The season of summer has ended and I am most happy to know that cooler weather is coming. It was time to remove the lightweight, soft chenille spread...
We have made it back to the season of Fall and a few days ago I removed the summer chenille bedspread and brought out the hand stitched quilt. It marks that we are traveling through our yearly seasons.
The chenille spread was washed and dried and put away to rest throughout the fall and winter.
It is better for our health to focus on the seasons and what is important. It has been a distracting year and too much time has been wasted on worry. Nature and time are still going around us and we are missing it if we are not paying attention.
It is getting time for the hummingbirds to leave. It is a sad time for us but most likely an exciting time for them. They are feeding regularly to get their strength to make that long migration journey, far away from here. How do they know what they know? How do they do what they do?
The squirrels are burying nuts and packing acorns inside of their tree pantries.
This photo above is from one of our tree limbs that fell during a hurricane. Charles found this when he was cutting up the limbs. I poured some glue around the nuts to keep them from falling out and then put a little varnish over it so we could keep it to remind us of the amazing things that we do not normally see. This was to be food that was stored away for winter or times they could not find nuts to eat. A lesson we should learn and remember.
The Hummingbirds will be back next year after we get through this season of fall and then winter. They will make their way back right here to our yard and our feeders. It is amazing what we can learn from our birds.
The Cardinals will be more noticed more through fall and winter because they will stay here. Their colors will be beautiful to see when the leaves have all fallen from the trees.
Behind the scenes of my blog I am quietly working on new projects. It all takes time and I am older now and slower but I still love being creative and mostly learning new things. I am still researching the old ways, very far back in time. I have a desire to understand how things were done in the home long ago.
Just the other day I was reading one of my older diaries from 1938 and Grace, the writer of the diary, was talking about hemming her dress. I have already learned how the hemline went up and down all throughout history and also that during world war 2 the hemline was shortened to save on fabric but then lengthened again after the war and of course we know that it started rising again.
But as I was reading the diary, Grace simply wrote, Went over to Mrs. Thayes on Colony Ct and got two dresses I had shortened. 12 1/2 inches from the floor.
I love learning little things like this.
So what have I been up to besides admiring a sweet gift from my friends Andrea and Scott?
As you see it is quite dark even by the window due to it being a rainy day....
So I lit the oil lamps in my little corner off grid kitchen that I am making. I have been practicing in a area in our home to cook and serve meals with as little use of water and dishes and utensils and pots and pans as I can. I have tried many ways to do this but the thought came just to shift a few pieces and make a small off grid kitchen. I cook on the back porch on the gas cooker/burner and I really enjoy cooking on that. Since we do not have a wood stove this will do.
I am in the process of figuring out how many dishes we really need verses want. It is not just dishes it just seems there are too many of many things. I have tried many times to clean out the cabinets but I seem to put back still more than I need. Possibly this study will help.
For me, I still want to keep learning and practicing the old way but I need for things in our home to be more simple due to getting older. I have seen many times how older people live with much to much clutter and then that can become a problem not only for them but for their family to have to concern themselves with.
I have done the same things with books but we really enjoy our books so since we have been through the books many times we will let this area rest awhile longer.
If you want to excite your life and distract yourself from news and covid fatigue, then just make an off grid kitchen in your kitchen, when you have a fully functional kitchen and not use the fully functional kitchen.
You will learn that water is heavy, when you are carrying it into your off grid kitchen and when you carry it out.
Also we must scrape the dishes and pots and pans very well and keep "All" food particles and grease and oil out of the dishwater and use a completely environmental friendly, real, soap.
I am using my bread kneading board just for bread making and another board just for making sandwiches or work top etc. We have a small one we use just for meat. Of course all of these are not used at the same time as bread making is most always earlier in the day. I am still adjusting my little kitchen, bringing in new things and out with some things.
Also, in the past women would use their kitchen eating table to work on for food preparation because often the kitchens had few counter areas if any. I am saying this as for average folks.
This is teaching me new ways to be frugal, there is always room for improvement to be frugal. Old habits slip back easily and this is why having an off grid area does help me. This is just me and my experiment but it does prepare us and helps to learn how to only use what we need and put back what we do not use and to not waste.
I like being vintage and more simple and living like the past, it just feels right, especially at this time.
Grandma Donna
