21 May 1956 “Apologies, Hairstyles, Lanolin, and Pastry.”

First off, again I am sorry. I have been a wretch about keeping up with my blog. I had intended to just write a quick little ‘what am I up to today’ post, but when I begin to do that, it seems unfinished or not per my usual and I feel it not worth posting.
Today a few errands turned into my being in the car for 10 hours. As I drive very rarely now, except to do my marketing once a week, it was rather hellish. We finally sold our second car and our now down officially to one. I had to turn in my plates and cancel the insurance and also get the other car inspected. What I thought was to be a standard routine became my getting failed because the parking brake didn’t work and having to drive off cape to our mechanic to get it fixed, sitting in a grimy waiting room for an hour an a half, etc and so on et al.
But, excuses do no good to anyone, so here is somewhat of a post to try and get myself back into the swing of things. I am still just as busy if not more than last year, only I find myself not documenting it all and remembering to get it all down. In some ways, I feel so much of last years post has been like writing a year long actual book, that sometimes I feel ‘wrote out’ and need a little break. But, I also learned last year, that to get anything done, one needs to just make time each day and make yourself do it. While enjoying all the gardening and other increasing projects, I forgot that.
In addition to that a few days ago, I lifted an 80 lb bag of cement incorrectly and felt my back go. Hoped for the best, but by the time I had got home, I was in some serious pain and spent three days laying down in bed or on the sofa slathered in Ben-gay and full of aspirin and self-pity. What is a busy homemaker to do? You would think I could have written endless posts then, but found typing and the position to do so almost unbearable so managed a few peek-ins at the Forum.
So, here it is late Friday night and I am exhausted and I cannot let another day go by without posting.
I figured I would start with some good advice and images on choosing the proper vintage hairstyle from my 1955 copy the Handbook of Beauty.
Here is some of their sage advice:
“I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that the question of how best to wear your hair has bothered you very much. More advice has been ladled out on this than on almost any other beauty question…The fact is we were not cast into rigid molds, and you ought to be thankful. You don’t want to be a carbon copy of everyone else, do you?
Above all. keep in mind that the chief object of a good hair-do is to draw attention away from your less attractive facial features.I can do so in two different ways: It can partially conceal such a feature, like a foread that’s too broad or cheeks that are too plump. And it can counteract such a feature, by being arranged to flow in the opposite direction. For instance, if your chin is receding, you don’t want a hair-do that emphasizes it by also sweeping back. If your nose is large, you don’t want bangs hanging low over your forehead, pointing to the nose like an arrow.”
Forehead:

1. Low: keep the top front of your hair off it. Sweep that part of your hair up. If you like bangs, wear them high and don’t let them suggest any more than a slight fringe at the hairline.
2. High: cover part of the forehead with bangs, fulff, or partial wave.
3. Narrow: Sweep hair back from sides of forehead. If you have any curls, waves, or fluff at the sides, don’t let them extend beyond the hairline; strive for a wide, full effect at the top of the temples.
4. Broad: cover the sides of the forehead with a fluff, curl or wave, but make it close to the head, not flung out.

Nose

1. Long: Don’t let the top front of your hair droop down. Sweep it high or back’ keep any bangs or fluff above the hairline. Avoid middle parts, which accentuate a large nose.
2. Short: avoid an exaggerated upsweep. Bangs below the hairline are fine, but don’t let them grow too long.

Cheeks

1. Plump: pull sides of hair forward beyond hairline, so that a slight fringe covers outside of cheeks. avoid a middle part.
2. Thin: pull side hair back, or at least do not let it etend beyond hairline. Side hair can also be worn fluffed out wide.

Here are the images with info. Simply click on the image and it will enlarge it. If it takes you out of the website, when you are done, you may have to reload the webpage, as sometimes happens with me.
  

I found this ad for lanolin for this skin. I know we have often discussed cold cream and vintage lotion and skin care. Here it seems that the lanolin was used much like the cold cream, both as a cleanser as well as moisturizer. (click to see full size) Lanolin, which I know comes from sheep, is still used today and I found out it is gathered without harm to the animal. Here is some modern info on lanolin.
Lanolin softens and protects. It's harvested without harming animals. It's quickly absorbed by the skin without clogging pores. So why are people avoiding it?
What Is Lanolin?
A pure, natural product, lanolin is simply the wax taken from sheep's wool, after the sheep has been shorn. The sheep is not hurt. He probably does not enjoy having his fur cut off, but the people who do this are highly trained, they do it quickly, and the sheep joins his herd again in a matter of minutes.
The clipped wool is naturally covered with a pale-yellow, water repellent wax. Also known as wool fat, it's purpose is to keep the sheep healthy and dry. It's extracted from the wool by a boiling process. This is crude lanolin.
Refining - the Key to Safety
The next step is to refine this wax, and remove impurities. PBS recently made a documentary on lanolin, and they purified it by mixing it with olive oil and water. The impurities dissolved into the water and oil, leaving the lanolin as an off-white wax which could be gathered up.
In commercial lanolin processing, refining is done in sterile environments and through many stages. This refining process is the key to the safety of the lanolin. Depending on the needs of the manufacturer, the lanolin can be refined crudely, in which case it may still contain impurities. Or it can be refined to medical grade - safe enough for nursing mothers to use on cracked nipples.
So Why the Bad Press?
There are two potential problems with lanolin.
1. It can be refined to acceptable cosmetic grade and still contain impurities, some of which can be allergens. People who are allergic to lanolin are probably allergic to unrelated ingredients that were not removed in the refining process. Also, some manufacturers use a chemical bleach to whiten the color. And the finished product may have been mixed with vegetable oils or soft paraffin that comes from other sources. There could be impurities in these additives.
2. Some lanolin can be tainted with DDT, dieldrin, lindane, or other toxic pesticides. It's possible for these carcinogens to make their way into our skincare products. This is because the sheep may be eating food that has been treated with these or other insecticides.
How to Make Sure Your Lanolin Is Safe
Both problems are solved by buying your lanolin-based products from a reputable company; a company you know and trust; a company with visibility - a website with contact information; a detailed label on their product. Make sure the lanolin in your lotion is labeled as pure grade, fine grade, highly refined, or medical grade. If you're unsure about the grade, email the company through their website. The well-refined lanolins will be free of pesticides and impurities.
When purchasing a finished skincare product, make sure, too, that it has not been tested on animals.
This seems to be one of the best pure forms of the stuff. I put it in the store HERE. I am probably going to close the store down, though, as I am not sure how I feel about Amazon at this point. My plan was to get up my Etsy store, or just make a simple store on the website that can accept Paypal and sell some of my vintage things and then see if I can find items like this to sell, so I could feel I am getting it direct from the manufacturer and then to you. Then I would feel like a small business, be able to research and find old time or also well made products etc. But, for now, the link will take you to the store if you would like to try the lanolin. I know sheep farmers are suppose to have the softest hands around from all the lanolin while shearing.
I wanted to share this recipe from one of my 1950’s magazines for Orange pastry. Again, click on it to get full size. I used, however, cold butter rather than shortening. If you keep your butter in your freezer an hour or so before you make your pastry and try to make it on marble and not handle it too greatly, it will be nice and flaky. This crust is Great with rhubarb pie!
Well, that is enough for tonight. I shall endeavor to post more often. I hope all are well and preparing for the coming summer. I will share some garden pictures, chick pictures in my next post.

17 May 1956 "A quick update"

I have been rather busy in my yard. I have my chicken house to build, fences to erect, vegetables to plant. My grapes are beginning to bud out. The chicks are getting big FAST. So, no excuses, just sorry I have not done a proper post, but I shall, I promise.
Some quick history from May 1956:
This is the month when Salk's polio vaccine is first really available to the public. It really begins to change the face of health care and how we look at preventing disease. Many were scared of it as well and I feel bad for those parents who opted out of it and their children suffered the disease.
This month Nuclear testing: In the Pacific Ocean, Bikini Atoll is nearly obliterated by the first airborne explosion of a hydrogen bomb. We are moving towards the scary aspects of the modern world. I do wish we had put as much thought into education and healthcare as we did making more bombs. While our European neighbors were faced with rebuilding their world, health and education became an important factor in their new world, we, seculded in the USA, found it easier to make our shiny new world of shopping and plastics. I love the enthusiasm and the good intent of our country after the war, but in retrospect, I wish we could have had more overall planning. Yet, we can make changes now, I believe, that can really make us have a wonderful new world and not Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" which I am afraid we are now heading towards. Particularly the 'feelies' in that novel and the numb over entertained bored controlled masses. This is a great LINK to a breakdown of Huxley's novel, which has some eerily right on predictions, though it was a work of fiction, though it was written before WWII in 1931. Here, for example, is the breakdown of how 'sexual freedom' is seen:
Sex is a primary source of happiness. The brave new world makes promiscuity a virtue: you have sex with any partner you want, who wants you- and sooner or later every partner will want you. (As a child, you learn in your sleep that "everyone belongs to everyone else.") In this Utopia, what we think of as true love for one person would lead to neurotic passions and the establishment of family life, both of which would interfere with community and stability. Nobody is allowed to become pregnant because nobody is born, only decanted from a bottle. Many females are born sterile by design; those who are not are trained by "Malthusian drill" to use contraceptives properly.
Any way, I am off and busy again today. I just wanted to check in with all of you and let you know I have not forgot about you nor our wonderful community. If any of you are new, don't forget to go to the website and join the FORUM, we are always having such wonderful discussions there.

11 May 1956 “Mother’s Day, Recipes, Chicks, and Seedlings”

  This was an image I found online from someone’s Mother’s Day 1956. I love the dresses. I see a few dropped but fitted waists and you can see that the waistline has come up from the “New Look” earlier in the decade.
We celebrated with my mother in law and I decided to try and make some nice things without spending too much. My MIL is the type of person that has everything. Though, I often enjoy giving gifts to her, because she appreciates gifts well thought. So, this year here was what we presented. First, she was greeted at her door with these lovely flowers carried by me.These are Lilacs and Viburnum from the bushes in my yard. I love Viburnum and the chartreuse and purple look so lovely together. I put then in a simple coffee can ( I save these for crafts and also canisters). The trick to keeping woody stemmed flowers like these to last longer is to hammer the ends so they are sort of shredded as opposed to an angled cut like a softer stemmed flower. The woody stem then has more area to ‘drink’ and therefore last longer.
Next, rather than buy her any more plants, I thought she would appreciate one of my tomato seedlings I had nursed into life myself. She did.I made a copy of the seed packet, punched a hole in it and tied it to the pot with garden twine. Then I made a little packet out of waxed paper and included more seeds for this variety in case she wanted to start some straight into another pot or in the garden. My MIL has an amazing green thumb and I love talking gardening with her.
 I never buy cards. I always make my own, as they say so much more about how much effort and love you have put into something. I make a copy of a photo of her mother, my hubby’s grandmother, that she does not have a copy of. I used old-fashioned photo corners to attach it to the card, so she can frame it later. The rest i hand wrote. Here is the original image.My MIL’s mother was really something. She had rather a tragic life in that when she was young her only brother was in a ‘home’ as he was slow. When he was 14 the home burned and he perished. I love this shot of her, as this is shortly after her marriage and in her new home. My MIL said she was rather upset, because her (the grandmother) MIL had insisted on designing the house and she wanted more say in it. She did have free reign in decorating, though, and we have all the little wall paper samples and paint chips as she laid it all out to have rooms painted. I always think of “Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House” when I look through it. I love her shoes in this picture and would kill for those drapes. Though, I do have that pot that you can just make out on the top of the built in cabinet. It is my favorite blue. My MIL has the paintings, the boat etc in her home now. Our families keep everything.
My MIL is not big on sweets and that is because she is smart enough to always watch her waistline. So, rather than a cake or something like that, I made Chocolate Sorbet and Shortbread. This was my first attempt at Sorbet and as I have no ice cream maker, had to make it in the freezer. It took longer to set, but was so delicious and rich and was a nice contrast to the more mellow but full taste of the shortbread. Now that I see how easy it is to make, I will be making so many varieties. I want to make a lime/basil and also a vanilla lavender would be lovely, don’t you think. Here is the recipe I used:

• 3 cups water
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• Pinch salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened

Preparation:

Whisk ingredients together until sugar is dissolved and ingredients are well blended and smooth. Chill for 1 hour. Freeze in an ice cream freezer following manufacturer's directions.
Now, I used 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup instead of corn syrup and I don’t have an ice cream freezer, so I put it in two large bowls so it was more exposed and froze it for two hours. Then I took it out and whipped it my hand until it got thick and frothy and refroze it for 2 more hours. It was lovely and scooped nicely. It was fine in my car for the 20 minute drive to my MIL and then I put it in her freezer while we had dinner. I would recommend trying this as it is another item you can make yourself easily and no preservatives and you can certainly make ahead. I imagine it would last a few weeks in the freezer. I think they would  also make wonderful homemade Fudgecicles.
SHORTBREAD
1 1/4 butter ( 2 and 1/2 sticks) softened
1/4 powdered sugar
1/4 granulated sugar
3 cups flower.
Whisk sugars. cut in butter and then with mixer add flower in two parts until it chases itself around bowl. Take the dough and divide into two balls. Press into two 8” cake tins. With form press triangle shapes (like cutting a pizza) and then prick each of those triangles. Bake at 275 F for about 60-70 minutes (watch for it to be just lightly brown on edges.)
I suppose I have my new ‘children’ this year, though they did not get me a Mother’s Day card, they are happily chirrping away on my desk as I type this post.
Here are some shots of the little darlings as they break free from their eggs.
You can see them damp and tired from the struggle. Here you see one resting while two of its new siblings peck little openings to free themselves.    It is always so amazing to me that I simply recieved some eggs in the mail, set them under 99F heat for 21 days and now I will have a source of eggs and meat. (the meat coming from the unfortunate roosters we will get. Of course I will keep one and will most likely sell them rather than eat them, as they are all from breeders who raise show birds, so they would be good show chickens.)
  This is one of the little Brahma’s that is so friendly. He sits like this at the edge of the pen whenever I am at my desk, interested in my typing. My little Chihuahua, Monty, always loves other animals and is so gentle with them that they are never scared. He he is quietly sitting on a silk pillow on my desk keeping an eye on his new little ‘friends’.
I spent this afternoon out building the base for my new chicken house. Pictures will follow after I have completed the whole structure. Right now I simply have the base in.
Tomorrow is suppose to be a rainy day, so I might get a chance to catch up on the Website and perhaps do a more ‘rant-filled’ blog. I have quite a few topics jotted down in my book for such that I have encountered this past week, but have been selfishly using my time in the yard while we are contiuing to have cool weather. I want to get as much of the heavy physical labor done before we get to our warmer Summer weather.
Speaking of warmer weather, my Tomatoes and Cucumbers are still patiently waiting to be transplanted. They have been having daily trips out in the sun to acclimate to the outside, but it has still been too cold to transplant these heat loving plants. My cucumbers are amazingly FULL of flowers. Here are some pictures.
I just this the color and pattern so beautiful and I love how sculptural the stems are up close. Here you can see the little tendrils grasping onto anything. It almost looks like a little fist holding fast to a line. These will not only provide wonderful fodder for canning and salads this summer, but as they trail up the side of my house in my vegetable garden, they will be a feast for the eyes too! Ahh, gardening and Spring, so much promise.
Until later, then, Happy Homemaking.

8 May 1956 “ The Secrets of Baking Powder and Soda Revealed and Homemade Cake and Brownie Mixes.”

  My increasing obsession with food and it’s origins keeps leading me down various paths of wanting to both find myself closer to food origins and to find ways to make it easier for any of you.
Case in point, there may be some ladies out there that don’t mind making a cake from a mix. It’s easy. You grab it at the store, add some water oil and eggs and bake. However, if you read the ingredients, you can see it is just the dry ingredients of a cake mix, but with lovely added preservatives. Also, more packaging to throw out!
Making a cake from scratch is not hard. Especially when you think of it as a cake mix: You put the dry ingredients together and then the wet and then you add the dry to the wet. When you make a box mix, you just dump it all in and it works. So, I figured, there has to be a way to just make some mix yourself and store it. Then you can also store it in darling containers in your pantry or cupboards. Another excuse to do more “nesting” is always good. I have actually saved a bunch of old coffee cans and then I either paint them or cover them with paper. I even make cute ‘vintage’ labels by using images of old wallpaper etc. But I digress, back to the cake mix.
So, in trying to come up with a good easy dry mix that one could store and use when they liked, I began to research more about baking soda and baking powder. Again, the more I look at something the more I want to keep unfolding the layers, like an onion or rose, petal by petal. Here are these two ingredients, Baking Powder and Baking Soda, that I use all the time. What is it? How does it work? I need to know in order to make the cake mix effective.
So, here is probably more info on both soda and powder than you ever wanted to know:
Baking powder consists of baking soda, one or more acid salts (cream of tartar and sodium aluminum sulfate) plus cornstarch to absorb any moisture so a reaction does not take place until a liquid is added to the batter. Most baking powder used today is double-acting which means it reacts to liquid and heat and happens in two stages. The first reaction takes place when you add the baking powder to the batter and it is moistened. One of the acid salts reacts with the baking soda and produces carbon dioxide gas. The second reaction takes place when the batter is placed in the oven. The gas cells expand causing the batter to rise. Because of the two stages, baking of the batter can be delayed for about 15-20 minutes without it losing its leavening power.
Too much baking powder can cause the batter to be bitter tasting. It can also cause the batter to rise rapidly and then collapse. (i.e. The air bubbles in the batter grow too large and break causing the batter to fall.) Cakes will have a coarse, fragile crumb with a fallen center. Too little baking powder results in a tough cake that has poor volume and a compact crumb.
Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate or bicarbonate of soda (alkali) is about four times as strong as baking powder.  It is used in recipes that contain an acidic ingredient (e.g. vinegar, citrus juice, sour cream, yogurt, buttermilk, chocolate, cocoa (not Dutch-processed), honey, molasses (also brown sugar), fruits and maple syrup). Baking soda starts to react and release carbon dioxide gas as soon as it is added to the batter and moistened. Make sure to bake the batter immediately.
Baking soda has an indefinite shelf life if stored in a sealed container in a cool dry place. Too much baking soda will result in a soapy taste with a coarse, open crumb. Baking soda causes reddening of cocoa powder when baked, hence the name Devil's Food Cake.

• The general rule of thumb for amount of baking powder in recipes: 1 to 2 teaspoons (5-10 grams) of baking powder leavens 1 cup (140 grams) of flour.  The amount will depend on the ingredients and how they are mixed.
• Substitution for 1 teaspoon commercial baking powder: 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 grams) baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar plus 1/4 teaspoon of cornstarch or 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 grams) baking soda plus 1/2 cup (120 ml) of an acidic ingredient (buttermilk, sour milk or yogurt). Since homemade baking powder immediately releases its carbon dioxide gas when it is added and then moistened by the batter, it is important to bake the batter right away
• To test baking powder's effectiveness: mix 1 teaspoon (5 grams)  baking powder with 1/2 cup (120 ml) hot water and the mixture should bubble immediately. Store in a cool dry place and it should be replaced every 6-12 months.
• To test baking soda's effectiveness: mix 1/4 teaspoon baking soda with 2 teaspoons of vinegar and the mixture should bubble immediately.
  

So, here is a make ahead cake mix. You could mix it up during a few free moments and have it on hand. Then, even when you want to try some of the recipes they have out there for, say, Box cake mix cookies, you could make it with your homemade mix.

6 cups flour
4-1/2 cups sugar
3-3/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup powdered milk
1-1/2 cup cocoa
3 tsp salt
Use four cups mix for one cake. To this mix add ½ cup melted butter (or salad oil as most mixes have you use), 1 cup water, 2 beaten eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla.
I also like it like this without the powdered milk (not a huge fan) and then you add the fresh milk at the time. You can also do 1/2 milk 1/2 cream for a richer cake.
6 cups flour
4-1/2 cups sugar
3-3/4 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 cup cocoa
3 tsp salt
Use four cups mix for one cake. To this mix add ½ cup melted butter, 1 cup milk, 2 beaten eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla.
Here is an easy to make and store (good for 6 months) Brownie mix. Really just a slight variation of cake mix

6 c. all purpose flour

4 tsp. baking powder

8 c. sugar

8 oz. unsweetened cocoa powder

To make the brownies:

1. 1/4 c. melted butter, 2 eggs, beaten well, 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 . chopped nuts (optional)
2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Beat ingredients until smooth. If you are using nuts, you can stir them in now.
3. Pour your brownie batter into your greased pan and pop it in the oven for about 30-35 minutes.

I was going to show some chicken pictures and also talk about meat in conjunction with my continuing study of modern man and his distance from food, but I will do that next. I think if I start posting smaller posts, I will get back to posting more often. So, next time: Chicks and the Chicken Industry and some more on gardening. I need to post and discuss my April Dress Challenge as well. So much to-doing.
Happy Homemaking.

4 May 1956 “Chicks, The Future of Food, Robots, Chicken Fried Steak, Cream Gravy and Biscuits”

I have been again so into my current projects I have been rather bad blogger. I have even forgot to nominate an Apronite of the Month for this month.

Many things have been going on around here. Working in my garden. My eggs are beginning to hatch today.   Here you can see it piping. The little hole that has been made by the chick inside scraping away with the little bump on his beak called the ‘egg tooth’. This will fall off after a day or so.

Being concerned if I would get many eggs to hatch or that they might be all roosters, I found someone locally who had a few chicks that were sexed so I know they will become hens, so I got them yesterday. They will share their life with my new hatching chicks.

I have two Brahmas and two Polish. Here they are. Aren’t they adorable. This is what these two breeds will look like as full grown hens. Brahma Hen: and the Polish:

Here is a fun vintage film about hatching eggs.

 

I have been thinking lately about the complexity of food. How I have begun to see it more simply in its component parts. It was very like when in that moment in drawing when I noticed that the shadow and negative space also make up the picture. When all the complex motions and striations of an art piece suddenly breaks itself down to you in daubs of light and dark. It is as if its secret is revealed. 

Recipes and cooking used to seem daunting to me. It was because it was just this endless list of ingredients and cooking temps and really almost hieroglyphs upon ancient stone walls. I could decipher each individual recipe, but I needed some magic decoder ring or a great reference book to refer to. It was as if I was a mad scientist working away at the old texts in the bowels of my ancient castle“Yes, Oh mighty cooking Gods, the baking POWDER and not the SODA today, yes…” crack of thunder “Ah, just the egg WHITE this time, not you wretched YOLK, BACK I SAY” “Set in oven for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out DRY” Lightening illuminates my upturned face “YES!” I cry and cackle “I’ve Got IT!”

But, really it was only very recently that the reality of cooking hit me. Almost all the foods we eat are really just made of a few core ingredients. I had come to that realization towards the end of 1955, but there was still this sort of cooking wall I had not pushed through. It was the other day when I was baking biscuits and later that evening hubby said, “Oh, I’d love some crackers and cheese with our wine” and I knew I had no crackers. I never buy them anymore. So, get out the recipe. When I whipped it up, which it couldn’t be any easier, I realized how it was exactly the recipe for the biscuits only variations in amounts. Then I thought of our bread and tortillas and the chicken fried steak I had made and even the omelets we had for breakfast. They were all linked! They all shared many basic ingredients. It made me realize how easy it is for us to be so distanced and even intimidated by food prep.

Look at all the available things at the market. The endless crackers and chips/crisps and frozen foods and boxed foods and microwavable. We feel we just have this endless array of foodstuffs, but almost all those things share those core ingredients but of course have added bad things such as preservatives and corn syrup etc. I was in the meat dept of our Stop and Shop grocery chain the other day. I shop almost exclusively at our local grocer now, but there are some things I have to still get from the chain. I happened to be pricing meat to see how it compared to my later trip to the local market when I heard two of the workers putting out pre-packaged meat in the bins. One of them was holding up the bags of individually wrapped chicken inside another bag, which she was removing from  a box and saying, “Look at those ingredients”. These two women who were, presumably hired as meat cutters, were reduced to opening boxes of pre-cut and packaged meat and setting it out. They knew what was going on behind the scene behind those floppy black doors with the little plastic windows in.

“See that one” she said, pointing to label, “That preservative is actually just formaldehyde.” That really scared me, not that I had any intention, any way, of buying ‘meat’ that was wrapped into smaller packaged inside a bigger package with the word EASY blazoned across it like it was the holy grail.

So, back to the food reality. Before we had all this, before the 1950’s, when packaged foods were new and merely added to a homemakers repertoire in the kitchen, we understood food. The very core base ingredients, Milk, (and of course from Milk, Cream, Butter, Cheese, etc) Flour, Sugar, Baking powder, Baking soda, Corn starch, Salt, Pepper, Eggs. And really, that is the base for almost all the things we eat that are not Meat, Veg, or Fruit. With variations of spices or adding of chocolate (again in chocolate cake, it is just the bitter powder of the cocoa and the sugar and butter you add makes it a lovely chocolate cake). The more we have been removed from our food and our ability to understand how easy it really is to make and have, the more we spend and the more we depend upon prepared, pre-packed foods. Another bit of the consumerism net we are all caught in. The fact that most of us have no idea how to make pancakes without even using Bisquick! It’s just the flour, baking powder, and salt in there. IF it is the complete version, than powdered eggs and milk are in so you are only adding water to reconstitute it. But pancakes could be taught to be made to a 5 year old child. YET, I find out that not only pre-mixed batter exits, which I thought was the epitome of lazy, that the you just open a little jar and pour, but NO they have premade pancakes frozen that you simply heat up! All that packaging and preservative and all the energy in some factory somewhere so we don’t have to mix flour eggs baking powder oil and sugar mix a few strokes and pour onto a hot griddle. “OH, my arms, I can’t lift the egg and measure the cup of flour, I CAN’T!”

And, on top of it, in the ‘pre-made pancake’ world, it’s not even as if we are providing jobs for our fellow humans. Here is the scary world we have let our food and ourselves travel into. I also love how in this video they talk of how this was brought about due to the increase desire to have cleaner and safer working, but really it means they don’t have to have as many employees which mean no healthcare, sick days, complaints etc. In fact, no people.

This brings to mind this video. You can see how good intentions may have brought us where we are. But in this magic kitchen there are tools to help you cook, today we simply don’t cook at all, we just heat it up! We were at that cusp of making the new modern world, but here they figured the homemaker would still be making and preparing dinner and how could it be aided, now it is merely pre-packaged.

Well, back to food. Here is a nice biscuit recipe. I think they turned out rather well. We felt like good ole’ Diner food the other night, so I made Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy and biscuits. later in the day, hubby wanted cheese and crackers, so I made the crackers. Simple recipe and really good too. You could add any extra seasonings to make these all purpose crackers into any flavor: garlic and rosemary, chive, I think coriander would be good with a dash of hot sauce in the dough.

  Yummy Biscuits.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/3 cup cold butter
• 1 cup cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in thebutter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in cream until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
3. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

Here is the recipe I used for the Fried Steak

4 tenderized beef cutlets (known in supermarkets as "cube steak") OR 1 round steak, with fat removed, that you've tenderized yourself  (I use wax paper around the meat and one of my wooden rolling pins. Good time to release any stress. I mostly just find it fun to pound the meat and watch it grow. It really does make the meat quality nicer.)

1 egg

• 1/4 cup milk
• all-purpose flour
• cooking oil or melted Crisco®
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Beat together the egg and milk and set aside. Mix together the salt, black pepper, paprika and white pepper and sprinkle on both sides of beef cutlets.
Dredge the cutlets in the flour, shaking off the excess. Then dip each cutlet in the egg/milk mixture, then back in the flour. (You're going to get your hands messy here, so take your rings off.) Set cutlets aside on a piece of waxed paper.
Heat the cooking oil in a large cast iron skillet or similar over medium-high heat for a few minutes. Oil should be about a half-inch deep in the pan. Check the temperature with a drop of water; if it pops and spits back at you, it's ready.
With a long-handled fork, carefully place each cutlet into the hot oil. Fry cutlets on both sides, turning once, until golden brown. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 4 or 5 minutes until cutlets are done through. Drain cutlets on paper towels.

Cream Gravy
After the cutlets are removed from the pan, pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of oil, keeping as many as possible of the browned bits in the pan. Heat the oil over medium heat until hot.
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons flour (use the left-over flour from the chicken fried steak recipe) in the hot oil. Stir with a wooden spoon, quickly, to brown the flour.
Gradually stir in 3/4 cup milk ( I used 1/2 milk 1/2 cream) and 3/4 cup water, mixed together, stirring constantly with the wooden spoon and mashing out any lumps. Lower heat, and gravy will begin to thicken. Continue cooking and stirring a few minutes until gravy reaches desired thickness. Check seasonings and add more salt and pepper according to your taste. This leftover gravy can be stored in a jar in the fridge and simply heat it up when you want to use it again. Very good. Also good next morning cooked with crumbled sausage and served over the biscuits with poached eggs.

The more I realize the complexity I thought once there in food is really just the perception, the more I realize core ingredients are all we need. And, if I can slowly move to having more direct access to those core ingredients: my own eggs from my chickens, my fruit and veg canned and preserved. Local shops for as much meat and veg as I cannot make. Even, maybe one day, my own milk goat for butter, cheese, milk, cream. Who knows? I know it is all so very exciting and every day I am drawn further and further into LIVING and therefore that is why my blog has been suffering. There has been less simple discovery of the old homemaker and more of the practical application of the new who is continually learning the old skills and even trying to harness the power of the self-sufficient homemaker that would have been the grandmother to my 1950’s homemaker.

I shall endeavor to maybe do shorter daily or every other day posts just listing what craziness I am up to. That way you can follow along more on my endeavors. But, now my chicks are peeping from their eggs and I cannot miss the miracle of birth. I have a chicken house to plan and start building and more garden to prepare, as my indoor seedlings attempt to take over the house, they are so big!

Have a wonderful day all and happy homemaking and happy gardening!

29 April 1956 “My Place in the World”

I seemed to have lost my steam for the rant. I think, perhaps, the joy of Spring has wiped some of the indignation from my mind. This, of course, makes me realize how easily we, as a people, are swayed. Give us some diversion, wave a trinket and we are the cooing satiated baby.

I will find myself now teetering on the edge of sad and angry reaction to our over manufactured world of consumerism and the quiet reclusive escape of my solitary life. So often I find I want to just turn my back completely and slip into the ‘past’ and go on as if the modern world isn’t really there. For me it is rather easy, being at home and being rather unplugged. But, again, I will feel that pull and anxiousness of the reality of our world.

Hubby recently read ‘The Story Of Stuff’ by the same woman who had made the video I shared with you. She spent over 10 years literally traveling all over the world to the factories and villages etc that are impacted by globalized industry. She at one point was a member of Green Peace but found their politics to almost be so self-involved and more concerned with the whale than the human. Not that she did not care about the plight of the animals, but that our own plight, the human animal, was as sad. It again made me realize how everything is just so packaged for our delusion to keep quiet. How easy it is to simply say, “I am outraged by animal cruelty” because it is the popular thing and then to still do and live in the modern world in a way that continues to hurt the environment, the animals, and the human animal.

Diversion. The implied or presented diversion of mass produced culture that has us care for or hate or love or loathe whatever it is at the moment whose direct and exact response is through shopping and spending money. Even in our desire to help: we  donate money. It makes us feel good, or so we are taught. Here is $20 for PETA now I will go buy more plastic items, throw out my water bottles and sit in my car waiting for my child, friend while I burn up the gas/petrol. I will buy this pleather product to not wear leather as I support the petroleum consumption.

Hubby told me how much petrol it takes to make an aluminum can. We are not told this, of course and I think of how many aluminum cans are made and used just in our country alone. I will have to ask for the exact number from him, but to make one can it takes a certain number of gallons. So, even if we drive less, just drinking from an aluminum beer or soda can is contributing to the use of the natural resource.

There was a sad statistic in that the amount of ore’s and natural mining that has to take place to make our electronics is amazing and because the areas these things come from are often small warring republics, actual life is lost. During the launch time of the Play Station II there was an actual coup where in a village was literally stormed and yes people raped and killed (things we seem to think stopped after WWII) in order to control the ground rights to mine something that goes into the chip to make the game. Actual people had to die and suffer at the hands of real guns so that over fed bored children could shoot aliens!

So, the more my eyes are opened, the more I curl into my little protective shell. But, honestly, I don’t know how true even that shell is.

The increasing digitization of our world both fascinates and repels me. The digital book/information (to which I am currently contributing) is both interesting but also rather scary. When more media is simply available for our hand held i-pads (the type of product, I believe, which will be the next cell phone. Right now it is new in three years we will say, “how would I live without my digi-pad?). Are entire markets and jobs and industries to fall with this? That is part of Capitalism, in that you simply lose entire area’s of business to the new thing, the survival of the fittest. It is probably they closest monetary model to our actual animal base instincts out there. But, what does that mean for our country?

So, I hate to only be a peddler of doom. I don’t want to only focus on the bad, but it is hard. And when I slide more into the contentment of a time gone by, am I turning my back on my fellow man? What matter it, if I use less and spend less in the over all scheme. Is my need towards self-sufficiency just my own reaction to the current trend? Is it MY keys to be rattled before my crying face to settle me down and placate me? I don’t know, really.

So, I find myself in moments of blissful happiness as I continue to learn and do more for myself and use less. It is odd that my personal ratio of happiness seems to increase with the decrease of things and buying. I used to believe or was lead to believe it was the other. “You deserve it” was often the mantra I or others would say while standing in the long lines waiting to buy another decorative useless item, a Chinese remake of something that might have had real value in its original state. You deserve that video game, that new computer, that new phone, those pre packaged meals and treats.  And with every purchase, the initial high and then the eventual crash as you came home to your cluttered house and wondered, ‘Now, where will I put this’ only to often leave it in the bag and put it in a closet.

Even my old approach to gardening was more spendthrift. I found it easier to just buy the plants in an already well established state. The cost is easily 10 times what it is to start from seed, but instant gratification was the word du jours. Now, with my few dollars worth of seed packets, I have had so much actual joy and accomplishment from simply sewing seeds in soil and caring for them and watching them grow. Again, that imaginary graph in my head showing the increase of happiness with the decrease in spending or over stimulating myself.

Well, what have I learned? Where is the silver lining? What is the RIGHT thing to do? Honestly, I don’t know. Is it a balance of self responsibility and self-preservation of mind? That seems to be my own reaction. Not having children also makes it easier for me to slip into a world of my own making. Is that good or bad or also self-indulgent? I honestly don’t know anymore.

I am sorry if this post seems rambling or even rather sad, but the pure anger of righteousness seems to have ebbed to a sort of numb realization of the modern world and my own helplessness against it. I may have felt St. George to the Dragon, but now I wonder if I simply drop my sword, hide behind my shield to stop the occasional fiery breath of the beast, but lose my will and power to wield the sword to bring him down.

The more I slip into the feel and need for the sanctity of the past, at least my own idealized version thereof, the further back I often daydream of going. I would not want to give up the advances in medicine we have, by why do we have to have the good be so wrapped up in the over all bad? Are they mutually exclusive? I don’t know.

I was poking about in my barn building this past week, trying to organize and collect up all my ‘stuff’ to have  a large yard sale this summer. To cleanse myself of all that I don’t need nor want and to simplify my life so I can focus on creating without the connection of buying. In so doing I found this little drawing I did when still living in the city. I love pen and ink. I have always loved the 19th century and even as a small child would copy out or get my inspiration from the old engravings and etchings of old books.

These characters were simply odd mermaid-children I had invented one day. I had found them in a box of my city studio items packed away. I had forgot the simple moment in time when I put pen to paper and let my imagination just go. In my mind I wrote out a story of these children and an adventure, very 19th century adventure. I had intended to make them into a children’s book. But, again, my point of reference is all nannies and nursemaids, adventures in crowded 19th century cities, ladies who leave calling cards. How relevant is it today? So, I ask you, in my own simple and pure joy unfettered by what I ‘should do’ or how I ‘should be feeling’, could it result in something that could and would be a contribution to the world? Are aimless scribbling for my own purpose relevant, or do their need to be admired or even purchased by people at large give them value? Am I such a product of my modern world that true value really only exist in the item or idea’s direct value in dollars? Or, is that merely a way of showing you what you have to say or draw does matter because others would wish to give up their money for it? Yet, we are all so quick to give up our money we all are always looking for ways of spending it, does even that equation of money for goods=relevance or value also become devalued? Have we lost the idea of real value? What is our own place in the modern world?

All I know is I don’t want to allow myself to completely lose touch with the modern world but what is my own relevance in it?

Well, this was rather an odd and pointless post, but I felt the need to share. Having all of you (those of you who have found my bizarre enough to follow along on this odd journey) has made my friend base more interesting. There is a bit of the old ‘imaginary friend’ in all of you. I have not created you, but am so happy to have all of you. And, of course, there is that bit of magic in having ones ‘invisible friends’ come to life and talk with you. Rather scolding or praising or merely coming along for the ride, it is a fine and good thing. It is one of the best bits of the modern world, for me. Thank you for listening to my nonsensical ramblings.

As always, happy homemaking and enjoy the Spring! It is all too fleeting.

26 April 1956 “The New Princess Grace, A Busy Week in The Veg Garden, Statues, And A Sewing Corner You Can Build”

On the 19th of this month in 1956, our beloved film star, Grace Kelly, became Princess consort to Monaco by marrying Rainier III, Prince of Monaco.

As is customary in some countries, Kelly and Rainier had both civil and religious weddings. The 40-minute civil ceremony took place in the Palace Throne Room of Monaco on April 18, 1956, and was broadcast across Europe. To cap the ceremony, the 142 official titles (counterparts of Rainier's) that Kelly acquired in the union were formally recited. The following day the church ceremony took place at Monaco's Saint Nicholas Cathedral. Kelly's wedding dress, designed by MGM's Academy Award–winning Helen Rose, was worked on for six weeks by three dozen seamstresses. The 600 guests included Hollywood stars David Niven and his wife Hjördis, Gloria Swanson, Ava Gardner, the crowned head Aga Khan, Gloria Guinness, Daisy Fellowes, Etti Plesch, Lady Diana Cooper, Enid, Lady Kenmare, Loelia, Duchess of Westminister and Conrad Hilton. Frank Sinatra initially accepted an invitation but at the last minute decided otherwise, afraid of upstaging the bride on her wedding day. The ceremony was watched by an estimated 30 million people on television. The prince and princess left that night for their seven-week Mediterranean honeymoon cruise on Rainier's yacht, Deo Juvante II.

I love the bridesmaids dresses. They show that when things are done tastefully with a clean restraint, though it might seem very 1950’s, it still has an almost modern quality about it. I know today’s weddings would rather have a more sleek wearable dress, but the frothy glide of these gowns must have been lovely.

I realize that it has been exactly one week since my last post. I should beg forgiveness, but I know that all of you are also busy. Spring has sprung and since this is our first summer in this house in years, I have so much to do to get the structure of my gardens in order. If I had only to pop out and weed and rake and plant, I would have more time, but as it is I have been installing fence, digging holes, moving rocks etc. I am so happy to be back at our lovely little house, but am also excited to get the form of my yard in order.

I have been involved in a recycling project here with fencing. I have moved old picket from one section of the property to become the ‘new’ veg garden fencing.

This is the side yard with the Southern exposure. It is the perfect spot for the veg garden. Here you can see I have already begun digging the post holes and some of the fence is laying about. I love the way a fence gives structure to a garden. And I love my post hole digger. I have put up so much fencing, but here it feels good as we know we will always, in some capacity, own this home. It has a permanence to it that I enjoy and using the old weathered fence gives it an instant feel of settled antiquity. As the house itself is almost 300 years old (in 2018 it will be it’s 300th birthday and we should have a party to celebrate, I think) with old weathered cedar shakes, the turns and warping of the old fence seems more appropriate than say a modern plastic fence.

Here is another angle before the fence goes up. The archway with gate I also moved here from the back part of the property. It is also older and will receive a new interesting gate, when I get around to it. I wanted it to frame the main entrance to the veg garden and to line up with the window and the old colonial bench I moved there. You can see the off kilter quality of the bench, the arbor and the house. I like that and though I eventually leveled off the arbor to the ground with my level while attaching it to the fence, the very settled crooked look of the house still gives an overall appearance of settled age. I think every garden, even the utilitarian veg garden, needs a good place to sit and dream and plan. It allows you the place to collect your thoughts and admire your labors.

I will be planting my grape vines along the inside of the fence in this garden and will train the vines over this arbor. I had originally thought to train roses over as well, but am trying to use as much dual purpose plant as possible. The grape is pretty AND it provides for the table. I really want to plant roses along the front of the fence outside of the garden for show, but may plant plum roses, so that they are lovely but also proved me with their rosehips for jam and preserves. We shall see. Here you can see that I took the time to 1)first dig the post holes, 2)then lay garden fabric. Then I put the poles in, being carful to cut a hole for the post to fit through the fabric and then cemented them in. then compost went over that. I have a love hate relationship with this fabric. Sometimes I don’t like to use it, but it does break down eventually, it is breathable so the soil is still arable and it really does stop weeds. I laid it so it covers both inside and outside the veg fence. This will allow me to simply cut a hole when I am ready to plant my grape vines inside the fence and my Rosa rugosa outside the fence. The Rosa Ragosa is the best Rose to use for Rosehip jams etc. Here is an example of the bloom and look at the lovely bright rosehip you get in fall. So, the fabric and mulch will allow a weed free area for them to grow in. With all I need to do this year and the various aspects I wish to add to the garden, any way I can reduce the amount of weeding I will need to do, the better! I am also going to use this fabric in the rows of the garden between my plantings, so I don’t have to worry about weeding the paths I will only tread upon to get to the various rows. So, here is the present state of my week long handy work. The mulch is mostly in, the fence posts are cemented and the old fence attached. It still looks a little rough, but it will improve as the plants are added, the mulch area edged etc. Here is another angle. you can see that i have also made a secondary gate here in the foreground. This will lead to the front door. I will be installing a brick path with salvaged old bricks probably next year. This year it will get, at both gates, a trim gravel pathway. The old gate now is simply one from the back of the property but it will probably get some new hardware. I think I will make the gate for the arbor out of old twigs and branches collected from an old Rose of Sharon that needed some major trimming this year. I like the idea of using the old and new growth of a tree that didn’t quite make it but was always part of the property. It feels more genuine some how. I just love the rustic beauty of twig gates and even twig furniture.

Speaking of gates, I recently also installed quite a few feet of tall stockade fencing to privatized the back portion of the yard more. In so doing, I needed to make a gate and used some old lumber to create this. This is what we see from inside the fenced yard. you can see the odd blue painted piece, but I wanted to use up scrap wood and this fence will either get painted crisp white or else a more subdued Cape Cod Gray, I have not decided as of yet. Here is the front. Again, old boards. But you can see the fence to the left (Which I hung last week) is also old fence we had on the property. It is simple stockade with the pointed tops, but I have hung it upside down with the flat at the top. Then i will build out a top piece of lattice and trim to give it a more decorative look. When I priced out this type of fencing with the built in lattice panels it was around $75 a panel! As I have hung about 20 panels, that would have been very expensive. When it is all done, I need to decide to I want it all crisp white or more subdued grey, like the natural fading of cedar. Any suggestions? You can see my trusty drill resting in the metal urn. These urns may end up at the entrance to the veg garden planted with two large tomatoes or else in the back at my stone wall (still to be built) planted with evergreens. The eagle on the gate is an old metal one that once was attached to the old front wooden storm door of the house. I have wanted to use it some where and I think it rather cute here.

So, you can see, I have been very busy this week, and therefore unable to get to my blog as usual. I have also planted up some of my cold hardy veg seeds. I put in my carrots. These are an Heirloom carrot French 19th Century. They grow quickly and are perfect for planting in pots, if you can only garden on your deck or porch or terrace. They like cold, so plant now if you are still in a frost area and you can plant throughout the season into early fall. My French Breakfast Radish These are so delicious and have been grown since the 18th century (perfect for my 18th century house.)I also planted my Green cabbage seeds Also an Heirloom seed. I love that planting and keeping alive these old variety of plants is not only important to our ecology, but also a bit like time travel. In a way we can taste and eat what earlier generations did.

For my tea garden I have started my Chocolate mint and apple mint. I will have in my tea garden, Fennel, Bergamot (bee balm), Echinacea, chamomile, hyssop, anise, lemon balm, Borage, Rose Scented Geraniums. I may add more. All of these also have medicinal value and are very relevant to plant in a garden in my Colonial era home. In fact, when putting up my fence this past week, we sacrificed part of an old tree in order to make more space to be fenced and used in the future as food gardening. Not only is it good for our budget and our diets, it is more relevant and true to what would have been done around this house in the 1700’s. Ornamental gardens are lovely and I shall certainly have many flowers and such, but when what you grew meant your survival for the winter, it was a serious business. So, I can appreciate the true to history aspect of slowly giving up my front lawn over to fruit, veg, and herb.

My seedlings are coming along nicely. Here is one of my tomato planted in a pot. It never ceases to amaze me that a tiny little pin point seed grows to make such plants. I was considering how much I am saving by growing my heriloom tomatoes by seed. At our local garden center, they have heirloom tomatoes only available as a large plant around end of May. They are around 8-10 dollars. I counted up all my seedlings I have growing and realizing they will be around that size. I have $400 dollars worth of heirloom tomatoes growing in my little living room!

I used to be the lazy plant buyer and am now happily the seed starter. I promise myself to build my own greenhouse for next January seed starting. I have been collecting up old windows for some time. I have a new friend who also has been saving windows for such a project and we may use the Amish trick of sharing labor to help one another erect our greenhouses. I will share all with that when it happens, but that is not until Autumn.

While out in the garden this past week, I began to consider statuary. Statuary has always been an important part of my life. I have always been drawn to the human figure. Again, sometimes I associate this with my own solitary childhood. The very lack of people about me may have, on some level, left me to wonder at the creatures more. What are these walking breathing replications of myself: people? Or, because of my solitary, the staid voiceless human form trapped in stone and marble may have almost seemed more relatable; more relatable. Who knows? But I have always been drawn to the human form.

In my own artwork, the figural has always been my first initial act. Drawing and painting the figure was always more exciting to me than a landscape. I loved figure drawing and the 5 and one minute poses often practiced in such classes were my favorite. I always found my own result the most active or true when only given a one minute, a piece of charcoal and paper to render the still figure.

So, it stands to reason, I am drawn to statuary. I have a variety of busts and figural sculpture I have collected over the years. Hubby often refers to them as my ‘Lady heads’ (a quote from a funny sitcom of a few years ago called Arrested Development. )

My garden, which I also treat as an extension of my home and therefore see it as rooms,  are the  recipients to my love of the figure. Here are some shots I took the other day.

This little  lady still has not found her permanent home, but I love how the weather has chipped away at her exterior exposing her earthen core.There is a very real human beauty to this, for me. The crack in the eye, the wear of the ‘skin’. Time passes, we age, and all that. There is a tranquility in their being affected by time. Even they, in their stoic poses, cannot out run the ever elusive Time. Sappy, I know, but true. I love getting in close so one has to look twice to see the figural form. The eye, the turn of the nose, the lichens blending with the green of the background. The turn of an old stone jug cracked with age and seasons.

Even the plants themselves can have a figural or representative quality. My little “hens-n-chicks” plants are spreading with the warming Spring.I love suculents and these are the perfect variety for our North Eastern climate. They are easy to share, as well, as one has only to break off some of the little “chicks” to give to a gardening friend and they will soon be over run with the little darlings.

Speaking of chicks, I thought I would share with you what, hopefully, my own chicks are looking like. They already are looking very bird like, though a bit alien as well. I wonder if their little eyelids blink yet? It is amazing that in 21 days the darling little chick is formed and born. I am crossing my fingers that most of my eggs do hatch.

The business of my Spring will have to continue, as I will begin building my chicken house next weekend. I have a good amount of time before the chicks will need their home, as they have two weeks until they are born. Then, they need to live in their brooder for about 5 weeks or so, but I plan on finishing their home before that. I will share that process with you.

I was considering the other day the first time I heard of the ‘Honey do” list. I laughed, when I learned what it was, because quite honestly, I tend to do many of the things that would end on that list. I feel as if I had to wait for my hubby on his days off or after work, I’d never get anything done. I also feel a part of what a 50’s homemaker was capable, was construction. My magazines are full of ‘how-to’s’ with pictures of the lady of the house wielding the hammer. Rather or not this actually happened, it seemed the magazines and books of the times considered it normal for the woman of the house to be able to hammer, saw and do basic building either by herself or alongside her husband. It makes me laugh when I think of the modern conception of the 1950’s housewife, all dolled up, mindlessly bringing the slippers. When, really, one was expected to be all facets of an individual. Something to which I can relate.

I think modern people, most likely through advertising which finds it easier to sell to ‘groups’, have found themselves pigeonholed. If you care about the earth, then you are hippy crunchy and you dress and buy this. If you care about looking nice or dressed up then you would not be caught dead getting dirty and then you do this. I don’t know why or when we lost the power of a well-rounded life. I love dressing up. I adore being pretty, but I also like to know that I can build if I want or plant a garden. I want to know not only how to cook and eat the food, but how to grow it.

As my time in the 50’s continues on, I have found myself less and less being really aware of the differences as I find myself more immersed in simply living and constantly learning. I hope my posts have not suffered for it, but I feel less like two people (modern me and 50sgal) and in fact more a well rounded individual. As I depend on the modern world less for entertainment, diversion, and ease, I find my life fuller and happier. This may not be true for all personalities, but it certainly is so for me.

Now, I will end here while on the concept of the homemaker being as involved in the construction of her life as the casual beauty of it with this fun article from a Better Homes and Gardens. It shows how easily we can put a ‘sewing room’ into our homes. There are plans for the roll out version shown so you or your hubby could easily copy and build it. I think this would work as well for a craft corner as it would a sewing corner.