Living Like the Past

The other day my husband and I went to the butcher to purchase our meat. It is a short drive outside our town and my husband knows how much I love the drive because it refreshes me. He took the side roads so I could snap some pictures. It seems that it strengthens me when I can visually refuel where my heart remains so wanting. As we go through life we lean and absorb knowledge from others and it seems to me that I learned the most from those that farmed or those that were more settled than me. They may have thought I was not paying attention but I was. Most of my life I have been a very busy person and by that I mean I do not sit down much and when I am sitting I am still doing something. I ......

Just to explain the title, we are four months in to a history project living like ww2, 1943 for one year. There are many posts about this under living like the past.This month we have had to reduce our butter use even more than before due to the increased ration points on butter. When we started our history project butter was 8 points and then in October it went up to 16 points. We know this because we are following the 1943 newspaper. We try to eat food that does not call for butter but now and then we have a small pat of butter. We are now cutting out the yolk of the eggs to lower our cholesterol, not due to rationing.I am still hanging all of our laundry and absolutely love a windy day an ......

My husband and I have certain chores to be done with each season. Fall and Spring means cleaning windows and washing blinds.We start with a bucket, a bar of soap, a water hose and really old shoes and a ladder.Unlock the windows, remove the screens and wet down the windows.We use a brush on a pole as well as a rag and scrubber.We clean our shutters at the same time and make sure to rinse the soap off the windows really well so it does not spot. We wash the screen too.We have a place that we wash our blinds. We use a part of our privacy fence.We hang the blinds on two screws.Just a simple way to hang them...Wet them down with the water hose....Scrub both sides...Rinse real good...We hang them ......

Finally a break in the heat! We are enjoying cooler weather and now today we have a nice breeze blowing through the house.I moved some of our books last week to this area in the sewing room which is also used as a middle bedroom with a twin bed.Elizabeth has claimed this spot on the end of the small bed so I decided to remove the bedspread and put a sheet over the bed.This is an old chest of drawers that I put some old mixed hardware on and it makes it interesting to me. I like it this way.Fall means it is time to shift things around a bit to get the fireplace ready for winter.I don't know if you read the post about this photo of the girl with the geese that I repainted because it was an old ......

Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles.For me when I think of what life was like when I was growing up I remember family. My Grandparents, Parents, Aunts and Uncles and all the fond memories that went with having them in my life. I remember aprons, and stew simmering on the stove, biscuits and iron skillets. I remember outhouses and chickens and gathering eggs. I remember Bibles and Hats, scarves and handkerchiefs, crochet and knitting, and old petal organs. I remember blacksmithing, fishing, rivers and old wooden bridges. I remember dirt roads and gravel roads, squeaky doors and wood plank floors, rocking chairs and peas and butterbeans in their laps. I remember wringer washers and open windo ......

Since we have been on our 1943 WW2 one year journey people have been asking me what products did people use back then so I am posting some ads from our library research and from our newspapers and magazines so you can see some of the products they used in 1943. Notice that the windex is sold as a liquid in a bottle then it is poured into an atomizer bottle (pump sprayer). In 1943 cloth diapers is what most people used. They came in a box of one dozen cloth diapers. Some areas of the country actually sold a new type of disposable diapers but very rare to see this. They did sell an insert that was disposable that helped to remove the BM. Cloth diapers were still being used in the 19 ......

I recently realized that carrying a handkerchief has become a very vintage thing. We live in such a disposable society that there seems to be very few of us that still carry a handkerchief.I still have some of my handkerchiefs from when I was a child and have purchased more through the years and this handkerchief has wiped away many a tear through time as well as noses.This post is how to wash handkerchiefs as instructed in 1913.This reads as;Handkerchiefs used by persons who have affections of the nose, throat, and lungs, as grippe, catarrh, bronchitis, and the like, should not be put in laundry bags or clothes hampers containing the family wash. The easiest and most sanitary method o ......

We are continuing our Around the World Posts. Anyone can join in and send photos about anything of interest that you would like to post about in your home, garden or the area you live. This allows us to be able to see our similarities or differences in the world. Just send me an email with pictures and description. This following post is from Cheryl in AustraliaHi Grandma Donna,First I want to say how much I enjoy your blog, it never fails to encourage or uplift me in some way.My name is Cheryl, and I live in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia.I thought I'd do something a little different in my post and share with you all how we dispose of our rubbish in my community.I'm betting there are l ......

Photo from upstate New YorkWe Continue our posts from people that visit my website. Please send photos and description how you do household chores or outdoor activities around your home from anywhere in the world so we all can see the similarities or differences.This following post is from Catherine in UtahCatherine is also doing the living like it is 1943 WW2 for one year. Catherine was actually the one to suggest living on ww2 rations (food and gasoline), my husband took us a step further to try and do as many things as we can to Live as they did during ww2 for one year. It has turned into quite an interesting history project.Hi, my name is Catherine, and I live in Farmington, UT. I love ......

For those that are following our 1943 WW2 history project, living as they did in 1943 for one full year, I am doing a September update.These are our stamps that we have cut out of our ww2 stamp books that we made. These are what we have used since our official start date of July first. We have been posting them on paper and writing on them what we purchased.It is a bit confusing to purchase goods as they did in 1943 because our food is sold in different sizes than were sold back then. We have been doing a lot of math to figure our ounces. We have had to round up or down mostly.I am making everything smaller including bread. It takes sugar or honey to get the yeast going so really most ......

This place is the old Martin Drug Store. It originally was located in Enterprise Alabama and was moved to Landmark Park.Those that read my blog know that I love doing things the old way and I was excited to get a chance to look at the old products sold back in the day.My mind would probably explode if I worked in this store because I would have to research every single item in the store. I would want to know what it was for, how did they use it? Not necessarily the drugs but all the other items in the store. The medical part would have been of great interest and to my surprise there was a doctors office in the back of the store.My eyes did not know where to land, there was so much to take in ......

My Aunt and Uncle owned a General Store much like this one only they had a small house attached to the left side of the store. The store was a bit wider and longer but similar too. Their store sat next to a river and my Papa Horton would turn the bridge to let steamboats go through. When I walked up on the porch the boards would creek and the screen door would well, make a screen door sound. My shoes always seemed loud walking on the hardwood floors. They had a pot belly stove in the middle of the store and people would stand around or sit on straight back chairs and talk about the weather or farming.It has been a long time since I drank a bottled soda. I remember when we would save our bott ......

This is the second post about the farm at Landmark Park in Dothan Alabama. We strolled along the farm after we went to visit the Farm House.Cotton was growing in a side area outside the farm house.Sugar cane was growing out front across the road.At the back of the house there were many small buildings so we had to go investigate.We passed this pear tree that was loaded with pears and I wished I had bucket so I could make pear relish.There were some wagons from the past....A pen with some pigs.. They would not look up because they were rooting something and had their attention.The animals as well as the outhouse was out behind the house.The out house. My memories of out houses are not good. I ......

My husband and I drove to a place that is called Landmark Park in Houston County Alabama. It is on the outside of Dothan Alabama. I took pictures to share with you the Waddell House as well as the Farm, the General Store, Church, School House, and some of the other buildings on the Farm. The buildings as well as the house have been donated by families that once owned these structures. It is a beautiful farm that is open to the public and it feels like going home. We have been here before but I wanted to go back to show you this lovely place.There is a sign in the front of the house that says;This quaint turn of the century farmhouse originally stood on an 80 acre farm, located 2 miles ......

I love just about anything lace but when lace gets a hole or tear it is usually big trouble.This is a lace cloth to go over a table and it had many holes. It was my mothers. The other day I was getting close to finishing the repairs when I noticed another run that was about to split wide open and be another hole. When I was repairing the holes I did not think to take pictures but I did of this repair.See the line above my finger goes across the tip of the flower.Here is another view, it is at the tip of my third finger from my little finger.It goes all the way across the top of three top petals. If I put my fingers through this it would be a hole. But I have it lined up. I make bobbin ......

I tend to make things complicated when it comes to sewing and is why I do not post much on sewing but I do sew.I made these curtains yesterday for our laundry area. I do not like store bought curtains because the selection is just plain. I found some fabric that I liked and purchased at the store. I purchased three yards of 42 inch wide fabric. I washed and dried the fabric and pressed it before cutting or sewing the curtains. I wash all my fabric when I get it home from the store because it needs to shrink before you make anything. I cut it pretty close with the amount of fabric that I purchased because I have sewn curtains before but you might want to get a little extra if you are not sure ......

Tania from AustraliaThis is our house, taken from our driveway area.We live in rural South Australia on two and a half acres of land. We are situated on the edge of the Australian outback. It is really dry here with very little rain and we struggle to grow plants, whether they be vegetables or flowers. The Laundry Room. I use a twin tub washing machine and dry my laundry on a clothes line. I do not own a clothes dryer as there are not many days that I cant get my washing dry. In Winter I have a clothes line under the verandah that I use. What washing doesn't dry is brought inside to finish off in front of our warm fire.Washing drying on the clothes line.Here is my kitchen sink. I have a doub ......

I don't think I can post a more simple picture than this. I posted it a long time ago in my baby care post but the point I wish to make here is we simply have too much clutter these days. Just ponder on this photo for a moment.In the past there was so much less and through time we have been constantly led into purchasing goods someone else wants us to buy and making us think we cannot live without it.Since we have been doing our living like the 1940s history project we are absolutely learning to be more frugal and we were already more frugal than many.In the 1940s, life was much more simple than it is today, we all understand that but when you try and live like they did in that e ......

Pam, living in Norway. Married with four children. Registered general Nurse. We live in the country surrounded by forest and mountains.Hello and good morning from a foggy, grey Norway G. Donna. A few notes on how I do my daily chores here. I used to hate housework, but after being bedridden with severe illness for years, being able to keep my own house in order feels like a big joy now. Firstly, collecting rainwater. We live beside a huge lake where we can drink the water and our pump costs very little to run, so we don't collect rainwater. As I have such a good water supply, I don't use a dishwasher anymore. I have never met anyone in my generation who doesn't use one, but it is part o ......

Julie Nottingham, England(Julie Loves the 1940s era and so do I)Hello Donna, I live in Nottingham, England. A village called Cotgrave. Just rural enough to be countryside and we live on a hill just 4 houses from the edge of the village, which is great. Nottingham is a large city and we live just 10 miles out so we are not too isolated. From the beginning my parents were active during the war and as such instilled in me the morals of war time Britain, and that's how I was brought up. My dad was a fire watcher and my mum was on the switch boards, my granddad was a fire man in the London Blitz. My Godparents lived in very rural countryside and I spent a lot of my child hood there in haystacks a ......