syrup
Mix until spreading consistency. Spread on cookie and sandwich with second cookie. Eat them, so good!
Until next time, happy homemaking.

15 April 1956 “Out in the Garden”

Sorry I have been wretchedly lax of late. I have been, as the title says, out in the garden. I have felt the call of the increasing warmth and that New England rush one gets after the long cold winter spread out in shortened daylight and waiting. Once that touch of Spring hits us, it is all we can do to stay still. For, particularly where I live, Spring is often very short and Summer will soon be upon us. There is soil to be turned, fences to be erected, plans carried out, seedlings nurtured. So, my excuse for less time here is more time in the yard.

I often wondered what it would be to garden in a place like California where it is warm the year round and one could, presumably, grow things all the time. The anxious rush of spring, the distant dreaming and planning of winter, the sadness of August tinged with the flutter of Autumns coming coolness. How would it be? How would I be? Would I be less anxious come Spring? Would I consider it Spring? If I could grow tomatoes the year round, how would that affect me. I suppose it could make one more realistically closer to self sustenance, but how would it make me feel overall?

There is a quality to the life here, in New England, that has its poignancy in the seasons. Do I appreciate Spring and Summer more because of Fall and Winter? Would that early bird song, or the first moment I track the sun across the wooden floor now to the piano, making me realize the Earth’s tilt and the coming Spring, feel as important? Would I be more at ease and enjoy the Garden more if it were there to be all the time, or does it being blanketed and like an austere sculpture garden in winter make it more a blessed thing come high Summer? I honestly don’t know.

I love gardening. I love the act of planting seed and watching them grow to a food on my plate or flowers in my home. I love the soil, the touch and smell of it. I love the scratch of the chicken and the scratch of the chicken wire, as we struggle to keep out the rabbit or deer. So, were I to have this year round how would it be?

Since I haven’t any plans to move to a place such as California or Florida, I suppose I won’t know. I was thinking the other day, if I had endless wealth, where would I choose to live? I immediately pictured a lovely old estate in Oxfordshire England. And, what would I love there besides the wonderful architecture? The Gardens. And again, there are the seasons. So, perhaps they are such a part of me that to take myself out of them would make me feel odd. As if I was always forgetting something; wandering about wondering at all this Summer not quite sure why and wondering of winter as if I had worried I left the stove on but couldn’t quite recall.

So, I suppose I have no answer really. I imagine those who have grown up in a year round warm climate would be as curious about the seasons and hate and loathe the cold days of winter. I think, having the advantage of ‘being at home’ makes a difference. To me, a snow storm is a marvel of fireside reading and coaxing the dogs to sit at my feet to share their warmth. The cool spiced air of fall only adds to the smell of the baking apples or the pungency of the pumpkin.

I do have the seasons and it is Spring, so I am out and taking advantage of every moment. Yet, I see we are to come upon three days of rain starting tomorrow, if the weather man can be trusted (nefarious things, weather men)and so then, I shall return to you all, tail between the legs, begging your pardons and wondering why you are not anxious to read my silly thoughts on scrubbing a floor or rather or not a petticoat can take the place of prozac. Yet, I shall return then, with a more informative post, but until then, I beg your leave, for the garden does await. The birds do sing, the sun has traced its path from the floor to the piano and my hands are aching for the soil. Until our rainy day, then.

10 April 1956 “Unplugged Challenge, Challenge Dress, Cupcakes, and Chickens”

Well, this past Wednesday, we had decided to do an ‘unplugged’ day. Really, for me, it only meant the computer. I have been unplugged from the tv and modern radio for over a year now. Even the bits and bobs of news I receive is merely second hand from hubby, who either reads it in a magazine or hears about it (he too is unplugged from the radio, choosing to only listen to music of his choice).

We are, I have discovered, a very quiet household to the norm. I have increasingly discovered that noise is a normal part of the modern world. Though I encounter it sometimes in modern stores, my local grocery is as quiet as a church mouse with no piped in music. When did POP hits of today become background music for shopping? Does Lady Gaga promise to ‘get me hot, show me what she’s got” conducive to buying Cap’n Crunch and artichokes? But, I digress.

Therefore the ‘unplugging’ in question remained with the computer. And the computer, to me, is a tool of writing and research. I do not ‘chat’ or even really so that much in the line of entertainment. My computer work is much of what this post is. Editing photos, corralling up my thoughts, looking up photos and articles, compiling scanned images and writings from my coterie of old magazines and books. So, when I ‘unplugged’, that is what I unplugged. It, unfortunately, has lead me to be rather lax until today.

I have come to see my blog and the site much as committee work or voluntary work for a local paper. I receive no compensation for my trouble but do it out of both interest and a feeling of obligation to what I have started with my little ramblings. But, and here is the rub, having given myself a day off from this work gave me so much more time in my day that I became hungry for it. I was amazed at what I achieved in one day and looked at trepidation at the day’s end. The following days became something to fear or even feel guilt about.

The day after my unplugged day, I went out to lunch with an old friend. That gave me the excuse of merely being to busy to ‘get back to work’, but really it was still there waiting for me on Friday. Now, here it is Saturday and here I am, well past my normal ‘working hours’ forcing myself to get to it.

I don’t want any of you who still bother to read my blog to think I am begrudging writing it or that I think I am doing you a favor. It just, very plainly, has been hard to get back into a pattern I set in motion over a year ago and then was able to set aside  without guilt for one day. I shall honestly try to get back into it, as it were.

Now, on my unplugged day, I was able to finally finish my March challegne dress. I had so much time that day that I finished my dress, had time to make a matching headband, put up some of my garden fencing and still make dinner, dessert and do my usual ‘housework’. It was an addictive proposition to have endless days before me so unplugged. But, of course, then I would not have all of you. That would make me sad and I would realize how foolish to throw it all away.

So, on with the dress:

For March I had included in my challenge the making of a dress form, which I mentioned in the last post. It was VERY helpful and I am happy to have it. It allowed me to cut out the patter and pin it to the form and see what adjustments needed to be made before I cut the fabric. I did not even cut out a muslin version of it first. And by pinning the dress on the form before sewing in the darts, I was able to see how deep to make them rather than just follow the pattern blindly.

I decided to try this pattern which is not vintage. But, I really liked the vintage sensibility of it and I have been trying to find a pattern with that type of stiff raised collar I often see in 50’s early 60’s dresses. This pattern is nice, as it gives you many different sleeve and neckline options. This collar required the use of interfacing. This is the first time I have ever used it. I have heard of it, but again being very new to sewing, thought it would be hard to use. Well, let me tell you. Once I used it my mind was racing! When I think of all the things I could make. I am going to try and make some of my own design hats, as this would allow me to make a stiff fabric hat. So, April’s Dress challenge is going to include a hat of my own design and construction, we shall see what that looks like.

I was so inspired by it, that I used it to make a headband to match my dress. I often have trouble wearing headbands or scarves tied like a headband, because my head shape often leads to it slipping off. A head scarf tied normally is fine, but in the ‘headband’ manner, it always slipped off. So, with the interfacing, I was able to make a firm look headband with a soft tie back. The picture of me wearing it is not very good, as the sun is directly on it. But, you get the idea.

Here is the top of the dress sewn and placed on the form for any touch ups before the skirt and then zipper goes in. Here she is in all her glory. I really love this fabric and it is so comfortable. It is all lined in 100% cotton muslin. I need to get better pictures of me in it. This was without the headband, my hair is a bit messy too. And the head band.    I think this is the first time I have shown any of you my new hair color. It is much closer to my natural shade and I rather love it as many have told me they too like it. I find it makes my skin seem much paler, which I rather like. So, every time I make another dress, I am happier with it than the last one. This pattern is going to be a starting point for many outfits. I am going to make the top of it in reverse (With the front seam being opened) and adding buttons and bias tape at the bottom to wear with pedal pushers and skirts. I may use this pattern for my April dress, but with a different collar and skirt. Oh, and the best bit was that the dress has pockets! This is the first time I have made pockets in a skirt and I am rather proud of it. It is a nice look. You can see in the picture that I have my hands in the pockets. So, overall, fun and happy to have my dress form, I highly recommend it and also recommend this pattern.

I made some lovely chocolate cupcakes last night.

They were nicely dark and moist and the frosting was very good.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp
2-1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temp
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Beat the butter until it’s softened. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, that should take about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until well combined. Measure out the flour, baking powder, soda, salt and cocoa powder into a small sized bowl and whisk it to combine. Measure out the milk, cream, and vanilla and stir to combine. Add about one third of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture and beat to combine. Add about half of the milk/vanilla mixture and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between the wet and dry and finishing with the dry. Scoop the batter into cupcake cups about 2/3’s full. Bake the cupcakes for about 22-25 minutes. Let cool and ice with chocolate frosting and top with coconut.

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.

I am going to be getting chickens again this year. I had found out I was a week late in getting my Aracauna chicks (which will lay colored eggs.) They are a fun and docile breed. So, after various investigation, I have decided this year to hatch out all my chicks myself. I am going to be getting pure bred Ameraucanas (not the hybrids I had before) Cochins, Opringtons, and Silkie Bantams (for fun). Why I decided to do this as opposed to getting the sexed chicks locally (so that I would know they would all be hens) was that I decided after further investigation, to have all blue chickens. Blue is a color variation in poultry that is a soft greyish color. It is lovely. I found that all the breeds of chickens I wanted were available in that color, but I would need to get them from small private breeders who breed for that. The eggs are being shipped to me, so I hope that they will have a good hatchability. I shall set 42 eggs in my incubator, of those that hatch, some will be roosters. So, after those are found homes, I will probably be left with a small flock of about 10 or se viable hens. It will take longer to get eggs (as they will be born in May) but think that to have the color, the eggs from small farmers/breeders and to have them hatch and be bonded with me important. I want my ‘small holding’ to be not only functional and beautiful but also have a contentment of sorts. I should rather have a few hens that may not lay like mass produced chickens, but are happy to see me and like a good cuddle from my little Chihuahua.

I have come to find, as the year is progressing, how much quality of life has come to mean to me. I had always thought it important, but really since my project am only now really getting to know what the ‘quality’ should be. The connection with my food and the small bit of land I have. My plants and animals and home wants to be in touch and in sync with me. This, I believe, shall also be apparent in my art, which I have of late begun to think of again as more than some ‘doodles a day’. I shall share some of my sketched ideas for a series of paintings in my next post, for this one is becoming far too long and again, I am longing to be out and amongst my yard and home etc.

I hope all of you still find my ramblings interesting enough to pay me an occasional visit. I know I have come to treasure all of you immensely and often find myself thinking of things I could share or that I am trying that you might like to know about. It is a good thing, this form of digital community. It, too, can add to the quality of one’s life if we use it in proportion to our day and do not find ourselves lost staring at a flat screen all day while the whole of life goes on around us.

Until next time, Happy Homemaking and enjoy these images of some of the types of chickens I shall be hatching.

A blue Cochin chick and an adult  a blue Orpington and finally a blue silkie bantam

6 April 1956 “Duct-Tape Dummy, Dresses and Unplugged Wednesday”

A few of you have asked for a tutorial on my duct tape dummy. I merely used this tutorial here. CLICK ON THIS LINK. (I just found this link and have no idea who the people are in the photos, but the tutorial was really helpful.) It was the basis for my dummy, but I differed in it, in that I only used two roles of duct tape. I felt that was enough for me and I have had not problem with it as of yet. I stuffed it with leftover poly-fill from crafts and also a few bags of dryer lint. You may remember that during my week of War Rations, I began to look at all my ‘garbage’ in a new light and saw the waste of throwing away cleaned and screened cotton and wool fibers. I saved it for various things, such as making fire lighting starters etc. So, having had bags of it, I used some of it to fill my dummy. Many people are afraid of the fire hazard of it, but I wonder if that was not started when the ‘fire-retardant’ chemicals were being introduced so we would be frightened, throw away our old toys, and buy new. We have actually come to learn that the chemicals used to make such things (including baby clothes) are actually harmful when breathed in, which infant clothes and stuffed toys often are! But, I digress, you may stuff it with what you like.

I, having not finished my March dress, have come to realize that I actually prefer to sew without patterns. My last two dress challenges involved me making my own way through and having to figure it out. This seems to be the best way for me, so for April’s dress, I am going to try taping out a pattern on my form, draping fabric and making my dress in this way. I think my laxness in my march dress was that I am still fussing about with the pattern and it’s instructions. But, I must learn to follow patterns, I think, but am also happy to make my own and therefore my own designs. Within the framework of what I like about vintage styles, but with my own eye to my take on it and desire to embellish.

You will find the dummy rather easy to do. Simply get a good friend, a garbage bag, two rolls of duct tape and set aside two hours to laugh and giggle at yourself in your taped up armor. I kept feeling a cross between a robot and an armored Opera singer, often wishing for a horned helmet.

Speaking of dresses, I found these two styles from 1958 very interesting. The dropped waist has a 1920’s take, but in a very polished crisp 50’s esthetic. As a larger gal, 20’s fashions can be very unforgiving, grabbing a gall at the largest part of her body, but the dress on the right is loose enough, yet looks slightly tucked in at the waist to be both comfortable and very flattering. I could see possibly designing a top such as that and a few pleated skirts with hidden fasteners, so you could interchange them. They would hold like a dress and have a varied look to your wardrobe. I might make this my study for my April dress.

  The undergarment on the left is very helpful for a fuller figured gal, I think. You can see that it helps the tummy and hips and the fullness does not begin until below the hip. This can really help that basic 1950 silhouette for a larger girl, so a look such as this will be more flattering:

We have been discussing various challenges on the Forum of late. We have one of our fellow Apronites who is doing a month of WWII wartime rations for herself. I did a week of the same and was really shocked at how much one saves when there is less around to eat. We are always discussing how to use technology in the modern world and not to be USED by it. So, we have decided tomorrow, Wednesday 7 April, will be our Unplugged day. That means NO computer, no radio (only old music/radio programs but no modern live radio with commercials) no tv. Of course, cell phones may have to be used if one has no land lines, but NO texting and only using it for what is needed not talking for an hour about what you are doing while on the phone.

For me, quite honestly, except for the computer (which I only use for this blog/website and the subsequent research required for it) it will be little different from what has become my ‘normal’ day. But I have had all of 1955 and the beginning of 1956 to get used to it.

I am excited to see how others fare. And I am hoping we could make it a weekly or possibly twice a month occurrence. Then we could continue to discuss what happened and how we fared on the forum. I like this ideal of social experiment to challenge oneself and to really form new conclusions about our modern world and our roles within the system that currently exists. It might be a way to continue to grow our independent strengths and to use to bend technology to our needs and not feel so dependent upon it. We shall see how we all fare.

I love that our community is growing in ways that though we all live so far from one another, we can still be a network that challenges our minds and concepts and encourages our own personal, artistic, and homemaking growth.

For me, as an artist, music was always such a part of my day. I would have the iPod docked and playing music all the time while painting, creating etc. Then when not doing that I would often be watching TV or surfing the net. After a few months in 1955, having to ‘listen to the radio’ by playing cd’s of old music and radio shows, I began to realize my love of old vinyl. My old record player does not have the option to stack up multi-records to continue to play (available in 1955 to some) so I would let a record play through and then find, after a few hours, I had been simply humming along to myself or really just thinking more.

I began to regain my thoughts. My inner dialogue and thought patterns were returning to me in a way I had not experienced for awhile. The music, as well, seemed to have more of a pure joy to it, when it was dished out in small increments of one side of a 33 record. And the act of holding the big black circle and that first crackle of sound as the needle hits the vinyl, was a very tangible moment of experience. Again, those actions made it more real and therefore more enjoyable to me. Yes, it is nice I can just press one button on my iPod and play days and days of music, but then it all blurs and blends into the background. The act of a cup of tea, feet up, an old magazine and the music, or sitting with your eyes closed listening to it or even the joy of it as you bop along to your housework all made it more of an event or moment. There being a very definite end to it (without my pressing a stop/pause button) somehow makes it seem more meaningful to me.

I have often thought of the Grandmother in the 1940’s House reality show. After the experiment, she was never the  same. She began to budget and make shopping lists. She would only buy food to prepare and shop in local shops and found she ate better and spent 1/4 of her old food budget. She also found writing again and would journal and write letters. She had thought that due to aging she had lost her ability to form sentences or recall more complex words, but found it was simply from lack of use. I, too, have felt that through my writing here (and in my actual pen to paper writing which I often do now as well). I found that I had let the ease of the modern world actually rob me of bits of ME. My thoughts, and patterns of speech and then subsequent actions in creative endeavors as well as conversation had been lost to the media.  I could barley utter a collection of sentences without a pop reference to the Simpsons or some ‘old show’. There is nothing wrong with that, but merely regurgitating others phrases is not as enjoyable as having one’s own thoughts.

Much of what I have come to just consider the pleasures and the rights of my day, to be unplugged, are really not things a modern person does. We often find ourselves bombarded with constant noise, music, advertising.  I have a friend whose TV is constantly on, even if they are using the computer or playing video games. The noise almost robs one of their own thoughts. The incessant ads and commercials playing out in the background. Even surfing online is an exercise in dodging advertising. Again, technology and advancement is not bad, but I think it can be harmful if one allows it to completely color their day to the point that it paints out a persons individuality.

So, any of you who have not found us on the Forum, or would like to have a go at it, tomorrow is our first UNPLUGGED day. If you do it, or even if you want to try it on a weekend day when you are not at work, do so and then let us know here how it worked. Did you hate it? Did you hear your thoughts for the first time in a long time. Were you anxious, bored, scared, mad, happy? Let us know.

Well, happy day to all, and happy homemaking.

4 April 1956 “Happy Easter”

Before PAAS Easter egg color one used food color and before that, you used vegetable dye. I remember my older sister was always rather ‘earthy’ (how she was referred in the family) and when I was young and visited at her home during Easter, enjoyed coloring eggs with beetroot, carrots, onions. The kitchen smelled of lovely scents, like soup and cooking, though the cabbage didn’t always send off the loveliest of odors.

This little boy hunting eggs in the mid 1950’s obviously took advantage of McCormick to get those brilliantly colored eggs.

It seemed Easter cards were given in the 1950’s. I do recall receiving Easter cards from grandparents. What I remember most about those and any cards from relatives was to see what number appeared on the corners of those crisp new green bills that would fall out. Well, even a child was excited to have their own spending money. I wonder, now with ATM/DEBIT and digitalized money, do children still receive cash in cards or do they probably receive ‘gift cards’ which teach them to spend spend spend. We do seem to keep training children to be consumers. I mean, you cannot have the same joy dropping a Target gift card into a piggy bank as hearing the coins drop or eyeing, with joy, the little cut glass candy jar on your bedroom shelf with those lovely curled green bills. They represented more than their potential conversion to STUFF, there was an element of pride and even ‘kid power’ in knowing that money was there, just in case. Or you could happily count it up until reaching the goal of that toy or item. I even recall a little green savings book, that the bank teller would right your amount in, when you took some of that ‘green stuff’ to save away. Do parents teach children to save anymore? Do parents save anymore? I don’t know, I am not a parent. If I were, you can bet they’d have their own little version of saving and part of their weekly allowance would go into savings. I’d take them by their little chubby hand to the bank and teach them how each week a percentage needs to be squirreled away. That certainly must be a better habit to teach young children then to help them to go buy things with plastic cards that are like ‘magic’ that you trade in for what you want. But, what do I know,I am not a parent.

I bet there was a fight this Easter morning and the little boy won. You can see the determined look in his eye as he is proudly sporting with his Easter Sunday best, his sneakers! Obviously, sister preferred the appropriate footwear to her darling ruffled dress. These darling Easter shoes were obviously not to his liking. Though, I have to say, how adorable are these shoes compared to the hideous puffy often unlaced white monstrosity tennis shoes kids wear today. I also always laugh a bit when I see young children who cannot walk wearing expensive sneakers or little ‘fashion work boots’. It’s not as if they are going to be climbing a mountain. I don’t understand why ugly is the new fashion.

These darling little chick from the 1950’s stirred my heart when I found this picture. As I have stated before, I have rather old parents and though I was born in the early 70’s, they were already in their 40s. Their marriage happened in 1950 and they had my sisters and brothers during the 50’s. So, when I came along, I always had a more varied collection of Holiday traditions and decorations. I recall these little darlings and their being fastened to my Easter baskets come Easter Sunday morning.

I remember when it was time to get the Easter decorations down from the attics. I was always excited, as these little gems were one of my favorite things to play with. As, at Christmas, I was always anxious to set up the little sparkly cardboard miniature village with the ‘snow’ of cotton batten and fine layer of old (actually from the 1950’s my mother kept and stored everything) with the bits of inlaid square glitter woven inside. An etched mirror would become a skating pond for the little people of the village.

But, these little chicks and an old book that had been my father’s when he was a boy in the 1930s. The book was a wonderful tale of how the children were going to visit their grandparents on the farm. I loved that book, for it seemed magical, the children in their Sunday best cruising out of the city in their big rounded black 1930’s car. I had no parents who lived on a farm, not a real farm. Both sets of my grand parents lived in the country, per se, and their were gardens, but never any animals other than little dogs rushing about. In the story the children received little chicks as Easter gifts, it was always my dream, come Easter morning.

Being the youngest child of an older family can often be lonely. It is an odd mix of being an only child (for I was really raised alone) but preceded me was the vast lifetime of stories of what THEY did (my siblings). Holidays had been spent, decades of Easters and Christmases, many recorded on odd old movies with no sound that had to be played on a strange machine in a darkened room upon a silver screen that was pulled out and put away into closets recesses. There was a mythology of sorts in my head of these phantom siblings of mine. I knew them now, as adults with children, but could view them, as if through the mists to Avalon, younger versions of them, better dressed, smiling and waving, soundlessly happy. The sheer number of them mingled with cousins, now also grown beyond my age.

I think it was the longing and strange childish sentimentality towards these times that convinced my mother when Easter to filly my Easter basket with two down chicks. I was around 8 or so. My heart leapt! To see and hear and feel those darling little puff balls was  a dream come true. The pages of my Easter book had come to life, here they were all mine. We did not live in the country, but we managed to convert a little outbuilding shed to their home. I relished getting up early to care for them and to watch them grow. They both, unfortunately, turned out to be roosters (no eggs for me) but they were the tamest birds ever. They would follow me about the yard and even chase my little dog. They were protective of me and one of them chased and bit my niece (who is only a few years younger than me) and to this day she hates chickens. But, I loved them. They represented a whole world to me. Something that was completely mine and my siblings, those phantom young versions of them, silently waving at the camera, never had chickens. But, I did. And, to this day, I always try, depending on where I am living, to keep them. This spring, when I get a new batch, my heart will still leap with joy, like the 8 year old me, longing to hold their downy little bodies and smiling at them in the morning, as they wait patiently for me to feed and care for them.

What an odd mixture a life is. The various points of sad and happy moments as children leave such an imprint upon our little brains that we often, quite unconsciously, find ourselves looking to recreate those moments. Or, perhaps they set a pattern to our life that we simply follow as naturally as breathing. Maybe even my choice at this late stage of still being childless is part of that. I recall never really being around children much when I was a child. Most of my time was spent amusing myself, so the rhythm of that solitary march seems so normal that I never thought to alleviate it. Who can say? For those of you who do have children and are celebrating this Easter, remember well how you represent it, for they surely will.

So, have a lovely Easter and now enjoy the silent beauty of this 1950’s Easter Sunday, when ladies dressed and received Easter corsages!

1 April 1956 “Dress Form, Recipes, Fitted Sheets, Flowers, and Eggbert”

I come to you on bended knee to forgive me, I have NOT finished my March dress. It is very vexing, as I have (since my 1955 year) been getting much better at time management and ticking off my lists. I could give a slew of reasons why, but I have come to realize that excuses are just that, so why bother. I did, however, manage (as I had promised myself) get my dress form made as part of this month’s challenge. Here it is with my pattern pinned to it: It was easy to make, but definitely required help. It is three layers of duct tape (the last layer was white duct tape, as I thought it gave it a more ‘dress form’  look).
So, my dress is still in this state. Isn’t the fabric fabulous, though? I am not sure if I have shown this fabric, but it is in the same color family as my other material so my spring/summer palette will be the blues and greens. It is going to have a little folded raised neckline as well.
Having my dress form has been MORE incentive to me to continue to lose weight. Everytime I pass by it I think, ‘Jeesh, is that what I look like from the side?” So, when I saw this, I had to laugh:Especially since that is pretty much me at the market now! Although I would just go home and bake a batch of éclairs and want to eat them all!
Speaking of baked goods, here is the spread I made for hubby the other day to take to work. There are my homemade oreos, macaroons plain and half dipped in dark chocolate and white cupcakes with white frosting. This is my latest white cupcake and frosting recipe and I LOVE it. They are so moist and dense. My friend had one and said, “Okay, you are making my wedding cake”. I am not sure if I have shared this recipe before, so here it is:
50’s Gal Wedding Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
-4 egg whites
- 1/2 cup milk
-1/2 cup cream

- 2 tablespoons vanilla

- 3 cups sifted cake flour ( I make my own cake flour, but it is worth using it in these cupcakes. To make your own you just take one cup regular flour and remove 2 TBS of the flour and replace it with 2 TBS cornstarch. S0 in this case, I put in three cups regular flour, took out 6 TBS of the flour and then measured in 6 TBS cornstarch)
- 1 1/2 cups sugar

- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 12 tablespoons softened butter
Preheat oven to 350F
Mix egg whites, vanilla and 1/4 cup milk.
In a large mixing bowl, combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix together to blend. Add the butter and remaining 3/4 cup milk mixing on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed for a couple of minutes,  then add the egg, vanilla and milk mixture in two equal parts, mixing until blended.
Pour the batter into prepared cupcake trays.Bake for about  15-20 minutes, remove when almost golden yellow and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. ( I let mine stay a little white on top, as things continue to cook after you remove them from the oven and I find they stay more moist that way) Let cool and Ice them
Frosting Recipe
- two sticks butter (room temperature)
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoon cream
Frosting Directions
Mix all the ingredients until spreadable consistency. Too runny? add more sugar. Too stiff? add more cream TBS at a time. I like to use a pastry bag to ice the cupcakes and then I sprinkle sugar on top for a little sweet surprise crunch! Here is a close up of the lovely buttery frosting.
Having egg yolks left from these desserts and also leftover ham, I decided to make a crust-less quiche.
  I didn’t feel like making a crust and so devised this crust less version of  a quiche. I had found one recipe for one but it called for Bisquick (which I never have as I make pancakes, biscuits etc from scratch). So, I got to thinking, “what is in Bisquick? It must just be the dry ingredients of flour, baking powder and salt.”
So, here is how I made the above. It was so moist and delicious and easy and could easily be vegetarian. I had cooked a ham earlier in the week and we had been eating off of it all week. So, before the bone went into the stock pot, I cut off most of the remaining meat and cubed it for this recipe.
50’s Gal Leftover Crust-less Quiche
4 eggs (plus I added the two leftover egg yolks so about 5 total)
3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 TBS Baking Powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup grated aged cheddar
1/4 softened butter
various veg ( I used tomatoes  and leftover asparagus and green beans)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Mix all together except veg and meat, batter will be a little lumpy, like pancake batter. Then toss in veg and meat (really this anything you want). Grease a 10” pie plate and pour in. Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown. This is a lovely melt in your mouth dinner. It is a cross between a frittata and a quiche and it couldn’t be easier!

In a large bowl, beat together milk, eggs, baking mix, butter and parmesan cheese. Batter will be lumpy. Stir in broccoli, ham and Cheddar cheese. Pour into prepared quiche dish.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes, until eggs are set and top is golden brown.

Someone asked me the other day on a post about my sheets. They wanted to know if I used only fitted sheets, it being 1956 and all. Well, I actually have both fitted and flat sheets. Many may not know it, but  fitted sheets have been around since the early 50’s. I have ads in my magazines from the mid 1950’s showing such sheets. This is from a 1955 magazine. Here is a close up of the text: This is from a 1951 So, I am not sure how expensive they were or how common, but I definitely felt if they were in magazines in 1951,then by 56 they’d be pretty common.
And just because they were pretty, I thought I’d share some more pictures of our Crocus before they are all gone. These are in my front yard.



And, as Easter is coming, here is a fun song sung by Rosemary Clooney.

30 march “The Story Of Stuff”

I thought, as we seemed to enjoy the water bottle film, I would share the original film that the same person made. It is about 20 minutes long and it is very good and eye opening. It, again, has really just gone along with a lot of what I have been discovering. It really is worth a watch so if you can spare the time in your busy day, PLEASE watch it. It really puts it ALL into perspective. I am finishing up my dress today and this way I can check in for ‘breaks’ to see what some of you think about it.

I like how they mention that over 50 years ago (1950’s everyone) this level of consumerism and production wasn’t happening. Very interesting and also, it isn’t about Rep or Dem or Socialism or anything, it is about common sense reality of how we are living, making, and spending. I hope you are at least intrigued by the video. I also like how she mentions upon reading Industrial Design journals of the 1950’s that they were very open about the fact that they were building things to look good and to eventually break down to increase consumerism. It was only theory at that point, but boy oh boy is it in practice today!

Don’t worry my next blog will be my dress, dress form, recipes etc, the usual.

30 March “Bottled Water”

Today I need to finish my March Dress challenge, so no big post today, but I thought it would be fun to watch this video and discuss.

I know this is not specifically 1956, but hubby showed me this video. We had to laugh, because it really does point out the things we have been coming to realize since our journey to living in the 1950s.

Before 1955, bottled water was just a normal part of my life. I didn’t think about it, just did it (Like most modern people). After 1955, I gave it up as it did not ‘exist’ for me. I remember after it was gone and I would see ‘modern’ people with it, my inner dialogue was always, “How funny, to buy something that you can get for free from the tap” I also noticed bubblers (drinking fountains) were beginning to disappear from public places as well, much like the public pay phone.

So, enjoy and let me know what you think: