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Good morning Donna....NZ time 6.53 am.

Seasons... This year the change of seasons here was very obvious. February 28th Summer,muggy,hot weather. March 1st..First day of Autumn.. WHAM instantly cold evenings and mornings and lots of strong,cold wind and leaf drop. Usually it doesn't feel like that until May where we live. I read that a fruit growing area even had a smattering of snow already...unheard of!!!

Foods... I make soups that are good for your gut now and my chicken soup has fresh ginger,garlic and tumeric in it. Bone broth is good. Our bodies change as we age. I cannot longer eat butter. It goes straight through me and causes acid reflux. I have eaten butter and  watermelon my whole life. This year the watermelon  made my tummy bloat then my body would pass wind for about 5 hours!! ( I read Watermelon is high in fructose)  A cup of tea before bed also causing my tummy to bloat. A friend visiting told me if she eats ice cream before going to bed she can't sleep!

Bread.... A law  was passed so that All flour that can be used to make bread ( except organic flour) has to have man made folic acid in it. It leaves a revolting taste in ones mouth.  I brought a bread maker and also do a no knead 100% wholemeal loaf by hand.

Weather... Was so wet in NZ over Summer that people had poor crops- peaches got brown rot, tomatoes didn't produce as well from lack if sun. BUT we don't give up and keep looking at different ways of growing vegetables that our ancestors would have done that we may not think about today.

It is so good to glean good information from times past and use it now.

Grandma Donna, regarding your bread, have you tried Einkorn Flour or wheat?  It is an ancient grain that folks who are sensitive to gluten can eat.  There lots of info on line and it can be found in smaller amounts at the super stores or you can order it on line.

From one Grandma to another,

Sara in Tennessee

I just accidentally lost all I typed. I wanted to say I am starting the move to more old fashioned methods now that I’m home. 

I won’t retype all of my original comment but I also wanted to attach this from the Emily Post 1945 edition of her etiquette book. This is for a young woman to go to college.  

I continue to move furniture to find what suits me at this moment in time. I did get my drying rack area set up to suit me and have been working on totes of seasonal decor. My likes have changed and I have decided "less is more" for me at this time. I am not a minimalist at all but am only keeping what speaks to me.  Family gets first pick of the remainder and then it is going to the thrift store as a donation.

I have too many kitchen utensils but didn't know how to sort them out so I decided to see what I use on a monthly basis and after washing it is put in a separate area. Anything left in the drawer is going to be donated. I own 5 pancake turners....and I can only use one at a time.

My foods have changed also, I want plainer, more simple foods as they don't make me ache or have stomach distress. 

I well remember my grandma's kitchen growing up and what I miss most is the peace and calm of that time, both of my grandmas came thru the depression and it made them so strong and yet so gentle. 

Spring is right around the corner for us, I am anxious to be out of the snow and cold weather.

Hey G'Donna!

I haven't finished reading the blog yet, but you mentioned bread and wheat. I read a book called  Wheat belly: lose the wheat, lose the weight, and find your path back to health (William Davis) and I think it's this book that talks about the original wheat grown before WW2, and there is one woman in the US who still grew it (I'm not sure if she or her family still does). But it's the wheat that we can digest because it's not been modified with any other type of grain to have what we do today. I sometimes suffer from belly issues whenever I eat wheat.

In view of recent world events, I was talking to my husband only last evening about this study and how we would feel in this modern world where we have everything at our fingertips, just how we would cope if things go pear-shaped - and it's quite possible they will.  We're already experiencing fuel demands and possible shortages yet the world goes around using fuel - and that fuel is needed to transport food and other necessary items to the various places around the country for its very survival.  We're very aware that times could be coming when we'll have to think outside the square and we are trying to prepare for those times when things aren't at our fingertips anymore and we have to try alternate ways - can it be done in this day and age where we expect everything to be available?  I dread to think.

I hate winter, but now I'm experiencing spring. :) The daffodils and crocuses are up, and many of our pansies survived the winter, so we have a bit of color in the yard. I harvested all of our overwintered cabbages just now, and there are potato onions and Welsh onions for green onions, and that's good because last year's bulb onions are running out! I do have some dehydrated onions left. We planted the onion seedlings yesterday into the garden, for this year's crop. There's spinach and chives ready in the garden too, and I just noticed that the asparagus is coming up. 

It's taken me a long time, but I'm finally having a wardrobe like the old days. I bought a new summer nightgown and a new dress for this year. My worn out summer nightgown will patch my duvet and my wornout dress will become a blouse. I have one new pair of shorts, one old pair, and a pair made out of some wornout sweatpants. I usually wear things three times before washing. I think I have the proper amount of clothes for the thirties, but I don't remember if that changed much by 1942. 

Sara T_2,  yes I have used Einkorn, I just could not get things to turn out like we wanted.  I tried a entire year using Einkorn.  It is expensive and not available without being shipped so I stopped using it.  I have tried many things.  What I am using now is expensive flour and must have it shipped but I do not want to say too much about it until I have used it longer.  I am still learning, but at this time I am not having any issues using it other than learning how to bake with a less glutenous flour.   Thank you for asking about the Einkorn.   There are many factors to what causes some of us to not be able to eat wheat without issues.  I do not have celiac disease, mine is a intolerance issue.   So far I have made pasta, pizza, and bread and have not had any symptoms.  One big part is giving the dough longer to rest and for me using a low gluten flour.  

Stephanie G,  I really like your wardrobe and that you are recycling what is wearing out.  My two summer nightgowns are very similar, white cotton. One is sleeveless and one has sleeves because during parts of the summer the mosquitoes can make their way inside at times and bite my arms at night.  I must mend the neckline of the sleeveless so that the tear does not get worse.  I have potato onions that are doing good and the Egyptian walking onions are much stronger now.  I lost my welch onions but have seeds to plant now.   It sounds like your home is getting that 1930s/40s practical what makes sense stage.  I know it has probably been a lot of work but rewarding.  :)

As a younger woman (maybe? I'm 37!) with 7 children still at home, I am not able to truly participate in the study. Some day! However,even so, many of the old ways are so beneficial. We have been struggling with our steep electricity bill. I am so spoiled and was using the dryer through the winter. When I stopped and began only line drying the laundry for our family (as well as cutting elsewhere, but this was the biggest offender) our electric usage dropped by half! I thought having to dry the laundry inside exclusively was too hard since we live in a 1200 square foot house and homeschool. Like I said, I am spoiled! But, it has worked out okay. And the savings is 100% worth it!

Both my grandmothers prepared simple meals.  My maternal grandmother 's holiday meal was homemade noodles and chicken, (an old hen which she purchased from a farm wife and cleaned herself), mashed potatoes, green beans, pickled beets and maybe a Jello salad.  The only cake I ever recall her making was an applesauce cake that was dense, moist with ground raisins.  I have the recipe but haven't made it in years because dh hated raisins and now it's way too much cake for one person.  My other grandmother seldom cooked for the whole family but if she did it would have been ham, green beans, sweet pickles, mashed potatoes.  She liked fancy desserts so those were unpredictable.  

I try to keep my shopping to basic ingredients and now days I consider meat as an ingredient more than a standalone individual serving on the plate.  

I was raised in Southern Iowa on Missouri border and the two grocery stores in town were simple, an aisle down, meat counter across the back, aisle back up to checkout.  Mom always shopped at the store where her cousin was the butcher.  I was in high school when we moved to the Des Moines area and found supermarkets.  Mom discovered spaghetti and pizza.  I know I never saw or ate pizza or had spaghetti and meatballs before my sophomore year of high school.  The pizza was homemade and it was a couple of years before I ever had restaurant pizza.  We did not eat out.  Instead of pasta (other than elbow macaroni) we mostly we ate potatoes baked, fried, boiled, scalloped and my favorite, new potatoes creamed with new peas (a special in season only treat).