Are we using our homes as they did in the past? If I take a trip down memory lane, it is full of memories of warm meals, blankets on the beds, robes and bedroom shoes during the winter. We ate many bowls of stew or Chili , soup, greens such as collards and corn bread, hot chocolate and warm pudding. In the summer curtains were blowing from the windows being open and pies sitting on the window seal. We had to open the windows because there was no air conditioning. The sound of children playing and occasionally a trip to the first aid kit to locate a bandage for a skinned knee. There were board games and laughter, When we embrace our home ......

Never give up gardening means to me to keep moving and keep trying and keep making it interesting. It costs less to garden if you don't buy the plants from the nursery but instead plant from seed.This table above has been piled up with garden books and seed trays. I finally cleared all of that and re-dressed the table after getting it better organized.I have added a third tray for seeds, and I have a new plan. Plant everything from seed or cuttings.I do have a growing concern for our food here in the U.S. It seems there are too many food recalls, so now I feel that something is up with that. I want to grow as many vegetables as we possibly can here in our sma ......

Long ago, we did not have all of these different ways of communication that we have today, especially instant communication. Our way of communication was writing a letter. I have been thinking a lot lately about the way we lived in the past before electronics. The electronics have become intrusive and it feels like a burden to me. I feel concerned about our young people that have grown up in this era of instant everything and all these electronics and wires and chargers and constant everything. They have never experienced the freedom of living without it and that is sad to me.I have old letters that are very personal and full of memories from long ago when ......

It has been three weeks since our little dog Katie passed away and we all have grieved for her. Our little dog Elizabeth and also Bernadette have grieved in their own way. Elizabeth became anxious and Bernadette kept sitting at the gate thinking that she would come back home through the gate. She would sniff the areas of the yard that Katie would go potty and back to the gate. Then she gave up and has since started something new and has been putting her toys at the lookout window. She will take them away and play with them and then put them back and we feel she wants them to look out for Katie. Animals do remember. We are giving them extra hugs and we ......

Photo of our Grandson Michael, he turned 21 this year and I wonder how he did that so fast.I am popping in for just a moment to say that I am taking a short break from my blog. We have many things going on and we are working on building a safe hallway from storms and building a double ceiling and walls. This turned out to be a bigger job than we expected as we are doing this ourselves. Our Katherine when she was a baby.And now the main reason for the break, our little dog Katherine, such a joy to us has passed away and we are dealing with much grief over her not being here with us. She was just shy of being 17 years old. Katherine (aka Katie) front and her b ......

Our sweet girl Maggie many years ago saying, What is going on? We were always moving things about the house and still do today.Charles and I have been studying our Generations before us for over twenty years. I have been sharing what we know from how it was when we were growing up and what we have learned from our Generations before us that lived without running water and electricity and those that never had all of This that we have today. Hurricane Helene has caused horrible destruction and this is an historic event that will take years to recover from. Our Granddaughter is 7 months pregnant right now and she and her husband had to leave their home and com ......

The Hurricane has passed through. We lost power at 12:45 a.m. this morning with a big explosion of a power transformer that got knocked out as a feeder band of wind came through. The transformer that blew was unusually loud and many of our neighbors started coming out of their doors with flashlights to see what happened we were doing the same. Our power came back on but the other side of our neighborhood did not. Then it happened again, we have power now. Thankfully it did not get as bad as first predicted for us because the hurricane shifted more east. I feel very concerned for everyone that was and still are in the path, this was and is a dangerous storm.We had ......

Last Saturday, Charles and I went up to Madge's house to do some work. We packed two sandwiches and two bananas, a jug of water and a bit of kibble for the girls, (doggies), a small jar of water for the car in case they got thirsty.It has been a struggle for us to do the difficult work at Madge's house. We are slow at everything we do so we bring our patience with us. Slowly we are chipping away these big projects and one day we will have them finished and be glad we kept pushing through.This particular day we pulled up the old glued down flat carpet that had been on the floor for over 40 years. It was sad to see this glue on top of hardwood floors. If you look clo ......

I feel inspired by all of you because we had such a wonderful response in the forum from the last two posts. My purpose was to learn if the economic problems were being felt in just the United States or around the world.We didn't solve the problems but we know now that we are experiencing very high costs in many countries around the world. You all were so genuine and generously shared your experiences and difficulties and this is what we needed to understand where these problems are being felt. Have you ever seen a Nautical candle holder? If you were on a ship and the ship rocked side to side, the candle holder part that holds the candle remains balanced due t ......

I am feeling the morning sun coming in from the window. I have a lot on my mind these days thinking about what is wrong with our world.My last blog post was to take a chance to see if I could put my concerns out there to see if I could figure out if what I was feeling is as bad as it feels to me.Thank you for your participation from my last blog post and responding in the forum and emails with your wonderful and informative comments. Due to the forum responses, which anyone can go there to read, I am now getting an understanding that this is a global problem. Is this the same feeling that you are having? We cannot blame our government for our many proble ......

There are many sayings that home is where your heart is, there is no place like home. I feel that the home is where you feel love, where you feel refuge and safe. We are living in a complicated time where many people are struggling to stay in their home because the cost of living today has gotten out of balance. This post is going to be different than I normally post but I feel necessary.I spent the entire month of August 2024 working on a budget only to find that we have a very serious problem for the middle class folks in the United States. Many people that are retired are now having to come out of retirement and go back to work. Young adults are struggling to ge ......

Above is Bernadette in early morning looking out her lookout window. We all have our routines and so does Bernadette. I feel that we are in a time that we need to concentrate on our home and family. There is much tension here in our Nation and many places in the world. Wherever you live and you are reading this post, this is a time that we need to concentrate on home, family and also neighbors. The world is mixed up and instead of worry, we should strengthen our home by putting our concentrated efforts in repairing, mending, stocking our supplies and get real with our budget and meal planning. Also, we are changing seasons, so this is an especially ......

I said in yesterdays blog post that I would post how I make my all butter pastry dough pie crust.Here in the United States when I was taking home economics in school, I was taught to measure by measuring cups and spoons. This is how I learned, but as I have gotten older and many years of baking, sometimes it would turn out just right and sometimes not. I have learned that by purchasing a small scale and measuring by weight I could make the same recipe over and over with it being most always the same. Sometimes the weather is a factor but by measuring by weight like people do in much of the world, this is how you get more accurate results. The recipeThis is th ......

I made a tiny cover known as milk jug cover, in the past these were made to keep gnats out of milk. You can make them any size you want or need and use them to keep flying insects from getting into the fresh milk. This summer we have had our share of gnats and flies. I made a very tiny one this week for a small dish. Glass beads are used as a weight to hold the cover over the sides of what you are covering. In the show Downton Abby they are used in the downstairs kitchen to put over the milk jug. This is my mini cover.This is a tiny bowl that is a medium size salt dip or condiment bowl. So I pulled out some beads to match the bowl and decided ......

When I study history and looking to find what it was like inside the home, I feel the calm and simplicity. Not all homes were this way but I actually feel the people that are in my research through the diaries and maybe that is because of my family that came from these eras that I study and I remember that something about them that we do not see as much today. It feels important to say that it is up to us to make this kind of calm home that once was. It feels like grabbing hold of something that makes complete sense. I wish I could show you or explain better of the things Charles and I have learned studying the home front and the home from 1900 through the 1940 ......

The photo on the main page is Brussels sprouts, tomato and boiled potatoes with butter and green onion. My paperwork projects outgrew my small desk for the time being, so all week I have been spreading out budget books and ledgers and paperwork onto the dinning table. Each time we eat we have to move the paperwork and then put it back, but it has been very productive. We have been actively on the new budget and meal plan for nine days now. We do our best to buy whole food and non processed items, but there are some things such as bacon or hot dogs and some condiments that we do buy that are processed. We do not buy cookies and chips and soda or things like that. We ......

We are getting more comfortable in our living more like 1940. It takes time to do the research, a job of it's own, but necessary. There is much math to do when figuring the budget and one must learn the charges on all of the household bills. We need to know the charge or fee of anything that flows to our home. On our electric bill we need to understand the kilowatt hour charge fee, and on the bill it should have that fee listed, possibly listed KWH. If it is not listed, a call to the electric department and someone should be able to give that information. This is all important to know the water charge and sometimes there ......

This Budget is going to be much more than just a budget. I feel that we are living in a time that we need to give much thought how to go forward, and at least for Charles and I, going backwards is what is making sense.I have been studying pieces of history in handwritten diaries, journals and budget books, old letters and years of shredding older family members bills and paperwork that they never got rid of. After their death it was left to us to discard their paperwork. I have been reading the old newspapers on microfilms and years of asking questions to people older than I am.Today I see many people struggling with finances and it is not a wonder why. We are li ......

We are getting to a point that we are feeling more like the year 1940. It is like we have given ourselves a gift. That feeling of something that we have been wanting for. It is the only way I can explain this study.I feel peaceful, steady and calm and I do feel this is a gift and a sign that this is what we are supposed to be doing at this time. A small cream and sugar set that I found at a the thrift store looked to be like many people seem to feel today. I passed it up and kept walking through the store because I was there just browsing for certain vintage items that I keep my eye out for such as an ink well. I finally gave in and ordered one after th ......

The lure... the bait... we sniff... we walk around it... the voice tells us that this is the most wonderful thing that can happen if you just sign right here.....The latest electric refrigeration above, the 1940 new model. The signs are everywhere, Don't Wait for cash, buy now on Terms. You can even add a new electric range, it can be added to your Time Payment Account.Adjust your brain that you are living in the year 1940. Try to use your imagination what that was like.....Your old reliable ice refrigerator that you have depended on for many years. Notice the ice block in the upper top right hand side. They are trying to convince you that your old diffic ......