I have just started doing very short picture videos to add to my blog posts. My reason is I want to do something to add some calm, joy and encouragement because of the state of the world.
It has taken Charles and I a long time trying to figure out where we wanted to park our History studies and get on with living "Like" the past.
We have not parked ourselves anywhere, what we became is a mixture of the past and we are happy with that. My daughter cautioned me recently after I was discussing decluttering the house. She does not want me to get rid of too much because then it would no longer be interesting and homey and she never feels it is cluttered.
She reminded me how everyone that comes wants to crawl into bed and go to sleep. A peaceful house I guess where they can come for food and rest and close the doors to the outside world and step back to home.
Home is what we make it where we are at this time. It is more common to be transplanted here and there before settling so it is hard to say where home is for many people today.
Home is wherever we are at this time.
My blog is about our history projects and sharing what we learn and also the things we experienced long ago. Before we knew it we became part of the history projects and now it is just how we live.
Our blog is about cooking from scratch and doing tasks the old way. It is also about surviving difficult times by learning how our ancestors lived without electricity and running water.
For those of you that have been reading my blog for many years, you have been through all our changes as we slowly turned into living like the past. You have been to the local dairy with us and some of you rationed food along with us as we lived a year at a time like it was during world war 2.
We have preserved food and mended garments and table cloths instead of tossing them out. We have knitted dish cloths and cleaned windows and moved furniture about a thousand times.
For those of you that are new, it is all on my blog.
This blog is about making things by hand with the most simple things like needle and thread and cloth and turning it into something more.
Like this applique to make a simple table covering.
I have learned I prefer the interesting older linens and furniture because it obviously is better quality because it is still around.
We can make where we live a warm and cozy place from thrift store finds as Charles and I do and a bit of paint and some nails to fix up pieces that someone else tossed away.
We have come to a point that we are happy with what we have now and we do not want to be too crowded. It is difficult to pass up and old piece but nothing comes in to our home now unless something goes out. Long ago I remember my Great Grands and Grands had the same things because they didn't wear out easily so going to see them was truly going home.
When Charles talks about his Great Grandmothers house or his Grandmothers house I watch his eyes as he talks as I can tell how well he remembers it. He will say, the couch was over here on this wall as he describes and gestures and over was a cabinet. They did not buy things often as people do today.
He has told me how his Grandparents would keep a chocolate bar in their house. His Grandfather would break off a small square off of that chocolate bar to give to him to eat. It was a very special thing to get a small square of chocolate.
It does not take a lot to be the maker of good memories. It makes me think of all the things and all the food portions children have today. How can memories be made in an overstimulate society?
This wonderful old chifferobe was one of those pieces we got for only a few dollars because it was in pieces. Charles took his time an put it back together. He stretched a cross stitch of an eagle that his father did many years ago and placed it into this piece where there used to be a mirror. His father had severe arthritis but yet did some of the most beautiful cross stitch pieces.
The old items are all around if we just open our eyes to notice them. This green chair was thrown out in a ditch where the trash trucks pick up. Charles saw it on the side of the road all busted up ready to go to the dump. He brought it home and took his time and put it back together. This is the perfect piece for this home.
This is not a look and see what we have done, this is look at what "you" can do.
This is Elizabeth, she is our most sensitive fur baby. Here she just got a bath, she is afraid of flies and rain bubbles. She is also very empathetic and knows if we do not feel well. She is in the right home because we need each other.
Elizabeth has two sisters, Katherine and Bernadette. Also there is Belle our bird and Mr. BIngley our permanently visiting feral cat.
Home is a place to eat warm home cooked food. We do not need to cook those picture perfect dishes with all kinds of ingredients. A simple meal, a bowl of soup and/ or a sandwich is more affordable than eating out.
We did not expect that living like the past would be so full of learning. It has made our life exciting and we never have a dull moment at our house.
Many people think that living a simple life is getting rid of all the clutter and live simple. It can be that but living a simple life is also so much more. It is about changing our ways so we can get out of debt and learning skills so we can do our own repairs and make things by hand. It is also about understanding nature and the importance of getting proper rest.
I will close with my newest short picture video called "Living Like the Past". It is a glimpse of our old fashioned life that we have made in the middle of the city in this modern world doing what it took to get out of debt and living a better life in only 2 minutes and 51 seconds.
Grandma Donna (click on the link below)
